#layton calls pelton first | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

snowpiercer-recaps · 2 years

Text

Season 2, episode 9: Wilford Wonka

Spoiler alert!!! This is a rewatch recap of Snowpiercer s2e9: The Show Must Go On. Naturally, it is full of spoilers for that episode. However, it also contains spoilers for some other episodes of season 1 and season 2. You have been warned!

This was a difficult recap to write, because I kept getting distracted by everyone’s outfits. So, before we get started, let’s just take a moment to revel in all of this:

The costume department of this show are queer heroes, and I hope they know it.

Ruth monologues this episode. The very first word is hope, so I guess we’re back on that theme! She reflects on the different ways that Melanie and Layton have used hope to unite the people, whereas Mr. Wilford has turned hope into fear. The monologue plays over scenes of Ruth getting dressed in her teals and travelling through the train, overseeing workers: things are running smoothly since Wilford took control. It also plays over a scene showing Jackboots stealing patient records from Dr. Pelton, while Ruth talks about keeping her own hope hidden in the people who can rekindle it.

Then, there’s a monologue break. Ruth, Till and Till’s detective coat have a sneaky conversation in the doorway of the Brakemen’s lockup - which is conspicuously free from any signs of Eugenia or Logan! We learn that Ruth and Till don’t know what’s happened to the Roche family, and that Wilford has sent for Till. Uh oh. Ruth heads inside.

Zarah tells Ruth that Layton is in The Swamp (Big Alice’s compost). Then, Ruth promises to try to find out why Wilford sent for Till. But she’s very busy at the moment, planning a dinner party and/or circus for Wilford. Zarah suspects that Audrey has told Wilford a lot about them, and Till and her detective coat are very stressed out. The others try to comfort her.

It’s been a month since their simultaneous breakup, so why not?

After the opening credits, Ruth and Kevin are accompanying Mr. Wilford to a suit fitting in First Class Dining - where else!? Mr. Wilford asks Ruth and Kevin to run a full census, so that they can split the classes up again.

Up in Snowpiercer’s engine, Javi and Bennett aren’t happy that Wilford is dividing them. Javi is worried about being sent to The Swamp. Bennett tries to cheer Javi up by giving him an old iPod from 2004 and reminding him that Wilford is very unlikely to kill either of them, because there aren’t enough trained engineers. Then, they give us some timeline info: they’re a week away from picking Melanie up, they’re running a day late, and they haven’t had contact with her in over a week. Finally, Javi collects his bag and his hula dancer figurine, gives Bennett one of the most unnatural fist bumps I’ve ever seen, and leaves for Big Alice.

In the corridors, Ruth is pressing Kevin for information on the big surprise, but he’s not telling! They chip into the non-torturey Hospitality room to discover a very pissed off Dr. Pelton, the Notary, and stacks of boxes of files. Ruth is outraged to discover that the files are medical records, not passenger files, and further outraged to discover that the age categories are children, adolescents, 18-39 and…

The Notary shows Ruth a sample questionnaire, which contains some very concerning questions designed to identify Tailies and rebels. Ruth is, once again, outraged. Kevin says he’ll snitch on her, and Ruth tells him that she’ll “have [her] own conversations with Mr. Wilford, thank you very much!” Ruth and Kevin bickering is very fun to watch. I just wish it was about something less awful!

In Big Alice’s engine, Javi is getting creeped out by the artwork. Alex calls him the fifth engineer (ouch!), then instructs him to sit down and not touch anything. Javi asks whether one of the panels is new, and Alex tells him that she just upgraded its interface on the second Revolution. So… she did the upgrade when she was either eight, nine, ten or eleven years old (depending on when her birthday is, and who’s right about her age at departure)!? I know she’s talented, but it’s still fucking wild that an eight year old was casually upgrading parts of the train that was keeping everyone alive!

Javi cracks out the figurine and passive-aggressively places it on the helm. Alex passive-aggressively reminds him not to touch anything. Javi then tries to explain the story behind the figurine - it’s a joke of Melanie’s. But Alex sees right through him and verbally cuts him down. When Alex feels the train, Javi tries to flatter her - Melanie said she has The Touch. But Alex doesn’t fall for bonding attempt #2, either, and shuts Javi in the cockpit with a Jackboot while she heads uptrain.

On Snowpiercer, Sykes takes Till and her detective coat to meet Wilford at a new exhibition in the art gallery. I’m going to resist the temptation to write an entire paragraph about those two walking around together in their beautifully queer outfits, and focus on the plot: Wilford shows Till and her detective coat his favourite painting.

Mr. Wilford, it is creepy to demand a meeting with someone you don’t know and immediately start asking them about porny paintings! Stop!

Till and her detective coat challenge Mr. Wilford about the disappearing passengers - especially her big brother, her dad, and his other family. Wilford responds by being creepy again! He calls Till a curious creature and says he doesn’t know what to do with her. Yuck! Till is feeling gutsy today, so she suggests that she should continue looking for the breach workers’ killers. Wilford complains that he never needed a detective before, because there wasn’t any crime on his train. Till counters that she doesn’t think he’s that naive, to which he (creepily, again) replies that he doesn’t think she’s that innocent.

After a quick Britney Spears lipsync battle, Wilford relaxes a bit and tells Till that the Roches have been drawered. They’ll be undrawered when everything settles down again. Till warns Wilford that Roche’s drawering won’t go down well, but Wilford has a nice distraction planned! He orders Sykes to take Till on a date to car 272.

Back on Snowpiercer, Kevin is excited to finally tell Ruth about the surprise: Mr. Wilford is opening car 272! And, even better, he’s putting Kevin in charge! Kevin and Ruth semi-kidnap Winnie and take her into Willy’s World. Yep, they seriously called it that! LJ and Alex are enjoying the rides, and Kevin tries to get them to stop. Bennett and his hair gel and Till and her detective coat are standing around at the side, being edgy together. When they see Ruth, they head over and Till tells her that the Roches have been drawered. But then, it’s time for the tech rehearsal! A picture speaks a thousand words so, uh, Wilford does this:

Next, we briefly catch up with Layton in The Swamp. He’s covered in shit and eating bug bars again, and that’s all we see before the next scene.

Josie wants to know what the Headwoods have done to her body without her consent! She didn’t sign up to be the next Icy Bob! The Headwoods calm her down, and suggest that they find out what Josie can do. Josie’s inner nerd wins out, and they all go off to do some experiments.

I hate it and I love it and it’s creepy but it’s great! (Sidenote: if Alex, Bennett and Wilford are all here, is Javi controlling both engines?)

When he’s finished making his grand entrance, Mr. Wilford announces the puppet show. This genuinely might be worse than the mangolingus scene? Alex is offended by the Alex puppet, so she does what she does best and storms off. Wilford mimes along to the words while the puppeteer does a pretty decent Sean Bean impression. When it’s over, LJ, Kevin and Wilford give the show a standing ovation. The others quietly seethe.

Wilford doesn’t understand what’s wrong with them all! Winnie calls him a liar and storms off Alex-style. Bennett calls the show pathetic, and Alex doesn’t think they have time for all this - they’re already a day late to pick up Melanie. Wilford suggests that Alex didn’t pay enough attention to the end of the show (where the Melanie puppet dies). Then, he drops the bomb that he knows the final launch data was faked: Ben lost contact with Melanie ten days ago.

