Snowpiercer Season 2 Reviews

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SNOWPIERCER Season 2 Review; "An Action-Packed, Entertaining Ride, [But] Season 3 Needs To Shake Things Up"
Snowpiercer season two arrives on TNT on January 25th, but how does this latest batch of episodes compare to the divisive first season? Well, the addition of Sean Bean is definitely a win for the series...

Eight episodes of Snowpiercer were provided by TNT for review purposes.

The first season of Snowpiercer didn't quite manage to live up to the film (and graphic novel) it takes inspiration from, and there was such a rush to get to the revolution, many of this concept's harder hitting ideas were glossed over. For example, we never got to fully explore the train's class system, why those in the Tail were treated so badly (beyond the obvious), and what seven years spent travelling across the frozen remains on Earth would really do to someone.


Those were ideas touched on, of course, but not in a way that made the series much more than your standard action/drama. Meanwhile, all but a few characters faded into the background (not all that differently to the vast majority of passengers aboard a train you're travelling on). The problem with rushing straight to and through the revolution is that watching someone attempt to govern is nowhere near as interesting as the struggle to reach that point. Thankfully, the returning Mr. Wilford does give us a fight to invest in which delivers heaps of twists and turns, and should make you want to return each week.

Season two is a step in the right direction for the series,, but it's the addition of Sean Bean as the aforementioned Mr. Wilford which makes it worth tuning in for this next batch of episodes. The actor is quite clearly having an absolute blast as the villainous creator of Snowpiercer  and Big Alice being linked up to that train helps create an interesting new dynamic as those aboard are forced to pick sides. There's something delightfully demented about Bean's Wilford, and he's definitely more than just a one-dimensional baddie; his hatred of Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) makes for compelling viewing, as do his dastardly plans to regain Snowpiercer. It's a shame the series doesn't lean a little more heavily into the dynamic between him and Layton, and some uninspired material means Daveed Diggs is never really given the chance to show what he's capable of. Instead, it too often feels like he's sleepwalking through many of his scenes, and as tremendous as he is as the leader of the revolution, he simply doesn't get strong enough material to steal the show as often as he did in Hamilton. He's one of the most talented actors working today, but there are only fleeting glimpses of that here.
 
Connelly, however, remains excellent. The actress is given the chance to shine in an unexpected, standalone episode shedding some light on the day Snowpiercer first left the station and setting the stage for a potential status quo shift in the series down the line. It feels like the show has too quickly forgotten what a merciless villain she was in those early episodes, but it's interesting to explore Melanie's relationship with her daughter now they've been reunited, and easy enough to root for her as more is revealed about her past. Alison Wright, Mike O'Malley, and Steven Ogg, in particular, remain highlights in the supporting cast, but outside of them, it feels like many of the characters are just...there. Considering how often the series reiterates how many cars the train has, it remains baffling that we're still spending so much time in the same old places, with the same, mostly uninteresting passengers.

Visually, Snowpiercer is a delight, and the visual effects never disappoint. The world outside the train looks incredible, while the sets are undeniably impressive even if it would have been nice to maybe visit a few carriages we haven't seen before.

Snowpiercer definitely needs to start exploring new ideas, but still makes for entertaining, often exciting viewing. There's a murder mystery to delve into this year, plenty of cliffhangers, and the addition of Bean and some new characters on Big Alice who do lay the groundwork for future stories. There are times when this season embraces the show's sci-fi roots, and that's perhaps when it's at its best (the time spent figuring out how to create a "border" between the trains, however, is the show at its worst). After eight episodes, the stage is set for two must-see final chapters which will make or break the series. Those have the chance to shake up Snowpiercer in a big way, and if the series heads down a bolder direction heading into season three, then it could become appointment viewing. As it stands, it's still worth tuning into, particularly if you were a fan of the first season.

Sean Bean steals the show in every scene , but even though Snowpiercer remains an action-packed, entertaining ride, season three needs to shake things up and stop playing it safe, or it might be time for viewers to get off at the station. 

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/tv/tnt/snowpiercer/snowpiercer-season-2-review-an-action-packed-entertaining-ride-but-season-3-needs-to-shake-things-up-a181692#gs.qare0b

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Snowpiercer Season 2 Review: Weirder, Wilder, and More Relevant Than Ever

In terms of performances, there really isn't a weak link in Snowpiercer Season Two, as each member of the cast is really able to grow into their respective roles.

 Bean's Mr. Wilford is undeniably a standout of the season, delivering a flamboyant, morally-questionable, and very watchable performance that feels like a chaotic sibling to Ewan McGregor's Black Mask in Birds of Prey.

Snowpiercer might have started out a little rough around the edges, but it brilliantly and near-effortlessly comes into its own in Season Two. Even amid its grim setting, there's a weird sense of comfort to watching the new series -- both with the ways that it unintentionally captures our current moment, and with the ways that the series owns its weird and wonderful form of ensemble storytelling. If you haven't been watching Snowpiercer, take this as a sign that you need to change that.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/snowpiercer-spoilers-season-2-review-tnt/

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'Snowpiercer' 2.01 Review: The Time of Two Engines
Who will win in the war of Snowpiercer vs. Big Alice?
https://www.whattowatch.com/reviews/snowpiercer-201-review-the-time-of-two-engines

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‘Snowpiercer’ Season 2: Sean Bean Gives The Train Some Direction, But The Series Still Isn’t On Track [Review]

Naturally, the other train—known as “Big Alice”—is the focus of season two, particularly its two main occupants, Alexandra and Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean), the Wizard of Oz of this enterprise. Melanie hadn’t let the train passengers know that their leader, the train’s designer, wasn’t even aboard, and his arrival completely changes the tenor of season two by giving it a scenery-chewing villain. As played by Bean, Wilford is a power-hungry sociopath, a man who mentally abuses everyone around him, and has been doing exactly that to Melanie’s daughter for seven years. At the start of season two, there’s an interesting mystery about Wilford and Alexandra’s past and futures that gives the show entirely new energy. It helps that both actors are very good. Blanchard sells the arc of a girl who blames her mother for leaving her behind but knows she still needs her too. Bean knows exactly what to do here, leaning into a brand of wealthy smarm that the character needs to work. He gives the show some of the teeth it was missing in season one. 

https://theplaylist.net/snowpiercer-season-2-review-20210116/



Sean Bean’s bravura performance injects some much-needed life into Snowpiercer
After just one episode of its second series, there are hints that the show is on the right track thanks to a scenery-chewing turn by Bean as the train's founder Mr Wilford.

It’s amazing how much one actor can transform a series. Countless shows in TV history have had new life breathed into them by one virtuoso performance, been saved from lackluster territory by the efforts of an outstanding actor at the top of their game. Well, the second season of post-apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer might only just be getting underway, but one episode in there are already hints that the show might soon be joining that list, with the high profile addition of Sean Bean doing a lot to suggest that the series is on an upwards trajectory.

Bean plays Mr Wilford, a character who was regularly mentioned in the first run but was thought dead until a major twist at the end of the season finale. The billionaire owner of Snowpiercer, Wilford is referred to as the ‘Great Engineer’ and is revered in an almost god-like fashion by many of the train’s passengers. Despite his absence from the first series, he is a character who was given a fairly dramatic build-up, so it’s safe to say that whoever took on the role had to go big. On that front, thankfully, Bean does not disappoint.

