S01. E09: The Train Demanded Blood / S01.E10: 994 Cars Long

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The rebel forces are on their heels when a dangerous foe joins them. A plan is hatched to take the train, but it may destroy them all.

and

Quote

In the revolution's aftermath, Layton and Melanie realize the greatest threat to their survival is right over their shoulder.

Two part season finale airing Sunday, July 12, 2020.

 

[Christina]

I'm really hoping these two episodes bring the show home and a rewatch, after knowing how it ends, will help boost this show back to where I thought it would land when it started. Just looking at the actors lead me to start it off on such high hopes and I'm not sure where it was when I lost interest in the story.

[formerlyfreedom]

Layton vs Ruth was what I have been waiting for!

Ruth: I'm a dignitary!
Layton: Yeah, I feel that.

[xaxat]

I got a lot or reaction on this episode but

Spoiler

Sean Ben is Mr. Wilford?

Will be back after I have thought about this.

[Bulldog]

I thought that was very well done for a finale.  

Had they mentioned a supply train before?  I was fully expecting Wilford to appear, but I guessed he had been in one of the boxes.  Had nobody ever noticed another set of tracks on the revolution? 

I love Alison Wright and Ruth is definitely a true believer. 

Did not see the twist of Melanie's child still being alive coming. 

Not at all sorry that Lyla and One Eye are gone.  

I had no idea this had already been renewed. I must say I rather enjoyed S1.  Looking forward to S2.   

 

[rmontro]

The 9th episode seemed like a real season finale, and the 10th just got kind of weird.  This "supply train" business just came out of left field.  If there was a supply train available, why wasn't that utilized to save people?  Well, in the end I guess it was.  And if it had all that useful stuff on it, why wasn't it part of the train?  Maybe there was a plan in place, but Melanie had to leave it behind in her haste to take over the train.

I had a feeling most of the season that we might see Mr. Wilford in the end.  I wonder if there's any chance he picked up those other cars that got left behind by Andre and Melanie?  

Another oddity:  If Melanie was the real genius behind the train, why does Wilford's train seem to have superior technology?

Anyway, good finale.  

[formerlyfreedom]

As soon as the person advancing from Big Alice was a young woman, I knew it was Melanie's daughter. Then it was just waiting for her to confirm it.

I found this to be a good finale, definitely drawing me in for the next season.

[GreyBunny]

Screaming out of nowhere blasting opera music - that’s right out of Apocalypse Now. Ol’ Wilford has a flair for the dramatic. 
 

Ruthie has lost her marbles; she’s gone full 

Spoiler

Mason.

Layton had to talk to her like he was diffusing a bomb.

RIP Walter, best paper maker ever. Resecting the train was fun to watch, not sorry to see the Folgers go, bummed about the tailies in cuffs. I might have missed some tech talk, but why couldn’t Layton walk back one more car and released the car behind the prisoners and save his friends?

13 hours ago, xaxat said:

I got a lot or reaction on this episode but

  Reveal spoiler

Sean Ben is Mr. Wilford?

Will be back after I have thought about this.

Probably means Wilford is going to die soon.

Edited July 13, 2020 by GreyBunny

[Dminches]

Did anyone notice that towards the end of the scene when Melanie fell off the train and they showed a view of the train from the outside it looked like it went to an animated view?  I believe the Blacklist finale morphed into animation since they ran out of time to shoot due to the virus.

I wonder if something similar happened with Snowpiercer.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

10 hours ago, Dminches said:

Did anyone notice that towards the end of the scene when Melanie fell off the train and they showed a view of the train from the outside it looked like it went to an animated view?  I believe the Blacklist finale morphed into animation since they ran out of time to shoot due to the virus.

I wonder if something similar happened with Snowpiercer.

 

Maybe. I thought it was a nod to the graphic novel, but you could be right.

19 hours ago, rmontro said:

I wonder if there's any chance he picked up those other cars that got left behind by Andre and Melanie?  

Based on the last episode, and how loose this show is with "science," I think there's a strong chance we see those people again. 

[Dminches]

44 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Based on the last episode, and how loose this show is with "science," I think there's a strong chance we see those people again. 

