Snowman
Dominant features
Season 4
Series 9
Editor’s rating
Photo: David Bukach/AMC
We are almost at the end of the road. Snowman it started with Thais starting a revolt against other train classes for better living conditions on the train and now passengers are bleeding from all parts of not one but two trains and dying to protect their frontier home. I distinguished myself from the aggressive army of technically minded soldiers. Granted, the open spaces of New Eden mean the action in this episode doesn’t feel as heavy as the fight scenes on the train, but there are still some nail-biting moments.
Many of the moments include Melanie returning after Nima’s imprisonment in the last episode. Nima leaves her a note and once again tries to justify her actions and deceptions. He still thinks he can melt the world without any problems and that a few sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. Turns out Nima isn’t that engaging a villain, certainly as the final boss Snowman. Sure, there are some attempts to tell her past and give her layers about her relationship with Alex, but as believable as Michael Aronov plays Nima’s brilliance and greed, she just doesn’t have the presence and charisma of Sean Bean Wilford or Clarke. Milius Gregg. As a villain, he works well, but as an absolute boss to beat on the edge of Armageddon, he leaves something to be desired.
The citizens of Layton and New Eden are still under siege by the sniper – he isn’t technically trying to kill them, he’s just locking them up so they can’t fire back. As the soldiers break the deal and open fire on the humans, Alex eventually turns on them, frying the computer and making it impossible to switch paths. Layton, Sykes, and Javi fight their way to Alex while the latter works on building a device that can jam the radio signal and stop the silo forces from burying the city.
Back at Snowpiercer, Melanie refuses to help Nima destroy the world, and Nima ends up taking off the mask and becoming a full-fledged military tyrant. He gives Melanie a chance: either help them bring back Big Alice, or he’ll bury the town. So much for the “few” victims, when as far as we know, that’s half of humanity here. Melanie is still trying to appeal to humanity in Nima, reminding her of the time she wouldn’t even work for the company if they dumped chemicals in the ocean. Now look at him, he poisons the world and cannot hear any other opinion except his own. Again, it’s a bit too little too late when it comes to describing Nima – and it doesn’t stop there.
In New Eden, Layton rescues Alex from one of the commanders, and eventually Alex asks about Wilford. When Layton tells her how he died, she is visibly upset, even as she admits that she can’t blame Layton for killing Wilford because she once did it herself. Oz distracts the sniper by taunting him over the radio, giving the best sheriff in the Wild West, Bess Till, enough time to find the sniper and take him down. And not a moment too soon, because there’s only one more bullet left, which Till uses to save Layton from the commandos. With this, the battle is won. Alex eventually warns the group that their original ambush plan won’t work because Nima has too many soldiers on her side. What’s more, he tells them that Nima’s composition is spreading across the earth, destroying the atmosphere and poisoning everyone, causing their blood to boil out of their bodies because they can’t breathe. You know, just another Tuesday Snowman.
Nima pivots and his new plan is to bring an entire army, not just masked commanders, but his entire force, to completely destroy the city. Fortunately, Melanie was able to trick him into following a different plan. He joins the armed forces, dozens of them, all armed with heavy weapons. But instead of shooting the people of New Eden, they fire the knockout gas that we saw Nima before to knock out everyone in the city. Victory is short-lived; the army just waltzes into the city without opposition. Nima, Melanie, and Alex (who have found and followed her mother) capture Big Alice without a hitch, while Josie wonders if Melanie sold them again – which, honestly, would be on brand.
But, she didn’t want to because she knows it doesn’t matter what Nima offers her; his plan is to kill them all regardless of loyalty and devotion. He immediately works on a counterattack and contacts Layton, revealing that he’s bringing Snowpiercer to town. Layton and the others must simply board the ship and attack from within. With a little help from Javi, the revolutionaries take down a group of soldiers stationed outside the Town Hall and discover that their weapons are for show – they don’t have any bullets. At the same time, Nima goes on a small parade around New Aden, like a conqueror surveying her new land. Bootlicking Headwood gives him a tour of the facilities and talks about how similar the two are because they are masochists who sacrifice people for their own ends.
Finally, Snowpiercer arrives, just passing over the track crossing like it was nothing (so much for this plan). A group of soldiers get off the train to protect it, and Layton and the others move on. Now this is the exciting action sequence I was waiting for, with the New Eden army formed, the archers (using bows) in the back, while the front line is silo soldiers using axes, poles, knives and all sorts of weapons. they attack to be done on time. They make it on the train and it’s round two. Although Nima, ever the snake, orders his soldiers to blow up the hill and bury the city, it doesn’t work. Javi manages to intercept the signal and save the city. As the man who froze the world screams in rage, Melanie and Alex escape and make their way to the train to join the fight one last time.
• So how many are left? The silo was mostly staffed by workers and soldiers, but the admiral said many people on Snowpiercer were killed during the upgrade. As far as we know, New Aden has half of humanity, so how exactly is destroying the city a “small” sacrifice?
• Poor Alex. First, she finds out that the man who raised her has committed suicide. Now it is revealed that Nima is her father and explains why he is so smart.
#Recap #Snowpiercer #Battle #Eden