Setting Itself Right
Episode 8 of Snowpiercer Season 3 starts with Asha being given a purpose aboard the train. Asha has become so ingrained in surviving at all costs that the very idea of being part of a community again (especially after poisoning her fellow scientists) feels alien to her. At first, she resists joining the other passengers, but eventually she gets settled in and becomes part of the crew. ..
Layton heads down-train to talk to Asha, speaking with her in confidence about New Eden. Specifically he brings up the tree he’s been seeing and how his faith in where they’re going has been shattered. Layton is interrupted by Ben and Alex calling him to the bridge though with big news about this episode’s subplot. They believe Melanie is still alive, pointing out the signal that appears to be moving. Some among them deduce that she could have got a maintenance vehicle running which could explain the movements.
Layton is skeptical of Wilford’s motives when he learns it was he who found the signal. He questions whether or not it is another deception, and how likely it is that he would do something like this if he had a masterplan. Still, they cling to faith for now, but soon comes back to bite them as they head en-route to the signal.
Wilford deliberately led the group of students on a track that leads to a gas station with toxic fumes in order to get them to investigate it. ..
Layton grabs Wilford and brings him up to the bridge, where he can see the toxic cloud for himself. His look of genuine surprise seems to hint that he’s not responsible for this – and the others reluctantly agree with that assessment. A Code Yellow warning is issued across the train, as Snowpiercer dives into the mouth of this orange cloud. ..
With all the passengers confined to their cabins, Till finds herself cozying up with Audrey. Elsewhere, Ruth is shacked up with Asha, who share a drink together. However, the real drama here stems from Audrey who tries to hypnotize Till, telling her she’s changed and despite having a rotten past, her present is where she needs to focus her attention. The pair hug.
Despite struggling with his new fear of dogs, brought on from Wilford’s influence, Javi heads down the train where he notices the scrubbers have been completely corroded and they need to seal the envelopes from the gas. If they don’t, it’ll spread throughout the train and cause serious damage. With Sykes starting to fade, Javi does his best to push through his fears, dragging her to safety despite hearing the echoing sound of a dog barking.
With Javi out of the way, Layton and Asha enlist Asha’s help to patch up the damage on the train. They communicate with Bennett to try and figure out a solution.
Asha, a brave and determined young woman, makes a bold decision to remove her suit and head down to shut the vents in order to save herself and the others. Unfortunately, she quickly succumbs to the toxic gas and dies soon after.
As the episode ends, we see our mad scientist, who does an experiment on LJ, taking part of her skin. Quite what she’s done though, is still a mystery.
A signal pings as the Snowpiercer makes it through to the other side of a toxic cloud. It seems to be Melanie, as the group wonder whether she’s actually still alive. ..
The Episode Review
This season of Snowpiercer feels like it’s going in circles, with no real plot or focus. After last week’s episode to pad out the run-time, this week turns the attention to a toxic gas cloud that causes Asha to lose her life. So what was the point in her character? What did we actually gain from seeing her get onto the Snowpiercer? We could have had a fascinating glimpse of the world falling apart through her eyes but instead, we get flickers of visions and that’s about it.
That’s before mentioning Roche dancing about and Audrey with Till in a sequence about moving on. Without an end-goal here (are we still going to find salvation at New Eden?) the season just feels like a train set on someone’s tabletop – it’s just going round and round without an end-goal.
The finale of this series feels like it’s running out of steam. The show has been struggling for a while and the finale will undoubtedly leave things on a big cliffhanger, but honestly, this series has been a shadow of what it once was.