His Snowpiecer debut arrives roughly 15 minutes into the season two premiere. We hear him before we see him – a sinister chuckle followed by the line “she remembers you” in his signature Yorkshire accent. If the ominous delivery of this brief gambit wasn’t immediately enough to convince that Bean is not planning on phoning this in, our first sight of him a few seconds later only confirms it. Sitting arrogantly atop a throne-like chair, Bean menacingly smiles his way through his opening exchange with Jennifer Connolly’s Melanie. There’s an almost Bond villain-esque energy to his taunts, setting up an intriguing relationship with the first season’s main baddie in the process.

Beyond this, his appearances in the first episode are relatively sparse – he doesn’t crop up again until the final 10 minutes, at which point we see another side to the character: manic fury. But even with relatively limited screen time, Bean steals the show in every frame he appears in, giving it large as a showboating villain full of gleeful sneers and sociopathic smarm. Even the manner in which he peels and eats an orange is wonderfully compelling.

It’s the kind of bravura performance the series desperately needed after a first season that was often a rather drab and lifeless affair. I mean this, of course, with no disrespect to other Snowpiercer cast members, including Daveed Diggs and Connolly, two exceptionally charismatic performers who have proven their worth many times over – but it often felt like their performances in the first run were too serious and solemn for the material, which made the whole thing a bit stilted and dull.

The concept of Snowpiercer works best when it juggles a certain degree of wackiness alongside the gritty themes – a line tread expertly by Bong Joon-Ho in his spectacular 2013 film – but in the first season it seemed that only Alison Wright was having any fun, channeling Tilda Swinton’s superbly eccentric performance (and accent) from the movie. By adding a scenery-chewing villain to the equation, the series suddenly becomes a much more engaging and, most-importantly, entertaining experience.

All this is not to say that the series is suddenly without fault: many of the issues I had with the first season are still present in the season two premiere. The episode still feels a little stodgy and slow, with much of the dialogue continuing to feel overwrought and too portentous for its own good. There’s also the fact the show’s mammoth supporting cast can make it all rather unfocused, with too much time given to characters and storylines that don’t feel particularly developed or interesting. And then there’s the point that, even with Bean’s introduction, the show would still benefit from adopting the more bonkers approach used so well in the film.

But despite these flaws, Bean’s presence does enough to indicate that the show is on the right track, setting up some intriguing new relationships and adding another mystery to the fold regarding Melanie’s daughter Alexandra (who has seemingly been under Wilford’s command for several years). If nothing else, it’s just great to see a beloved actor give such an enjoyably full-on performance – and that alone might be enough to keep fans tuning in every week.

Snowpiercer season 2 begins on Tuesday 26th January 2021 with new episodes released on Netflix every week. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best TV series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
 

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/scifi/2021-01-25/snowpiercer-review-sean-bean/

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SNOWPIERCER’S 'UNHINGED' NEW VILLAIN BRINGS FRESH THREATS AND FORGES SURPRISING BONDS, SAY DAVEED DIGGS AND JENNIFER CONNELLY
SEAN BEAN STEPS ABOARD AS A SHOWY AND CHAOTIC BIG BAD IN SEASON 2 OF TNT'S POST-APOCALYPTIC DRAMA SERIES.

There’s a joke that makes fun of the number of times Game Of Thrones alum Bean has died on-screen (think GOT, GoldenEye, Lord of the Rings, and more). That’s all in the past, though; if Bean’s performance as the new big bad in Snowpiercer is an example of anything, it’s that the actor is wonderfully alive in this deliciously evil role.

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/snowpiercers-unhinged-new-villain-brings-fresh-threats-and-forges-surprising-bonds-say-daveed-diggs-and-jennifer-connelly/?cmp=TWRT_Edit_Interview_Snowpiercer


Snowpiercer: Season 2 – Netflix / TNT Review

At the end of season 1, a new train was introduced to the Snowpiercer universe. “Big Alice” is the name of this train and Mr. Wilford himself is also back. He is portrayed wonderfully by Sean Bean, who definitely makes an impact during episode 1 of season 2.

https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/snowpiercer-season-2-netflix-tnt/



Snowpiercer season 2 episode 1 review: Sean Bean’s presumed-dead Mr Wilford takes time to show true colours

  When a sneak peek at Sean, 61, as Mr Wilford was first revealed in July last year, Netflix promised that the character would ‘blow your mind’. As a man who is both highly revered and feared, it is a tall order to bring the character to life. So how did Sean fare in the season two premiere? The first instalment of the new series boasts a fair amount of bloody action, featuring a grisly character who bears a scarily strong resemblance to the zombified Gregor Clegane in Game of Thrones. But when it comes to Mr Wilford, his arrival is somewhat understated. The name ‘Mr Wilford’ carries a lot of power. In the first season, it was like he was the wizard behind the curtain, perceived by some – most notably hospitality’s Ruth Wardell (Alison Wright) – as an all-powerful being. So when he is shown to be an obnoxious, rich playboy living a life of splendour, it admittedly does feel a bit anticlimactic. But this is just the first episode out of 10. Things are only just warming up, and Mr Wilford has seven years of pent-up fury to unleash.

Considering the extent to which Melanie distrusts and despises Mr Wilford – Melanie, who we witnessed freeze Josie (Katie McGuinness) to death in the previous series – something tells us Mr Wilford will demonstrate just how conniving and ruthless he can be.

The fact that the Snowpiercer TV series is based on a film but deviates from its source material gives it a strong advantage with its audience. Whether viewers have seen the film or not, the story could go in any direction. Despite Sean’s reputation for frequently dying in the roles that he plays, for all we know, Mr Wilford could come out on top.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/26/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-1-review-sean-bean-arrives-as-mr-wilford-13964513/


TV Review: Snowpiercer S2 (2020) Episode 1

Sean Bean manages to be both menacing and charming and I am so glad to be back in this world again.  Even if it took a while to find my feet again.

This episode though is mostly just setting our scene.  Introducing us to new characters and putting all the players in the right places.  There is not much in the way of plot going on here.  A brief introduction to the illusive Mr Wilford, played both Menacingly and charmingly by the ever brilliant Sean Bean.  It is clear he is going to be an antagonist for the majority of this season, so I am interested to see more and learn more about this character, and perhaps see some more of the backstory behind the relationship he has with Mel.

https://trailertrashedfilm.com/2021/01/26/tv-review-snowpiercer-s2-2020-episode-1/


Snowpiercer: Think of it as Mad Max – The All Ireland Final Matchday Special

“Comfort viewing” takes on a whole new meaning in a year of seemingly never-ending lockdowns. Netflix, for instance, may have thought it had a surefire dystopian hit on its hands when it originally green-lit a small-screen adaptation of Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-Ho’s postapocalyptic train caper.

But that was very much then. Today, many of us would trade a vital organ or beloved family pet for the opportunity to board a train that never stopped. Granted, the catering on the Snowpiercer is distinctly subpar. And nobody gets thrown off for rowdy behaviour. But a one-way ticket would at least get us out of the house for a bit.

Bong’s 2013 film – itself based on a cult graphic novel – was allegorical and sharply observed. The TV series, by contrast, is all about the bumpy journey and is full of over-the-top dialogue, sudden interruptions and an ever-present doom. In other words, it’s Mad Max: The All Ireland Final Matchday Special (released in some territories as Mad Max: Beyond Limerick Junction).

Yet it nonetheless chugs ahead on all cylinders as it returns today for an enjoyable second run (new episodes arriving weekly). Who can object to a show that gives us Jennifer Connelly as a neurotic anti-hero? Or Sean Bean as an over-the-top baddie who likes to unwind by listening to David Bowie in the bath?

