“Snowpiercer: The Complete Second Season” may have lost its steam, but I can only hope that the writers are able to pull off a much more captivating and exciting third season, and bring back what we loved about the first season and the hope generated by its main/supporting characters.
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TITLE: SNOWPIERCER: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
SERIES RELEASE DATE: 2021
DURATION: EPISODES 11-20 (440 minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: 16×9, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English SDH
COMPANY: Warner Bros. Entertainment
RELEASED: November 9, 2021
BAsed on :Le Transperceneige” by Benjamin Legrand, Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette
Based on the film “Snowpiercer” by Bong Joon Ho
Developed by Josh Friedman
Directed by Christoph Schrewe, Leslie Hope, David Frazee, Clare Kilner, Rebecca Rodriguez
Written by Graeme Manson, Kelly Masterson, Jean-Marc Rochette, Donald Joh, Chnaka Hodge, Aburey Nealon, Tina de la Torre
Producer: Alissa Bachner, Jiwon Park, Holly Redford, Mackenzie Donaldson, Bill Balas
Executive Producer: Marty Adelstein, Park Chan-Wook, Dooho Choi, Becky Clements, Scott Derrickson, Bong Joon Ho, Milky Lee, Tae-hun Lee, Graeme Manson, Aubrey Nealon, Matthew O’Connor, James Hawes
Co-Executive Producer: Christoph Schrewe, Zak Schwartz, Kiersten Van Horne
Co-Producer: Donald Joh, Jay Prychidny
Music by The Haxan Cloak
Cinematographer as John Grillo, Thomas Burstyn
Edited by Jay Prychidny, Jamie Alain, D. Gillian Truster, Justin Li
Casting by Wittney Horton
Production Design by Stephen Geaghan
Art Direction by Susan Parker
Set Decoration by Roger Trory, Bobbi Allyn
Costume Design by Caroline Cranstoun
Starring:
Jennifer Connelly as Melanie Cavill
Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton
Mickey Sumner as Bess Till
Alison Wright as Ruth Wardell
Iddo Goldberg as Bennett Knox
Lena Hall as Miss Audrey
Annalise Basso as LJ Folger
Sheila Vand as Zarah Ferami
Katie McGuinness as Josie Wellstead
Karin Konoval as Dr. Pelton
Mike O’Malley as Sam Roche
Roberto Urbina as Javier de La Torre
Karin Konoval as Dr. Pelton
Miranda Edwards as Lights
Steven Ogg as Pike
Emma Oliver as Winnie
Sam Otto as John Osweiller
Rowan Blanchard as Alexandra Cavill
Sean Bean as Joseph Wilford
Aaron Glenane as The Last Australian
Steven Ogg as Pike
Kwasi Thomas as Z-Wreck
Chelsea Harris as Sykes
Renee Victor as Mama Grande
Kurt Oslund as Strong Boy
Brent Stait as Jakes Carter
Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray, which I am reviewing in this blog post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Back in 2013, filmmaker Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”, “Okja”) would direct the South Korea-Czech film “Snowpiercer”, a film adapted from the 1982 French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige”.
The film would receive critical acclaim and the film was Bong Joon-Ho’s English language debut and as the film was created for $40 million, it is one of the most expensive Korean film productions ever.
Seven years later, a TV adaptation of the film would premiere on TNT in May 2020.
“Snowpiercer” is a film that is set in the future after the world’s became a frozen wasteland when an attempt to stop global warning by climate engineering backfires.
As the world is undergoing a new ice age, survivors are taken into a circumnavigational train known as the Snowpiercer ran by transportation magnate, Wilford.
The train is run under an iron fist as the billionaire Wolford and the Snowpiercer has thousands of carriages in which many are separated by class. The wealthy is part of first class and it goes down to the poorest of people who are seen as the dredges of society, people who wanted to survive and stormed into the train but not knowing their life in the train is without doctors, food and literally surviving on whatever they can. This group known as “The Tails” (as they live in the tail end of the train) want humanity to unite and want equality, while those in the upper class want order.
In season 1, “The Tails” were able to gain control of Snowpiercer but there were challenges ahead as Diggs as Tails would have to make peace between the wealthy and the Tails to co-exist.
But the season ended with another train appearing and it ends up being Wilford’s train and the two trains are now connected. With Wilford’s return, not only does the wealthy feel that they have a person who has their interest in mind, there are also others who were once involved in assisting Diggs, showing their loyalty to Wilford, who will do anything he can to get his train back under his leadership. Meanwhile, Melanie learns that someone close to her is alive.
The story focuses on the following individuals:
- Andre Layton (portrayed by Daveed Diggs) – A former detective who is now the leader of the Tails. As they were to lead a revolution against the First Class, he is taken out of the tail end chosen by Wilford to solve a murder case. He raises his intelligent son Miles alongside his girlfriend, Josie.
- Melanie Cavill (portrayed by Jennifer Connelly) – The most powerful woman on the Snowpiercer who is the voice of Wilford. She is the head of Hospitality. She is the voice of the train, she is the engineer and more. But she is also a mysterious woman with secrets.
- Bess Francis Till (portrayed by Mickey Sumner) – She is a member of the Snowpiercer’s security force. A former Detroit PD first-year rookie officer who must work with Layton to find out who is responsible for the murders on the Snowpiercer. She is married to Jinju, the agricultural officer and the finest chef and a member of the elite.
- Ruth Wardell (portrayed by Alison Wright) – She is the Deputy of Hospitality and believes in order and very loyal to Wilford and Melanie. She looks after the First Class, and could care less about the Tails.
- Miss Audrey (portrayed by Lena Hall) – The Madam of the Nightcar of the Third Class and is a vocal person of the social indifferences on the Snowpiercer. She runs a spiritual healing room.