I am assuming all those people in the decoupled cars are long frozen.  I am not sure where the supply chain come from but it seems like it was from Chicago and the train decoupled well west of that.

Of course, this is TV so the Folgers could already be drinking fine wine in first class.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, Dminches said:

I am assuming all those people in the decoupled cars are long frozen.  I am not sure where the supply chain come from but it seems like it was from Chicago and the train decoupled well west of that.

Of course, this is TV so the Folgers could already be drinking fine wine in first class.

 

Exactly. That should be the case, but this show plays hard with its science and time line. Layton was still covered in blood from the uprising while Pike already settled in first class and that icky dude already got laid. 

Also: we have no idea how long a person can survive outside in one of those suits, but I'm willing to bet it's about 5 seconds longer than the time until Melanie is rescued. 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Superclam

[Netfoot]

Melanie: "I surrender to the mob!"
Layton: "My first act will be to create a 'People's Garden'. Because that worked so well elsewhere."

11 hours ago, rmontro said:

And if it had all that useful stuff on it, why wasn't it part of the train?

Exactly. Where does the Supply Train get all it's supplies? Because if it had them from the start, why not simply couple on to the train itself, (1,041 cars long!) and be done with it?

Frankly, this was a pretty disappointing finale. I suppose I will watch S2, but who knows? 

 

[rmontro]

5 hours ago, Dminches said:

Did anyone notice that towards the end of the scene when Melanie fell off the train and they showed a view of the train from the outside it looked like it went to an animated view? 

It did look very cartoonish.  The scenes where Wilford's supply train coupled with Snowpiercer looked a little on the cheap side also.  I figured it was just budget problems, but could be virus related.  In any case, it didn't bother me.

 

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

Exactly. That should be the case, but this show plays hard with its science and time line. Layton was still covered in blood from the uprising while Pike already settled in first class and that icky dude already got laid. 

Till was a bloody mess also.  Does that woman ever shower?  It would be funny if she just spent the rest of the series like that.

[CeeBeeGee]

Did the show open with animation? I'm thinking they either wanted to bookend it or it's a nod to the graphic novel.

I'm so confused about the decoupling--which cars were decoupled? I thought they wanted to let go of First but Pike was in the Folgers' car toward the end (and he threw out LJ), correct? Or was the idea that most of First was in the school car where the "treaty" was supposed to be signed, so they decoupled those cars? 

I wish they did better character work but I'm still hooked on this show. It is truly surreal watching this show, this summer. The actor who plays Miles is incredible for a child actor! Very subtle work.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Did not see the twist of Melanie's child still being alive coming. 

I saw that coming a mile away.

Quote

I'm so confused about the decoupling--which cars were decoupled? I thought they wanted to let go of First but Pike was in the Folgers' car toward the end (and he threw out LJ), correct? Or was the idea that most of First was in the school car where the "treaty" was supposed to be signed, so they decoupled those cars? 

I was totally confused about this too. I get that they de-coupled a midsection of seven cars where the Folgers and the jackboots were. But where were all those prisoners in chains? Were they in some sort of holding car? In the middle of the train?? If I followed this correctly, Layton was uptrain and uncoupled the front from the middle while Melanie was in back uncoupling the back part from the middle. But when the two sections re-joined it looked like Layton was in the back and Melanie was in the front.

Also, at the very end when the supply train (?) was coupling with Snowpiercer, why were all l those tailees still back there living in squalor? Hadn't anyone gotten around to telling them they had won the revolution? Or do they just like it back there?

That scene with Melanie running across the top of the train was absurd. I'm sorry, but no. It's 115 below zero outside, the roof of that train would be a sheet of ice and I don't care what kind of boots you wore you'd never be able to walk on it. Not for even the few seconds Melanie managed it.

[Pachengala]

22 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

why were all l those tailees still back there living in squalor? Hadn't anyone gotten around to telling them they had won the revolution? Or do they just like it back there?

That made me crazy too. VERY FIRST THING I’m resettling those folks into the vacated jackboot etc. housing then decoupling the tail cars to relieve the engine of that strain. At the very least I’d turn their fucking heat on. 