Bennett admits it’s true, and Sykes escorts Bennett back to the engine before he has a chance to tell Alex much more - except not to give up on Melanie. With Ruth, Bennett and Sykes gone, Till has yet another poor anger management moment and decides to antagonise Wilford. In response, Wilford gets Kevin to start handing out tickets out to the dinner party. Wilford himself hands a ticket to Till, and tells her to “dress [her] next advice in eveningwear.”

Next, there’s a brief scene of Ruth Ruthing around before cutting to Zarah, uptrain. She’s giving Winnie a message for Josie, but Kevin interrupts them. After making sure Winnie is hidden, Zarah greets Kevin with a very Audrey-esque, “What do you want?” He wants to give Zarah some candyfloss! She snatches the snack and smashes his hand in the door. Zarah is getting more brutal by the day and I love that for her! Kevin shoves the dinner invitation under the door and leaves, clutching his hand.

The dinner means Wilford will be busy tonight - it’s a perfect opportunity for Josie to sneak around Big Alice to find Layton! Zarah checks in with Winnie again, hands her the candyfloss, and sends her on yet another ten mile run.

Meanwhile, on Big Alice, Josie and the Headwoods are testing her new superpowers. She makes some interesting noises in the cold chamber, and I hope my neighbours can’t hear this scene!

Down in The Swamp, Layton finds a shard of broken glass in the waste, and adds it to his secret stash of shitty stuff. Wilford comes along to bask in the eerie green swamp light. Wilford wonders whether Layton believes that his ideals make any difference in the end. Layton thinks they do, and Wilford doesn’t understand it.

He’s right, and he should say it!

Layton continues, saying that it was fragile, powerful men like Wilford that froze Earth in the first place. After all of his engine lessons, Detective Layton apparently isn’t suspecting that Wilford caused the freeze himself? Okay! As Layton and Wilford continue verbally sparring, The Swamp’s guard crochets a W coaster. I don’t think it ever becomes especially relevant, but it’s an enjoyable detail!

Layton finally rattles Wilford a bit when he says most people on Snowpiercer will never love him like he wants them to. Wilford finally rattles Layton a bit by telling him about the party later, with the last of Layton’s friends. Including Zarah. At that, Layton tries to hit Wilford in the face with his shitty shovel. Unfortunately, Wilford sees the attack coming a mile off, and drops the hatch.

Next, it’s the dinner party scene! I know this whole shitshow is divisive within the fandom, but personally I really enjoy it! Zarah, Alex and Till are all so bitter and dry and it’s GREAT.

Ruth excitedly announces to the waiters that the guests have arrived! But her face immediately falls when LJ is the first to enter. Osweiller follows behind her, and turns down the free drink he’s offered. Alex enters the room behind him, and definitely does not deny an opportunity for underage drinking. From the other side of the dining car, Till descends the stairs with Zarah on her arm. Where are those fanfic writers?

Ruth finally realises how unrandom the guest selection was, and quietly discusses it with Till and Zarah. Zarah has literally been locked up all day in First. Till promises that if Mr. Wilford threatens Zarah’s baby, she’ll kill him with her butterknife. Zarah’s kind of into it, but Ruth tells Till to take it easy.

The guests sit on sofas and anxiously discuss the evening. Osweiller is “a fish out of water”, and asks his big sister for help. LJ is super excited! Alex thinks they’re all screwed! Wilford and Audrey make a loud, drunken entrance before we hear any more opinions. Audrey is dripping in jewels and drinking directly from a bottle, and it’d be very fun to watch if it wasn’t so sad! She asks “Willy” to “tickle the ivories” for them. Yuck! Audrey and Wilford sing a duet, and argue about the lyrics. Meanwhile, Till asks Zarah whether Audrey is wearing a “freaking tiara”, and Ruth threatens Kevin to back off - this is her room!

Over dinner, Wilford shares that he knows that Osweiller and Till used to work together. It’s tense. Then, he introduces Alex and 'Zarah, from Hospitality'. Zarah immediately adds that she’s also Layton’s partner. Wilford corrects her: ex-wife, wasn’t it? Audrey backs him up. So, Zarah was right earlier - Audrey definitely has been telling Wilford information.

Zarah starts to have a go at Audrey, and Audrey casually shrugs it off. Then, Zarah calls Audrey a whore. WTF!? It’s a weird thing for her character to say, but I’m enjoying mean Zarah enough that I don't mind. Wilford chastises Zarah, and reminds her that they’re One Train, now! In response, Alex proposes a toast.

Wilford changes the subject to the puppet show, which LJ loved! Osweiller and Ruth quickly try to shut LJ up when she mentions Melanie, but Alex would love to hear more lies about her mother! LJ fills Alex in on a few details, and in the process accidentally outs herself as Snowpiercer’s resident dick chopper. Wilford enquires whether LJ was guilty, and she stutters out a denial. He clarifies, “So, you did not cut off those men’s penises?” because, of course that’s a line in this fucking show!

Alex asks whether it’s true, and Osweiller jumps to LJ’s defence. Wilford teases Osweiller about being quiet, tells him to be careful dating LJ, and then asks why he should keep him. In response, Osweiller asks to use the piano. Wilford is intrigued, and LJ is worried. Zarah asks Till whether he plays, but Till has no idea. It turns out that Brakeman Blowie sings like an absolute fucking angel! Most of the characters get a bit emotional listening to him. As ever, some of the song’s lyrics are very on-the-nose:

The storm is coming soon

They say that things just cannot grow/beneath the winter snow/or so I have been told

I still believe in summer days

Life will find a way

Impeccable!

Meanwhile, on Big Alice, Josie has received Winnie’s message and sneaked out to find Layton in The Swamp. She sends away the crocheting guard, and Layton comes to the window to make a nice parallel to s1e3. He’s glad to see that Josie is looking better, but Josie quickly gets down to business: Zarah has sent a message to tell Layton that they haven’t given up. They need to know the next move. Layton has a little sit down and a cry, but they don’t really have time for that! Josie tells him to remember what they’re fighting for, and offers to try to get him out.

Between the s1e5 recap jokes about rescuing princess Layton from the tower drawer, the fact that this place is literally called The Swamp, the weird green lighting, and Layton’s pink outfit… you all knew that was coming, and I will not apologise for it.

In case Layton missed the parallel to their post-Fight Night meeting, Josie explicitly points it out. Josie asks Layton whether there’s still hope? Layton replies that they’ll both find their moment, they have to keep faith in the others, and they’re still together. When their time’s up, Layton asks Josie to get a message to their people on Snowpiercer: they’ll finish what they started.

Back at the dinner party, Wilford sparks up and tells Audrey she has competition from Osweiller. Audrey is very bad at hiding her jealousy, and sarcastically asks whether anyone else would like to sing? Zarah? Zarah is enjoying seeing Audrey rattled, and smugly replies that she’s done singing for her supper. Audrey assures Wilford that Zarah will sing - she’s a survivor.

Now that dinner is pretty much over, Wilford invites Ruth to join them. Alex warns Ruth not to trust him - he’s trying to turn the train against going back for Melanie. Wilford scoffs out an exasperated apology for the puppet show, but then openly admits that he won’t risk taking two trains over that section of track again. Alex asks Ruth whether she’s figured out what the census is for yet. Ruth has not. Alex then informs the room that, to save resources, Wilford culled half the population of Big Alice - “Men, women, children…”

Alex has previously confirmed that she’s Big Alice’s youngest crew member. So, did Wilford kill every child except Alex? That’s a lot, even for him. Zarah seriously needs to watch out! Wilford pretends to be upset about the genocide, and sends Alex to the brig. On her way out, Alex warns Ruth that Wilford is coming for her.

