Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Born to Bleed

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We should've seen it coming, but I never wanted to believe that we'd lose another Tailie so soon after Strong Boy.

Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6 is Pike's story, beginning to end. His end.

From his opening voiceover -- the character's first and only of the series -- to Layton's collapse brought on by the calculated strikes to the head that Pike inflicted with the knowledge the new father had sustained a concussion from the bomb explosion.

Fight Night - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

But with even more purpose than bidding farewell to a complex and conflicted character, the narrative weaves a series of brutal and painful truths into Pike's self-destructive and violent endgame.

The Tailie way has always been "Adapt and Survive," where the two imperatives are not mutually exclusive.

Where Pike's pivoted well in some respects, he has never been able to reconcile himself with being Layton's man.

Maybe it's just me. I pick, unable to let wounds heal. It's in my nature to provoke. Or maybe I was just born to bleed.

Pike

He carries the debt he owes Layton for his life like a millstone, a reminder of the crimes he committed, which should've been punished with death.

It's a debt that's never been cleared -- will never be cleared -- in his mind, a debt that Layton leveraged on Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 to compel Pike to assassinate Terence.

Tough Pike - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

And while there was considerable deterioration after killing Terence, it appears that the thing that finally pushed him over the edge was the glimpse of a fresh start with a new leader.

The six months Pike served as Ruth's second-in-command dangled a bright and happy future within his grasp. Hell, it was in his grasp.

He rose to the occasion --  providing her with safe spaces, galvanizing the Resistance players, organizing and strategizing like the seasoned general he is -- but only in the absence of Layton.

We're still bleeding even if the trauma's hidden deep on Snowpiercer, one-thousand twenty-nine cars long.

Pike

It's telling that he accuses Layton of staining Ruth's purity with the lie of New Eden in the same way that Layton accused Zarah of letting Wilford stamp Liana in utero with the Headwoods' experimental cold treatments.

There's a parallel in their hate for their nemeses. Wilford and his followers are always Layton's first suspects, while Pike will never trust Layton's leadership, vision, or plans.

Not a Happy Tailie - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

Their relationship has a long and sordid history. Their alliance has always balanced on a razor's edge.

It's incredibly fitting that their final confrontation is in the Tail, reviving Old Ivan's Way.

Miles: It's how we settled disagreements when they got bad. The two people sat together, eye to eye. They weren't allowed to leave until it was resolved.
Josie: When they come to terms, the whole Tail holds them to it.

I appreciate how Josie has become the Keeper of Tailie Culture.

She has always stood in contrast to Layton in honoring the Tailie ways and people.

Miles: Do you think any of us are still Tailies?
Josie: As long as you remember. Our culture, the way we learned to live together, that's how we're going to do it off-train.

That he opted to name Liana according to the Thirdie tradition is only one of the ways he has grown away from the people he claims to lead.

Old Ivan's Way - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

Granted, Josie didn't have to make the choice to cut the train cars imprisoning so many Tailies to rid the train of the Folgers and their crew.

To be sure, she would never have asked Pike to kill Terence to protect her identity.

But the fact is she was never put in those positions. Layton was. Just as Layton can claim his hands are clean of Terence's death because Pike did the deed, Josie can continue to be the Tail's hero-in-residence because she's never had to serve all the classes.

Tailies know the dark lessons of Snowpiercer better than anyone. We gather like this, not out of bloodlust, but to bottle this violent dispute and bind our brothers in an outcome that we all accept.

Josie

Layton's dream of One Train can, in some ways, appear to homogenize the masses, asking the Tail to forgive the traumas they endured and forget the culture they developed to "better" themselves.

I wanted you to stand up and be better. Cause your heart is good.

Layton

That might be Layton's fatal error with Pike. In pushing Pike to be better, he inadvertently shines a light on what he was.

Pike's Words - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

When Ruth looks at Pike as a strong, clever, and capable partner (and "built like a whippet" to boot), Pike sees himself that way and sees a future for them together.

When Layton looks at Pike, Pike sees himself as he was in the early days of the Tail, and he cannot abide the past.

In his mind, there are only two ways to get rid of Cannibal/Murderer Pike -- either Layton dies, or Pike does.

