Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 Keep Hope Alive Review-Lena Hall Continues To Impress

A haunting Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 is a powderkeg of raw emotions and double-dealings. War is coming. It’s time to pick a side.

Hope is a tricky thing. Too little, and we become despondent. Without any hope, we are immobilized. We become something we never wanted to be. False hope can be dangerous also. When the truth is revealed, it is often worse than if we knew the terrible facts from the beginning. Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 is trying to keep hope alive despite threats closing in from all sides. Will the side of good prevail? Just who are the good guys anyway?

There is a problem aboard Snowpiercer. Layton has enemies even among his friends. Doubt and instability have crept in. Wilford is a terrible person, but he has more control right now because he has fewer to influence, and those he rules he does so with terror. All sides are closing in, and even those who are most loyal to Layton’s cause have ulterior motives. Snowpiercer needs to get control over Wilford and themselves before it is too late. They are all playing a deadly game of chicken. Who will blink first? After tonight, Wilford has drawn first blood.

A couple of the smaller players got more time this week, and the show was better for it. Pike has been used more for comic relief than anything else until Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5. He was a humorous annoyance and little else. Tonight, he showed that the opportunist has a more rigid moral code than we thought. The new pot trade helps the Tailies but undercuts Terrance, which is a major problem for the Janitors. After LJ attacks Pike, Layton knows there is an issue. When Terrance threatens Josie, Layton knows something has to be done. Curiously, Zara who has proven she is capable of anything to protect herself encourages Layton to order Terrance’s execution. Killing Terrance may have broke Pike. An out-of-control Pike is a dangerous one.

Zara is a force to be reckoned with. She has the ear of two of the most critical people on the train. She influences Layton and Ruth. Sheila Vand(Zara) and Alison Wright(Ruth) are a strong duo. Both women are capable and mentally tough. They also are smarter than anyone gives them credit for. Ruth knows power makes people lie sometimes. She may admire Wilford, but he doesn’t fool her. Her fear for Miss Audrey is merited.

Lena Hall continues to impress between her mesmerizing vocals and tortured looks. Her rendition of Radiohead’s Street Spirit(Fade Out) is gorgeous and sad. She is barely in control of herself. Under Wilford’s spell, she is in danger of fading out, having her light extinguished. She agrees to have dinner with Wilford on Big Alice because she can switch wires and, in effect, allow everything said to be transmitted to Snowpiercer. It will cost her, though. Before she can reverse the wires, Wilford returns to the room. She is forced to stay with the grinning tyrant for now. Let’s hope she can break him before he breaks her. Wilford is almost manic; he is so excited to get her back, while Audrey is only haunted.

Bess is finding it hard to trust they are on the right path. She is angry and desperate, and it is making her violent. Pastor Logan stops her from getting in a fight with the Breachman, but he may not be the altruistic spiritual guide he appears to be. With the Breachman neutralized, Terrance dead, and Clayton preoccupied, I wonder who will fill the power void? Maybe Pastor Logan is the mole?

Sean Bean’s Wilford is one of the most complex villains on television. He is a bizarre mix of a gleeful imp, lovesick teenager, wiley business tycoon, and sociopath. He controls everyone and everything around him with an iron will and electric charisma. It’s not enough to rule everyone; he needs to consume them. Regardless of Alex’s perceived loyalty to him, she is starting to question his behavior. Alex may be acting like a petulant jealous child, but she isn’t wrong; Wilford is a hypocrite. That being said, Alex and LJ are a nasty partnership that spells nothing but trouble. It’s not enough for everyone to be devoted; they must be obsessed with Wilford. In keeping with that quest, he forces his inner sanctum to read the books he wants and report for book club. The club reads more like scared sycophants than peers, however.

He chose Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Rebecca is one of the best examples of gothic, psychological mysteries. It has been made into several movies, including Netflix’s recent attempt, but few capture the novel’s oppressive terror and psychosexual nature. Of course, Wilford would think Rebecca was romantic instead of terrifying and tragic. He has a warped idea of love and adoration. Wilford and Audrey have a toxic relationship with more in common with Rebecca and Maxim than the unnamed protagonist. I am curious who Ms. Danvers is in this scenario? Zara sure seems to have a ruthless streak. A look inside the worst book club ever shows just how terrifying he is. Fear can only keep people down for so long, though.

Wilford wants to squash hope, while Layton wants to encourage it. Josie is Layton’s greatest ally and the biggest source of information he has. She is an incredibly tough woman. The Headwoods are helping Josie, but Icy Bob counsels her that they shouldn’t be trusted. Icy Bob’s addition brings more than just sci-fi elements. He is a thinking, feeling character that has a wealth of information and abilities. When push comes to shove, I wonder who he will be loyal to? Josie gets information along the pipeline to Layton, but it is too late. They both misunderstand and assume the Breachman are attacking as opposed to being attacked. Now only Boscovic remains. What is Wilford up to?

Wilford’s plan is to sew chaos. Snowpiercer Season 2 Episode 5 began the process. It isn’t about a takeover so much as a coup. It’s only a matter of time before tempers flare and tensions boil over. Let’s hope Melanie makes an appearance soon keeping hope alive before Snowpiercer reaches its flashpoint. Follow all our coverage here.

Stray Icicles

• The bees are making a comeback. That is huge for so many reasons.
• Pike looks less like a goofy weed dealer and more like a gun runner with his shaved head.
• Muscle Breach is hands-down the best name for a gym ever.
• Music, as ever, is perfect on Snowpiercer. Between Radiohead and The Animals’ The House of the Rising Sun, it could not have been better. The lyrics are spot on.

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I’m one