Bean’s Mr Wilford was introduced at the end of season one as a Wizard of Oz figure nefariously pulling the strings offstage. He’s the obsessive genius who created the Snowpiercer, a last bastion for humanity as Earth is laid waste by a never-ending nuclear winter.

Now he’s back as the captain of his own train. That’s “Big Alice”, a supply engine that has just shunted into the Snowpiercer, bringing it to a halt. We are also introduced to Willard’s enforcer Alex (Rowan Blanchard) – the rebellious daughter of Connelly’s “head of hospitality”, Melanie Cavill (and, awkwardly, Wilford’s usurper on Snowpiercer).

Connelly is nominally the star, but in the first of the new instalments she doesn’t get to do much beyond react to events. Wilford confronts her; her daughter defies her; she almost freezes to death when booby-trapping the Snowpiercer to prevent Wilford seizing complete control.

But her star power cuts through a somewhat underwritten character. Bean is wonderful, too, and the scenes between Wilford and Melanie crackle with drama. It’s enough to paper over some of the show’s flaws, such as the sluggish pacing.

Netflix dramas often suffer from rushed endings, and Snowpiercer may ultimately be on a fast track to nowhere. But the lively beginning to series two suggests that, whatever the future holds, for now this remains a trip worth taking.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/snowpiercer-think-of-it-as-mad-max-the-all-ireland-final-matchday-special-1.4468363



Five Thoughts on Snowpiercer‘s “The Time of Two Engines”

Sean Bean is obviously having a great time as Wilford, from quietly seething at Melanie, to casually introducing her to the daughter who now hates her, to playing with her like a cat playing with a mouse, and finally exploding in anger when Melanie foils his nefarious plan. (Sorry, he really does seem like a cartoon villain. In a good way.)

It’s clear the man is a megalomaniac. He was willing to kill every single passenger on Snowpiercer just to stick it to the people who won’t give him back “his train.” Even people who work for him, like poor Kevin, knows their lives mean nothing to him. His first request, a selection of fresh food and booze, was simply to make his adversaries run around and do his bidding.

http://www.multiversitycomics.com/tv/snowpiercer-time-of-two-engines/

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Snowpiercer season two review: Sean Bean plays a grumpy tycoon in a thriller that risks descending into family soap

The original Snowpiercer film, directed by Bong Joon Ho before Parasite made him a global superstar, is an intriguing allegorical sci-fi in which the remaining inhabitants of a frozen Earth endlessly circle the planet on a giant train. At the front, in first class, passengers are pampered with sushi and chamber music, while at the back a forgotten underclass subsist on lumps of mysterious black jelly. The plot is a simple but effective story of revolution, starring Chris Evans as the sans-culotte in chief and Ed Harris as the mysterious Mr Wilford, the creator of the engine. 

For the Netflix adaptation, whose second series launches today, the Evans role was taken on by Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton, a former detective, with Jennifer Connelly playing Melanie Cavill, the train’s inscrutable “head of hospitality” and notionally Mr Wilford’s representative. The first series expanded on the film’s story to include romantic and sleuth subplots, but broadly stuck to the same arc. The problem that loomed down the line in an era of TV that tends to rumble on is that there are only so many places for a train to go. In Snowpiercer, the geography is doubly limited, because it’s is too cold for humans to stay outside except in special suits. 

At the start of the second season the problem has been sidestepped by the arrival of another train, Big Alice (Seriously, what is it with the name Alice? Come on.), which has latched onto Snowpiercer and taken control. At its helm, Mr Wilford himself, played by Sean Bean as a grumpy tycoon in a velvet smoking jacket who enjoys baths and David Bowie. Melanie left him for dead at the “boarding”, seven years beforehand, so he has a bone to pick when she sneaks aboard Big Alice to demand Snowpiercer’s release. She thinks he has no bargaining chips left, but she has reckoned without her daughter, Alex (Rowan Blanchard), still being alive.

Alongside Diggs and Connelly, there are enjoyable performances from Mickey Sumner, as a good-hearted member of the train’s de facto police force, and Alison Wright as Ruth Wardell, the officious deputy head of hospitality. Despite this competent ensemble, the opening episode rests heavily on Bean’s arrival, and – quite aside from the typically fraught issue of whether his character will survive – it's not entirely clear how Snowpiercer will maintain our interest without a descent into family soap. When there’s only one train in town, everyone’s lives depend on keeping it going. It might be a clear environmental message, but it's not necessarily conducive to drama. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/snowpiercer-season-2-review-b1794136.html

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TV REVIEW: SNOWPIERCER S2E2 SMOLDER TO LIFE

Warning: “Smolder to Life” features suicide and may be upsetting and triggering to some individuals.

Snowpiercer‘s second season’s second episode is an interesting one as each train attempts to gain intelligence about each other. “Smolder to Life” is a dance of sorts as Wilford and Andre do what they each can to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each other.

Each side has a hostage to work with, Kevin with Andre and Melanie with Wilford. But, there’s more than that, each side also has issues with worship and loyalty. There are those among Snowpiercer who worship Wilford. A person who thought dead and has arisen has certain religious aspects to it. And there’s Melanie’s daughter who is clearly not sure what to think of her mother and her abandonment issues.

There’s an interesting dance between Wilford and his attempt to be worshiped and rule and Andre’s attempt to help spread democracy through Snowpiercer. It’s one man versus possibly the people, though things are up in the air as to which side some of the people are on.

What’s really interesting is what we learn of Wilford and Big Alice. We see the extent to which individuals on the train will sacrifice themselves for Wilford. We also get teases that as advance as their technology is, Wilford’s train may be having more issues than Snowpiercer. Starvation is teased as well as possible experiments on individuals. The hulk we saw in the first episode, we get a better idea as to why he can withstand the cold.

But, Snowpiercer has issues as well. An assault has occurred and “Smolder to Life” begins to mimic the first season in some ways. We see the show kick off a new arc beyond the issues the two trains combine face. The series could easily focus on just the two trains having to deal with each other. But, it expands beyond that to show how the new dynamic on the train is leading to new issues, new allies, and new dynamics. But, even that plays into the greater themes of the show. The murder could possibly be a caste thing and attempt to stir up trouble. It could also be Wilford attempting to stir up trouble.

And one of those new dynamics is the snow Melanie discovered in the first episode. What does it all mean? This is an interesting twist as it plays into things we see in other media, the film, the comics. It explains some things in some ways. It’s a hell of a shake-up of the series and where it’s going and also presents an interesting back and forth between Wilford, Melanie, and Andre in front of everyone. It digs into Wilford’s motivation. Did he create the trains to protect humanity? Was it so he can rule? Where things are going really digs into that simple question.

The episode is what individuals are willing to do for each other. Kevin’s sacrifice. Melanie’s sacrifice. They are for other individuals. One is a cult like zeal. The other is for herself and maybe for her daughter presented as something greater. We get to see the different approaches to this new world even further. In place of a ruling caste, we have a ruling individual. In each case the people are in the way. Each brings order and subjugation, though the alternative is full of questions and risks as well. We get to see how two individuals react and it seems the series looks to explore how that goes with the people as a whole. While not quite apparent, “Smolder to Life” may deliver an even more intriguing political allegory than the first season.

https://graphicpolicy.com/2021/02/01/tv-review-snowpiercer-s2e2-smolder-to-life/




Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 2

A show like Snowpiercer seems tailor-made for the winter. After all, it’s cold outside, so you might as well stay in. Sure, you’re probably still quarantined with your household after a long year, but at least you’re not stuck on a train. At least you’re not stuck on a train rattling around a frozen death world eating canned meat while waiting to become fertilizer (or canned meat yourself). As bad as things might be out here, at least it’s not Snowpiercer-bad these days; there are signs of hope everywhere, with vaccines in our world, and the recurring snowflakes seen every time the train is shown from outside.

