It can take a whole season before a promising science fiction show to display its true colors. That was the case with Snowpiercer season 1 and, sadly, the revelation was a disappointment.
The show initially focused on the class struggle between the poor, desperate, and forgotten “Tailies” literally at the back of the train versus the first-class one-percenters living in luxury at the front of the train. Caught in between were the staff, who had to decide whether to prop up the system or help dismantle it.
Unfortunately, Snowpiercer ultimately took a turn away from the political into melodrama instead, ending in the cliffhanger reappearance of another train, this one headed by the thought-dead Mr. Wilford. This sets up season 2 as a more personal struggle, rather than an idealistic one. This is especially true for Melanie Cavill, the voice of the train who turned her coat to help the revolution led by Tailie Andre Layton.
As I said in season 1 finale article, the show does a great deal of heavy lifting to create a moral equivalency between the hard choices Layton makes in this episode with the choices Melanie made for her idea of the good of the train. Melanie kept propping up a broken system for a long period of time, while Layton made a split-second choice that, in the end, was no choice at all.
Yes, this is a science fiction story set in a dystopian future. But all science fiction is, more than anything, a projection of what our life is today. That’s why the original Star Trek seems so 1960s and Star Trek: Next Generation so 80s and so on, all the way to Star Trek: Discovery reflecting the gray moral choices of today’s complicated society.
Snowpiercer is about class and social inequity. In the movie, which features characters that did not make the transition to the television show, the ultimate answer is to reject being manipulated and to reject supporting the system. The movie also ends with the hope that life can be sustained outside the train, but given all the changes to the story, it’s impossible to tell if that might happen on the show.
In the show, the class struggle is most visible between Melanie, played by Jennifer Connolly, and Layton, played by Daveed Diggs. The system versus the rebellion. What price will each pay to support their cause?
But somewhere along the way, perhaps in trying to present a more complex narrative, the show forgets that Melanie is part of the problem despite her final, desperation choice to join the rebellion, which is driven by the need to help the train and to save her own life. Layton has no choice about accepting her help in the final battle. She is the only one with the knowledge to uncouple the train temporarily and strand Wilford’s security forces.
The finale showcases Melanie’s pain, her fears, and her past coming back to haunt her, in the person of Mr. Wilford and the daughter she abandoned to steal the train. This cliffhanger tells us that Melanie’s the most important character on the show, not Layton, who has also lost so much in his struggle, including the Sophie’s Choice that he makes to secure victory.
Given the role that white women have (and continue to have) in racial and social inequity, especially in America, the implications of focusing so much on making the view feel bad for Melanie are, to put it mildly, disappointing. Connolly is terrific in the role. The actress isn’t the problem. The narrative that handwaves away her crimes and wants us to wholly sympathize with her is the problem.
Snowpiercer is capable of showing us fascinating characters who it nonetheless makes it clear are on the wrong side. Ruth, Melanie’s fellow hospitality agent, is capable of staggering cruelty in her role of protecting the first class passengers. Played brilliantly by Alison Wright, Ruth clings to the promise of Mr. Wilford’s brilliance to avert her fears of death and doom. The makes her a three-dimensional character but it’s careful to not diminish the evil that she’s done.
Continued belowMelanie murders the woman Layton loves in order to preserve the secret that Mr. Wilford is not on board the train. It’s a horrific scene and yet, I feel as if the narrative doesn’t realizing its showcasing a villain. Melanie’s secret remaining concealed doesn’t help those who need it — she’s preserved the status quo, after all. It only helps Melanie. Only after her secret is out does Melanie join the revolution.
Self-preservation or something more noble? Again, the story seems to believe this is something noble. I say it’s self-preservation and an odd obsession that makes her love the train more than people.
Meanwhile, Andre’s pain is minimized. There’s never a scene where he’s allowed to show his anger at Melanie for murdering his lover. There’s never a scene of righteous fury as Layton confront Melanie for coercing Layton’s pregnant ex-wife to betray the lover. And Layton is even set aside for two episodes in the middle of the season to showcase Melanie’s dilemmas.
Does that mean there’s no hope for season 2? Not necessarily but I’m concerned.
The trailers and posters for season two feature Mr. Wilford vs. Layton, the revolutionary versus the system. That’s all well and good. My fear is that the show will instead focus on Melanie’s angst at seeing her long-lost daughter again—the daughter she abandoned to steal the train instead. No doubt Mr. Wilford will play Melanie against Layton, perhaps giving Melanie a chance to finally attempt to atone for the wrong she’s done in the seven years since she stole the train. Or, instead of atoning, perhaps Melanie will throw up her hands and give in fully to the dark side with Mr. Wilford.
Perhaps season 2 will finally give Layton a chance to shine more brilliantly than in the past season, which stuck him initially with investigating a murder that turned out to be of little importance in the overall story.
I’ll be continuing on, recapping Snowpiercer Season 2 beginning on January 25. We will find out the answer together.
