The Time of Two Engines

Season	2
Episode	1
Overall	11
	January 25, 2021
	Graeme Manson
	Christoph Schrewe
	46 minutes
Episode Guide
← Previous	994 Cars Long
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The Time of Two Engines is the first episode of the second season of Snowpiercer. It is the eleventh episode of the series overall.

Synopsis

TNT's: Mr. Wilford has arrived. And as this new threat rattles Snowpiercer to its core, Melanie makes a move that can't be undone.

Netflix's: With Big Alice controlling Snowpiercer's fate, Layton plans to fight back. On Big Alice, Melanie confronts Mr. Wilford and reunites with her daughter.

Intro

“	On the eve of our 19th revolution, the great Mr. Wilford came out of the cold. It was the time of two Engines. The Tail no longer The Tail, but a borderland. A time of great gamesmanship and great trainsmenship… Of revolutions interrupted and fresh track on new terrain. (…) Hope was our only seedling in the war of Big Alice, 40 cars long, versus Snowpiercer, 994 cars strong.	”
	— Andre Layton

Plot

SPOILERS AHEAD

Outside of Snowpiercer, Melanie Cavill tries to radio to the Engine, but finds that they are unresponsive; she hopes that they will realise soon and switch to back-up communications. When Bennett arrives at the Engine Room, he tells Javi to switch to back-up and they regain connection with Melanie. Melanie tells them that she knows that Snowpiercer can never move without Big Alice again — given the power expenditure trying to escape — but that she can hand control of the life support systems to the Engine should she blow the uplink between the two trains. Melanie is eventually successful, and Snowpiercer regains control of its vital systems, but Melanie tells Bennett that she isn't done despite her suit becoming critical.

At the tail, Alexandra Cavill hands Ruth and the rebel forces a list of objects Mr. Wilford has demanded from Snowpiercer. She tells Layton and Ruth that they have twelve minutes to retrieve them before they leave Snowpiercer dead in the snow. With the sub-train down, the rebels have no choice but to use runners from one carriage to the next. They are able to gather all of the demands except Morphine but offer Alex aspirin instead. Alex thanks them for their co-operation and closes the door behind them.

With the demands met, the trains begin to move once more, connected now forever. Melanie must make a quick dash from underneath the trains but is able to place a sticky-charge to the bottom of the train beforehand. As she lies in the snow, she begins to see snowflakes fall to the ground. Bennett and Javi believe that this is a side effect of her suit failing, with Javi remarking that it is too cold to snow, but Melanie is confident in what she is seeing and collects a sample of the snow before boarding Big Alice.

In the Tail, Ruth tells Layton that the residents of the train will begin to revolt if they do not address the concerns quickly. Layton tells the Tailies that the Tail is no longer the Tail, but a border and they must do whatever they can to protect (and control) a border. With this, Layton calls a council meeting and tells Ruth that he will address the train afterwards.

Meanwhile, Melanie has boarded Big Alice and ordered to remove her clothes for disinfecting. She is welcomed aboard the train by Kevin, whom she seems to remember, and an unknown girl. Kevin shocks her with electricity, citing that it is revenge for leaving them to die. Melanie is brought to Mr. Wilford, who asks for control of Snowpiercer once again. He tells Melanie how he has been waiting all of these years for his time to pounce and reclaim his train, but Melanie tells him that Snowpiercer is not hers to relinquish — it belongs to the Tail. Melanie is shocked to find that her daughter, Alex, is still alive but bears no love for her.

Layton calls a meeting of the train, explaining that Wilford wants control of the train. Miss Audrey takes this further, remarking that he doesn't just want control of the train, but everyone on it. Layton has a difficult decision to make, and tells everyone that they must have a "cooling-off period" before inciting any violence. Layton tells Till to form a small party, but they must not engage in negotiations with Wilford until he returns Melanie to the train. Layton is distracted moments later when Tailies start attacking Zarah, and she is forced to reveal her pregnancy with Layton to the train; Ruth hails this pregnancy as hope for Snowpiercer.

