SNOWPIERCER Episode 4 Breakdown & Ending Explained

The fourth episode of Snowpiercer has just dropped and if it left you confused then this is just the ticket. So sit back whilst we open up the drawers on what’s going on in the show.

There will be heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet then I highly recommend that you check out right now.

With that out the way, thank you for clicking this, now let’s get into our breakdown of Snowpiercer Episode four.

Snowpiercer Episode 4 Breakdown

The episode opens from the pov of Jinjoo, one of the most mysterious characters in the show. As she prepares a fish dish for Beth we watch as the Serial Killer stands in the room where he’s just slaughtered Nicky J. Jinjoo gives the history of Wilford and confirms that she is a scientist, this is likely why she’s so far up the train as she is instrumental in keeping it running.

Though we have thought that she may be aware that Melanie is secretly masquerading as the mechanical megalomaniac, she refers to him in as if he’s still running things so I’m not even sure anymore whether she’s in on the conspiracy or not. Of the openings so far I probably thought that this was the worst one as there wasn’t really much to take from it and it pretty much just acts as an intro for the sake of it.

It’s pretty much how I kinda have to force myself to write intros for these videos and hey, they don’t always work.

Melanie IS NOT Wilford

In the “engine room” we see Bennet going to meet Melanie.

I love how the room is adorned in Red tape which as we see in the intro symbolizes the journey the train goes on. As this is the room where all the decisions are made, it makes the most sense to have this iconography here.

Melanie once more where an MIT hoody but we can also see that she wears a cap that looks like it says Yale Engineering.

So the engine room might actually be short for the engineering room and it is possible that Melanie is actually an Engineer. We know that she isn’t really Wilford so in order to be this far up the train she would have to had occupied a prominent position in her life before the train. We haven’t seen the other hospitality staff such as Ruth this far up so it is likely that they are normally unable to travel this far up the train. So Melanie has likely taken the position in order to spy on the lower parts of the vessel.

Whenever there’s been something to fix onboard Snowpiercer she’s normally dealt with it first hand. She also discusses the Methane problem onboard and is very much enveloped in the mechanical side of things. So I do actually believe that she was likely an engineer that worked at the front and then overthrew Wilford to take power.

She also divulges that she was born on a dirt farm and came from nothing so I do think that we can finally put the Melanie is actually Wilford theories to bed now.

Killer On The Run

Beth and Jinjoo discuss the former dating up the train and it’s interesting to see how the class system of relationships still are confined by the rules of a society that no longer really exists.

More pressing matters arise when Nicky J’s body is discovered.

Layton and the Brakemen realise that the killer is likely still in third due to the borders being closed in the wake of fight night. It’s not too long before the hunt is on and I love that as they were going over the details of the carriages Commander Grey told him to keep his eyes up. Obviously they don’t know that Layton is trying to make a map of the train so that the tail can start their revolution so this was a nice little conversation that shows Grey is aware of just how bad things could go should the tail discover it.

The tail of course vastly overpopulate third and first and should they start a revolution it would likely go one way. This of course mirrors real world events right now in which we see a vast majority of people protesting the authoritarian figures in society. They are seeking equality much like those protesting are and as we’ve seen the people in power don’t seem too interested in their plight. I don’t wanna Derail the video even if I am dropping crap puns but I did appreciate these moments. Snowpiercer has always been laced with political subtext and seeing it even laced throughout tiny little interactions like this really hammers home how good the show is.

Audrey even tells Layton that she does want to see change and thus this adds more weight to the theory of third and the tail joining one another to fight first.

The Tail Plan Their Revolution

In the tail Josie and co pour over the access chip that was smuggled through by Layton. During the episode, she sneaks up through the cars in order to get in contact with Layton and though they are often brushed over, the tail definitely continues to provide an interesting aspect of the plot.

Another interesting thing that mirrors our world is that as she moves up through the trains her temperature is taken to see if she has any diseases and she is then cleaned. This is of course being put in place at most airports right now to stop the spread of disease.