Wilford then invites Ruth to sit again, but she politely declines. He’s been playing games! The setting was intended for her, all along. Apparently, today has been all about Ruth! Till and Zarah exchange a concerned glance, and Ruth tentatively sits between them. Wilford then calls to Kevin:

He’s really gross this episode!

Wilford thanks Ruth and Kevin for their work this evening, then pits them against each other for the Head of Hospitality position. The job is Ruths - on the condition that she joins his side and addresses the train to tell the passengers that they aren’t going back for Melanie. Ruth rapidly goes through all five stages of grief, then begins to silently cry as she tells Wilford that she can’t do that. She won’t do it. She’s rejecting his offer. Wilford makes her take off her teals, and she cries more.

Jackboots escort the de-tealed Ruth through the train, and passengers gawk at her from doorways. In the third class mess hall, people even throw stuff at her! She tries to keep a brave face through the humiliation. This feels like it’s going to become very relevant next season, and I’m so worried for her!

Meanwhile, Wilford leads Till through a different part of the train. He offers her a job, too: his new advisor. When Till replies that she’s not sure she’s the right person for the job, but he tries to convince her - she thinks for herself, and she grew a moral compass last season! He’s severely lacking one, and would like to borrow hers occasionally. Also, he’s resolved that case she wanted to work on - the breach workers’ murderers are in the car, lined up against the wall, with masks on their faces. (Sidenote: how many execution chambers does this train have??) Till advises him not to execute the hired killers, and he toys with her for a moment before pulling the lever anyway.

Next, we get a few quick scenes catching up with multiple characters. Ruth joins Layton in The Swamp. Wilford saunters through an orgy in Big Alice’s engine, and settles in a throne to watch. Audrey is having a lovely time with a couple of people at said orgy, while Javi is looking nervously over his shoulder at it. And Alex is all alone in the brig.

In The Swamp, Ruth is covered in shit and sitting around being depressed while Layton does all the hard work. She’s worried that Wilford will tell everyone that contact has been lost with Melanie, and leave her at the station. To die. Just like they’re going to die in The Swamp. She spirals quickly! Layton tries to cheer Ruth up by telling her that all Wilford has is fear, whereas they have friends!

Back at the orgy, Mr. Wilford is looking exhausted. The timeline is confusing me again here: either Ruth rolled around in a pile of shit the moment she arrived at the swamp, or Audrey has been getting head on that couch for hours! Either way: good for her!

Javi receives a staticy radio message from Melanie, and quickly hits the mute button just before Wilford hears it. Wilford has a break from his orgy observation to drunkenly tell Javi he’s better than Bennett, that there’s “only one thing left to acquire” now that money doesn’t exist, and that they can only depend on the train. Javi doesn’t want to listen to Wilford’s drunken bollocks, so politely asks to use the restroom.

Inside the restroom, Javi uses eyeliner to write a note saying that Melanie just contacted him, shoves it into a lipstick tube, and flushes it off to The Swamp.

Down in The Swamp, Ruth notices something shiny land in the new pile of shit. She takes a break from her break to investigate. It’s the lipstick tube! She opens it up, finds the note, and calls Andre over to take a look.

Yes! Please go somewhere with better lighting!

#snowpiercer s2e9 #snowpiercer 2.09 #snowpiercer recap #incorrect snowpiercer recap #snowpiercer #snowpiercer season 2 #snowpiercer rewatch

12 notes · View notes

olivish · 2 years

Text

What a bleak, dreary episode. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But damned if I couldn't find a single frame in the entire 42 minutes that was at all visually pleasing... Oh. Wait. There was Alex's train-ray vision. Let's use that for the picture!

More thoughts below the fold...

First things first. Ghost!Melanie flirting at Ben while Alex gags in disgust was a nice touch on Valentine's day. I’m an unapologetic Melanie/Ben shipper so this will sustain me through whatever cursed madness is to come next week. Thank you, writers, for the crumb.

Now about the track obstruction. I'll admit, I was expecting something worse than "just" 100 dead bodies. Like, I thought we would learn that Wilford made Alex choose who would die, or maybe that he made her help him disconnect the cars, or maybe we’d see some botched human science experiments. But in fact, it was "just" 100 dead bodies, and moreover Alex explained that it was necessary. Apparently, Wilford did it so the rest of the crew could survive. Huh. Okay. As Alex would say, "I am distinctly underwhelmed."

Okay, I was underwhelmed at first. But in retrospect, I like that this episode was less about what a monster Wilford is, and more about Alex losing her best friend and never getting the chance to say goodbye. When Alex told Ghost!Melanie that she'd lost so many people but never saw a single body, that carried weight. Rowan Blanchard did a great job of showing us that Alex is still angry with her mother, not so much for dying, but for disappearing rather than leaving a body.

But let's change gears and talk about Wilford for a moment. Is it just me, or his he fuzzier this season? First, his lovesick longing for Audrey, and now… was that regret? For Alex's pain? Like, did I hallucinate, or did Wilford apologize to Ghost!Melanie for what Alex was going through? Honestly, I didn't think he had it in him. I'm intrigued, and I'd like to see what other surprises Wilford might have in store when he comes out of his suspension coma. (Does he also bake cookies?)

While we're on the subject of the suspension coma - what a great twist that Roche almost killed Wilford! I didn't see it coming, and yet it feels spot-on for what I would expect Roche to do under these circumstances. And Wilford begging Ghost!Melanie for help was lovely.

Another thing I loved: Mrs. Headwood defending herself with Mr. Headwood's shoes as Layton berated her for experimenting on his unborn child. This was one of those quintessential "Snowpiercer" moments. I can't explain what made it so “Snowpiercer”, but it was.

But on that note, I am puzzled why Wilford would give cold-resistance gene therapy to Layton's baby. Mrs. Headwood called it a "gift". Wilford referred to the baby as "our child". This is another example of Wilford's creepy obsession with other people's kids, further cementing my head-canon that the Great Engineer can't sire a biological heir, a condition that distresses him more every day as all the successors he tries to 'adopt' reject him.

More stuff that made me uncomfortable: I didn’t like that Pelton felt free to dig through Zarah’s medical records and show Layton the file without Zarah’s consent. And I didn’t like that Layton went on a rampage in the lab without talking to Zarah first. Mrs. Headwood had it exactly right, TALK TO THE MOTHER OF YOUR CHILD, LAYTON. Geez. It’s like Layton doesn’t consider Zarah to be a person at all, but just an incubator for his baby. (Remind me WHY they're a couple again???)

Now let’s talk about the bananas in a box. Was anyone else reminded of the dicks in a box from Season 1, or is that just me? Just me, right? Well, even putting that aside, I do not like Pike. As cute as Pike can be when he's flirting with Ruth, I think he's too cynical and self-interested to be a compatible partner for her. Seems about right that Ruth chose the teals and departed with a "I'll see you around, Mr. Pike."

Okay, now I'm circling back to Alex. I loved the ending of this episode, especially Ghost!Melanie's speech to Alex about facing her feelings for Wilford. "I ran from him, I became him. Face him. Face everything that haunts you; it will set you free." It was nice to see that Alex has the insight to realize that burying her anger/ grief/ pain will only get her stuck. (Maybe this is something she gleaned from reading Melanie's journals?) In the end, Alex gave herself permission to feel everything she needed to feel, so she could then use her past to her advantage rather than letting it cripple her.

