Pike: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:08, 6 March 2022

Pike is a main character^[1] in the second and third season of TNT's Snowpiercer after appearing as a recurring character in the first season. He is portrayed by Steven Ogg.

He is a hardened and battle-scarred leader in the Tail and a warrior of his people. He was a career convict, serving time in Cook County Jail for armed robbery at the time of the Freeze, but escaped.

History

Background

Little is known about his past. He was convicted for armed robbery, and was serving his time when the Freeze came.

Onboard Snowpiercer, Pike became a Tailie and a prominent member of the Tail. When a group of cannibals emerged, Pike was one of them. Andre Layton killed the cannibals' leader and saved Pike from execution for his role in the group. Pike also served as a leading member of the Year Two and Year Three Revolutions, serving on the Tailies' War Council in at least the latter.

Throughout The Series

Season 1

The Riot Plan

Pike is unwilling to trust Layton as they plan their riot against the leading elite of Snowpiercer, despite Layton's plan being well thought out and everyone else in the Tail being in agreement. After Layton is summoned to solve the murder by Melanie Cavill, Pike's distrust of Layton is amplified, and he takes this out on Josie, seemingly taking control of the Tail and ordering her to find another place to sleep whilst Layton is gone.

Later, Pike sets in motion Layton's plan, albeit modified. They are successful in killing six guards, however are confronted by more and eventually forced to surrender. Layton attempts to reason with Pike that there will be numerous deaths if he does not stand down, but Pike recants him as a traitor and threatens him with a weapon. Eventually, Layton is able to convince Pike that he can get inside knowledge of the train whilst solving the murder.^[2]

Alongside Strong Boy and Z-Wreck, Pike is imprisoned in the Drawers for his actions.^[3]

Revolution

When The Last Australian and Henry Klimpt attempt to release Pike from the Drawers, they find him gone. With Layton's rebellion having begun, Commander Grey and First feed Pike and seek his insight into Layton. Pike states that Layton has always been righteous in his politics while Pike's have never been so refined. Pike offers to give them Layton in exchange for more of the food. Pike explains that Layton doesn't have the stomach for sustained cruelty and if they keep grinding, he will crumble.^[4]

Season 2

Season 3

Personality

Pike is shown to be a battle-hardened man willing to do anything to survive.

Despite generally being a hard and apparently cold man, Pike has a softer more emotional side. The suicide of Old Ivan led to his revolt and after its failure, he was visibly emotional at the losses that they had suffered, showing that Pike likely cares more than he lets on and that his actions aren't all done for power. It was revealed on episode 5 of the second season ("Keep Hope Alive") that he actually was one of the cannibals the tail had disbanded years ago (having had the vouching of Layton for his redemption afterwards), and that because of this, he had vowed to never kill again outside of combat. The latter shows just how much of a change there has been to his person, and even then, when agreeing to Layton's plan of assassinating Terence, he confronts the janitor and presents him with a weapon, implying that not doing so wouldn't be "fair". When he completes Layton's request, however, he seems deeply disturbed and sad (because to him Terence hadn't fought with honor, having just thrown a glass of liquid on him instead of using the weapon he had brought him) and later shamingly shaves his head, seeing his reflection with disdain while doing so.

Relationships

Andre Layton

Pike is distrustful of Layton, and openly opposes his revolution plan. He does, however, use the plan when he takes over the car and realizes that this is his only option. He later threatens Layton, deeming him a traitor, however the two are able to reconcile their differences when Layton reveals that he is planning their next revolution.

It's later revealed that much of Pike's loyalty to Layton comes from the fact that Layton had saved Pike's life, stopping him from being executed as one of the cannibals. Layton often refers to Pike as "brother" while talking to him.

Following the losses suffered in the revolution and the six months that Layton was away, Pike begins blaming Layton and seeking to replace him in order to install Ruth Wardell as the leader of the train. To this end, Pike falls back on his old ways despite his previous vow to never kill again outside of combat, setting the Naming Tree on fire and trying to bomb Layton. After Layton realizes that Pike was responsible, he becomes frantic that Pike will harm his newborn daughter Liana whom Pike was holding, but Pike returns the baby to her parents unharmed and never actually threatens her, seeming insulted that Layton had even thought that he would. Before Pike was revealed to be the assassin, Layton had trusted Pike to guard him alone and even to hold his daughter, making Pike's betrayal very personal for Layton.

In an attempt to peacefully settle things, Layton called upon an old Tailie ritual come up by Old Ivan which, if he and Pike had reached terms, the entire Tail would've held them to. Despite his anger over Pike's actions, Layton had no desire to actually kill him and tried to talk Pike down, offering his friend to be Liana's godfather which would've truly made Pike family to him. However, Pike refused to hear Layton out, wanting only to kill him and seeing Layton as a corrupting influence. After Pike refused to back down and revealed that he knew that Layton had lied about finding Asha in New Eden, Layton finally relented and fought Pike to the death, eventually killing him. With his last words, Pike bitterly expressed hope that Layton would find New Eden frozen over. Despite their differences, Layton was shown to take no real joy in Pike's death, personally cleaning his body and agreeing to stand vigil over him through the night.

Ruth Wardell

At first, Ruth and Pike were bitter enemies due to Ruth representing the train's establishment while Pike was a revolutionary living in the Tail. However, their relationship changed for the better after Ruth realized the truth about Mr. Wilford and became the leader of the resistance with Pike as her second-in-command. The two developed a close working relationship and a friendship bordering on romance.

Following the return of the Pirate train, Pike and Ruth continue to grow closer, sharing a semi-romantic dinner and later having sex. Pike pushes for Ruth to become the new leader of Snowpiercer, believing that is the one best suited for the job and he attempts to assassinate Layton partially to clear the way for Ruth to take over. However, Ruth is horrified by Pike's methods and attempts to talk him down without success. Before going to his death, Pike gives Ruth one of his fertilizer bombs and tells her not to witness what comes next. After Pike's death, Ruth cries over his body and Layton, having learned of the relationship between her and Pike, apologizes to Ruth for how it ended which Ruth returns.

Appearances

Season One

Season Three

Season Two

Memorable Quotes

“	I've been told over and over that time heals all wounds. But there's one man on Snowpiercer who will never let mine close. (...) Wounds fester. They rot. They don't go away. Maybe it's just me. I pick, unable to let wounds heal. It's in my nature to provoke. Or maybe I was just born to bleed. (...) Layton's moving on from all the wounds he inflicted, but we're still bleeding, even if the trauma's hidden deep, on Snowpiercer, 1,029 cars long.	”
	— Pike's opening monologue.^[5]

Josie: "We were scattered escaping this place, but it's just us here again now. And Tailies know the dark lessons of Snowpiercer better than anyone. We gather like this not out of bloodlust, but to bottle this violent dispute and bind our brothers in an outcome that we all accept. You two will sit together until you reconcile and agree on terms, be it a handshake, punishment, or compensation. If you do not agree--."

Pike: "We call for the knives. Everyone knows."

Josie: "Two must call. Both choose peace, or both choose blood. Do you abide?"

Pike: "Can we just get on with it?"

Layton: "I will."

― Josie, Pike and Layton begin the ritual^[5]