The last two episodes of Snowpiercer’s first season are airing together, so this is a combined review. Coming off the of the explosive revolution in the last episode, it would be nearly impossible to keep up the frenetic intensity for two more episodes. But while the pace was slower, the final two hours of the season packed in a lot.
Episode eight featured the long brewing tail car/3rd class uprising. While Layton (Daveed Diggs) and Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) obviously weren’t going to die two episodes before the finale, there were plenty of deaths among the group of characters you kind of know (rest in peace son of lady who got her arm frozen off). The final two episodes have more deaths that make you realize how effective the show has been at organically building up characters in the background. Speaking of background characters, Roche (Mike O’Malley) and Ruth (Alison Wright) finally get to shine with some great material. Without getting into spoilers, I am also ecstatic to announce that this is the episode that redeemed first class, who has uniformly annoyed me the entire show.
It might just be me, but I felt episode 9 picked up at an awkward spot that felt a little disconnected to the prior episode because I didn’t recall prisoners being taken (so much so that I went back to episode 8 to make sure I didn’t skip an episode). After a few minutes, things made more sense. Obviously I don’t recommend starting watching a series at the final two episodes, but if you are considering Snowpiercer, episodes 8-10 set up a fascinating shift for the second season.
What did you think of the season? Are you excited for the next season? Let me know in the comments, or chat with me on Twitter.