- Bennett Knox – One of the main engineer’s of the Snowpiercer and is Melanie’s lover and also knows her big secret.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Snowpiercer: The Complete First Season” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16×9) and in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Picture quality is warm and looks great in HD!
No blemsishes or softness, overall picture quality is great. As for the lossless audio, dialogue is crystal clear, while ambiance can be heard on the surround channels, especially during action and crowd scenes.
Subtitles are presented in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Snowpiercer: The Complete First Season” comes with the following special features:
- Overview
- Class Warfare
- Jennifer & Daveed – Behind The Scenes Interview
- The Train
- Behind the Curtain: Art of the Frozen World
EXTRAS:
“Snowpiercer: The Complete First Season” comes with a Blu-ray and a digital copy code.
I have been familiar with Bong Joon-Ho’s “Snowpiercer” film but I watched it only after completing the “Snowpiercer” TV series which was shown on TNT.
The first season of “Snowpiercer” was a riveting series that is crime drama, science fiction drama and a fascinating look at how humanity tried to curb out global warming by shooting special missiles in the sky in hopes to control the weather but ending up hurting the planet by creating an ice age.
The Snowpiercer is a high tech train which was to carry people chosen for certain duties, certain skills to survive the calamity and to literally ride throughout the globe in hopes that humanity can continue to survive.
But there was civil unrest as humanity who were not allowed onto the train fought their way to the final trains where they were confronted by the Snowpiercer’s cold security force headed by the wealthy man, Mr. Wilford, massacred many, but those who survived were confined on the back train.
People who survived on whatever they can eat and whatever technology they had. Gangs vs. gangs, people dying because they received no medical attention and literally became the rats of humanity inside the Snowpiercer.
For years, these individuals known as “The Tails” planned their revolution to fight back as they can no longer live in terrible conditions. Led by Andre Layton, the revolution was all set and planned until the security came to the tail end and pulled him out.
Because Layton was a detective, the billionaire, owner and founder wanted Layton to solve murders on the Snowpiercer in which people were bludgeoned to death and people are missing bodyparts.
For Layton, he agrees if his people can be helped but also to observe what is on other trains and see the different classes on the various carriages to formulate a plan for the revolution.
Meanwhile, the voice of Snowpiercer and also the representative of Wilford is Melanie Cavill, a brilliant engineer who works in hospitality, who helps maintain the Snowpiercer and more. But she holds a mighty secret that can tear everyone apart on the Snowpiercer.
As the second season progressed, Layton was able to overcome Melanie Cavill and her forces. As some inside her camp realize that things were not right on the Snowpiercer and joined Layton’s team.
But with the second season, the game has changed as another train has appeared and has hooked itself up to the Snowpiercer.
It turns out that this other train belongs to Joseph Wilford and while the wealthy and the military are happy to see Mr. Wilford back, Cavill knows how cold and ruthless he is.
And when Wilford finds out that the Snowpiercer has been taken over by Layton and his team, it becomes a battle of control between both sides.
But what Layton is unaware of, is that the team which he thought was loyal to him and Snowpiercer, maybe very loyal to Mr. Wilford.
Meanwhile, Melanie finds out that her daughter, who she left with her parents and thought had died, is very much alive and she was saved by Wilford and has been with him with a deep hatred towards her mother for leaving her behind. But which bonds are strong, mother and daughter or daughter and Mr. Wilford?
“Snowpiercer” features many characters and that is one the core strengths of the series, the ability to build on character dynamics and to make you feel interested in the many characters introduced into the story. And there are numerous characters that you will come across and how they all are tied to the primary characters.
While the first season was riveting, the second season was a season that I felt it was like a rollercoaster which reached its peak and there was no other way but to climb back down.
The season was focused on Joseph Wilford and how cold of a man he is, the torture games he plays on those who don’t follow him and how people are so scared that they will do what he says. Meanwhile, you have people on the Snowpiercer causing harm to Layton’s team and you realize that no matter how much Layton’s was able to fight back and make Snowpiercer as a whole, there are way too many people loyal to Wilford, than what was imagined.
While he may be cold and sadistic to those who really know him, to the people, he is looked at as their savior.
But probably the biggest fail of season two was the handling of Melanie Cavill. As Melanie played a tremendous part of season one, for season two, she was barely shown. And with how the season finale ends, who knows what will happen to Melanie’s character. If anything, it felt as if the writers were planning a final curtain call for the character by taking her off the snowpiercer, and showcasing the scientist in her, doing something important for humanity.
I do get it.
But part of me felt a bit disappointed, considering Melanie was a major character in season one and her presence was barely there this time around.
Some of the characters which I grew fond of in season one, disappointed me in season two. And again, I understand what the writers were trying to drive in season two, that the return of Wilford is like a king returning to his castle, and now he wants to clean house. But for viewers who gravitated towards these characters, one can hope for redemption.
I will say that the character who emerged the best out of all is the character Ruth Wardell (portrayed by Alison Wright), writers found a way to make this flawed character, much stronger and confident and giving her a chance of redemption. And she fared much better than many of the other characters in season two.
And with how season two ends, I just hope that season three brings something exciting for viewers once again. Part of what attracted viewers to season 1 are the characters and their fight for hope. When you start tinkering with the characters where they become unlikable, that becomes problematic. I felt with season 2, all hope was lost. The season finale does peak my interest and I’m definitely staying tuned for the third season.
“Snowpiercer: The Complete Second Season” may have lost its steam, but I can only hope that the writers are able to pull off a much more captivating and exciting third season, and bring back what we loved about the first season and the hope generated by its main/supporting characters.
PURCHASE THIS BLU-RAY ON AMAZON