[AryasMum]

Well, I loved it. I watched with my cousin as she marathoned the first eight episodes, and she was shocked when I shared the criticism I read.  She didn’t find it boring, poorly acted, etc. The finale tonight for her, and she’s definitely in for season two - which doesn’t seem too far off, since they showed a brief preview. 

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, CeeBeeGee said:

Did the show open with animation? I'm thinking they either wanted to bookend it or it's a nod to the graphic novel.

I had heard that the movie and series was based on a novel, but I didn't realize until now that it was a graphic novel.  Knowing that, yeah I'd say the ending animation was intentional.

[Snickerdoodle]

So the cars that they cut loose...won’t they still be on the track when Snowpiercer makes its next pass on that section? Won’t those cars be in the way? 

[rmontro]

2 minutes ago, Snickerdoodle said:

So the cars that they cut loose...won’t they still be on the track when Snowpiercer makes its next pass on that section? Won’t those cars be in the way? 

No, all that maneuvering was to make them roll off onto a siding, while the other cars continued along the main line and coupled back up. 

I'm not sure how they control the switching, because I thought they said all the cold made machinery freeze up outside the train.  Things operate in space, but there isn't moisture in space.  Maybe when it gets that cold, the humidity disappears.

[blackwing]

Well, we got to the end.  I'm just happy that Jinju survived.  We finally learned that not only is Jinju the sushi bar chef and the naked fisherman, but she is also Head Gardener.  What was the point of the decoupling?  I thought they were trying to get rid of first class, but apparently it was just to get rid of the Jackboots?  So now there are absolutely no soldiers on board at all?  How come the soldiers and the Folgers were in the school classroom?  Which I thought was in Second Class.  It was just a lucky coincidence that the Folgers happened to be there as well?

I'm disappointed that there wasn't a final ending for Lilah Junior.  Now her smirk is going to be with us for Season 2.

That was Audrey that was giving Melanie the meditation where she had the flashbacks of her daughter, right?  I was confused because I thought Zarah was the meditation lady.  Really don't like Audrey.  Very judgmental towards Melanie (I was waiting for the reveal that they are sisters but it didn't happen) and then the last few episodes she's taken to dressing in some kind of futuristic Star Trek Nazi costume.

18 hours ago, rmontro said:

The 9th episode seemed like a real season finale, and the 10th just got kind of weird.  This "supply train" business just came out of left field.  If there was a supply train available, why wasn't that utilized to save people?  Well, in the end I guess it was.  And if it had all that useful stuff on it, why wasn't it part of the train?  Maybe there was a plan in place, but Melanie had to leave it behind in her haste to take over the train.

I had a feeling most of the season that we might see Mr. Wilford in the end.  I wonder if there's any chance he picked up those other cars that got left behind by Andre and Melanie?  

Another oddity:  If Melanie was the real genius behind the train, why does Wilford's train seem to have superior technology?

Anyway, good finale.  

I was so confused about the "Supply Train".  Was it built just to supply Snowpiercer?  How does it even work conceptually... it's like a pitstop and Snowpiercer latches on to get what they need?  Why isn't it just attached to the train to begin with?  I think I thought English Engineer (whose name I finally learned is Bennett) said it was 40 cars long?  How many people live on the Supply Train and why was this the first time we heard about it?

18 hours ago, saoirse said:

As soon as the person advancing from Big Alice was a young woman, I knew it was Melanie's daughter. Then it was just waiting for her to confirm it.

I agree it was obvious that this was Melanie's daughter.  They talked way too much about her and showed us way too many flashbacks to not have her appear.

9 hours ago, Superclam said:

Based on the last episode, and how loose this show is with "science," I think there's a strong chance we see those people again. 

I highly doubt we see them... I believe we were told that when the train was stopped, they only had 10 or 13 minutes before they all froze to death.  They need the train to keep moving to power the Engine to generate heat.

[Jadzia]

I usually can't hear Layton talk without thinking of Hamilton and this episode was even moreso, especially when he started talking about a "representative government". LOL. There was another piece of his dialogue that also seemed like it was out of Hamilton but I can't remember it now.

