The First Blow

Wilford blasts through debris left behind on the tracks, determined to reach the other end. Even though everything is in his way, he’s not afraid and he knows that nothing will stop him from reaching his destination.

Layton’s plan is to “peck them” from the side. Zarah is brought in to help with the plan, and Wilford unveils his dastardly plan.

Josie intends to breach Big Alice and bring Ruth back. They have only one chance at this and those deep in the heart of Big Alice know that too. They intend to do this by hitting out against the soldiers that show up and tell them to work.

The whole plan goes awry when Wilford launches his ace up his sleeve - a harpoon launcher. After striking Snowpiercer’s final carriage, Layton has no choice but to disconnect the last 4 carriages and leave them to their icy fate. Even worse, Wilford’s train has gone dark and he’s shut off all comms. So naturally, Layton does the same. ..

Pike arrives at the prison after talking his way past Whiggins, the lowly soldier standing at the door. They need to signal Layton, so naturally they set off fireworks to alert Snowpiercer where they are.

With the location sorted, Layton decides to use Josie as bait to catch Wilford off-guard. They intend to bring Zarah back to them and to do that, it comes down to a game of chicken.

Wilford stops the train and orders everyone to disembark. Javi is able to press a button and open one of the doors, letting Layton slip inside. This allows Layton to escape from the train and safety.

Wilford is the distraction by the windows and as he cracks the windscreen, Josie serves as the safety net by the door.

Layton forces Wilford to step down. With the trains reconnected, the two trains are one again and the attention finally turns to the Horn of Africa. Layton is going to make a good go of it and informs Ruth of his plan soon after. In order to make it fair, he’s going to bring it to a vote for everyone up and down the train. ..

Meanwhile, Wilford is kept in lock-up while Audrey learns she’s confined to third class and forced out the Nightcar.

Just before the big vote, Layton ends up using Asha to talk about green grass, trees and New Eden during the broadcast. This is a way to rig the vote and it works well, with the “yes” winning almost two to one. ..

Asha is still an enigma, and as Ruth talks to the train about their endeavour, we cut back to Asha one more time as she sits with a helmet on, breathing heavily and clearly not quite right. ..

The Episode Review

Snowpiercer returns this week with another exciting episode. The trains have finally been joined together, and the fate of Snowpiercer hangs by the hope that there is life in Africa. This rigging of the vote is nothing new, but it’s been a recurring theme throughout the three seasons. Lies are the norm and the truth is twisted. ..

This raises the interesting idea of democracy and how here, everything has been distorted and blurred so it’s hard to tell right from wrong. ..

With Layton now in charge and Wilford back in custody, it’s only a matter of time before Wilford takes back control. I’d imagine they’ll make it to Africa, realize there’s nothing but ice and broken promises, and that will allow Wilford to rise up again and split the trains. ..

It seems like the way that Layton took back the train with the rebels was too easy to see our main antagonist skulk away into the recesses of the train for long. ..

Snowpiercer is starting to get interesting now and it’ll be intriguing to see what’s in store for our characters next.