Up the train, layton goes to first and passes several famous paintings including Sunflowers by Van Gogh and The Girl With The Pearl Earring.

It’s often been argued that the earring is actually a piece of Tin and many have gone back and forth over whether it symbolizes wealth or poverty trying to portray wealth. Its use here could be how those in first act all high and mighty like they are better than everyone but when you see what they actually have it’s very little. Sure they possess fine clothing and artwork but in terms of how it actually improves their life, it becomes meaningless. They all seem to distrust one another whereas the tail doesn’t and on the whole the live meaningless lives that offer little to the economy and life on the train.

In fact, if you’ve seen the film then you’ll know that the tail provides an essential service whereas first really doesn’t.

No Guns Allowed

In first Layton runs amok and immediately realizes that the bodyguards are missing. LJ immediately throws hers under the bus…or rather train and I think this hints early on that she was behind the whole thing. They also talk about how he had a gun which I remember seeing LJ told him to put away. As we thought Guns aren’t allowed on Snowpiercer and this disarmament was put in place to make the tail hand over their weapons. However, it turns out that first didn’t and I guess it’s one rule for the elite and another for evvveryone else.

Realizing that their bodyguard is no longer of use, The folgers demand to speak to Mr. Wilford and if you’ve been following our breakdowns you’ll know that we think that the Folgers are already aware that Wilford isn’t running the train. However, I do think that it’s just one family member that knows the truth and this is why they don’t speak to him on the phone.

Melanie calls their bluff on asking for Wilford but they don’t take it and thus they can investigate the Folger’s cabin.

Here they find a J Hook for B Keeping that we learn was used by LJ to castrate Eric the killer. Layton discovers the truth about her commanding him to kill people and it’s clear that he was at the whim of her every beck and call.

He also meets a cat called Snowpeter which…puts my puns to shame.

They discuss how fear is a weapon and in the same way that the tail are thought of as cannibals she is using the killer to drive fear into those in first.

The two agree to make a deal to help the tail but Layton sells her out and it LJ is locked away. However, she likely knows the truth about Melanie from the victims all being connected to Wilford and I think it would totally turn first on it’s head if it came out.

LJ will have to have visitors and thus she will be able to tell everything she knows about what’s really going on.

So, Melanie will likely be put in a vulnerable position as she will have to cover up the truth should LJ know it all whilst keeping up the facade that things aren’t descending into chaos. Melanie does something drastic at the end which we will talk about in a bit but yeah…it looks like things are going to be out in the open very soon.

Josie Moves Up Train

Elsewhere we join Josie, I think the train passes the grand canyon at one point and she sneaks about whilst on a break from the sanitation work. Here she meets with an ally that was moved up from the tail and together they devise a plan to help one another. She agrees to pass on a message to Layton and even shares some of her food.

One Tail.

The killer is also caught in the market car and he runs and takes Jinjoo hostage. Jinjoo discovers it was a girl comannding him by the language he uses so it probably was a smart move by Layton to sell LJ out.

Snowpiercer Episode 4 Ending Explained

However, he was still doomed to whatever Melanie had in store and the episode ends with her drugging him and locking him away in a drawer.

Obviously he’s not going to be trapped forever as…well I’ve seen the trailer and I know he’s not but there’s also a clue in the intro I think. In that we can see a body sliding out of a drawer and I think this symbolizes him waking up.

Now when this will happen we don’t know for definite but, he will eventually get out and thus the secret will too. You can’t just put all your problems in a drawer and lock them away Melanie but I can see the strategy behind it.

She could just tell those in first, second in third that Layton had returned to the tail and she could tell the tail that he had ended up living in first.

However, she doesn’t know that the tail know about what’s going on and who knows the revolution may come even sooner in order to free him.

Anyway that’s a big mystery over with and I was surprised at how early we got answers in the series over the killer. I think the attention will now turn to keeping Melanie’s secret and slowly more and more people are starting to learn about it. Again this was a brilliant episode and I’m really loving the show right now. The first four episodes have been great and I’m so glad that it’s going full steam ahead rather than picking up Layton…eh…cos his names…anyway…