In Review: Snowpiercer (S1 – E7) – The Universe Is Indifferent

Synopsis: Melanie intensifies her search for Layton, who is weaponizing her secret; the Third Class faces a reckoning when Layton presents them with a choice.

The Story

The tension dials up this week as Melanie desperately searches for Layton and is prepared to do just about anything to find out who helped Layton escape. As a means to try and flush Layton and his allies out, she promotes Miles to Engineer knowing that Layton and many of the tailies are close to the boy. This prompts a decisive move from Josie to get Miles seen by Dr. Pelton, which enables her to get a message to Miles.

Meanwhile, Melanie is working on Zara in the hopes that she can get her to betray Layton and flush Josie out. So that she can interrogate her.

Back in Third Class Layton with some help from Miss Audrey holds a meeting of all the connected people in the hopes of getting them to join him in the fight to take over the train. He even reveals Melanie’s secret while simultaneously giving them an ultimatum.

It seems that it is not just Layton that is making plans. After the recent handling of the trial, which found their daughter guilty of conspiracy to murder. The Folgers are working with Commander Grey on a plan to oust Melanie. This leads to Grey having a date with Ruth to try and recruit her.

The Acting

Jennifer Connelly is in all-out psycho bitch mode this week as Melanie goes to the utter depths in order to find Layton. Not only does she get Zara to turn on Josie by threatening to have her baby terminated, but she goes all out in torturing Josie in order to try and get her to spill. Which simply isn’t going to happen. Katie McGuinness plays it brilliantly cool as Josie, who pretty much cottons onto the fact that she has nothing to lose and refuses to sell Layton out. The torture scene is pretty disturbing, but it also shows us how unhinged Melanie has become and how desperate she is to keep her secret.

Daveed Diggs also has some great moments as Layton whose meeting with Miss Audrey’s contacts is the centerpiece, but the best moment is at the end of the episode where he meets L.J. Folger and teases her with the secret to end them all.

Overall

This easily has to be the best episode to date. We see all the conspiracies being played out and find out just how far Melanie is prepared to go in order to protect her secret. The torture scene midway through was unsettling, to say the least, and it did lead to the loss of one of the shows central characters, but given how things have played out in recent weeks. It wasn’t totally unexpected.

Overall. A great episode. This is fast becoming one of my best picks of 2020 insofar as new TV shows.