'Snowpiercer' Season 2 Episode 2 'Smolder to Life' Spoilers: Will Miss Audrey uncover Mr Wilford's weakness?
TNT's Snowpiercer rests on its performers. If Season 1 was the pitched battle between cold and calculating 'scientist' Melanie Cavill [Jennifer Connelly) VS the passionate and emotional 'humanist' Andrew Layton [Daveed Diggs], Season 2 is another ride altogether. With Mr. Wilford's personal train, Big Alice digging its claws into Snowpiercer, the delicate democracy established on Snowpiercer is already in jeopardy. Layton has had to declare martial law, has moved into First Class, and is becoming more like Melanie Cavill by the second.
By the end of Season 1, we already knew that both Melanie Cavill and Andrew Layton were kind of on the same side -- they both want to save humanity. It is just that they differed entirely on how to achieve that end.
All the train travails till now
Sean Bean's Mr. Wilford has no such higher vision. He is the 'one-percenter' who doesn't care a fig about humanity or the greater good. He is in it for himself. The businessman is willing to doom humanity for his own selfish ends and will manipulate people and situations around him to benefit himself alone. Undoubtedly, 'Snowpiercer' as a series, is an allegory for life on the planet. So its writers can't exactly ignore what is happening in the world around us. So half of the train's residents think Mr. Wilford is trying 'save' them, while the other half thinks he is trying to 'kill' them.
Sean Bean's Mr. Wilford represents a certain kind of personality we got very familiar with over the last four years. But, hopefully, 'Snowpiercer' will not hit us over the head with this messaging. It is enough to have it as the looming subtext -- what can happen when you give the reins of a train or a country to a man like that.
How to watch Season 2 Episode 2 online?
Episode 2 will release first on the TNT network on February 1, 2021, at 9 pm ET. You can also watch the episode for free on the TNT website or app after it airs. To stream TNT and watch 'Snowpiercer' Season 2 Episode 2 live, you’ll need a subscription to services like fuboTV, AT&T TV NOW, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.
It will be available on Netflix the next day on Tuesday, February 2, internationally, but not in the US. If you want to check out season 1, you can watch it on HBO Max, which requires a paid subscription. Season 1 also available internationally on Netflix.
What to expect in Season 2 Episode 2 'Smolder to Life'
The trailer of Season 2 Episode 2 shows a mish-mash of scenes from several upcoming episodes. But it does give us an idea about what to expect from Episode 2. One thing we can be sure of is that Mr. Wilford is going to dominate our screens for a while as we learn how each major character reacts to him and deals with him. The most interesting to watch will be starry-eyed Ruth who worships Mr. Wilford because of her gratitude for being 'lifted' from obscurity by his attention.
There is also Miss Audrey, mistress of the Night Car, and keeper of secrets and trauma. Does Mr. Wilford have layers to his personality or hidden weaknesses? We will come to know this once he interacts with Miss Audrey. The two seem to share a special relationship as Miss Audrey welcomes him into a private chamber in the trailer.
Alexandra Cavill, possibly as sharp as her mother, Melanie, is Mr. Wilford's pawn already. LJ Folger, the psychopath, still hasn't teamed up with him but there is a strong possibility that her chaos-loving ways will eventually lead to her becoming a Wilford ally, sooner or later.
Meanwhile, to keep things interesting on the action side is Mr. Wilford's 'ice zombies' -- humans who have become impervious to cold after being experimented on. Setting up the longer arc of season 2 as a whole is the fact that the weather is changing again. Melanie Cavill's discovery that there is snowfall means she will be pursuing what this means for the people aboard the train all season-long and this will probably tie into how Season 2 ends. Season 3 is already greenlit so this story definitely has a third act.
'Snowpiercer’ Season 2 Episode 2 releases on February 1, 2021, on TNT at 9 pm ET.