In Review: Snowpiercer (S1 – E6) Trouble Comes Sideways

Synopsis: As Third Class plans the verdict and Layton struggles to recover, Melanie must deal with an unprecedented emergency on the train.

The Story

With Third Class threatening to strike due to the result of last week’s trial. Melanie has to figure out a way to change their minds, but when an electrical fault threatens to derail the train she must put on her engineer’s hat and save the train.

Elsewhere, Josie struggles to get Layton to safety and finds an ally in Dr. Pelton who reveals that she, Layton, and Josie are on a blacklist, which is labeling them potential enemies of the train, which explains why Layton was shelved given that he had learned that Mr. Wilfred is a deception.

Acting

Daveed Diggs makes a return as Layton who is struggling with the after-effects of the drugs that were being pumped into him while he was in the draw. Diggs does a great job of physically recreating the effects of waking up from a drug enthused episode as he staggers about with help from Josie (Katie McGuinness).

Meanwhile, Jennifer Connelly has some quite demanding physical acting to do as she saves the train wearing her engineer’s hat. The scene in which she is under the train trying to connect some of the components of the train together in order to repair the hydraulics is really dramatic. The scene that follows this up when third class is celebrating the near-miss they have had with death allows for a brilliant exchange between Melanie and Miss Audrey, which means that Melanie’s concerns about Third Class only have a reprieve for now.

Overall

A great episode with lots of action and tension as we get a few more plot twists. The moment where Melanie saves the train from derailing is brilliantly done as is the revelation that various people in Third Class and the tail section are already on Melanie’s list of potential problems that will have to be put in the draws at some point.

Overall. A fantastic episode.