'Snowpiercer' Episode 2 Review: Cannibalism, the Layton-Zarah relationship, and Mr Wilford's dirty secret
Spoilers for 'Snowpiercer' Episode 2 'Prepare to Brace'
The opening minutes of 'Prepare to Brace' are hard to watch. The episode quickly picks up from the failed takeover attempt by the Rebellion and sees them pay the ultimate price for causing a mutiny. The mother of a young kid takes the blame on herself to save the child and in a gruesome act, her right hand is exposed to the freezing weather outside. What we see next is a hand frozen stiff and iced up, which is broken into pieces by a sledgehammer. The other members of the mutiny are placed under indefinite suspension.
Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) and Zarah Ferami (Sheila Vand) have a romantic past and that comes to the forefront. Zarah's left the tail for survival reasons, but with Layton now investigating a case, there is every chance that she will be forced to confront her past. The investigation continues with Layton and brakeman, Bess Till (Mickey Summer) looking for clues and information that would help in solving the murder of Sean Wise. By now, it is also evident that the higher-ups on the train aren't exactly giving out the full information.
And this applied even to the ones in the lush compartments. While the news of death spreads like wildfire, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) attempts to keep things to a hush. Further investigation leads to deduce that cannibalism is practiced in the Snowpiercer. He also reveals how it was a practice among the tails in their initial years of being starved on the train.
Bess and Layton drop a visit to the butchers on the train and the attempt to interrogate goes awry after an avalanche rocks the train, causing a breach in the cattle section instantly killing the animals and the butchers. A deeper look inside the carriage sees them unearth limbs of human beings. Meanwhile, Bennett (Iddo Goldberg) and Melanie assess the damage to know that their resources have taken a hit after the impact of the avalanche, leading them to ration the food and supplies.
'Prepare to Brace' also sees the youngest of the tails to give them education and give them a new life up the train. By now it is safe to assume this dystopian drama also brings in a murder mystery storyline and makes it just one piece of a larger puzzle that is yet to fit in. The final moments make it clear that there is more to Mr Wilford.
'Snowpiercer' manages to keep the cards close to its chest by not divulging much. This isn't a slow episode and the violence factor is still pretty high. It is interesting to see how the story goes from here and how the Zarah-Layton relationship pans out.
'Snowpiercer' airs Sundays 9 pm on TNT.