So that's it! I guess it says something that I wrote 900 words about this episode and didn't mention Asha once. It's not that I don't like the character, but she's not… doing anything? I keep waiting to learn more about her. So far, I've learned she has PTSD and survivor's guilt… but, as Till points out, who on this train doesn't have those problems? Maybe Audrey can help Asha? She is a gifted therapist…

#snowpiercer #snowpiercer spoilers

12 notes · View notes

onetrainscifi · 3 years

Note

Whip list #34

Layton taking care of Melanie

This was fun to write!

AO3 link for anyone who wants to read:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31405589

"Melanie, please." He raises an eyebrow. "You know this isn't healthy. Hand over the reports and get into bed, you need rest."

"I'm fine," Melanie says hoarsely, her voice practically a whisper. "I'll be fine, Andre."

"You clearly aren't. Come on, Mel." He crouches down to meet her level, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I thought you were smarter than this."

"Get out of my face..." She mumbles, covering her face with her hands. "Just let me finish this last report. Please?"

"Nope, c'mon." He pulls her hands away from her face, before placing his hands under her arms, lifting her up. "Bed."

"...can I at least change first?" She looks down. "Don't wanna wear this in bed..."

He sets her down on the edge of her bed. "Pajamas?"

She nods. "Please?"

He kisses her head and gets up, heading to her closet. "I'll call Ben and Javi for you."

"You don't gotta do that..." She shakes her head. "I'll be fine once I take a nap."

Layton pulls her pajamas out of the closet, before heading back over to her. "Nope. You've definitely got a fever, possibly strep throat, too. I'll call Pelton, too. You'll probably need antibiotics."

She motions for him to turn around, and he does. "You really don't need to, Andre."

"But I will. Can I turn around?"

"Yeah..." she sits back down on the bed, dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants. "I'll be fine."

"Come on. Into bed, you need to sleep for a few hours, at least." He gestures towards her bed, and she climbs in, pulling her legs into her chest, her back facing the room.

"Can...can you hold me until I fall asleep?" She mumbles, and Layton nods.

"Of course." He climbs in next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Goodnight, Mel."

"G'night, Andre..." She murmurs, already half asleep.

#snowpiercer #snowpiercer tnt #melanie cavill #andre layton #fic #asks

6 notes · View notes

snowpiercer-recaps · 2 years

Text

Season 1, episode 5: Two Dicks, One Box

Spoiler alert!!! This is a rewatch recap of Snowpiercer s1e5: Justice Never Boarded. Naturally, it is full of spoilers for that episode. However, it also contains spoilers for some other episodes of season 1 and season 2. You have been warned!

The episode begins with Princess Layton locked away in a tower drawer, awaiting a knight so bold as to rescue him. He’s having hallucinations-slash-flashbacks, set to Nikki’s cover of Sealed With a Kiss. Eventually, Miss Audrey begins this episode's opening monologue, while dressed as… Spiderwoman? It’s an unconventional choice, but she makes it work. She gives Clay a mysterious, silent order, and they head out to ambush a waiter. Clay steals the waiter’s jacket and trolley, and wheels a shiny dish up towards the First class dining room.

After the opening credits and another cool shot of outside, we see Roche unpacking his breakfast while he guards the cell’s latest occupant: LJ. She keeps asking about his life, and he subtly suggests that she should shut the fuck up. Did Lilah Sr. seriously never tell her daughter not to talk to police without a parent or lawyer present?

Mommy and Daddy rush in and fuss over LJ for a moment before Melanie informs LJ that, today, she stands trial for murder. Roche mentions three victims and… which three is he talking about? LJ was only really involved in two of the murders, right? And Erik killed an additional three (the guard, clinic staff member, and Nikki). Can someone please explain to me why it’s three victims, rather than either two or five?

In the tail, Josie is lying about Suzanne’s arm infection. Suzanne immediately calls the doctor out on her bullshit, and Josie offers a lame excuse: she was a vet. After almost seven years as the tail’s doctor, she’s still not adjusted to the idea of patients talking back to her. Did she never treat a parrot before the freeze?

Winnie then brings another message from Astrid: Josie needs to go uptrain today. Lights calls Josie a badass, and gives her a bracelet that holds the chip.

In other chipping news, Till and Jinju are getting kind-of-married! In the best indication yet of how much time has passed, Till’s bruise has disappeared. So, it’s definitely been at least a few days since Melanie roofied Layton. Dr. Pelton is putting a new chip into one of Till’s hands, while Jinju is squeezing the other. Cute. The notary tells Jinju that she’s responsible for Till’s behaviour during her probationary period, and they both smile and laugh and sign the paperwork. Then, Dr. Pelton ends the scene by pretty much telling them to fuck?

Till and Jinju love an enthusiastic ally, but that was a bit much.

In grand lesbian tradition, they only waited three months before moving in together! This is going to go so well! Then, because it’s always best to consider important life decisions after signing the legally binding paperwork, Jinju proceeds to ask Till if she’s sure about this. Till admits that she is not sure. SERIOUSLY!? I fucking can’t with these two!

In the Folgers’ car, LJ is using her last moments of freedom to play on her Switch. Relatable. Her parents are trying to relax into the knowledge that they’ll know the whole jury - they can bribe and threaten them all! LJ seems genuinely worried about getting drawered for a moment, but before we have time to feel sorry for her, she, I shit you not, asks to TAKE OUT HER DAD’S EYE AND SUCK ON IT.

[there was gonna be a screenshot here, but no one needs a visual reminder of that scene]

In hindsight, this is probably the point at which we should have stopped watching. Maybe then I’d still be able to eat mango.

Next, we catch the end of breakfast in the First class dining room. Tristan is gazing out of the window. He always dreamed of seeing the Amazon. Ruth reminds him:

Brutal!

Clay wheels in a trolley behind them, bringing Eugenia and the Sharmas a special treat, compliments of the Nightcar. It’s a nutritious plateful of bugs! The prank is pretty mild as far as I’m concerned, but it’s too much for poor Ruth. She sends Tristan to fetch Melanie.

Then... THIS FUCKING SCENE! Melanie stalks into the Nightcar while Audrey calmly sips tea in her underwear and dressing gown. Casual. Melanie thinks that stunt was beneath Audrey, and Audrey assures her it really wasn’t.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a thousand lesbians typing Mel/Audrey fanfiction.

Audrey calls Melanie out on how rigged the trial is: First and second are going to be judging one of their own for killing three Thirdies. Again with the three! LJ only murdered two people, right? How is she also getting the blame for Nikki? And, in that case, why are they ignoring the unnamed guard and clinic worker who got killed at the same time? If anyone has an explanation, please tell me!

Next, Melanie and Audrey give us a quick politics lesson. We learn that the Nightcar is supposed to be neutral. Audrey cracks out a huge law book and uses it to smack Melanie around the head. Just kidding! She points out the section that says Third has the right to petition Wilford to get a place on the jury. Melanie is not impressed, and Audrey reminds Melanie that she used to try to make a difference, too. Oh, Audrey - just wait til episode seven!

The next class is Nightcar History. We learn that Wilford (the real one, presumably) had intended for the Nightcar to be a brothel. However, Audrey had other ideas. Melanie “persuaded Wilford” that Audrey was right, and the Nightcar became what it is today. So, presumably that means that the Nightcar spent some amount of time as a brothel at first? Which contradicts what Zarah told Layton in episode two. Unless Audrey and Melanie were close enough pre-freeze that Audrey went to Melanie to get help changing real Wilford’s mind, long before departure. Interesting!

Anyway, this show doesn’t need logic! Melanie and Audrey’s argument gets heated (presumably to provide fanfic writers with a bit more inspiration), and ends with Audrey essentially threatening strikes and sabotage. I love season one Audrey so much.