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I agree it was obvious that this was Melanie's daughter. 

Anyone know how old Melanie's daughter would be now?  I thought it was odd that Wilford would send someone so young in to lead the "invasion", but maybe he was figuring Melanie was in charge and wouldn't harm her daughter.  Even though she's already abandoned her once.

 

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

 

I highly doubt we see them... I believe we were told that when the train was stopped, they only had 10 or 13 minutes before they all froze to death.  They need the train to keep moving to power the Engine to generate heat.

I don't expect to see them again either.  But it is at least possible that Wilford's supply chain was shadowing Snowpiercer from a short distance out of view, investigated the uncoupled cars, and performed a rescue operation.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

I don't expect to see them again either.  But it is at least possible that Wilford's supply chain was shadowing Snowpiercer from a short distance out of view, investigated the uncoupled cars, and performed a rescue operation.  

Yes, I'm going on two laws of tv: 1., we never saw the frozen bodies, and 2. deus ex machina on a show where the logic and science are iffy at best. If this show goes 4-5 seasons and they run out of plot, having the Folgers or the jackboots leader return would make for an interesting twist. 

[rmontro]

19 minutes ago, Superclam said:

If this show goes 4-5 seasons and they run out of plot, having the Folgers or the jackboots leader return would make for an interesting twist. 

It would make more sense, logic wise, to bring them back now and say that Wilford rescued them.  But maybe the jackboots leader had access to one of those suits like Melanie had that could withstand the frigid temperature, and he hightailed it to some safe, sheltered location.  Though where that would be I have no idea.  It would make more sense to take one of these engines WIlford has, and put it to use heating an underground shelter, without the added expenditure of pulling 1,001 cars, or however many there are now.  

 

[redpencil]

On 7/12/2020 at 8:39 PM, rmontro said:

I had a feeling most of the season that we might see Mr. Wilford in the end.  I wonder if there's any chance he picked up those other cars that got left behind by Andre and Melanie?  

I don't know how the other train would have come across them. They sent the decoupled cars off on a side track, but it can't be the same track that Wilford's train was on, which was only just coming into view on a track connecting with theirs.

I actually enjoyed these episodes overall more than I thought I would, and am interested to see where it goes next. It seems somewhat clear to me that Mr. Wilford will be the next "villain" of some sort. I'm actually interested in seeing some of these people work together in ways they didn't this season (in particular Layton and Melanie, who actually seems relieved to not be the one in charge anymore, but still cares about the survival of the train and knows more about Mr. Wilford than anyone else).

So, at the beginning Layton was also perfectly fine with the idea of Melanie being executed. So dumb.

I knew from the episode title that we would be losing cars, but definitely did not expect it to be from the middle instead of the tail. That actually made that sequence more interesting.

Layton had to make a sucky choice to cut that car, but he essentially made this choice when he started the revolution in the first place. People were going to die, he knew that. He just didn't expect this to be one of the ways. Well, revolution is messy. Melanie was right. Hard choices have to be made, and he was fooling himself if he ever thought it would be easy even if they succeeded.

Ruth is a truly delusional Wilford believer, thinks he's some sort of savior and she's his lead disciple. Layton handled her well there at the end. I really want to see the moment she realizes Mr. Wilford is not the man she thinks he is. Also, there's no way Gray actually loved her. He was using her IMO and would have disposed of her if he decided he had no further use for her.

Edited July 15, 2020 by redpencil

[Quilt Fairy]

I don't understand how WIlford went from being the next Messiah to the enemy (at least Melanie's enemy).   I admittedly was not paying close attention in some of the earlier episodes, but that seems hard to miss.  

[blackwing]

I am utterly shocked that Lilah Junior survived.  As she said, everybody hates her.  The people in Third hate her because she cut off penises.  The people in First hate her because she's a spoiled brat.  How is it that nobody has killed her?  Especially during that party in what was formerly her parents' cabin.  To Third and the Tailees, she is a symbol of the injustice that they experienced.  She killed some of them and got away with it.  To First, she should be viewed as the person who sparked the revolution when her sentence got commuted.