In Old Ivan's Way, there is no winner, only the one who's left.

Josie

Roche has a different past to bury. His rage at Anne's death and himself for not successfully killing Wilford has cut him off from Carly, the only family he has left.

Ruth: She needs you.
Roche: No, she doesn't. Cause all I think about, day and night, is Wilford. Still breathing as I stick needles into his eyes. Choke him slowly with my bare hands and slit his throat for what he did for me and my family.
Ruth: Well, then, you know what? The longer you feel this way, the longer he wins.

It's a tragic hole to dig himself into but completely understandable. It's kind of surprising there aren't more passengers hanging out in the padded cells.

A Tight Fit - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

For Alex to facilitate his reunion with Carly is a rather heart-warming turn of events.

Part of me wonders if Alex wasn't asked to reach out to Carly and set up the visit with Roche.

Both Till and Ruth tried to get Roche to return to the world.

Till and Alex developed a friendly rapport on the pirate train. It's not impossible that Till pointed Alex in that direction.

Alex at the Table - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

Have I ever mentioned that Mike O'Malley has portrayed my two favorite TV dads in the last decade?

Besides Roche, his role of Burt Hummel on Glee made me stand up and cheer on a regular basis (when he wasn't moving me to tears).

That gold-star standing directly results from scenes like the one he shares with Esther Ming Li (Carly) in the padded cell.

Grief is a hard thing to watch and a harder thing to convey with authenticity. Both O'Malley and Li manage the nuance needed for their characters to get past their defensive mechanisms to reach for each other.

Father and Daughter - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

Old Ivan's Way requires the two concerned parties to sit alone together and come to an understanding.

While Layton and Pike, unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, choose the knives, and Carly and Roche resolve peacefully, as could be predicted, it's Audrey and Wilford who surprise us with Wilford's change of -- dare I say? -- heart.

Wilford's suspension experience has done what no philosophical argument, ethical debate, or immersive experiential role-play (think Night Car room) could have done.

It's given him a conscience.

Wilford in the Chair - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

How devastating it must be for Audrey to be reunited with the unapologetic, god-like Eternal Engineer she's remained loyal to for months -- the man for whom she's sold her soul, abandoned her friends and turned her back on her healing vocation -- only to find him frail and human and remorseful.

Old Ivan's Way doesn't allow for walking away, but Audrey's never been a Tailie. Mind you if she'd known about the knives, she might've called for them.

The kicker is it really could've been Wilford's moment to take the train from Layton.

Who will step up now with Wilford out and Layton down? The obvious answer is Ruth. But Josie and Audrey, even Till, are options too.

It'll come down to who the train trusts. The Tailies will follow Josie, but would they support any of the others?

LJ's Comfort - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

There's always the Queen of Conniving, LJ. Now that she's got her comfort eyeball back, who knows how far she'll go?

It was good to see Miles back on-screen. His absence has been commented on by fans, almost as much as Melanie's.

As they approach the horn of Africa and the potential site of New Eden, one would hope his colonization project becomes a front-burner concern.

With Josie's cold resistance, she should be the prime candidate for implementing the project. Mother and son, together again, establishing the new world order.

It's no accident that their scene together in the mess car is the only one lit with sunlight.

Miles on the Train - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

As you watch Snowpiercer online, consider the repercussions of these events.

Even if Layton survives, how much goodwill has he destroyed with the Tailies?

Will Wilford attempt to make amends of sorts for his past misdeeds?

With Roche back on his feet, I see a brakemen shake-up coming. How will that affect the train's general mood?

What is Audrey's next move? You know she has one.

A New Look - Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6

We've passed the season's midpoint, passengers. Is it all downhill from here, or will there be something new around the next curve in the tracks?

Post your thoughts and theories in the comments!

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does the power structure of Snowpiercer, one thousand and twenty-nine cars long.

Born to Bleed Review

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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.

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Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 6 Quotes

Maybe it's just me. I pick, unable to let wounds heal. It's in my nature to provoke. Or maybe I was just born to bleed.

Pike

I've been told over and over that Time heals all wounds, but there's one man on Snowpiercer who will never let mine close. Wounds fester. They rot. They don't go away.

Pike