Melanie’s next meeting is with Creepy Klimpt and Jinju, where they’re checking out the results of Nikki’s tests. The data are inconclusive: they have no idea whether or not Nikki would have fully recovered. As Melanie and Jinju walk away, Jinju doesn’t even pretend that Mr. Wilford is making the decisions about the trial. She directly asks Melanie whether she’s considering allowing a Third class passenger onto the tribunal. So, I guess we can add Jinju to the list of people who Definitely Know.

Melanie continues to debate adding a Thirdie to the jury with Bennett and Javi. They don’t think it’s a good idea. Melanie, however, is more focussed on trying to smash that HR violations record - by smashing one of her employees! She “borrows” Bennett, throws him against her bedroom wall, and then they fuck on the desk next to the eugenics library. It’s Bennett’s turn to provide the episode’s obligatory naked ass shot, bringing us to a total of five naked asses in five episodes!

When they’ve finished, Bennett informs us that they haven’t done that since the bees died. Which is… three years? And I thought lockdown was long! He hogs the bed, so Melanie kneels on the floor. Melanie misses fresh air after sex, Bennett misses the sound of rain, and I miss scenes that I care about.

Next up, Melanie decides to go ahead and draw a new tribunal. Third rights! Fuck the Folgers! In the non-torturey hospitality room, they draw passenger numbers at random. Who chose this font? Tristan? Probably Tristan.

Bingo!

The Folgers and Ruth are all fuming at the decision, but Clay and Audrey are delighted.

Downtrain in Sanitation, Josie and Astrid swap outfits so that Astrid can cover Josie’s shift while she tries to rescue Princess Layton from his tower drawer. The first step in Josie’s noble quest is to find Terrence-Never-Terry in the market.

In the hospitality announcements room, Ruth is having a grump. Mr. Wilford can’t just change the rules! He wouldn’t care about the will of the people! They don’t have will (yikes!); they have order! Our girl really goes on a journey in season two, huh?

Downtrain, Osweiller is back to his old tricks: he’s being a dick. He calls his sister bourgeoisie, because she moved in with her Second class girlfriend. Till replies by asking if her little brother is planning to extort addicts for sex again today. Their dad boss is not gonna be happy that they’re fighting again. Finally, in another vague win for anyone still trying to keep track of the timeline, we learn that Osweiller’s probation is over.

Brakeman Blowie then gives a speech implying that Thirdies are unhygienic, lack self respect and liable to punch people at random. Brakeman Bourgeoisie just stands by and allows him to insult himself. To be fair, I’d do the same for my sibling.

While the Folgers continue to prepare for LJ’s testimony, Princess Layton is having more hallucinations-slash-flashbacks. He’s taken back to early days of the tail, in a time when Miles is still played by the younger actor. The cannibal cult has struck again, and Layton needs to put a stop to it. But this is only the second drawer dream scene, so we’ll have to wait for the next one to get more information!

Josie walks around the market like an introvert at a nightclub, until she eventually finds a yellow butterfly to follow. JAnnietor welcomes Josie to third with the traditional knife to the throat, then takes her to visit Terrence-Never-Terry. Josie explains that Princess Layton didn’t make it back to the tail: she thinks he’s in a drawer. Terrence-Never-Terry suggests that Layton could be dead, but Josie points out that he’s a lead character - he wouldn’t die in episode five! The mopping mafia don’t require any more convincing, and decide to break into the drawers car while the trial is on. That was easy!

Uptrain, a small group of First class passengers are complaining to commander Grey that Wilford has lost touch: he shouldn’t be changing the rules right before LJ’s trial! Grey points out that he doesn’t make the fucking rules, he just enforces them. But when Grey senses an opportunity to get rid of Melanie, he’s suddenly a lot more interested in hearing what the Firsties have to say.

Surprise! First class Martin is another Wilford spy! He’s telling Melanie all about the planned sedition - minus a few details about Grey’s response. He’s not a big enough character to be playing both sides like this! Is he still jealous of her Cantonese skills?

Meanwhile, LJ is getting in some last minute prep for the trial. She’s not sure what contrite tears are, and in one of my favourite teen rage moments in the whole show she tells her parents that they can “Criticise [her] after.” Beautiful!

At the trial, Melanie is sitting at the side and shaking with anxiety that she’s not in charge. Ruth is leading the trial, with Tristan’s help. In a tribute to his favourite song by The Lonely Island, Tristan shows the jury the most damning and gross piece of evidence in the whole case.

Yep, LJ didn’t just torture the victims and cut off their penises: she also preserved them and kept in her jewellery box. She’s really not going to be able to cry her way out of this one.

Next up, Pelton discusses the autopsy results and makes a chopping motion with her hand as she describes what happened to Sean Beef’s genitals. She’s weird and awkward and I love her. Tunnelman Jakes then describes the body as “limbless and dickless”, to prove that none of the witnesses are going to remain professional. Then, Jinju recounts her time as Erik’s hostage before rapidly abandoning the facts and yelling this to the court:

Jinju, sweetie, Dr. Pelton knows a lot about PTSD and there’s a whole Nightcar for hypnosis therapy. Go to one of them, please!

Audrey’s up next. Ruth introduces her to the court as Miss Audrey of the Nightcar. Still no last name! I’m calling it now: she’s an ancient vampire. The trip to the hall of mirrors was a decoy, to throw Layton off.

In yet another power move, Audrey refuses to swear on the Wilford Bible. I love her. Then, she begins her speech. She starts off with some information about Nikki, then details how shitty life is in Third, and explains why the people uptrain need to care about that. She ends by saying that order isn’t as important as it used to be - they all need to save their souls, and justice for Nikki will be the first step towards that. Basically, she absolutely fucking smashes it.

Downtrain, JAnnietor steals Creepy Klimpt’s keys and breaks into the drawers car with Terrence-Never-Terry and Josie. While Josie tries to find Creepy Klimpt’s address book for cursed princesses and steals some epi pens, JAnnietor and Terrence-Never-Terry steal some Kronole chemicals. Then, the mopping mafia want to get the fuck out of there before they get caught. Sweary Josie returns! She’s going to have to find Princess Layton all by herself. Shit.

Meanwhile, Melanie has decided to use the trial recess to do a bit more flirting. She runs into Lilah Folger, and they eyefuck for a while before getting into the story of how seven-year-old LJ stabbed her dad in the eye with a fork. It is a thoroughly disgusting story, but it’s gonna take more than a bit of eye jelly to stop Melanie Cavill’s daily flirting ritual! Lilah ends her speech by warning Melanie not to fuck with her bloodline, and it’s fucking brilliant.

Back in the drawer room, Josie can’t find any records on Princess Layton. So, she does the next best thing and begins a systematic search. Just kidding! What she actually does is stroke the drawers and whisper “Where are you, Layton?” When I said she’s one of the only characters with any common sense… Well. I didn’t claim it was a lot.

At the trial, it’s LJ’s turn to speak. We find out that she’s receiving about as much support for surviving child abuse as Jinju is for her PTSD. She reveals that Erik’s torture of Sean Beef worked: right before he died, Sean revealed that he was a spy, who knew “four hundred secrets that would rock us to the rails.” Next, LJ apologises to Mr. Wilford for keeping quiet, and promises to do her part for the train if the court shows her mercy. Honestly, it’s as good as Audrey’s performance. She should try out for the Nightcar!