Of course, in order to reclaim the world, Snowpiercer and the travelers along for the ride will have to survive Big Alice’s return, their own internal strife, and the machinations of the devious Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean, practically twirling a mustache). That’s making the bold assumption that Melanie’s hypothermia didn’t bring about hallucinations, and that the information found in her snow sample taken outside is accurate. In order to get any real information, they need weather equipment, and that’s the sort of thing that was stored on, you guessed it, Big Alice. The two trains will have to work together, one way or another.

Throughout the first season of Snowpiercer, Daveed Diggs’ Andre Layton was a fish out of water. He was the random tailie wandering into first class, making people uncomfortable and sticking his nose in where it wasn’t wanted to figure out the truth behind the murders in third. He was the train detective as much as he was the leader of a revolution, and while one job made the other possible, it was no less important.

Layton had to solve the murder, and as he made his way up and down the trail, the tension in his wake was always palpable. Maybe because he was a tailie, maybe because he was a visible figure of authority. Now he’s the authority, and the new train detective, Bess Till (Mickey Sumner) is walking the same beat, sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong, and making people uncomfortable. Maybe because she’s a former brakeman. Maybe because she’s a visible figure of authority.

Either way, it makes for a nice mirroring of the first season, albeit in a more contained fashion. Till has to figure out how maimed Lights (Miranda Edwards) and for what reason, while Layton wrestles with the bigger fish of diplomacy with Big Alice and Mr. Wilford. Both plots, particularly the slapdash way in which Layton and Roche (Mike O’Malley) force Till into taking the job, are satisfying. Layton is used to working in secret, to scheme against schemers as Wilford might say, so their back-and-forth at the meeting is very well done. Sean Bean gets to preen and make big statements for the public, and Daveed Diggs gets to wryly get jabs in and deflate the impact of the more egotistical Wilton with verbal barbs.

It’s a great use of both actors, particularly Sean Bean’s charm and Daveed Diggs’ comic timing. Both men get to show a little bit more life than Jennifer Connelly’s Melanie Cavill ever did, though the character seems a bit more free to be herself now that she’s no longer pretending to be Wilford in an attempt to keep the train running. That sort of stress would be enough to tamp down anyone’s nature, unless they’re a pot-smoking sociopath like Wilford or an idealist like Layton.

One of the clever things about Audrey Nealon’s solid script is that it’s clear Wilford is by no means a fool. He might have his moments, but he’s a vicious man with a capacity for revenge and a flair for the dramatic. Certainly, he might be have underestimated Layton at first, but he’s gotten a measure for the man, and Wilford clearly has friends on the inside (as shown by the mutilation of Lights’ hand into the Wilford W).

Ruth (Alison Wright) probably doesn’t have the capacity to hurt others herself; she’s a true believer in hospitality’s mission, but she was never the hand holding the freeze gun. This mutilation seems to be more the speed of LJ (Annalise Basso) and her new partner in crime, the disgraced former brakeman Oz (Sam Otto). Though they’re a bit too obvious to be used as Wilford cats paws, they’re a pretty useful distraction.


Wilford himself is a pretty useful distraction. Christoph Schrewe’s direction makes it pretty clear that Wilford is a potent demagogue figure; if the adoring crowds he waves to on his walk through Snowpiercer aren’t evidence enough, then true believer Kevin killing himself at Wilford’s request should push that point home pretty neatly. Till’s walk through the train is enough to set that scene; Snowpiercer had a change at the top, but everything else is still up in the air and danger is still around every corner. Snowpiercer was dangerous before the tail turned into Cold War Berlin; it’s no less dangerous now that there are no rules and nothing keeping First and Third away from each other.

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-2-review-smolder-to-life/



Snowpiercer season 2 episode 2: Melanie Cavill makes huge discovery as Mr Wilford and Layton come face to face

Warning: spoilers ahead for season two episode two of Snowpiercer. With big discoveries comes big sacrifices, as Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) learns when she makes a scientific finding that will impact everyone aboard Snowpiercer and Big Alice, the supply train run by the egocentric Mr Wilford (Sean Bean). In season two episode two of the dystopian thriller, Melanie is still being kept captive on Big Alice by her former mentor, where her daughter, Alexandra Cavill (Rowan Blanchard), continues to treat her with disdain. After some toing and froing with Snowpiercer, the two trains come to an agreement to make a prisoner exchange – Melanie for Wilford’s fiercely loyal head of hospitality, Kevin (Tom Lipinski). When Melanie returns to Snowpiercer, she, along with engineers Bennett (Iddo Goldberg) and Javi (Roberto Urbina) and the new leader of the train Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) carry out an investigation to see whether the Earth’s atmosphere is becoming warmer, something that wouldn’t have been deemed possible had Melanie not noticed that it was snowing when she ventured outside.

Upon the confirmation that Melanie’s hypothesis is accurate, they open a line of communication with Big Alice, calling for Wilford to finally come aboard Snowpiercer for a discussion. As he swans onto the train, strutting with a cane, donning a cape and being treated like the Messiah by the masses, it becomes apparent that his strange allure has not faded despite his seven-year absence. But behind his toothy smile, Wilford’s heart is as cold as the ice that covers the planet. After welcoming Kevin back to Big Alice, he is ordered by Wilford to take his own life after the head of hospitality confesses what he revealed to Snowpiercer about Big Alice’s desperate need for supplies. When Alexandra joins Wilford on Snowpiercer, she manages to sneak a razor onto the train in an apparent plot to murder Layton on Wilford’s authority – although he aborts the scheme at the last minute.

Despite Melanie’s exciting announcement that Earth could become a survivable habit once again in their lifetimes, this news comes with a caveat – one person will need to stay at a science station for a month on their own to carry out research, that person being Melanie. The risks are great, but the reward – life on Earth once again – is worth it in Melanie’s eyes, even if it means being separated from her daughter once again. Elsewhere on the train, Layton’s ex-wife Zarah (Sheila Vand) makes a startling discovery that few would have seen coming. In season one, viewers witnessed Melanie leave Layton’s lover Josie (Katie McGuinness) to die in an interrogation room that was exposed to the freezing outside air. It didn’t seem like there was any possibility at all that she survived… that is, until Zarah finds her in a hospital bed, barely recognisable from her severe frostbite.

For a moment it seems like Josie’s survival will be short-lived, as Zarah – who is pregnant with Layton’s child – decides to murder Josie in her sleep, before quickly going back on her decision. After Zarah tells Layton that Josie is alive, he rushes to her side, where she finally opens one of her eyes. While Wilford is pretending to play game with Layton and Melanie, newly-appointed train detective Till (Mickey Sumner) realises that he may have already infiltrated Snowpiercer without anyone realising.