Making a public announcement to Snowpiercer, Layton tells the train that they must put their democratic experiment on hold and extend martial law until they have control of the train; this doesn't come popular on the train, but Bennett remarks to Javi that there is no other way out of their current situation. Ruth subsequently moves Layton and Zarah into a First Class cabin and insists that she's on the side of Snowpiercer and its passengers.

Alex visits Melanie in her cell and asks if she can ask a few questions about the outside. Melanie tells her that it is cold, but beautiful. The two share some bonding with Alex revealing the circumstances behind her survival and that Melanie's parents are in fact dead. Alex asks about the snow sample she collected and, when Melanie tells her it is because she hasn't been outside in seven years, Alex asks why she must always lie. Shortly after, Melanie is collected and taken to the medical room aboard Big Alice, where she recognises the two Dr. Headwoods. They treat the cold burn on her shoulder and the issue with her lung; their medical treatments have advanced dramatically since the inception of Snowpiercer.

Back in the Tail, Layton questions who is smoking marijuana, which had been traded with Big Alice for a potato, orange and apple. Layton quickly realises that they can use this exchange as a way into Big Alice. Pike is able to convince Kevin and the others at Big Alice's tail to open the door to exchange a mango for more narcotics. When they do, they attack the members of Big Alice and eventually gain control of both Tails.

Mr. Wilford, who is enjoying dinner with Melanie in Big Alice's Engine, receives word of this and tells them to send in Bob. Bob arrives at the Tail and is able to clear the carriage with minimal effort, plunging the cart to below 70 degrees without feeling a thing. The Tailies have no other option but to retreat back to Snowpiercer. Following this, Ruth is furious with Layton and his behaviour but is surprised to see Kevin has been brought upon Snowpiercer. Kevin cryptically warns them that even if Mr. Wilford kills everyone on the train, he can just start again.

Afterwards, Melanie is brought to the Engine of Big Alice, where she is shocked to find that Alex is an engineer, just like her. Mr. Wilford orders Alex to slow the trains to a stop and detach from Snowpiercer, reversing Big Alice away. Melanie warns Wilford about it, citing that Snowpiercer will not survive more than twenty minutes on its own, but Wilford gives the order anyway. Despite pleading, Alex tries to detach from Snowpiercer, but finds that the decoupling mechanism blows; Melanie planted the explosive device on it earlier. Melanie laughs at Wilford, citing that she had warned him during the build that he overbuilt the mechanism, but now the two trains are permanently stuck together which Alex confirms with obvious admiration of her mother's ingenuity. With no other choice, Wilford instructs that Alex begin moving Snowpiercer once more before the two trains die together.

Cast

Main Characters

• Jennifer Connelly as Melanie Cavill
• Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton
• Mickey Sumner as Bess Till
• Alison Wright as Ruth Wardell
• Lena Hall as Miss Audrey
• Iddo Goldberg as Bennett Knox
• Steven Ogg as Pike
• Sheila Vand as Zarah Ferami
• Mike O'Malley as Roche
• Annalise Basso as LJ Folger
• Sam Otto as John Osweiller
• Roberto Urbina as Javier De La Torre
• Rowan Blanchard as Alexandra Cavill
• Sean Bean as Joseph Wilford

Guest Starring

• Sakina Jaffrey as Mrs. Headwood
• Damian Young as Mr. Headwood
• Aaron Glenane as The Last Australian
• Tom Lipinski as Kevin McMahon
• Chelsea Harris as Sykes
• Reneé Victor as Mama Grandé
• Karin Konoval as Doctor Pelton

Co-Starring

• Joel Chico as Carmen
• Ian Collins as Tristan
• Miranda Edwards as Lights
• Tyler Gibson as Driscoll
• Barry Nerling as One-Eyed Tailie Veteran
• Emma Oliver as Winnie
• Kurt Ostlund as Strong Boy
• Melania Solano as Ag-Sec Woman
• Manoj Sood as Rajiv Sharma
• Brent Stait as Tunnelman Jakes Carter
• Kwasi Thomas as Z-Wreck
• Andre Tricoteux as Icy Bob