While LJ speaks, Josie finally begins to actually search the drawers. She discovers one of the apprenticed kids from episode two, then another child, and leaves them both there. She’s just there for Princess Layton! Fuck those kids! Then, she finally finds him. Conveniently, he’s tucked away on the bottom row - another stroke of luck! If Melanie had put him on the top shelf, Josie never would have been able to reach up and rescue him!

Uptrain, Jinju and Melanie discuss LJ’s speech. They’re worried that Sean Beef’s four hundred secrets are about the drawers, and how Melanie using them even though they don’t fucking work properly and turn peoples’ gums to sludge. Then, they worry that LJ knows about The List. I’m not sure what that is, but I am Very Intrigued! Either way, if LJ knows Melanie’s secrets, that ‘changes the calculus’. Fuckin’ nerds! Melanie sends a note to the engine via the pneumatic tubes, and whatever it says makes Javi so annoyed that he lashes out and calls Ben a slut.

Josie, meanwhile, is still trying to figure out exactly how the fuck she’s going to rescue Princess Layton from the tower drawer. Despite having no idea what’s in the tubes he’s hooked up to, Josie begins to yank them all out. And his little brain monitor thingies have to go, too. I’m starting to wonder whether she was really a vet pre-freeze? This seems potentially very dangerous!

Just outside, Osweiller is still teasing Till about her new girlfriend. She smacks him, then invites him for dinner: they get dessert every night in Second! A fun little detail. Osweiller walks right past the suspicious thing blocking the drawer room door, but Till notices it. The Brakemen break in, and Osweiller immediately walks right past another dodgy door! How the fuck does he still have this job?

Till notices it, though, and they open up the drawer together. Surprise! It’s Josie, having a nice little cuddle with Princess Layton! Osweiller panics, drags Josie out of the drawer and starts beating her up. Till stops him by bludgeoning him with her baton, causing yet another head injury that should be fatal. He’s lucky it’s only episode five.

With Osweiller unconscious (which is how most of us prefer him, I think?),Till and Josie return their attention to Princess Layton. Sweet, innocent Till is very confused that Layton isn’t in the tail. She lets Josie revive the Princess, then helps her rescue him from the tower drawer.

The trial has resumed, and the jury is ready to deliver their verdict. Lilah Folger Junior is found guilty on all counts. Third celebrate, and First are horrified. Melanie looks like she’s trying not to be sick. Bennett and Javi send Melanie the message that she asked for “in the worst case,” giving the pneumatic tubes even more screen time! They’re the true heroes of the show. Ruth reads out the sentencing: Mr. Wilford is commuting LJ’s sentence, because she’s very young and also because she might share Melanie’s secrets.

Till and Josie have carried Princess Layton all the way to the chains before Till realises that maybe it’s a bad idea to be aiding a fugitive, in public, in uniform, while her little brother is unconscious in the drawers car? She runs away, leaving Josie to drag Layton the rest of the way to Zarah’s place alone.

Zarah is thrilled to see her old friend Josie! She welcomes her with a hug and offers her a coffee while they have a good good catch up and wait for Layton to wake up. Just kidding! They very clearly hate each other. Josie lets herself in, throws Layton on the bed, and gets Zarah up to speed: Princess Layton was locked away in the highest room lowest drawer of the tallest tower most accessible drawer room, and now they need to figure out which one of them is gonna have to kiss him to break the curse. When Zarah asks Josie how she got out of the tail, Josie’s common sense finally seems to return: she’s not telling that traitor anything.

Up in the non-torturey hospitality room, Melanie is making sure that LJ won’t tell anyone Sean Beef’s secrets. LJ confirms that she knows something about the drawers, but she won’t tell Melanie exactly what it is - she’s going to keep it between herself and Mr. Wilford. Melanie is clearly already regretting the decision not to sentence LJ to lung of ice.

Downtrain, Till can’t find her little brother. She’s going to be in so much trouble with her dad boss for losing him!

Layton’s withdraweral looks rough as hell. Zarah tries to help him while he wriggles around in distress, and we finally get to see the last part of his tail cannibalism flashback! He’s covered in blood, and carrying a bloody human heart through a corridor. He begins to slice it up with a large knife, and more blood-spattered tailies join him. Layton, Lights, Santiago, Mama Grande, Strong Boy, Josie, ZWreck, Murray and one more person (who is maybe Suzanne?) each take a piece of FRESH, RAW CANNIBAL HEART and agree “never again”, before eating it.

Same, Layton. Same.

#snowpiercer recap #incorrect snowpiercer recap #snowpiercer s1e5 #snowpiercer 1.05 #snowpiercer #snowpiercer netflix #snowpiercer rewatch #snowpiercer season 1

12 notes · View notes

snowpiercer-recaps · 2 years

Text

Season 2, episode 8: The God Complex Module

Spoiler alert!!! This is a rewatch recap of Snowpiercer s2e8: The Eternal Engineer. Naturally, it is full of spoilers for that episode. However, it also contains spoilers for some other episodes of season 1 and season 2. You have been warned!

It’s Roche’s turn to monologue this episode. Snowpiercer's people are now more afraid of each other than of food insecurity or disease. He’s just trying to keep people together. We also get a look inside Roche’s locker, which is full of pictures of his family - including his two dead children.

Meanwhile, Boki places W tokens on the wrapped-up bodies of the murdered breach workers. People all over the train stand to attention with their hands over their hearts for the funeral. Some of the people begin to hold up three fingers in the W salute, rather than holding their hearts. In the final scene before the opening credits, Boki starts to throw the bodies of his colleagues out of the train. What happened to not wasting resources? That's a lot of fabric and rope and useful carbon!

After the opening credits, Till, Layton, Roche and Till’s detective coat are sitting with Boki in the Nightcar. With Clay dead, Zarah working in Hospitality and Audrey on Big Alice, the place is almost creepily deserted. The cops are trying to convince Boki that Pastor Logan organised the murders of his friends. But Boki still thinks it was tailies - he’s spent thirty years risking his life for Wilford, and he can’t believe Wilford would kill Breachmen. Roche tries to appeal to Boki to help them keep the peace, but Boki pulls an Alex and storms off.

In the Big Alice engine car, Wilford enters the cockpit to have a little catchup with Alex while Audrey sings from the murder bathtub.

Alex is passive-aggressive about how untidy her new stepmom is, then presses Wilford for information about his secret plans. He’s still not telling her, though. Alex noticed an intentional breach this morning - not just Snowpiercer dropping the bodies, but also one on Big Alice. Wilford denies all knowledge, but Alex isn’t convinced.

In the Layton-Ferami First Class Living/Meeting Room, Layton is talking about how unsafe the train feels. Lights says that the Tailies can’t move freely at all, and I’m left wondering how she’s made it all the way up in First, then? Next, Till and her detective coat confirm that the Tunnelmen are lost, even though two murder suspects are already behind bars. Uhh, Till, sweetie, that’s not the flex you think it is! Pastor Logan and Eugenia are a good start, but there are still at least another seven other murderers at large! Of course people aren’t relaxing yet! (Sidenote: I’d LOVE a scene of Eugenia in jail!)

Dr. Pelton gives the next update. She confirms that most of Second are still with Layton, in typical Pelton style:

She’s so great!

Finally, Roche tries to get everyone to relax. The Brakemen are all on Layton’s side! But Layton isn’t so sure - some of them were doing the W salute at the funeral. Roche explains that it’s just a tradition, for the Breachmen.