To make it worse, now it looks like she is going to hook up with Ossweiller, since he too admits that he is despised by all.  Maybe a subplot of Season 2 can be trying to find out who killed her.

2 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I don't understand how WIlford went from being the next Messiah to the enemy (at least Melanie's enemy).   I admittedly was not paying close attention in some of the earlier episodes, but that seems hard to miss.  

The passengers truly believed that he was the one that built the train and saved them all.  So there was some element of hero worship going on.  I think Ruth and the First Class people still view him as some kind of saviour.  But I think Layton and the Tailees view him as some sort of creator of the system of injustice that they just overcame.  Now that they are on equal ground, they don't want this guy coming in, taking control and screwing things up.

 

 

[GreyBunny]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

The passengers truly believed that he was the one that built the train and saved them all.  So there was some element of hero worship going on.  I think Ruth and the First Class people still view him as some kind of saviour.  But I think Layton and the Tailees view him as some sort of creator of the system of injustice that they just overcame.  Now that they are on equal ground, they don't want this guy coming in, taking control and screwing things up.

 

 

Not to mention Melanie views him as a selfish know-nothing playboy that was just going to get everyone killed and she left him behind on the tracks because of it.

I liked that the different factions that had to work together didn’t mesh well, there was a lot of mistrust and their fragile alliances were based not on trust but mutual self-interest. There wasn’t a feel of a “one train” Snowpiercer nation until you had the different factions staring together down the newly opened door into Big Alice.
 

I also thought it was interesting they had Layton and Till decide to give up something personal and choose the train. Mel is all, “Welcome to my life.”

[Tachi Rocinante]

17 hours ago, CeeBeeGee said:

Did the show open with animation? I'm thinking they either wanted to bookend it or it's a nod to the graphic novel.

Yes, the opening had a fairly significant animated sequence.  I figured it was a bookend.

I honestly thought LJ planted the publicity idea in her parents' heads because she knew they might get captured or die. She had that look in her eyes when she hugged her father, but then she seemed genuinely depressed.  {shrug}.

[Netfoot]

Powerful symbolism as the people wait and watch for the opening of the door: the W on the hatch rotates into an M. Just wish I knew what it meant.

Gigantic as the carriages of the Train are in comparison to a regular train's carriages, the carriages of the Supply Train are even bigger. Taller and wider.

Layton really is a self-important dick.

[blackwing]

15 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Layton really is a self-important dick.

For sure.  I never believed in his "cause" to begin with and he has pretty much been a self-righteous and constant ass, and perhaps he might have heard some of the lyrics from one of King George III's songs in "Hamilton" -

"What comes next?  You've been freed.  Do you know how hard it is to lead?  You're on your own.  Awesome, wow!  Do you have a clue what happens now?  Oceans rise.  Empires fall.  It's much harder when it's all your call.  All alone, across the sea.  When your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me."

He wanted control of the train, now he has it.  Granted, he's got Melanie and Bennett to help him with the engineering part, but now that he is the supposed leader, it will be really interesting to see how he deals with Mr. Wilford.  He wanted everyone to be equal, let's see what happens when this new group of people enters his train and demands access to his bowling alley and his ocean.

[AnimeMania]

10 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I don't understand how WIlford went from being the next Messiah to the enemy (at least Melanie's enemy).   I admittedly was not paying close attention in some of the earlier episodes, but that seems hard to miss.  

Mr. Wilford wanted the train to be one endless party of booze and whores, while Melanie saw the train as humanity's last hope for survival. Melanie knew Wilford wouldn't go for it, so she left him behind.

[rmontro]

12 hours ago, redpencil said:

I don't know how the other train would have come across them. They sent the decouple cars off on a side track, but it can't be the same track that Wilford's train was on, which was only just coming into view on a track connecting with theirs.

At least 24 hours passed between the cars decoupling and their encountering the supply train.  It's possible Wilford had been tracking them for some time, maybe following behind, just out of sight.  He could have rescued the cars, then taken another track as a short cut to intercept Snowpiercer.  I'm not saying this is what happened, I'm just saying it's certainly possible if that's the direction they wanted to go in.

