Welcome to Multiversity’s coverage of Snowpiercer, the television show loosely based on the 1982 graphic novel “Le Transperceneige” and more directly influenced by the 2013 film by Bong Joon-ho. In this third episode entitled “Access is Power,” it’s Fight Night on Snowpiercer or rather a distraction from the breached agriculture car from last week’s episode that is causing the train to slow down and forcing rations for the third class cars and tailies. Layton and the Brakemen continue their investigation as we are introduced to more factions in the cars. And Wilford (who is totally Sean Bean) also reminds us: Survive. Survive. The Engine will provide.
1. Reality Check
If you’ve been following along, Snowpiercer is a show about the injustices of class differences which often involves the use of force by elites to maintain those boundaries. Having said that, it would be unconscionable for me to avoid talking about the past several days with whatever platform I have as the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota by police officers sworn to serve and protect their community weighs heavily on my mind. This obviously isn’t the first time something like this has happened, but we can take the steps to ensure that it will be the last. Please reflect on your actions and how they may contribute to systemic racism. If you’re able to, please donate to any of the black-led causes and non-profits organizing against institutions of oppression. And if you’re out on the streets, please be safe. Black Lives Matter.
2. More Room for the Supporting Cast
If the last episode continued its narrow focus on Melanie and Layton, this episode expanded its scope giving some nice character moments for a handful of the show’s supporting cast and the addition of some new players. At the top of this list is Terrence (played by Shaun Taub) the leader of the Janitors and a central figure in the black market of Snowpiercer. Taub’s introduction and performance is an interesting case of when the actor performs as well as they can with meager dialogue available to them. When Taub reveals that in the Old Life he was also a janitor for a high rise and that the train is just a horizontal high rise, I audibly groaned. However I appreciated Taub’s presence and pathos in the scene as both the audience and Layton try to get a better read on him.
There’s also Dr. Henry Klimpt (played by Happy Anderson) who opened the episode with a narration about the importance of access on the train. Klimpt’s kind of a creep and this episode doesn’t shy away from that, but hearing him articulate the greater workings of the train was a cogent addition to his character. The implied depth is better than the one-dimensional character we met in previous episodes.
3. Fight Night and Resisting the Urge to Reference Rules About Fight Night
This episode, Melanie Cavill makes the decision to move Fight Night up earlier than scheduled as Snowpiercer faces energy shortages and food rationing in the third class and tail cars. Fight Night is a big event held in the Night Car where third-class passengers physically fight one another on the cabaret stage for the opportunity to live in the second-class cars and for the entertainment of the first class passengers. Again, Snowpiercer is expanding the ways we can examine different aspects of society in terms of class and in this episode we see how sports and the physical pain of lower-class people are used for the enjoyment of the rich while perpetuating a dream of upward mobility for the rest. We also see how sports and entertainment in general can be used as a way to distract from the very real problems that are bubbling in the background.
For the most part, the writers handled this well and were able to craft their arguments organically with the plot of the show. The actual fights take a back seat to the murder investigation and I get the sense that the show was limited by its budget by only showcasing one fight and setting it in the Night Car. This gave me the sense that Fight Night was more of a setting than an actual event on the train, but again, not a huge knock against it when the idea itself is so good.
Continued below4. Murder… Solved?
After gratuitously hinting at some deeper involvement, the big reveal in this episode is that the girl from the first class family we’ve seen since the pilot episode and her bodyguard are somehow involved with the murders on Snowpiercer. But once again, who cares? I’m just happy that this murder investigation will likely wrap-up sooner rather than later.
5. Jennifer Connelly is a Scene Stealer
Just as Melanie is leading Snowpiercer, Connelly’s performance is carrying this show. On paper, I’m not sure Melanie is half as compelling as Connelly plays her. There’s such an ease and consistency in which Connelly is able to manage her appearances depending on who is in the room with Melanie: warm and hospitable to the first-class passengers, perceptive and intense among her peers, and cold and cunning to the lower classes. Where Alison Wright does her borderline comedic impression of Tilda Swinton’s Minister Mason any time Ruth addresses the Tailies, Melanie remains Melanie with subtle changes because the scene demands it.
