Snowpiercer (2020) | Television Series Review

Long before he was an Oscar winner, Bong Joon Ho was just another revered filmmaker with foreign fame yet little mainstream commercial success here in the states. That all changed with Snowpiercer. Based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige and released in 2013 abroad, the film hit America in the summer of 2014, with many – including myself – declaring it the sleeper hit of the year. Snowpiercer starred Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, and Ed Harris in a battle between the haves and the have-nots aboard a never-ending bullet train that remains the last bastion of civilization in a frozen tundra of climate changed Earth. It was a brilliant film that focused on the war of the classes, as well as how the need to survive devolves mankind to its basic human impulses. And now, TNT has rebooted this story with a new series full of fresh faces and shrewd takes.

For our updated version, the mysterious Mr. Wilford built Snowpiercer – a train of 1,001 cars – to connect and traverse the world in order to facilitate the survival of the human race. Tickets were sold and, like you find in every city today, the better your station in life, the more apt you are to end up comfortably enjoying your surroundings while watching as the rest of the world plummet into icy despair.

Each car on Snowpiercer is either a separate class of citizen or a key necessity to survival (cattle, crops, seafood, and even entertainment). The closer you are to the front – aka the engineer car – is where you rank in Snowpiercer’s class designation system. The rich and powerful are at the front in first-class, the less wealthy but necessary working stiffs are relegated to second-class, and those with the least desirable vocations are stuffed into third-class. It’s essentially a thousand cars of every airplane you have ever flown on. With an aquarium tossed in for good measure. And then wayyyyyyyyyy in the back are what’s known as the “Tailies”.

The Tailies are of no class at all. These are not ticketed passengers of Snowpiercer, instead they fought and steamrolled their way onto the train in order to survive the impending Freeze (an animated opening in the pilot explains the harsh climate shift that foreshadowed the need for Snowpiercer). Due to their hijacking of the rear car several years back, Tailies are left to mostly fend for themselves, given only supplemental protein bars to survive on. Occasionally when a necessary position requires a new employee, Tailies will graduate to third-class or an apprenticeship program, but mostly this lot harbors a nonstop plan to assault their way into normalcy on their new home.

When a passenger is murdered, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) – Snowpiercer’s Head of Hospitality – sets off to find the only homicide detective left in existence, Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs). Layton also happens to essentially function as the leader of the Tailies’ “Get Our Asses Up Front” movement, therefore he sees the obvious potential in gaining full access to the train. Meanwhile Mr. Wilford, the near folk-hero inventor of this global life-saving device, remains unseen and unheard of…yet his ominous presence is felt in every car. Is there more to his story that might pique Layton’s curiosity?

Having watched all 10 episodes of the first season (it has already been renewed for a second), I can clearly state that the key to enjoying TNT’s Snowpiercer is to forget the film while watching it. Those who cannot let the film’s focus and strengths go will definitely find a seat in their own struggle bus. But truthfully – given the cult status of the original – that might not be such a difficult task for most of you. As a series, Snowpiercer uses the building blocks of the film, but sets a course firmly in its own direction.

The first four episodes effectively function as an introduction to the entirety of the class structure at play on Snowpiercer as Layton conducts his investigation. Once that concludes, the remainder of the season steamrolls into the broiling war between classes. Like every entertainment property of this type (The Hunger Games, The 100), that means characters switch allegiances and unveiled secrets contain the key to many of those shifts.

As Andre Layton, Daveed Diggs admittedly takes a few episodes to find his footing. His initial function during the introductory episodes as the “train detective” does him no favors – questioning witnesses and tossing out random theories aren’t known for strong character developmental tools – but as the season grows and his arc expands, Diggs brings Layton roaring to life. The character begins his journey as a pacifist in a war that demands bloodshed to advance, and this first season equates to the necessary evolution of Layton himself to understand the need for dire choices in a game of survival. Diggs grows nicely into this role, and by the riveting finale, I’m dying to see what he will do next.

A series stacked with various class representations will undoubtedly lead to several standouts, and Snowpiercer is no exception. Alison Wright’s Ruth Wardell works as Melanie’s right hand of hospitality, and she has bought into Mr. Wilford’s dream absolutely. Her stern dismissal of lower-class miscreants like the Tailies is only countered with her reverence for the elegance of first-class snobs. Ruth is that charmingly snooty flight attendant us working-class stiffs have encountered for eons.

A proper balance is Mickey Sumner’s Bess Till, a law enforcement presence on the train who has witnessed enough cruelty and disdain of her own to appreciate Layton’s balanced and nuanced approach to life in general. Her arc over this first season is easily the strongest outside of the two leads and Sumner seizes each moment she is afforded.

Which finally brings me to Jennifer Connelly’s stellar turn as Melanie Cavill. If there is an engine that keeps Snowpiercer on the tracks, it’s Connelly. Melanie Cavill is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum shaken with a riddle. Her motivations veer wildly in various directions at different points of the season, one minute we’re sympathizing with her stance on the Tailies completely and the next we’re good with simply tossing her off the train, and Connelly is the hum that brings it all together. It is difficult to imagine many actors carrying a role such as her arc here without losing viewer empathy along the way, yet she masters walking that tightrope of keeping audiences questioning Melanie’s motivations for the entirety of the season. I equate her role here with Anthony Hopkins’ Ford on Westworld – equal parts benevolent and duplicitous.

Snowpiercer tackles elements to this preposterous setup with intelligence and ups the stakes with each conflict: windows breaking lead to frozen cattle, the rich toying with workers can lead to misfortunes in the everyday operation of the train, each car has a purpose and damaging sections of that intent can lead to ramifications for the survival of all. Despite a few lackluster special effects on the rare occasion we get a glimpse of the outside world, it all gels together into a melodramatic surge of manuevers and ideals which equates to pitch-perfect entertainment in a world where we’re already relegated to our own hypothetical cars. By the conclusion of Snowpiercer’s engrossing first season, you’ll be grateful you bought a ticket.