 

4 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Powerful symbolism as the people wait and watch for the opening of the door: the W on the hatch rotates into an M. Just wish I knew what it meant.

I thought that was interesting also, it didn't really make sense to me.  Since Melanie's reign had come to an end by that time.  Might have made more sense to have an M become a W.  Sort of.

[tennisgurl]

Episode nine seemed like the real "finale" of the season, while ten was more of the coda and the set up for next season, which seems like it will deal with this other train and Mr. Wilford as a new bad guy. It kind of reminds me of Battlestar Galactic when they found the Pegasus, another ship filled with survivors after thinking they were the only people left. Its also probably going to go about as well as that did, and this new train will make Snowpiercer and its passengers look like models of democracy and decorum in comparison, but that will wait until next season! I liked this season, logistical screwyness and all. It was exciting and the world building on the train was really interesting, with strong performances from both the leads and the supporting cast, who can really sell even the weirdest stuff that goes on. 

So Layton's rebellion managed to take the train...and not too surprisingly its a big mess. Rebellions are in many ways much easier than what comes after, actually trying to run a place. Swinging an ax is one thing, but creating a new filing system?!? So not only are they now trying to re make the entire train system, they have to deal with looters, the supply chain being a mess, tons of dead people, reassuring first class that they dont plan on chopping off any heads, random violence, it was probably almost a relief to find the other train and maybe find some more people to fight! 

Good riddance to the Folgers, although I am not totally sure they are really most sincerely dead quite yet. LJ is still around though, and chaos isn't quite as much fun as she thought it would be. I guess she is allowed to live for helping the rebellion (even if it was for her own amusement instead of because she cared about the cause) isn't having a very good time of it. She should consider herself lucky they dont toss her off the train after what she did, or at least let a few limbs freeze off. 

Poor Walter the Papermaker! 

Alison Wright is so good, and as off the wall crazy as Ruth has become, I am so glad that she has gotten so much material in the back half of the season. She has gone beyond being a true believer in the myth of Mr. Wilford and into being an particularly obsessive acolyte. Yeah as soon as we saw the girl coming from the new train I knew that it would be Melanie's daughter, so that should complicate things even further. 

[Dminches]

39 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Alison Wright is so good, and as off the wall crazy as Ruth has become, I am so glad that she has gotten so much material in the back half of the season. She has gone beyond being a true believer in the myth of Mr. Wilford and into being an particularly obsessive acolyte. 

 

She is, but I still think of her as Martha.

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Dminches

[AryasMum]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Episode nine seemed like the real "finale" of the season, while ten was more of the coda and the set up for next season, which seems like it will deal with this other train and Mr. Wilford as a new bad guy. It kind of reminds me of Battlestar Galactic when they found the Pegasus, another ship filled with survivors after thinking they were the only people left. Its also probably going to go about as well as that did, and this new train will make Snowpiercer and its passengers look like models of democracy and decorum in comparison, but that will wait until next season! I liked this season, logistical screwyness and all. It was exciting and the world building on the train was really interesting, with strong performances from both the leads and the supporting cast, who can really sell even the weirdest stuff that goes on. 

So Layton's rebellion managed to take the train...and not too surprisingly its a big mess. Rebellions are in many ways much easier than what comes after, actually trying to run a place. Swinging an ax is one thing, but creating a new filing system?!? So not only are they now trying to re make the entire train system, they have to deal with looters, the supply chain being a mess, tons of dead people, reassuring first class that they dont plan on chopping off any heads, random violence, it was probably almost a relief to find the other train and maybe find some more people to fight! 

Good riddance to the Folgers, although I am not totally sure they are really most sincerely dead quite yet. LJ is still around though, and chaos isn't quite as much fun as she thought it would be. I guess she is allowed to live for helping the rebellion (even if it was for her own amusement instead of because she cared about the cause) isn't having a very good time of it. She should consider herself lucky they dont toss her off the train after what she did, or at least let a few limbs freeze off. 

Poor Walter the Papermaker! 