After looking into an assault on a Tailie called Lights (Miranda Edwards) whose hand was maimed by an unknown attacker, Till spots that she has had her little finger and her thumb cut off, mimicking the three-fingered gesture Wilford makes to look like the letter W. How will Josie’s return impact Layton’s negotiations with Wilford and what else will Till uncover about the megalomaniac’s ploy for total control of Snowpiercer?
 

https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/02/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-2-wilford-and-layton-come-face-to-face-melanie-cavill-14004633/



TV Review: Snowpiercer S2 (2021) Episode 2 – Smoulder to Life

Sean Bean really is out doing himself here.  His performance as the villainous and quite frankly terrifying Mr Wilford is outstanding.  There isn’t a single moment where he is on screen that my entire attention isn’t on him.  He is truly a fantastic villain.

https://trailertrashedfilm.com/2021/02/02/tv-review-snowpiercer-s2-2021-episode-2-smoulder-to-life/


Sean Bean takes ‘Snowpiercer’ from good to great

Bean has an incredible talent for playing villains, whether it’s the calculating 006 in “GoldenEye” or the conniving Boromir in “Lord of the Rings.” In many ways, playing the eccentric and cruel Mr. Wilford is the perfect role for an actor who always plays the villain. From his authoritative introductory scene to the explosive moment when he learns that the underclass dared to rise up against him, Bean brings the perfect amount of dangerous, erratic and cruel confidence to an already well-written character. 

https://www.michigandaily.com/section/tvnew-media/sean-bean-takes-%E2%80%98snowpiercer%E2%80%99-good-great?fbclid=IwAR3-AQrblXTXsuqJb4zd4gASDu4xK0ujfVEbmb2Vn2Nuf1fdXDKspEBMMpA


'Snowpiercer' and the charm and menace of Sean Bean's Mr. Wilford

After two episodes, Bean has exhibited both magnetism and an unflinching menace to those who have crossed his path or betrayed him. He has spilled blood without inflicting the wounds himself and his manipulation skills are as impressive as his personal suite on Big Alice. For Wilford, it is all about what he has given people and what he believes is his. “I want my train back, Melanie” he orders when reunited with his former protégé. Unfortunately for Wilford, it is no longer hers to surrender. Unlike Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark in Game of Thrones, Wilford is a man that craves power and will do anything to take back what he believes is his. Bean has played leaders (reluctant and willing) and countless villains across television and film, which makes him ideal for a character who is considered a savior and a monster. He rarely shifts his accent from the dulcet Yorkshire tones that gives his performance an everyman quality — even when he is wearing luxurious velvet suit jackets or a jacquard bathrobe.   

Languishing in the bathtub listening to David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” on vinyl while sampling the luxuries from Snowpiercer that he has been craving further highlights how Wilford isn’t a man of the people. His name is plastered over the vehicle as a reminder of who is in control and while Melanie has so far found a number of ways to challenge this power grab, he will stop at nothing to rule over this fractured society.

https://www.whattowatch.com/features/snowpiercer-and-the-charm-and-menace-of-sean-beans-mr-wilford



Snowpiercer Season 2 Has A Creepy Godfather Reference

Of course, it's hard to believe Mr. Wilford invites everyone who betrays him into his private bathtub. He didn't extend an offer to Melanie when she was his prisoner, for example, not that Cavill would have accepted. Then again, it's unlikely anyone on Big Alice has acted against Wilford's orders or interests before, so Kevin may have been the first victim of Mr. Wilford's disturbing method of capital punishment. Mr. Wilford is certainly charming and eccentric, but he has now also proven to have a kinky side that makes him an even more compelling and provocative villain. Whether or not Mr. Wilford got the idea of making people slit their wrists in a bathtub from The Godfather Part II isn't known - though he is a David Bowie fan who is fond of a good soak in his tub - but Snowpiercer's Messiah figure made Frank Pentangeli's Roman suicide ritual even more chilling.

https://screenrant.com/snowpiercer-season-2-godfather-wilford-frank-pentangeli-reference/

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Verdict: Genuinely difficult to watch in places for all the right reasons. Sean Bean might have been born to play this role, and the conflict promises to be absolutely compelling going forward. 9/10 

https://scifibulletin.com/us-tv/snowpiercer-review-season-2-episode-2-smolder-to-life/

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Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 3 Review: A Great Odyssey

Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 3
A friend of mine from high school dropped out of college and bounced around multiple jobs before he got a job he loves. He now works as, of all things, an engineer in a train yard. Rather than taking the trains out on long hauls, he drives to the yard and moves trains around from the shed to the appropriate track and back as needed. The work is hard and outdoors in all weather, but satisfying enough that, last time we spoke, he was still an engineer. Even his relatively easy job is still very difficult, as it takes time both to get trains moving and to get them to stop; a train handles nothing like a car. Trying to drive a 1034-car super train with two disconnected engines up the Rocky Mountains seems like a nightmare, and yet, that’s the task given not to Bennett (Iddo Goldberg) or Melanie (Jennifer Connelly), but to teenage Alex (Rowan Blanchard) courtesy of one Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) on this week’s episode of Snowpiercer.

Even though it’s just CGI, just watching Snowpiercer and Big Alice tilt at crazy angles to go around a curve, snow flying all around them, is intimidating. Perhaps it’s my fear of heights, but just thinking about that track curving around the side of a mountain with nothing between the train and a freefalling death but a couple of pieces of bent steel and the skill of someone who can’t drive a car is one of the most unnerving moments of the series. Given that the people on board Snowpiercer are being forced to huddle together in their emergency muster stations for the attempt only makes things worse; no wonder Audrey is drunk in the night car and everyone’s on edge throughout the train. Melanie’s trip to the research station is a suicide mission for the whole train, not just for her.

 Of course, life is nothing but a suicide mission. In the cold opening, as Wilford sparks up a joint and liquors up his coffee, he mentions that the end of life isn’t a surprise. Everyone dies, no exceptions. There is no real way to escape that fate, but there is still power in knowledge, and weapons are very useful. His metaphor is mixed, yet pointed. Icy Bob is the point of a spear, knowledge is used like a sword, and he’s going to either get Snowpiercer back or drive humanity to extinction in the process. And, like Till suspected, he’s got loyalists on the inside of Snowpiercer, and true believers are always a problem when they’re being guided by a self-serving sociopath.

That Wilford is a danger to himself and others isn’t surprising, but Zak Schwartz’s script makes it clear that Wilford was manipulating people long before the earth began to freeze; Bennett and Melanie confirm this in their conversations with one another, with Layton, and with Alex. Alex, who is clearly a smart girl, is smart enough to see her way through Wilford, with a little help from her mother, but also smart enough to make sure that Wilford doesn’t see through her own wall of distain for her absentee parent.

The reunion moments between Alex and Melanie are well done, with the two working together to both get to the root of their relationship issues while not directly talking about them in an unnatural way. It’s performed well by Connelly and Rowan Blanchard, but also well written. Teenagers in particular are reticent to discuss their feelings directly, so Mel figures out how to solve that problem by working her way around them through their shared interest in the train.

Director David Frazee also does solid work with the other actors, in particular the goodbye scene between Melanie and Alison Wright’s Ruth Wardell. Melanie doesn’t ask for forgiveness, and Ruth doesn’t offer it, but there’s enough there between the two of them that Ruth has to keep her façade up at that final moment, all the same. Wright does a wonderful job here of not giving away too much of what Ruth is feeling, only letting her voice quaver a little bit, and her eyes mist up just slightly, while keeping the Head of Hospitality appearance ship-shape in front of the assembled passengers of Snowpiercer. Melanie isn’t dead, but everyone seems to be mourning her in their own way all the same.

Melanie knows when Wilford is most likely to make a move on Snowpiercer, and it’s while she’s gone. She’s careful to warn Layton of that, and give him good advice on taking Ruth into the fold as a confidant because of her straight-shooting mentality. She warns Alex to be wary of Wilford, as well, with full knowledge of his mind games and tendency to abuse others out of boredom rather than any pressing reason. Wilford’s interest in Icy Bob doesn’t seem to bode well for Melanie, or for Snowpiercer, though he’s still a work in progress. The Headwoods are busy sharpening the point of the spear for Wilford, even as they seem to be rooting for Melanie’s mission to succeed (or are just looking for something new to turn their attention to when not doing mad science).