Quotes

Wilford: "YOU STOLE MY TRAIN! Used my name." Melanie: "Well, you plastered it everywhere." Wilford: "I BUILT THE WORLD! It's the only one left and it's mine! I run it! You? You were fixing tractors on Daddy's farm. I lifted you out of pig shit at 17. I shared everything. I gave you everything. The solution…" Melanie: "There's no solution…" Wilford: "Oh, for God's sake!" Melanie: "… until we can go back out there!" Wilford: "This is the world. A rolling steel artery on a dead marble." ―   Melanie: "You're an engineer…" Wilford: "Engineer, bring Snowpiercer to a full stop." Alex: "Full stop, gladly." Melanie: "Alex..." Wilford: "Reverse." Bennette: "He's dropped the anchor." Javi: "No. We can't stop. He'll disconnect." ―  Melanie learned Alex is an engineer. Wilford: "I'm taking her back, Mel. If you can't get this Layton to surrender my train, Alex will disconnect, and we'll take a short spin in reverse. When we return, they'll all be dead. And your job for the next several years, will be to compost every last one of them." Wilford: "Disconnect Snowpiercer, reverse one-quarter speed." Melanie: "Don't do it." Alex: "Why?" Melanie: "Because it's right, that train is our future." Wilford: "(Chuckles.) Oh my god, get me that whiskey. (To Alex.) JUST GET IT DONE!" Melanie: "If you disconnect, all of those people will die. A whole world... will die. Believe me. You don't want that on your conscience." Wilford: "Disconnect. Now. Alex... Come on now... Alex... It's alright..." Melanie: "Wrong choice, honey." Alex: "(Presses buttons.) (Bomb explodes.)" ―  Wilford stopping Snowpiercer for the second time. Alex: "I can't disconnect." Wilford: "What have you done?" Melanie: "He overbuilt the connecting mechanism. I said so at the time, remember? I told you if something goes wrong with that central lock we won't be able to manually undo the grappling arms." Alex: "Holy shit. We're stuck together." Melanie: "Yeah, we are, permanently. So, you better give Alex the order to get Snowpiercer moving again or we'll all die in a few minutes." Wilford: "Never." Melanie: "It's kind of the only solution, really. We'll have to find a way to work together." Alex: "She got you, Dubs." Wilford: "Shut up!" Alex: "Really don't have a choice... (Grabs lever.)" Wilford: "Wait… For the order… (Nods.)" ―  Melanie's plan saved Snowpiercer.

Trivia

• The title of the episode is a line in Andre Layton's opening dialogue.
• The episode had a viewership of 1.09 million.
• Due to the amount of power expended trying to escape from Mr. Wilford, Snowpiercer can now never move on its own again.
  • However in Into the White, before the creation of the Pirate Train, Bojan Boscovic reveals Big Alice can power both trains. Which means Big Alice recharged the batteries.
  • Nonetheless, given Melanie blew the coupling mechanism, the docking cars of Snowpiercer and Big Alice can never de-link.
• Outside of the train Melanie discovers it is snowing, despite the temperature being too cold for it to snow, suggesting that the planet is beginning to warm up.
• Kevin claims that Mr. Wilford can restart everything even if everyone dies.

Body Count

• Melanie's parents (died in the Freeze; confirmed fate)
• Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz (suicide by cyanide; confirmed fate)
• Mr. Wilford's man (impaled by Pike)
• 3 Snowpiercer militia (impaled)
• 2 of Mr. Wilford's men (shot with crossbows by Z-Wreck and Strong Boy)
• 1 of Mr. Wilford's men (killed by Andre Layton)
• One-Eyed Tailie Veteran (hit by Icy Bob)

Gallery

Images

Promotional

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Behind the Scenes

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