Alison Wright is so good, and as off the wall crazy as Ruth has become, I am so glad that she has gotten so much material in the back half of the season. She has gone beyond being a true believer in the myth of Mr. Wilford and into being an particularly obsessive acolyte. Yeah as soon as we saw the girl coming from the new train I knew that it would be Melanie's daughter, so that should complicate things even further. 

Especially if Wilford has taken a personal interest in Alexandra and has been grooming her to take over. 

[rmontro]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Alison Wright is so good, and as off the wall crazy as Ruth has become, I am so glad that she has gotten so much material in the back half of the season. She has gone beyond being a true believer in the myth of Mr. Wilford and into being an particularly obsessive acolyte.

Reminds me that I wanted to mention that "sign of the cross" type W that she made over her chest last episode.  Nice touch to show the almost religious zeal some have for Wilford.  Also, they're still capitalizing the "He" in the captions when Wilford is referred to.

[GreyBunny]

16 hours ago, blackwing said:

For sure.  I never believed in his "cause" to begin with and he has pretty much been a self-righteous and constant ass, and perhaps he might have heard some of the lyrics from one of King George III's songs in "Hamilton" -

"What comes next?  You've been freed.  Do you know how hard it is to lead?  You're on your own.  Awesome, wow!  Do you have a clue what happens now?  Oceans rise.  Empires fall.  It's much harder when it's all your call.  All alone, across the sea.  When your people say they hate you, don't come crawling back to me."

He wanted control of the train, now he has it.  Granted, he's got Melanie and Bennett to help him with the engineering part, but now that he is the supposed leader, it will be really interesting to see how he deals with Mr. Wilford.  He wanted everyone to be equal, let's see what happens when this new group of people enters his train and demands access to his bowling alley and his ocean.

 If all they want is a bed, some food, a vote, and some R&R in the night car as equals he wouldn’t have a problem with it. If they want to take over as the new 1st class and stuff the snowpiercers back into the tail, that’s a problem.

[TV Anonymous]

On 7/13/2020 at 3:30 AM, GreyBunny said:

 I might have missed some tech talk, but why couldn’t Layton walk back one more car and released the car behind the prisoners and save his friends?

First possibility is that he ran out of time already. He did not have the time to run back one car and decouple from there. Second possibility is that the car might have jackboots in it, the very people he wanted to eliminate.

On 7/13/2020 at 7:53 AM, Dminches said:

Did anyone notice that towards the end of the scene when Melanie fell off the train and they showed a view of the train from the outside it looked like it went to an animated view?  I believe the Blacklist finale morphed into animation since they ran out of time to shoot due to the virus.

This show, and the 2013 movie before it, are based on French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. I believe TPTB wants to remind viewers that that is where they come from.

[rmontro]

6 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

First possibility is that he ran out of time already. He did not have the time to run back one car and decouple from there. Second possibility is that the car might have jackboots in it, the very people he wanted to eliminate.

It also seemed to be a very meticulously timed operation, he had to decouple at exactly three minutes after Melanie had decoupled hers.  Decoupling another car down might have thrown everything off, and everybody dies.  I don't pretend to understand it all, but it seemed to be imperative that Layton decouple that exact car, even though it was very inconvenient.  In fact, considering everything that could have gone wrong, with the jackboots wanting to execute Layton after he signed the surrender, it seemed like a huge risk to take.  I don't know why they didn't just use the tunnel under the train and get up there that way.  Seems like there would be a lesser chance of things going awry.

[maystone]

I liked the series, and I really liked the finale. I was spoiled by IMDB for Wilford reappearing - thanks guys - but thankfully they didn't provide any information on how he reappeared. I thought the second train was inspired, and the chase scene had some good tension. When that super-heated clamp or whatever it was started opening, I actually gasped. If Wilford is a sham engineer, then he found a very worthy replacement for Melanie.

I'm going to guess that the supply train was part of the original selling point by Wilford, but no doubt (in my mind anyway) it was designed by Melanie. She seemed to have a lot of info about it when they were trying to outrun it. My guess is that it was intended to be a part of Snowpiercer, but I think it's likely that things started spiraling out of control before everyone and everything could get settled.

