Snowpiercer, Season 1, Episode 4 “Without Their Maker”
Air Date: Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 9:00 PM ET/PT on TNT
Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars
*** WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD ***
“Mr. Wilford does not want him damaged.” – Melanie Cavill
In this week’s episode, “Without Their Maker,” the narration at the beginning jumps between two different story lines – Jinju (Susan Park) prepping sushi and an assassin cleaning blood from his face. As Jinju unrolls her cutlery, the narration begins.
“Adapt; that’s what humans do isn’t it? A great leg up, we roll, we hack, knuckle down and change. Even Snowpiercer is an adaptation; that was classic Wilford. While the world froze, and the mega-rich tried to hole-up in bunkers or upload their consciousness, Mr. Wilford dusted off his train set. Snowpiercer is his system; systems resist change, even without their maker. I’m just a scientist. I’m here to save the world, not change it. I know our chances of surviving are slim, at best. All I can do about that is provide small moments of happiness on Snowpiercer; 1,001 cars long.”
At the end of last week’s episode, “Access Is Power,” we saw Erik (Matt Murray) going to Nikki’s (Madeleine Arthur) hospital room and kill her. As he wipes the blood from his face, the scene is gruesome. Why did he kill Nikki so violently? Did she put up a fight? Erik is on the run, hiding out in a Third-Class café because the borders to Second and First are still closed due to Fight Night.
Nikki’s body is discovered and the hunt for Erik begins. As the investigation and pursuit ensues, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly), along with resident train detective Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) head to first class to interrogate the passengers, much to Jackboot Commander Grey’s (Timothy V. Murphy) chagrin. He really doesn’t like Andre.
Before heading to First-Class, Andre talks with Audrey (Lena Hall), who was very close to Nikki. “If the killer is from First, there will be no justice for Nikki.” But Andre knows there is more than justice in this whole murder investigation. It’s the beginning of a war between the classes and Audrey seems to be leaning to one side. Do you smell that? Smells like a fresh alliance is brewing between Third-Class and the Tail Section.
Speaking of the Tailees, they plan to use the chip Andre slipped to Josie (Katie McGuinness) with that kiss in last week’s episode. Josie knows she needs to find out what’s going on with Andre because they still don’t know why they pulled him out of the Tail. The only way to get out is to be on the Sanitation Crew.
When they go on their lunch break, Josie quickly changes and tries to find a former Tailee named Astrid (Jane McGregor), who made it out as a kid in the Apprenticeship program. As Josie sits in the Third-Class café, she gets a glimpse outside – the first time she’s been able to see out of a window in seven years. Astrid agrees to help, “One tail,” she offers Josie a bit of her food. As Josie takes a small bite of oatmeal, she savors it. After eating gelatinous mystery bars all this time, simple oatmeal is a gourmet meal.
Andre follows Melanie up to First-Class and notices the priceless artwork hanging from the walls. While there are several sides to this story, without the money from First-Class passengers, Snowpiercer may never have been created and mankind would not have survived. That doesn’t excuse the horrible behavior of these First-Class passengers. Humanity is hanging on by a thread and if there is no human decency left in the world, why exist at all?
Andre takes full advantage of his position as the sole detective, the fact that he is not liked by the First-Class passengers because he is a Tailee. As he eats scrambled eggs right off the serving spoon, sticks his fingers in everything, and takes a sip from a passenger’s coffee cup, Andre is living his best life right now.
But Andre notices that not all the First-Class passengers are present for this interrogation. Ruth Wardell (Alison Wright) says, “I didn’t invite the help.” And it’s very convenient that little Miss Lilah Jr. aka “LJ” (Annalise Basso) mentions that her bodyguard “Erik never came home last night,” but her mother Lilah Folger (Kerry O’Malley) doesn’t approve of her revealing this valuable piece of information.
Lilah Sr. is reluctant to allow Andre to search their quarters and demands to speak to Mr. Wilford himself. She has no idea she’s speaking to “Mr. Wilford” already. But Melanie puts on the ruse of dialing up Mr. Wilford. Her engineer, Bennett (Iddo Goldberg) answers and of course follows along with the whole charade. Once Melanie hands the phone to Lilah, she changes her mind quickly for fear of retribution by Mr. Wilford.
Meanwhile, back in Third-Class, Erik is running from the Brakemen and Jackboots hot on his trail. He even takes Jinju hostage to try and escape. Let’s just say, his ending is not a pleasant one and just as bloody as Nikki’s.
Throughout the search, Andre probes and asks questions. He learns a lot about Erik’s background as a former military and a possible romantic connection with LJ. And Josie isn’t the only one getting glimpses of the outside world. LJ opens the curtains so that Andre can see the sun for the first time in years.
LJ basically hangs herself as she continues to dance slowly to a song on the record player and Andre is there to catch her. She tries to bargain with him, saying she can get him things he needs for the Tailees. Thinking she’s safe and they have an accord, Andre drops a bombshell and LJ is arrested, but not before she attacks Andre with a beekeeper’s J-Hook. It seems LJ has been the psychotic mastermind behind the murders, using her influence over Erik to have him help her kill and maim her victims.
There is one more secret that’s about to be revealed. Melanie treats Andre to some sake for a job well done, but she knows that he knows her secret. We all learned at the end of the series premiere that Melanie is in fact Mr. Wilford. If you recall, Bennett said to Melanie at the end of the episode, “The train is yours, Mr. Wilford.” And Andre, being a damn fine detective, figured it out for himself. His reward is delicious sake laced with drugs to knock him out and shoved into a drawer. Melanie tells Dr. Klempt (Happy Anderson), “Mr. Wilford does not want him damaged.”
Andre being missing will not go unnoticed, especially now that Josie and the Tail have access to the train and help from allies. Snowpiercer is proving to be one helluva series.
Tune in to Snowpiercer, Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.
For more on Snowpiercer, go to https://www.tntdrama.com/snowpiercer
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Judy Manning
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