A seemingly generous offer from Wilford sets the stage for a grand night in the Night Car as the crew of Snowpiercer prepare to launch the balloon that will tell them if Melanie’s journey has been a success. But beneath the celebrations, political machinations continue.

Once again, I’m compelled to warn viewers as the show does that the episode contains suicide themes, this time arguably even more impactful and potentially triggering than before.

This is a big one. There’s so much going on in this instalment that it’s almost difficult to know where to start or how to parse it. Starting with a simple note from Wilford offering frostbite treatment to any affected Snowpiercer passengers, it blossoms out into an intricate web that encompasses all levels of the train but also focuses intimately on the details of particular individuals as it begins to unpick the psychology of some of the major players in this drama.

That unpicking is where the suicide themes arise. We’ve already seen Wilford’s… particular method of dispatching of one employee and it would seem from this week’s instalment that there’s a deeper-rooted obsession there, presumably linked to the already-showcased pathological need for control over other people. It reveals an even more disturbing, horrific side to the character, making him a lot darker, doubly so when combined with his outwardly determinedly cheery demeanour.

There’s also the political struggle which penetrates the entire existence of Snowpiercer. Wilford’s offer isn’t out of the goodness of his heart and Layton knows as much. His blunt style contrasts sharply with Wilford’s elaborate scheming, but Layton is smart enough to always try to stay several steps ahead.

He’s also balancing a lot of conflicting things as he tries to retain control of the train. Ruth’s not exactly happy and is feeling distrusted by him, even as she isn’t all that trustworthy herself. There’s the complicated matter of his personal life. Zarah is carrying his child, and they are an alliance but not a couple. Josie is back but still fragile, a beacon to the Tailies and Layton’s best chance at keeping their loyalty but totally aware of that fact and harbouring understandable thoughts of revenge against Melanie.

And Till is struggling with separating her own internal trauma from her duties as train detective. Her investigation into what happened to Lights isn’t helped when Lights and some other Tailees take matters into their own hands.

There’s more swirling around the central event of the party and all of it equally tense almost to the point of being unbearable. Suffice it to say that Miss Audrey is a real star of this particular episode and her trauma, grief and quiet resilience is both affecting and also a fitting metaphor for what the entire train is experiencing on some level or other. Props indeed to Lena Hall for this one – it can’t have been easy.

Verdict: Stuffed to the gills with drama, tension and action. Who said it would be hard to make a second season of this show? 9/10

Greg D. Smith