Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 5 Review: A New Life
Diana Keng
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It's been a while since we've had a mystery to solve on the train.
Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 5 sees Till (and Layton too, I guess) jump into detective mode, and I have to say it's nice to see them back in action.
This time around, the viewers are in on the culprit, though, which messes with our sentiments a bit.
But before we get compost-deep into Pike's self-sabotaging pyro plot, let's try and decide whether Zarah redeems herself through childbirth.
Snowpiercer is trying REALLY hard here to rebrand the Tailie-Who-Left as someone who looks out for more than herself.
My little soul. I haven't seen your face yet but my love for you is already limitless. You aren't just my child, you're the future. As you grow up, you'll hear many stories about your mother. How aboard Big Alice, she assured her survival yet again. And of your father, changing what was left of the world. Our journey to bring you into this world has been brutal, but I wouldn't change a single misstep or agonizing decision that led to your life. I pray the choices your father and I have made are gifts. The gift of a new life. And the strength to face its dangers on Snowpiercer, one thousand and twenty-nine cars long.
Zarah
It's Zarah's first voice-over, and I believe it's the first voice-over ever addressed directly to someone.
That someone is physically growing inside of Zarah probably shouldn't be interpreted as her addressing herself.
To open on Zarah's problematic delivery and Layton's possible death by explosion only to flash us back twelve hours is a narrative style that has served the show well before.
There are elements of tradition and continuity woven throughout the scene at the Baby Tree.
The Baby Tree itself is a tradition among the Thirdies when choosing a name for a new baby, Zarah explains. Layton reminds her that Tailies named their babies after the nearest city.
That segues to Winnie (aka Winnipeg), the last Tailie baby born, now a grown child. Layton helps Winnie hang her name leaf for the baby on the tree. The symbolism in that connection from past to present to future is powerful.
When Zarah's water breaks, she's the calmest of herself, Layton, and Till, but when her body temperature starts to drop abnormally due to the cold treatments she allowed Dr. Headwood to give her fetus, her doubts rise to the surface.
It's Layton who stays calm for her while she's in crisis, Layton who tries to warm her when the cold inside her is terrifying, Layton who forgives her for making hard choices he never had to make.
Zarah: I made a terrible mistake.
Layton: No, you didn't. No, you did not. You made a choice. You made a tough call in a world that wants to kill your daughter.
Zarah has always operated on her own, in her own best interests. She left the Tail to work in the Night Car. When her partner was murdered, she rebounded to Layton quickly, knowing her fertility window was limited.
Once she was pregnant, she was completely accepting of the First Class accommodations offered to her and Layton as parents-to-be.
When Layton stole the pirate train, she chose to stay where it was comfortable and ingratiate herself to Wilford, agreeing to Dr. Headwood's treatments and serving as Wilford's administrative assistant.
Liana's birth anchors and binds Zarah to another person. Instead of choosing only for herself, she must make decisions for her daughter's sake.
Personally, I'm not totally convinced that she'll be able to shift that focus to someone other than herself.
It doesn't help that Layton still loves Josie, whereas he and Zarah created Liana while in the Night Room chamber, while he was psychologically immersed in the past. His love for Zarah is tied to their life before The Freeze, whereas Josie is his present.
Fans with long memories will remember that he and Josie co-parented Miles in the Tail. That partnership with Josie may shape Layton's expectations of Zarah, and I can't see that going over well with either woman.
Josie and Ben's hook-up in the engine is an uncomfortable relationship to contemplate.
Both are still in love with other people. Furthermore, the presumed-dead woman Ben is in love with nearly murdered Josie. So awkward.
Ben: We are now a perpetual motion machine. Minus all the warm bits and the glitches.
Josie: Yeah, and the human factor.
I figure their encounter is more like a war-time tryst. Everything outside the engine is chaotic and uncertain. Alone together, Josie and Ben can be something reliable and steady for each other.
The announcement of Liana's birth is visually juxtaposed with several pairings. Besides Josie and Ben, there are LJ and Oz and Sykes and Javi.
But there are also markedly solitary figures. Till, watching the new family in their first moments together. Audrey, singing in the Market. Wilford sat in front of a cartoon in the library.
And Pike.
Pike, alone now that Ruth has made it clear she intends to support Layton and his plan to take the train to New Eden.
Pike, with his past of cannibalism, addiction, and murder.
Pike, the arsonist. Pike, who apparently knows how to build a bomb and remote detonator. Who knew?
Oh, Pike, how do you run from all this guilt? How can you hide from it, even on a train a thousand and twenty-nine cars long?
It's not lost on me that Audrey's song, Arrow Benjamin's "Love and Hate," speaks to a multiplicity of relationships present.
Josie teeters on that thin line in regards to Layton.
Alex is dealing with the co-existence of her love and hate for Wilford.
Poor Oz has let love tie him to LJ, someone capable of killing on a calculated yet sudden whim.
Pike, Wilford, Javi, even Audrey herself are all internally conflicted. They are caught in a trap that invites them to gnaw themselves to pieces in order to escape.
I have to suspect that it won't end well for everyone. Eventually, there will be a tipping point, and they'll make a choice -- however forced -- between love and hate, life and death.
As you watch Snowpiercer online, who are you betting on to turn their life around?
Who can you see hope for?
Will Sykes be able to counsel Javi through his recovery?
Now that Pike has started down a dark road alone, will he be able to stop himself from completely imploding? Who or what might he target next?
Is Layton going to learn the hard way exactly how vulnerable parenthood makes you?
There's a lot to process here. Hit our comments below with your biggest takeaways and questions!
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