Then again, Wilford needs Snowpiercer for more than just the egotistic reasons he suggests as he calls it “my train” over and over. From the brief reveals of the cold open, Big Alice’s crew seem tired, hungry, and most importantly, over Wilford’s big talk—you can’t fill a belly with deft wordplay and rousing speeches—while the breechmen on Snowpiercer remain true believers simply because they haven’t had to deal with Wilford all this time. A change in leadership on the big train would benefit Big Alice immensely, so while Wilford’s crew is smaller, they’re motivated because the alternative is canned meat and the rages of a despot.

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-3-review-a-great-odyssey/


Snowpiercer season 2, episode 3 recap – “A Great Odyssey”

One thing I love about Snowpiercer that I almost never mention is how they change the intro every week. The one in “A Great Odyssey” is narrated by Mr. Wilford himself, and largely takes the form of an ode to Icy Bob and his many varied sacrifices, not least among them aesthetic, which is fitting since he ends up making more by episode’s end. It’s a tease for later, though. We see Bob being put under and fiddled with, genetically-speaking, by Wilford’s boffins, who have the mandate to make him able to withstand even harsher temperatures for a longer period of time. Exactly why is anyone’s guess, though if I were to take a punt — it’s my job to do so, after all — I’d wager that Wilford wants to toss him off the train and send him to hunt down Melanie as she tries to last a month in the far-flung research station she spends the entire episode preparing to leave for.


Like everything these days, getting Melanie there will require cooperation between Snowpiercer and Big Alice. Simply getting Snowpiercer up the hill will require a push, but there are also supplies to be exchanged, hotlines to be set up at “the border”, and sneaky drug routes that Pike can manage in order to have something to do. Everyone from Ruth to Alex thinks that Melanie’s mission will result in her death, but how long can they reasonably watch Wilford smugly sit on a throne and pretend everything is a-ok. (As a side note, Sean Bean is wonderful in “A Great Odyssey” as perhaps the smarmiest man who ever lived.)

Snowpiercer season 2, episode 3 gives all this plenty of time to simmer, and punctuates it with plenty of serious, sometimes moving conversations between different character pairings, especially Melanie and Alex. The latter takes the former through Big Alice’s 27 supply cars, and to her bunk, which she has decorated with string visualizing the train’s route and uncanny portraits of Melanie so that she didn’t forget what she looked like. They go over a map together, reiterate the plan, and Melanie assures her that she’s only leaving for this second time to ensure that there’s still a world for her to live in. Alex might be the typically difficult teenager, but she sees the point.

Then there’s Layton and the now awake and lucid Josie. As it turns out, she’s less annoyed with Layton for knocking up Zara than she is with him for cosying up to Melanie, who you’ll recall left her in this state. And it’s a matter of some significance since, as Josie herself puts it, “Revolutionaries make terrible politicians.” Layton will never be able to retain the support of the Tail without her, especially since Wilford’s adherents are loose among them, lopping off fingers. There’s a bit more of that subplot here in “A Great Odyssey”, with Till and Layton visiting Lights, and Till and Roche interrogating the Breachmen about it, but since they’ll apparently be sitting out the “democratic experiment” and waiting for Wilford’s inevitable return, it doesn’t really go anywhere in Snowpiercer season 2, episode 3.

Now seems as good a time as any to ponder what about Wilford inspires such devotion, since as good as Sean Bean is at playing him, he’s playing him pretty explicitly as a manipulative slimeball whose facade of control is only, like, one car away from complete ruination. He swans around in posh loungewear and sits on a throne while the rest of his people are starving to death — yet Big Alice doesn’t seem to have the kind of internal rebellions that Snowpiercer does? I’m not sure it necessarily tracks that people would be so drawn to him. He has basically raised Alex and even she sees that he’s a creep, especially when, during the climactic drop-off sequence, he tries to persuade her to build up enough speed to plunge a detached and derailed Snowpiercer into a wintry abyss, or, failing that, to hit the brakes and ensure Melanie can’t be left behind to potentially save the entire human race. He isn’t exactly subtle, is he?

Luckily, Alex ensures her mother can disembark, dropping a single, solitary tear in victory. “That’s the last tear I’ll allow,” says Wilford. “It’s the last one you’ll get,” replies Alex, who later, for the first time I’m aware of, calls Melanie “Mom”. It’s the last of several tearful goodbyes that Melanie shares with Ruth and Layton before finally jumping off Snowpiercer into the great and frozen beyond. Let’s hope it works out.
 

https://readysteadycut.com/2021/02/09/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-3-a-great-odyssey-recap/


Snowpiercer – Season 2 Episode 3 Recap & Review

The Episode Review
Episode 3 of Snowpiercer slows the pace slightly as we see Melanie and Alex’s strained relationship start to thaw and become more intimate. It’s clear that Wilford has all of his troops under his command though and everything on Big Alice seems to be operating like a cult. His displeasure at Alex’s show of emotion is evidence enough that any sign of weakness will not be tolerated.

The attack on the Tailie from the Wilford fanatics continues to push the crime drama side of things but to be honest, it doesn’t feel like it’s needed and just ends up feeling like busywork.

It also doesn’t help that this second season is starting to venture beyond the train itself, losing sight of that rich and poor commentary which made the movie (and to an extent the first season) so fascinating to watch.

Instead, what we get is more generic flavoured sci-fi, propped up by the deliciously maniac and well-acted performance of Sean Bean.

Still, with Melanie off the train and both Big Alice and Snowpiercer forced to work together, it remains to be seen exactly what will happen next between these two trains.

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/snowpiercer-s2e3review/

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Why you should watch Snowpiercer Season 2

Mr. Wilford
Mr. Wilford’s manipulation have remained subtle for now. As he is stranded on his supply train he cannot now overplay his hand. He appears quite content to let the simmering civil war onboard Snowpiercer take its toll. His chances of taking control have improved considerably since Melanie has just departed the train to check out a research station along its tracks. Just when you thought you got a handle on the series it changes its dynamics. Snowpiercer is never meant to be a series that lasts seven seasons. If they can make it to four I would both surprised and pleased. I rather have a high-concept series that continuously changes its setting and characters than a series attempting to stay within the limits of its confines. Snowpiercer season 2 is also set to run for 10 episodes and will finish in late March.

https://scifiempire.net/wordpress/why-you-should-watch-snowpiercer-season-2/

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Snowpiercer – Season 2 Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Episode Review
Snowpiercer returns this week with a slightly artistic episode, but one that’s a lot slower than the others we’ve experienced thus far. A lot of the drama here rests squarely on Melanie’s wellbeing. What happened to her out in the snow? How did she make it to safety? How did the ping work? And what is the end-game here?

While it seems likely that we’re gearing up for another fight between the two trains, including Wilford building an… ice army? I guess? To be honest the science isn’t exactly fully realized and at times Snowpiercer does slip a little too far into the realm of silliness.

With the exception of the first episode, this season has really struggled to capture that same power dynamic that made the first so fascinating, instead devolving into a fight between two sides onboard a train. The charisma of Sean Bean is enough to drive this one forward though but the midway point of this show has slowed things down, which isn’t helped by a rather underwhelming mystery that feels crowbarred in to fill the run-time.

Let’s hope the pace picks back up soon!

