Warning! The following will contain spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Snowpiercer. Read at your own risk!
Snowpiercer Season 1 came to quite an exciting ending on TNT, and in what feels like par for the course, the finale left us with some questions to ponder. Some might even say they're just about the biggest questions of the season, since Layton's short rule over the titular train may be in jeopardy thanks to an unexpected arrival that sets up Season 2.
The emergence and alleged return of Mr. Wilford (played by Sean Bean) was crazy enough, but what's even crazier are all the potential implications that his arrival sets up. I'll get into all that below, of course, as well as some of the other plot points that inspired our final batch of questions going into the possibly long wait for Season 2.
Was The Revolution All For Nothing?
The biggest casualty of Mr. Wilford's return may be Layton's new order for the train, which had only just gotten put into place. Wilford will arrive on a train that's operating differently from the way he attended, and he's presumably coming from a train that had maintained the familiar First-Third Class hierarchy. But did Wilford have Tailees on his train, and were they allowed to stay? Will he allow Layton (who isn't based on Thomas Jefferson to the best of our knowledge) to interfere with the state of the train he's been on? If that's the case, it's hard not to think the entire revolution was all for naught.
Is There Any Real Future Between Layton And Zarah?
Layton and Zarah momentarily bonded after agreeing to provide a good future for their child, but it seemed like a romantic relationship was actually far removed from the equation. It may be that Layton still hasn't let go of the fact Zarah left him for Third, or that she sold Josie out to Melanie after the child was threatened. In either case, this seems like one pairing that is shouldn't inspire any romantically hopeful hashtags, though that could change in Season 2.
Is Wilford A True Genius Or A Con Man?
A couple of episodes ago, Melanie and Ruth shared their thoughts about who Mr. Wilford was, and their viewpoints varied drastically. I was inclined to believe Melanie saw Wilford as something of a fraud and con man, because Ruth seemed out of the loop on so many things, but that capture of the train gave me pause. If Wilford was merely an incapable idiot, how did he manage to run a completely separate train that has survived just as long as the one run by Melanie and the engineers? Is it possible both of the women were partially right, with the truth about Wilford lying somewhere in between?
Will Melanie Be Reunited With Her Daughter?
Season 1 ended with Melanie outside the Snowpiercer after she failed to stop Mr. Wilford from attaching his newly revealed train. Because of that, she missed meeting her daughter, who'd fallen into Mr. Wilford's care since the trains departed. I'm not wholly convinced Melanie is done trying to uncouple the trains, mind you, and after seeing what she's been capable of in the past, think she could be successful. My question is, will she break the trains up without ever realizing she missed a chance to see the daughter she thought was dead? How tragic would that be?
Okay, So Is That Melanie's Daughter?
The Season 2 teaser had me relatively certain that Sean Bean is playing Mr. Wilford, but is that girl claiming to be Melanie's child really who she says she is? Melanie said her daughter and parents weren't at the platform like they were supposed to be, so maybe Wilford found them to get leverage on Melanie. On the flip side, Snowpiercer has taught me that the apocalypse can make people desperate and eager to do whatever it takes to survive, so who's to say that a conniving Wilford didn't coach some random girl to pose as Melanie's daughter? It would be the perfect way to manipulate her after his shocking arrival, and if Wilford is the man Melanie has teased, such a ploy sounds like it would be in his wheelhouse.
Will Ruth Turn On The Snowpiercer?
When it was first thought that Mr. Wilford was on his way, no one was more excited than Ruth. She's going to be his greatest ally on Snowpiercer if he wants it, and is likely more than willing to do his bidding, provided it's not too extreme. Ruth does have a moral compass, though I question how much it has been affected by recent events and the change in the train's hierarchy. I mean, she pulled a gun on Layton in front of children, so it's not like she's in the most stable of moods at the moment.
How Many More Trains Are There?
The appearance of a second train was pretty mindblowing, and now I'm questioning just how many trains might be in rotation. I know the graphic novel Le Transperceneige detailed several trains were running, so can we assume several more trains are still operating seven years after departure? And if those trains are fully independent of the Snowpiercer, what might their bottled-up societies be like in comparison?
Does Anybody Feel Bad For LJ?
I'm sorry, but are we really supposed to feel bad for LJ? She was a key part of this revolution, yet didn't take a moment to foresee that she would lose her parents in the Tail and Third's coup of the train? I don't feel bad, especially considering she was chopping off penises not that long ago. She deserved to get put out of her car and lost within the train, though that may make her all the more dangerous whenever she seeks to be in the spotlight again.
Am I Supposed To Know How The Mirrored Train Car Works?
I've seen it a few times now, and I'm still in the dark about the mirrored train car works, along with Miss Audrey's whole schtick. I understand that she does some spiritual healing, but those spiritual sequences are a real trip. Are those moments just Snowpiercer showing us what's happening in character's heads, or is that train car stocked with high-budget special effects? I'm fine with either answer, but I feel like I need that insight to effectively gauge the character of Miss Audrey as a whole.
Snowpiercer Season 1 is complete, and Season 2 is on the way to TNT at some point in the future. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more details on the series, and the latest news happening in television and movies.
