Why 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 falls short in delivering justice to its villains
Contains spoilers for 'Snowpiercer' Season 4
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As 'Snowpiercer' approaches its final destination with Season 4, and just a few episodes left to release, viewers are beginning to glimpse how each character's journey will conclude. Episode 7 of 'Snowpiercer' Season 4 delivered several significant moments, particularly concerning the fates of Joseph Wilford (Sean Bean) and Admiral Anton Milius (Clark Gregg).
Wilford and Milius, who were introduced as partner-in-crimes this season turned against each other sooner than we expected. Milius wanted Wilford dead as he no longer served him any purpose and threatened Milius's leadership among his soldiers. The cat-and-mouse chase between the biggest antagonists of the show ends in a bizarre way that leaves us utterly disappointed.
'Snowpiercer' Season 4 fails to utilize its new villain
Milius was introduced as a formidable villain at the beginning of 'Snowpiercer' Season 4. Much to our surprise, he did what even Wilford couldn't do in three seasons. He was able to take over Melanie Cavill's (Jennifer Connelly) engine in the blink of an eye and even lured Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) to give up Big Alice.
With both engines under his control and the protagonists being held captive at the Silo, we speculated a tough battle ahead. However, Milius meets a tragic end in Episode 7, much before the finale.
When Milius takes Wilford to the decommissioned floor to let him die, Wilford unexpectedly turns the table. He is now cold-resistant, thanks to Dr Headwood. Wilford cleverly removes the latch on Milius's helmet which turns fatal for him. And this marks the end of Milius's story. For a new strong protagonist, Milius's story ended way too quickly and easily. A soldier's defeat without any battle is nothing but dissatisfying as a viewer.
'Snowpiercer' does the biggest injustice to Joseph Wilford
Even if we ignore Milius's tragic end, we can't come to terms with how the show concludes things for Joseph Wilford. After defeating an enemy as strong as him, he was ready to take over Snowpiercer once again. But he had Andre Layton standing in his way with a gun in his hand.
Wilford gave up too quickly. Accepting his fate, he consumed a poisonous cigar, thus taking away his own life before Andre could shoot him to death. This wasn't how we expected Wilford to die. He carried the image of a savior for the most part until he emerged as the ultimate villain. He truly made the lives of Andre and Melanie miserable in previous seasons, but this time, his character doesn't receive as much importance as it deserves.
All these years of hardships, battles, and research that made him cold resistant and he took his life with a poisonous cigar without even fighting? This doesn't sit well for us. The show's antagonists deserved to have an intense battle before a brutal end.
'Snowpiercer' Season 4 is now available to stream on AMC+.