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/snowpiercer-s2e4review/



Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 4 Review: A Single Trade

This SNOWPIERCER review contains spoilers.
 Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 4
Two of the more curious aspects of Snowpiercer is the fact that there’s a cabaret/bar/talk therapy center called the Night Car and that the tea room has become the de-facto church for anyone on board the train who still has faith in some sort of higher power. The need for religious services and entertainment is a known factor, but the fact that both the Night Car and the Tea Room serve more as locations for counseling than their original locations is interesting, to say the least. Like everything else on Snowpiercer, adaptations have been made during the time the train’s been rolling across the frozen world, and the Snowpiercer that Mr. Wilford enters into for the celebration of science is much different than the one he’d envisioned.

The biggest thing that Snowpiercer did with the introduction of Mr. Wilford as a living, breathing character is shake up the core belief system of the train to a great extent. Wilford was alive, guiding them all with his benevolence, then he was actually dead, only for him to reappear in living form once more with a second super train to attempt a hostile takeover of Snowpiercer. It’s psychological whiplash, particularly for those with loyalty to Wilford from before. He’s alive but not; he’s dead but not; he’s back to save us all but maybe not. No wonder everyone is fighting with each other and every faction on the train is scrambling for relevance. Breechmen might be working for Wilford directly. Tailies have taken over the black market. The janitors are trying desperately to hang onto what they have acquired. No one has a new place in this world quite yet, and everyone seems to be feeling the strain.

Snowpiercer has been probing some touchy territory lately, what with the many references to wrist cutting and the role that has in Wilford’s peculiar psychosexual relationship with his underlings. First Kevin, now Audrey from the Night Car has her own sad story about Wilford climbing into the tub with her and handing her an open razorblade. It’s not detailed, but enough of the clues are provided to allow the audience to put it together. (Credit to them for putting a chyron at the end of the episode with support numbers for people triggered by the images of self-harm.) Audrey was a high-priced escort in Chicago. More than that, she was the object of Wilford’s devotion/obsession, and that returns during Wilford’s trip into the Night Car.

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-4-review-a-single-trade/


Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Single Deal

It’s a great sequence. There is a limit to what can be displayed on the basic cable, Snowpiercer He succeeded in making the interaction between Wilford and Audrey even more disgusting and terrible than what David Frazy did not show, but what he did not show. Lena Hall and Sean Bean have a clear affinity, and it can be difficult to see their scene even before Audrey begins feeding Wilford at his feet like a dog.

Hall makes good use of her dance background in the bookend segment of the episode, and her song remains a positive attribute. When given the opportunity to hang out in a night car and stand up in a third class, she can make a strong impression with just eye pain and distance. Audrey is on stage, reaching out to the crowd and smiling at the masses with the grip performance of Portishead’s “Glory Box.”

Audrey, charming Wilford is on his way back to his private booth. SnowpiercerStyle psychoanalysis. And Audrey is numb with a plastic smile on her face as she gives up part of her soul in exchange for some control over Wilford. Sean Bean, as expected, plays a fascinating and dangerous role, but it’s his aggressive begging in the night car’s private area that really advances how much Wilford is really broken.

Wilford is not the only one who has broken. Everyone at Snowpiercer has lost someone recently or in the past. The world is full of dead people. All revolutions are walking in frozen graveyards, before violent clashes between passenger classes and attempts at violent invasion of Big Alice. Kiersten Van Horne’s script makes that clear. The pressure is increasing.

Everyone didn’t have much time to decompress, and everyone seems to be under pressure, especially Till (Mickey Sumner, doing a good job) crying and getting drunk during his visit to the tea room. With a woman during a celebration party in a night car. LJ and Alex, Big Alice’s Last Australian (Along Renan) and Tailor Emeria (Georgina Haig), Layton and even Zara … Someone to rely on while everyone may be the first step into a new world outside The train that seems to be looking for.
 

https://www.jioforme.com/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-4-review-single-deal/176094/

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Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Keep Hope Alive
Mr. Wilford makes the next move in his chess match with Layton and Josie makes a new friend on Big Alice. It’s a body-horror edition of Snowpiercer.

Sean Bean and Lena Hall do a wonderful job in their shared scenes together as a pair drawn together once more by fate and necessity.

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-5-review-keep-hope-alive/



Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Keep Hope Alive

In an elegant bit of juxtaposition, Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 is a huge turning point both literally and in terms of narrative development.
The train is physically approaching Lhasa, Tibet's Forbidden City (how symbolic is that?), the furthest point of its journey, and preparing to return to Melanie.
Meanwhile, the veiled and anticipated threat of Wilford and his follower is suddenly very real as the hooded assailants who mutilated Lights' hand execute a coordinated and deadly attack on the breachmen of Snowpiercer.

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2021/02/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-5-review-keep-hope-alive/



Snowpiercer struggles to connect the dots in a sprawling episode

Following last week’s Audrey-centric episode that was effective on a character level, “Keep Hope Alive” is a similarly quiet and slow episode of Snowpiercer. A downshift in speed usually works in the show’s favor, allowing some of the character arcs to breathe and not relying too heavily on twists to sell the thrills. But “Keep Hope Alive,” while having some strong character-driven moments and clipping along at a reasonable pace, struggles to grasp a focal point, its subplots spread out so much that the episode amounts to a lot of plot maneuvering without a thematic hook to really bring it all together.

Wilford continues to be a terrifying villain in his all-encompassing control over his passengers—from Icy Bob to the crew members who show up for his book club meeting, tensely discussing Rebecca.

https://tv.avclub.com/snowpiercer-struggles-to-connect-the-dots-in-a-sprawlin-1846332025



‘Snowpiercer’ season 2 episode 5 review: ‘Keep Hope Alive’

To serve the greater good, Audrey walks back into the lion’s den, returning to her abuser once more. Wilford has always had a powerful psychological hold on her. Wilford’s very arrival was triggering enough. So spending a whole evening with him and then ultimately choosing to stay on Big Alice means reliving her trauma every hour of every day.

This is the second strong performance for Lena Hall in a row, and Sean Bean is really able to explore new facets of Joseph Wilford here. 

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/02/22/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-5-review/

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Overall, although it can feel like a bitty episode, the overriding theme is that Wilford is a smarter man than perhaps anyone is giving him true credit for. As the credits roll, it’s difficult to see how he’s not going to emerge the ultimate victor in this battle of wills, though it’s going to be interesting to watch, whatever happens.

Verdict: Slightly spread out with a lot going on, but all of it serving one central theme. Fascinating. 8/10

https://scifibulletin.com/us-tv/snowpiercer-review-season-2-episode-5-keep-hope-alive/

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Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Best episode aired yet

Snowpiercer showed the origins of Mr. Wilford’s break with Melanie Cavill tonight in a series of must-see flashbacks… All while exploring humanity’s savage competition over finite resources.
What’s more important, practicality & order or utopian ambitions? You decide.
This Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 6 Review of “Many Miles From Snowpiercer” contains spoilers.

Snowpiercer’s latest chapter saw Melanie Cavill’s trek to save humankind while giving in to the thin mountain air, becoming delirious. Mr. Wilford, Andre Layton, and Melanie’s daughter Alexandra Cavill would all pay a visit to her frosty last stand.

Snowpiercer’s latest chapter saw Melanie Cavill’s trek to save humankind while giving in to the thin mountain air, becoming delirious. Mr. Wilford, Andre Layton, and Melanie’s daughter Alexandra Cavill would all pay a visit to her frosty last stand.

The flashbacks to Snowpiercer’s official launch day however overshadowed all else, taking the mantle as the show’s best to air yet. From the genesis of Wilford’s night car to the termination of Melanie’s genealogists in favor of more security.

