Born to Bleed
Episode 6 of Snowpiercer Season 3 starts with Pike awakening from a bad dream. After the attempt on Layton’s life, he’s still alive and the bomb blast hasn’t killed him. However, Layton wants everyone to join him in Big Alice – including Pike. Layton organizes traffic, still believing that Pike is solid and not compromised. He watches Zarah and Layton from afar as they cradle their new baby. The whole train is abuzz with news of the bombing, as Ruth heads down to see Roche who’s still locked up. He refuses to tell the psychologist what they want to hear, admitting that he’s consumed by thoughts of revenge and determined to kill Wilford the next chance he gets. “The longer you feel this way, the longer he wins.” Ruth says grimly, eventually leaving him in lock-up. However, his daughter Carly does show up later in the episode, pleading with her father to come home. While this is going on, Till starts to do the rounds and pieces together who’s responsible for the bomb. She realizes that two bricks are missing, with a possibility that Tailies have smuggled in materials. This gives her the next place to examine. Till soon learns that fertilizer bomb was used, with thee pages for the recipe ripped out of the book. Now, only those on the Tailie War Council would even know where the book is – meaning Layton has a big problem. The suspect list is short and Layton realizes that Pike is responsible. Layton chases Pike down the train but the latter blindsides him before continuing to race through the carriages. Layton refuses to make this public, given it could make Pike hostile, as Till works with the Brakemen to set up checkpoints to try and stop Pike. Along these checkpoints, Ruth finds out that Pike is the bomber. She heads into Pike’s chambers, where she finds Layton searching his belongings. He gravely holds up the ripped bits of paper from the recipe book, confirming that he’s the bomber. Pike though, finds himself in the company of Asha, who’s holding up in the depths of the train. Ruth catches up with the pair after they’ve had a chance to chat, urging Pike to turn himself in and be done with this madness. Pike refuses, and also refuses to answer whether he’s doing all this for Ruth The group deduce that the best way to settle this is to go old-school. Specifically, they’re going to suggest “Old Ivan’s way” to resolve this conflict. This is a Tailie tradition that sees two individuals discuss and resolve their issues face-to-face. If it can’t be settled peacefully, it could result in a one on one fight to the death. Alone, Pike sits down with Layton who asks him what he wants. Pike bitterly retorts how much power he has and demands justice for the Tail. Layton blasts back and offers up a position of godfather for Liana if he wants, eager to put the past behind them. However, Pike brings up the New Eden lie and demands knives be drawn; there’s no going back. Layton doesn’t have a choice, realizing that if he doesn’t do this then it could result in the whole train learning about his lie. As the pair fight, Layton stabs’ Pike and kills him. “I hope you find it frozen,” Pike whispers before passing away. It’s a crushing loss for the train, with Layton deciding to stay with Pike that night. However, Layton experiences visions and eventually passes out.
The Episode Review
Snowpiercer returns with an emotionally charged episode, one that sees Pike meet an untimely end and all roads leading to New Eden – and potential doom. It was perhaps inevitable that this conflict was going to end with both Layton and Pike fighting, given last week’s bomb blast, but seeing Pike killed off like this is a bit disappointing. In fact, this season has felt a little directionless at times, with many of these episodes just meandering through episodic conflicts and chewing up time until the big reveal of New Eden. With only 4 episodes left, it’s becoming increasingly likely that this will be held off for the finale. While this chapter works to show just how far these characters have come, it also highlights some problems with the scripting. Pike’s character turn and descent into madness feels a tad contrived. However, Roche too is suffering badly and his lust for revenge could well be his undoing. Whether he’ll be let out this season or even attempt to kill Wilford again remains to be seen. Either way though, Snowpiercer leaves everything open as we continue to chug along to New Eden.
