Snowpiercer Episode 8 These Are His Revolutions Review and Recap- Why Can Strong Boy Speak Mandarin?

The train was bathed in blood when Snowpiercer Episode 8 proved revolution comes with sacrifice. Long live the resistance.

Let the revolution begin when Snowpiercer Episode 8 smashes headfirst into a mutiny coming from both sides of the train. What weird allies First, Third, and the Tail make. Once the initial push was made though both sides need the other to back down and neither is willing to give up. First thinks they have it locked down now, but they have woken a sleeping giant. The Jackboots have limited control over Third, but as everyone points out, First needs Third to keep the train running. Which side will blink first?

Easily the most exciting episode of Snowpiercer, These Are His Revolutions, works on many levels. Both the route of the never-ending train and the human form of revolution are explored aboard Mr. Wilford’s pleasure train. So much of the world of the train was fleshed out, all while a sea of blood was splashed around the walls and floors.

Bess Till has chosen a side.

Jinju has been calling all the shots. Bess is her inferior on board the train by class, and the dynamic the two women share in their opening scene is unhealthy. Not only is Jinju Second Class, but she is plugged in politically. She has Melanie’s confidence and knows everything about the drawers, Mr. Wilford, and the careful equilibrium of the 1001 cars. The problem with her disappointment in Bess is that she is a hypocrite. You can’t be angry with someone for lying when you are doing it too. Jinju would love to say she’s protecting everyone with her deception, but that is the problem with elitism. Even when you think you are a protectionist, you are really just being a paternalist. Fascists often believe they are doing bad things to save good people from themselves.

Hospitality is in flux.

Melanie’s secret is out. Soon everyone will know there is no Mr. Wilford. Another possibility is Layton will free Melanie, realizing she could be much worse. That would lay the groundwork for the scenario we see in the Snowpiercer movie where Mr. Wilford is just a figurehead that changes as it needs too. Melanie lost her family when the train took off. She tells Ruth Wilford was left in the same embarkation sequence that cost her her parents and daughter. How much truth is there to that? Does she feel guilty because she may have been dealing with Wilford when her family died?

Ruth is smart enough to know Melanie is better than the Folgers, but the pain from betrayal clouds her judgment. She thought Melanie was her friend. They have held the train together for years. Coupled with an unrealistic view of who and what Mr. Wilford was and she becomes Melanie’s worst nightmare. Melanie’s good guy, not so good guy routine, is fascinating. The two women deliver one of the best scenes this whole season when Ruth tearfully hurls accusations at Melanie. Jennifer Connoly won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind for a reason. She can deliver the goods. Allison Wright(Ruth) holds her own as a woman who has been hurt and betrayed by someone she thought was her friend. Wright’s Ruth misses the weight of the responsibility on display in Melanie’s quarters. She sees only the deception.

Melanie may be arrogant, but she isn’t a monster. Visibly emotional, Melanie believes she made every decision for the greater good. She is an intellectual elite. More practical than sentimental, she made decisions to save the most people for the most extended amount of time. With First Class in charge, she won’t be able to save anyone. Especially given the fact that Javier is locked up and they are executing her in the morning. That leaves only Bennett and Miles in Engineering. Someone has to drive the train and do the math. Luckily Connelly is slated for all twenty episodes of Snowpierecer the TV series, so she’s not going anywhere.

The train is slowing down.

Time is running out for the Snowpiercer. With each revolution, the train slows down. If it slows down too much, it won’t carry enough speed to get over some of the track sections. Stagnation means death to everyone aboard the vehicle. For those sci-fi purists who have complained from day one that the mythos of a train that never stops doesn’t work, Episode 8 was all yours. The math doesn’t work in concept or practice, and Melanie is running out of time to solve the problem. If she, Bennett, Javier, and Miles can’t figure it out soon, they will all die.

The problem now is that The Folgers and Commander Grey want control over the train, and they are myopic enough to kill two of the four people capable of driving it. Javier opened the doors for the Jackboots because he isn’t a rule breaker. He believes in order. Javi couldn’t foresee the ignorance of a power grab. Hopefully, he doesn’t pay for that mistake with his life.

There is something strange happening in the drawers.

What is going on with Strong Boy? Why can the mute young man now speak in fluent Mandarin? Is Strong Boy no longer the Tailie we first met? Is it possible there is more to the experiment than cryofreezing 400 diverse lives? Maybe, the experiment is to save bodies for those with specific skills to be implanted into. If that’s the case, we should know soon.

If Melanie and Jinju are trying to resurrect minds by implanting them into human bodies, it sets up a whole host of new conflicts. Who decides who is expendable? Those who are atypical are turned into host bodies for more desirous minds. If the Tailies ingenuity all these years and specifically with their weapon in Snpwowpiercer Episode 8, we need everyone to play their part. You never know who has the answers.

Snowpiercer Episode 8 was tightly paced and exciting. It has all been building towards this, and the tyranny of Melanie may give way to the tyranny of the rich. The devil you know maybe better than the one waiting in the wings. Daveed Diggs was fantastic this week as the inspiring leader of the resistance. Caroline Cranstoun’s costume design created a near Messiah level gravitas to Layton to match his passionate speech. His words are contagious, and regardless of what Pike thinks, some bells can’t be unrung. There are too many high-level operatives with Layton’s group to contain. The race for the engine begins next week. If Layton and Melanie can work together, they can regain control of the train.

Are the protests that have taken place all across the country any different than the rebellion aboard Snowpiercer? Don’t we all want something better for our children? One train, one world.

As much blood was shed in Snowpiercer Episode 8, there is undoubtedly more to come. War makes for strange bedfellows. In the shifting sand left by the power vacuum of Melanie’s ousting old enemies make new alliances. Pike may think Layton doesn’t have the stomach for sustained violence, but he is underestimating both his and Melanie’s resolve. They were uneasy partners before; they will be again. Catch up on all our Snowpiercer coverage ahead of the two-episode finale next week.

Stray Thoughts:

• What does all this mean for Miles and Miles?
• Very clever writers. Letting Pike literally eat cake. I see what you are doing there.
• Mr. Wilford never intended to save humanity. Assuming Melanie can be trusted, Mr. Wilford only wanted to prolong his own life in the way he wanted for as long as possible. He wasn’t an altruistic big picture thinker.
• L.J. is into chaos. She doesn’t care who wins as long as there is plenty of killing. Anarchy is her siren song, not because she wants equality, but because she craves brutality.
• Could Melanie’s daughter be on board the Snowpiercer as many predict? Also, who was her husband?