The Last To Go
Episode 2 of Snowpiercer Season 3 begins with Ruth doing her best to brave the cold. Hiding out in the back-end of the train, she manages to evade Wilford’s men while using rats through the pipes to communicate with Pike, who happens to be further down the train. Ruth is able to send Pike a message that she is safe and that he should come find her. Meanwhile, in the front-end of the train, Chris and Yoko are still trying to find a way out. ..
It seems that Wilford is up to something and that something comes in the form of an EMP pulse. That’s bound to cause absolute chaos for their resistance plans, but more so for Layton and the others.
As this weapon is located in the last car of the train, it seems like it will be used as a weapon against the other train. The experiment they conduct, with an electrical wave rippling through the carriages, is testament to its destructive power.
Wilford is not happy about this development. He’s worried that Alice is going to get married and then run off with Osweiller, and he doesn’t want that to happen. He wants her to stay with him and protect him from the dangers on the train.
Wilford visits Lilah on the eve of her wedding, and his words echo Osweiller’s. Lilah is aware of Wilford’s presence, and she thanks him for coming to help her out. Osweiller sees straight through this PR stunt and ends up fighting with Lilah right on the eve of their wedding. His words are echoed by Wilford later on when he visits Lilah, slithering into her subconscious and keeping the young woman by his side.
Wilford threatens Osweiller to stay in line after bringing up the side-hustles he was engaged in during season 1.
Meanwhile, Layton and Ben check the ice records they’ve gathered. Melanie’s research is definitely correct, the ice is heating up but it’s not hot enough to be habitual yet. At least, not for a whole century.
The crew of the train are running low on food and have only one promising location left to find food. However, getting their train back from Wilford will be a difficult task. ..
As Layton and the researcher, Asha, wake up from their slumber, they are greeted by the sight of a train that has miraculously survived. The two soon learn that this is only the beginning of their journey as they embark on a quest to find out what happened to the rest of the world. ..
While Asha settles in, Layton begins to research the tree he’s been seeing in his visions. Now, it seems that this is a Dragon’s Blood tree and it grows in the Gulf of Aden. He tells Bess in confidence, who encourages him to keep his visions a secret. The last thing they need is another crazy person on the train!
Asha survived by using the plant’s residual power to survive. Most of them were Korean scientists, but marauders took out half of them during the early parts of the apocalypse. Then the cold and radiation poisoning kicked in. Asha barely made it – but she did it.
Wilford is looking the worse for wear and has clearly been roughed up by Javi. When he heads down-train by request, he finds Ruth who asks for his help as an engineer. Wilford is skittish and tells her that the weapon is to use against Layton. Beyond that though, he refuses to divulge more and scrambles back up the train. ..
Ruth leaves Pike in charge while she awaits Kevin’s arrival. She’s surrendering. While the wedding goes ahead as scheduled, Kevin shows up and gives Wilford a knowing nod. Of course, Ruth surrendering is a play to distract Wilford enough so the rest of the resistance can disrupt the EMP pulse.
With less than 30 seconds to go, Pike and the others manage to knock the weapon out the back. As it tumbles and explodes, the full force of the EMP pulse ripples through Big Alice and even hits Layton’s train too. However, it also has unintended positive side effects. ..
Wilford is blind to what’s happening but Layton and the others have a lock-on on the origins of this blast. It’s not far away either and Layton believes they can get the drop on Big Alice.
Wilford is livid and he takes his anger out on Ruth, preparing to freeze her arm off, just like they used to in the days of Wilford’s original rule. Layton and the others rock up just in time though. As war is set to arrive, the episode comes to an agonizing end.
The Episode Review
Snowpiercer bows out with a pretty decent episode, one that continues to push the two trains in unexpected directions. The inclusion of Asha and her plight is a nice touch, and it’ll be interesting to see if there are any other survivors other than her lurking about.
Meanwhile, the show continues to deliver compelling drama with Wilford managing to capture Ruth after she sacrificed herself for the good of the train. It’s still unknown whether Layton and the others will manage to take back Big Alice from Wilford, especially after how much drama unfolded at the end of the previous season for this hierarchy to be split in two. ..
With the next battle looming, things seem to be getting tense and exciting for next week’s follow-up. Who will come out on top is still up in the air, but it looks like there will be a lot of action!