Roche heads home after the meeting. Carly (aka Fireball) isn’t happy that she’s being moved uptrain - but it’s just for a short while, so that she doesn’t have to walk to school through the riots and armed mobs. The Roches say their goodbyes and “I love you”s, and Carly is escorted uptrain to the Paolis’ by a Brakeman. Then, Roche - shit, they’re all Roche! I'm gonna have to call him Sam! Sam tells Anne how bad it is: they’re one dirty look away from a civil war.

They get into some backstory: Sam lost his faith on the train, but Anne still believes. She and Snowpiercer’s other Christians are struggling to come to terms with the idea that their Pastor ordered the deaths of eight people. But luckily the tension is broken when their kitchen tap explodes everywhere!

Uptrain, the engine bros are alerted to the water pressure issues. Javi isn’t pleased that he can’t just stick the train on autopilot all day, and heads down to check out the problem.

Meanwhile, Ruth has got her welly boots on to wade through the puddles. She asks Anne what’s happening. Anne tells Ruth that the cabins are flooding. Uh, yeah? In the background, LJ is panicking that Ruth is on the way. Osweiller gives her a little pep talk, and it appears to work too well. LJ responds with “Let’s janitor this bitch!” … Sure, LJ.

Brakeman Blowie and Train Psycho give Ruth a quick update: the cabins are under control now, but the subtrain has started leaking. Osweiller takes Ruth down to show her, just in time for a pressure surge! They all get soaked.

On Big Alice, we finally catch up with Josie again! Wilford is visiting, and it’s disconcerting to watch him being nice. She wasn’t in the last episode because she was unconscious, having another goop bath. Josie wants to know why Wilford has healed her, but he ignores the question and jumps right into a nice breach of doctor-patient confidentiality: he’s heard about her phantom pain. He’s a bit creepy as he begins to do the fake hand trick. He mansplains the treatment to her (an actual medical professional!) After a while, it starts to work. Wilford then delivers some of the most concerning lines of the episode:

As Wilford leaves, he informs Josie that her door won’t be locked any more and welcomes her to Big Alice. I know she’s got important spying to do, but I want her to run home right now!

In Snowpiercer’s engine, Bennett explains the water pressure issue to Layton, Roche, Till, and her detective coat. It doesn’t make sense to me that all three of them are required in the engine for this, but hey! The port intake won’t close, so they’re taking in too much snow. Layton doesn’t understand Difficult Engine Things, so asks Bennett for a 1-10 rating of how bad the problem is. Bennett states that it would usually be a three, because it would be easy to send a couple of breach workers out to fix it. But given that most of the breach workers were just murdered, it’s at least a six. Layton rounds the six up to a ten. Relatable.

In Big Alice’s engine, Audrey interrupts Alex’s train feeling time. Alex and her stepmom have a quick standoff to establish that Wilford is still keeping Alex in the dark about something, and then Audrey tells Alex to look out of the window. Icy Bob is staggering towards them, on top of the train.

Alex rushes down to the lab just in time to see Bob fall through the door. The Headwoods try to warm him up, and Bob reaches out a hand. Wilford grabs a W token, like the one Boki placed on one of his murdered colleagues, and gives it to Bob. Alex asks why Bob was sent out, but no one answers her.

In the Big Alice canteen, Audrey blasts into the room in a shiny gold dress, waits for the whole room to look at her, and then walks over to sit with Josie. She can’t believe that Josie was homeschooled! Audrey tells Josie that she can’t wear a tank top two days in a row, that she can only wear her hair in a ponytail once per week, and that on Wednesdays they wear pink!

Josie knows who Audrey is, and asks why she’s on Big Alice. Audrey ignores her, and instead tells Josie that, with a little more effort, she could be beautiful again. Sweary Josie returns!

WTF, Audrey?

Josie asks Audrey for information on Snowpiercer. Audrey plays with the mush on Josie’s, and tells her that Layton is struggling to keep power. Josie quickly pieces together that Audrey has defected. But Audrey corrects her: she’s returned. Audrey proceeds to give a little speech about how both she and Josie were leaders on Snowpiercer, and says that she’s sleeping much better on Big Alice, now that the weight of the responsibility of leadership has been lifted. She offers Josie to join them. Fuck. I really miss season one Audrey!

In Snowpiercer’s queer gym, Boki is boxing away his grief. He knew that Layton, Till and her detective coat would be visiting to ask him to sort out the water issue. They’re respectfully humble as they ask, and Boki toys with them for a bit - what if he doesn’t go out? Eventually, though, he heads out to suit up and save the train.

Back in the Big Alice lab, Josie visits Icy Bob. He’s covered in frostbite and struggling to talk. She asks him what meds he’s on, but he just replies, “I’m ready. I’ve served my purpose.” Josie insists that he’s got a far greater purpose than just being Wilford’s weapon, and Mrs. Dr. Headwood enters the room just in time to agree. She laments that, after all their hard work, they’ll never discover his full potential. She gives him a pill, and tells Josie that they need her to rest - now, more than ever. Josie is confused and worried by the statement, and so am I!

Instead of asking questions or safely seeking out more information, Josie decides to sneak downstairs and stick her hand through the fucking coldlock. She only has one hand left! And she wanted to risk freezing it off based on one little hint!? Josie’s brain should definitely be defrosted by now, but there’s clearly a need for a bit of goop on her prefrontal cortex. Luckily, her hand is fine. But it was still a very fucking stupid idea! I miss season one Josie almost as much as I miss season one Audrey.

From Big Alice’s Big Window, Alex notices that Snowpiercer is venting water and slowing down. She’s trying to figure out what’s happening, but her questions annoy Wilford and he tells her to just ask Bennett what’s going on.

Meanwhile, the engine bros are updating Layton on the situation: they’ve had to slow down to sort out the intake issue, which means they’re going to be late to pick up Melanie - who they still haven’t regained contact with. Alex calls and demands to know what’s happening, but Layton shakes his head at Bennett. Bennett lies that they’re just taking advantage of the straight track to do some maintenance, and Wilford pounces on the opportunity to gloat.

Boki heads outside, and finds the issue: a rail spike has been jammed into the intake! And when he can’t reach it, he doesn’t just struggle for half an episode like Melanie did in s1e6 - he uses his axe! What a guy!

When he’s back inside, Boki shows Layton, Bennett and Javi the number ten Wilford spike. He also tells them that ice had been broken off the access ladder - someone else had used it recently. The intake block definitely wasn’t an accident.

Bennett and Javi quickly whisper an excuse to escape the scene before they have to witness any emotion. Then, Boki explains the significance of his W token (it symbolises Wilford pledging his life for his breach workers), hands the token to Layton, and defects from Wilford’s side in style:

Well, Layton does have a history of sticking small objects in assholes!

Downtrain, LJ is giving Ruth another update. Ruth praises her for trying hard. With Josie and Audrey on Big Alice, is Ruth the Train Mum now? LJ ruins it, because of course she does - she’s trying hard for Wilford’s train. Ruth stays positive, tells LJ to keep up the good work, and then adds that her parents would be proud. LJ doesn’t think that’s true - she has callouses now!

As Ruth walks away, Anne Roche calls her over. Anne has been asked whether Sam stands with or against Wilford, and she wants to know whether Ruth has been asked the same question. Ruth explains that Hospitality has to remain neutral, and Anne retorts that the Brakemen do, too. Does Ruth think that Sam is remaining neutral? Ruth dodges the question, which pretty much confirms that he is not.