I hate LJ, and it's going to be annoying as hell to have her smirky chaos running in and out of the plot. My prediction is that she immediately heads for the Wilford side of the coming plot line. And I didn't buy for one second that she was mourning her parents. She set them up! We also saw in her show trial that she could turn on the crocodile tears in an instant. No, she was crying because she lost her status and, yeah, no one likes her, and she killed the only people in her life who were willing to be a constant barrier between her and any bad consequences. Please, someone kill her.

I'm looking forward to Melanie's continuing story. No spoiler, just that they show wouldn't do all the prep for Alexanders arrival if they weren't going to reunite mother and daughter.

I love how many strong women characters there are in Snowpiercer.

 

[Empress1]

On 7/18/2020 at 9:10 PM, maystone said:

I hate LJ, and it's going to be annoying as hell to have her smirky chaos running in and out of the plot. My prediction is that she immediately heads for the Wilford side of the coming plot line. And I didn't buy for one second that she was mourning her parents. She set them up! We also saw in her show trial that she could turn on the crocodile tears in an instant. No, she was crying because she lost her status and, yeah, no one likes her, and she killed the only people in her life who were willing to be a constant barrier between her and any bad consequences. Please, someone kill her.

Amen. I was thinking, somebody toss her out into the snow. She's also not a good enough actress to hold my interest. Like, Ruth gets on my nerves but at least the actress is compelling.

"Layton, why you always gotta ask me to be a better man?" I howled.

[Haleth]

3 hours ago, Empress1 said:

 

"Layton, why you always gotta ask me to be a better man?" I howled.

Has Steven Ogg ever not played a scheming, smarmy villain?

[wanderingstar]

After watching the first season of this show, the best description of it I can come up with is cheap thrills that make me feel dirty afterward.

[Darkartfan]

Spoiler...

Spoiler

 

Can some one explain to me why Layton, when unhooking the cars, can't go back one car and unhook there, to save all the people in chains? They unhook 7 cars, but the 7th is full of his friends in chains. He could have easily gone to the back of that car and unhooked to save his friends right? Or was there something i missed where someone explains, you can only unhook every 2 or 3 or 7 cars?

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by saoirse
Adding spoiler tag

[Christina]

On 1/3/2021 at 1:54 PM, Darkartfan said:

Spoiler...

  Hide contents

 

 

Can some one explain to me why Layton, when unhooking the cars, can't go back one car and unhook there, to save all the people in chains? They unhook 7 cars, but the 7th is full of his friends in chains. He could have easily gone to the back of that car and unhooked to save his friends right? Or was there something i missed where someone explains, you can only unhook every 2 or 3 or 7 cars?

 

 

I believe the issue was that they needed that many cars detached to go on the side track. I'm trying to think of how to explain this and failing. Trying to break it down for clarity.

1. They were coming up to a curve and the engineer redirected the Snowpiercer down the side track.
    
2. Then, at the right time and in unison, they would detach the front cars and rear cars, leaving the jail car and the other six on the side track.
    
3. The rear cars wouldn't go down the side track, but instead would continue straight ahead after someone shifted the track back to the main one.
    
4. The first few cars would be back on the main track, the 7 cars would be on the side track and disconnected, and rear cars would barrel straight ahead on the main track and reconnect with the front cars.

 It's really easy to be confused with this show. The storytelling got quite confusing at many points.

[CynVicious]

On 1/3/2021 at 12:54 PM, Darkartfan said:

Spoiler...

  Reveal spoiler

 

 

Can some one explain to me why Layton, when unhooking the cars, can't go back one car and unhook there, to save all the people in chains? They unhook 7 cars, but the 7th is full of his friends in chains. He could have easily gone to the back of that car and unhooked to save his friends right? Or was there something i missed where someone explains, you can only unhook every 2 or 3 or 7 cars?

 

 

My understanding is that earlier Mel said they could only disconnect  junction cars. When Layton arrives between the cars he looks at the wall and it says J something something, so he knows this is the right place. He gets ready to disconnect, then he notices the prisoners. He tries to save them but he knows he can't just go down one more car because it is not a junction.