Essentially, the divide between Melanie Cavill and Mr. Wilford is a philosophical and political one all rolled into one. Faith in restoring the world or enjoying what’s left of it to the last drop.

Should a privileged set of elite passengers get to settle into comfortable lives brimming with art and indulgence? Or should everyone live equally drab with the bare minimum in the interest of fairness for all?

Mr. Wilford for one prioritized security, believing order was not only necessary but vital to Snowpiercer’s very existence. His prediction was not wrong. Without Wilford’s hired muscle, the train would have been overrun before ever leaving the station.

No one can question that Mr. Wilford takes decisive action on his own and lives with the consequences. He gives the order to terminate Melanie’s late arriving genealogists with less than a second of thought. A move that can’t be undone.

In turn, Melanie is convinced by Ben to take off with Snowpiercer early… So the train and the future doesn’t fall prey to the “monster”.

This also means consciously leaving her daughter Alexandra behind, as Alex too is a late arrival. Tears flow down Melanie’s face as she says “forgive me” over and over again.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wilford’s heart sinks as he watches Snowpiercer disembark without him. It’s one of the Snowpiercer TV show’s greatest, most multi-layered scenes to ever air. Brilliant.

From Snowpiercer’s climate change/global warming elements of carnage and cold anarchy. From the ‘have nots’ rushing the train to survive to Wilford’s real understanding of human nature under duress.

Wilford’s vision is to preserve art and maintain a high quality of life in the present. While Melanie’s vision is to provide a better world for the future. The two conflicting directions explain Snowpiercer’s bitter rivalry.

Fantastic Acting Work
Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 6 is simply Jennifer Connelly and Sean Bean at their best on the series. The two jousting verbally in the past and delirious present. Connelly’s best individual scene arrives mid-episode when she brings a collapsed antenna tower back up to speed. Braving freezing temperatures while already starving.

No words are heard, just the storming winds and Melanie’s will to sacrifice above all else. Daveed Diggs provides great work as Layton, subtle prodding Melanie over her ironic, hungry twist of fate. Melanie even apologies to an imagined Alex Cavill, asking for forgiveness yet again. Believing she has broken her promise to come back to Snowpiercer.

The last visual of this episode is picturesque. A work of art. Melanie watching as Snowpiercer arrives and doesn’t stop to pick her up. Alex spotting her mother out of a window, yelling “Mom!” powerless to stop the train in its tracks.

https://thenaturalaristocrat.com/2021/03/01/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-6-review-best-episode-aired-yet/



Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Many Miles From Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 6
The first season of Snowpiercer, when you dug through all the sci-fi trappings, was a simple mash-up of a standard dystopian end-of-the-world society and a film noir, with Daveed Diggs playing both the speechifying revolutionary and the hard-boiled, world-weary detective all at once. He has seen it all, he is over it all, and he is ready to shake everything up and give something new a try. One way or the other, he was over the status quo. However, one film noir trope that Snowpiercer did not really indulge in was the unreliable narrator. First codified as a genre trope in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in “The Rhetoric of Fiction:, the unreliable narrator is a familiar element in fiction no matter its form.

When it comes to film noir books, movies, and other media, the unreliable narrator tends to fall into the rough classification of The Madman as defined in William Riggan’s 1981 work Pícaros, Madmen, Naīfs, and Clowns: The Unreliable First-person Narrator. Essentially, it’s someone whose own mind won’t allow them to accurately describe their situation, either because they’re trying to uphold a tough-guy façade, someone with mental illness that renders them incapable of separating truth from fiction, or because they’ve been traumatized to the point of cognitive dissonance to attempt to deal with a trauma. Alternatively, if you’re Melanie Cavill, exhaustion, overwork, and starvation team up to drive you mad in isolation hundreds of miles from the last remaining civilization.

Putting a character like Melanie so far from the action for half of the series was a bold choice, both from the character’s standpoint and from the show’s standpoint. Jennifer Connelly is a very strong actress, so something like this is not outside of her wheelhouse, but sidelining Melanie on a suicide mission is still brave. She is hundreds of miles from the train, locked in a tiny research station with frozen corpses outside, and no company except her own hallucinations. Wilford (Sean Bean), Layton (Daveed Diggs), and Alex (Rowan Blanchard) all show up to torment or support her, depending on how she’s feeling about herself at the moment.

Fortunately, at no point does the show suggest that these people are anything other than Melanie’s own self-doubts and fears made manifest as she tries to ration what little food she has after an avalanche wipes away her extra supplies and her transportation back to Snowpiercer for pick-up. Not an ideal situation for anyone to be in, especially not someone who has nothing else going on but her work and her own lingering guilt over the decisions she’s made to sustain humanity and protect them from Wilford’s corrupting influence and megalomania.

Considering just how much the trio of visions have been on her mind, it only makes sense for them to show up in Donald Joh’s script. Wilford, always picking at her insecurities. Layton, encouraging her to do what she needs to do to survive, even if it means eating corpses (or rats). Alex, Melanie’s disembodied technical support process and the encouragement that she needs to keep trying to resolve technical problems. Interspersed with her delusions are her memories, specifically her version of events concerning just how, and why, she ended up stealing Wilford’s train out from under his nose. If nothing else, Melanie’s version of Wilford might be the only thing worse than Wilford in reality, full of smarm and condescension. He is Melanie’s self-doubts given a body, and Sean Bean leans into that with his detached derision. Layton and Alex are important aspects, but mostly afterthoughts after Wilford’s almost-constant presence at the fringes of Melanie’s mind.

Director Leslie Hope and the technical crew make good use of their relative simple, relatively cramped (yet empty) set. It’s both eerie in its silence and claustrophobic, with Melanie completely alone with her thoughts while being surrounded by the remains of the old world and its last stand against the cold. That it is a mother who abandoned her child only to give up completely and kill herself in Wilford’s preferred manner makes the situation extra meaningful for Melanie. She is mostly alone in reality, but the interactions she has with the people in her head help move the episode along, with the figures disappearing at the right, or wrong, times for Melanie’s mental stability. It provokes questions as to what’s actually happening and what is actually being imagined.

We know from Snowpiercer’s perspective that the eleventh beacon was never connected to; it’s safe to assume that the radio tower actually did collapse and grind that experiment to a halt. However, to Melanie, she got the tower repaired and connected to the other beacons to run the climate models. That was never shown on Snowpiercer. The truthfulness of that scenario remains to be seen.

Likewise, Melanie watches in horror as her ride leaves her behind; that’s another thing that the show has yet to show us, so who’s to say it happened? Who’s to say it didn’t? Melanie had a very narrow escape getting to the research facility, and she’s had a couple of other close calls since then. Wilford makes sure to remind Melanie of her hallucinations, thin mountain air, and looming starvation at every turn. Layton might encourage her to make her rat kabobs, but who knows what sort of diseases those rats might be carrying that she could have ingested? Alex suggests exposing the thermal vent to cut down on resource usage for life support, but inhaling gas from a thermal vent is what gave the oracles at Delphi their renowned hallucinations. Melanie is already lightheaded from oxygen deprivation; huffing a bunch of mystery gasses will not help unscramble her brain.

So when Melanie watches Snowpiercer roar away at full speed, is that real? Did she really complete her experiment and repair the radio tower? Is she not getting an answer from anyone on Snowpiercer or Big Alice? Did Wilford make his move? Did a disaster happen? Is any of it real? Is all of it real?
It’s all up in the air. Every option available to the creative team is on the table and only they know which direction the track will bend. The rest of us are just along for the ride, trying not to derail.
 

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/snowpiercer-season-2-episode-6-review-many-miles-from-snowpiercer/