Talking of Sam, he’s busy sending Breachmen all over the train. One of his employees informs him of a rumour that the surviving Jackboots have reformed, but before they can address the issue Anne pops in with sandwiches for everyone, and they all filter out. Anne says that there are now more people for Wilford than against him. Sam doesn’t quite agree, but concedes that it’s a close call. Then, it’s time for another vague, concerning line:

Is Anne implying that Wilford and/or his supporters caused their kids’ deaths? It doesn’t seem like she’s just referring to the freeze, right? Yikes!

Anne preferred life on the train before the revolution. She thinks Wilford and his rules will sort out all the issues they’re currently experiencing. But Sam doesn’t agree. He points out that Wilford literally designed the train to have arm-freezing ports! Anne wants Sam to put his family first, and Sam insists that he is! Layton is a good guy, who is trying to create a better world, and that’s what Sam wants for his family. Layton and Zarah are gonna be able to argue this well, one day.

In Terrence-Never-Terry’s former office, LJ tells Osweiller that she’s “covered in shit and cooking [him] dinner.” She said it! Dinner is hard boiled eggs, which I guess is supposed to be cute but I can’t bring myself to like either of these characters at all. LJ thinks she’s a working class action hero, and yeah, sure, LJ. Osweiller thinks LJ is the only person who likes him, and LJ asks what Till? Osweiller explains that big sisters don’t count as friends unless they like you. Then he says that LJ is his favourite, before quickly getting defensive in case LJ makes fun of him. But he’s her favourite, too. And then they kiss. I think I genuinely preferred the Ruth/Grey scenes to this!? STOPPPPPPP!

In the engine server room, Javi and Bennett introduce Layton to the engine’s brain - the Wilford Industries Digital Automation System. It’s kinda disappointing that Wilford didn’t want to come up with a more entertaining acronym! Do they at least pronounce WIDAS “wide ass”? The hydrogen input signal keeps fluctuating, and the engine bros are concerned.

In Big Alice’s engine, Audrey and Wilford are lounging about and reading while Kevin waits on them and Alex is still trying to resolve the mystery. She’s half way there! She’s figured out that Icy Bob did something to the intake. Wilford praises Alex for working it out, and Audrey derides her for being too slow.

The engine bros have figured out why the signal is poor: the sensor is in the intake, so it was probably damaged. I’m not sure why they didn’t think of that first? I guess Melanie was always the smartest engineer! The broken sensor has fried the God Module - the thing that basically runs the engine. This feels like a fucking huge design flaw! Why can one dodgy sensor do that so easily? Anyway, they need to replace the part, fast. But they don’t have a replacement.

Alex tries to determine why Wilford just wanted to do a little easy-to-fix damage to the intake while Kevin pours water for Jupiter like he’s working at the Ritz.

Then, Bennett calls in to answer Alex’s questions. There’s an emergency on Snowpiercer. Wilford is thrilled!

Next, Layton and Bennett update Ruth, Roche, Zarah, Lights, Till and her detective coat on the situation. Wilford sabotaged the engine, and he has a replacement part - but he’s insisting on bringing it himself. Wilford has to visit the engine, or they’ll all be dead within hours. But Wilford’s supporters can’t see him travelling through the train to save them - it would be disastrous. Lights asks what will happen “if it all goes to shit?” Fair question! Layton will send up a flare.

Lights and Till both hug themselves throughout this entire scene, and Zarah is as exasperated as I am that they don’t just hug each other.

At the border, Layton, Ruth and Roche meet Mr. Wilford. Wilford thinks he must be very popular, if they don’t want people to see him! They travel up to the engine quietly - even Ruth and Roche don’t engage with Wilford. Tunnelman Jakes spots Wilford on the subtrain as they travel. Uh oh.

Uptrain, Wilford enjoys seeing his engine car for the first time in seven years! Bennett chips him in, and Wilford greets him by accusing him of ruining the moment. They glare at each other for a bit. Do you hear that? It’s the sound of one very specific lesbian writing a very niche set of fanfic.

Ruth and Roche say goodbye to Wilford, and Wilford says he hopes that Roche continues to hold the balance of power wisely. Uh oh. Then, Wilford heads down to the engine server room. He greets Javi, and asks whether it’s true he was in the bathroom when Melanie and Bennett stole the train. It was! So, there’s Javi’s whole backstory! Wilford won’t give Bennett the spare part, because he prefers Javi. The music gets tense as they get to work.

Meanwhile in Third, Jakes and the uninformed Jackboots are making a plan to keep Wilford in the engine.

Wilford is flexing his saviour complex again, and Layton is tired of his shit: Wilford risked all their lives for a publicity stunt. Wilford admits that he’s hoping people will realise he’s there, ready to give him credit for saving the day. Wilford then gives Bennett an unnecessary instruction, and Layton tells Wilford that the engine bros have got it under control.

I don’t like Wilford, but he’s right! Layton has absolutely no idea what’s happening!

The replacement God Module works for a few seconds, but then starts sparking and smoking like all computer science in a TV show. Wilford hates surprises! This wasn’t what he planned, and he quickly flies into action to save his beloved engine. It turns out that Melanie did a little fix years ago, and it’s fucked the whole thing up - the God Module can’t override the system. They discuss the issues and quickly come up with a plan - they’ll have to do a manual restart.

Bennett announces an emergency, and the Tunnelmen jump straight into action. Ruth and Roche catch up with Zarah and Till, and they’re all very worried about what’s happening. Alex receives a call from Wilford, and she’s even more worried than the others! She asks if it’s part of Wilford’s plan, and he angrily yells “No!” before giving her instructions for what to do when Snowpiercer shuts down.

Bennett gives the command, and the Tunnelmen shut everything down. There are eerie, quiet shots of people all over the train. Wilford takes over from Javi to sort everything out in the server room, and takes another opportunity to remind Layton that he doesn’t know anything about engineering. Then, Wilford announces to the train. So much for keeping his visit quiet. They finish up, and Wilford makes another announcement to restart the systems. Wilford teases Layton as he works. When the lights come back on, the people of Snowpiercer cheer, and chant Wilford’s name. Fuck.

Sad music plays over sad, slow shots of the anti-Wilford task force. Bennett squeezes Layton’s shoulder. And then Layton sets off that red flare he mentioned earlier, to formally announce that it’s all gone to shit.

The next day, Layton is cuffed to the torturey hospitality room table. Roche chips in to inform Layton that he’s going to be taken to Big Alice. Layton is worried about the Tail, and Roche promises to do what he can to help them. Layton tells Roche he just wants to see his kid be born, and cries. Roche uncuffs Layton and lets Zarah into the room. They hug and cry and apologise. Zarah reminds him that they don’t give up!

That Brakeman from earlier was right about the Jackboots: at least six of them are outside, waiting to take Layton away. Six!! Roche and Layton wish each other luck, and Roche is instructed to report to Big Alice. Audrey escorts him to a small drawer room. The Headwoods greet him warmly, and Roche sees his wife and daughter, already suspended in open drawers. Fuck.

In the final scene, Wilford saunters into Snowpiercer’s engine to take over from Bennett. Bennett is clearly regretting that time three(ish) weeks ago that he lied to his colleagues and slowed the train down on the off chance of picking up a few new hex nuts! He dejectedly tells Mr. Wilford, “You have the train,” and Wilford grins infuriatingly as he sits in the driver’s seat.

They should just kill him while he doesn’t have security, and pretend he's running the train for the next seven years!

#snowpiercer s2e8 #snowpiercer 2.08 #snowpiercer recap #snowpiercer rewatch #incorrect snowpiercer recap #snowpiercer #snowpiercer season 2

11 notes · View notes