SNOWPIERCER Episode 6 Breakdown & Ending Explained

Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show, I’m your host Deffinition and with us now being past the half way point of Snowpiercer things are really starting to go off the rails.

Throughout this, we’re gonna be breaking down everything you need to know about the latest entry including our thoughts, theories, and predictions for the future.

There will be heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to check out episode 6 yet then I highly recommend that you turn off now.

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

Snowpiercer Episode 6 Breakdown

Episode six opens from the perspective of Brakeman John who discusses how he actually enjoys life on the train. John is of course a member of authority that enforces law and order on the train whilst also breaking it. On the side, he deals Kronole and he’s actually quite a contradictory character when you think of it. To me this comments on the train in general and how hypocritical the idea of it is.

It’s been set up to preserve life as it views life as being the utmost important thing. However, the way that the hierarchies on the train treat the life that live onboard it, namely the tale, shows that they don’t really value it at all. It’s an interesting route to take for the intro and the character utters the line trouble comes sideways which is the title of the episode. This may be a reference to the Janitor who said that Snowpiercer was basically just a high rise building turned on its side.

Throughout this opening, the main plot points of the episode are also set up. We see an electrical failure onboard the train that I think was caused by a leak that happened in the shootout with the serial killer. We also get hints of an uprising in the third that causes a lot of issues. They are clearly disappointed with the murder trial and it looks like they want justice for Nikki J instead of Just ice…well you know we had to do a bad pun at least once in the video.

Layton is also experiencing the issues that arise in coming off Kronole too quickly and throughout the episode he suffers from several hallucinations.

Problems In Third

After the titles, we join the drivers discovering the electrical fault and Melanie receiving meditation therapy from Jinjoo. I think Jinjoo being in the “Engine Room” with Mel confirms that she is indeed aware of the character masquerading as Wilford. They talk about the strike going on in third and this blowback from the trial shows how powerful third actually are as it massively worries Melanie. Third can completely overrun the train if they wanted to and I think the theories that the Tail and Third will unite in order to form the revolution are slowly starting to mount here.

Revolution is an important word in Snowpiercer as it not only means to revolt but the train coming full circle on the planet is also called a revolution.

We also see Bess returning to work.

John has realized that after she knocked him out that he can use her to gain certain luxuries from her position in second and he’d rather have these than actual justice. He’s very much in a good position as should the revolution begin he can quickly side with Bess who is clearly on the side of Layton at this point, however, if things go wrong then he can also resume his place in authority. He’s quite a complex character and I love how the focus was given to him this time around.

He’s a bad dude but pretty much everyone is on board the train and all he’s doing is abusing the small power that he has like everyone else is.

Stop The Revolution

Elsewhere on the train, Layton is on a comedown and he blames Zara for suggesting that he carry out the investigation which has made him an outlaw. Melanie delivers a speech to third as they plan to go on strike and I’m not lying…I’ve heard better. She states that they should be grateful for what they have as life in the tail is much worse and this is often something I think people feel when they see injustice and inequality.

A lot of the time the idea of losing what you have, even if it’s not amazing, scares you into staying put. Third on the whole seem to symbolize that and Zara herself very much represents a life of apathy where things are probably almost as bad as they are in the tail, however, the minor luxuries have made her realize that she doesn’t want to go back there.

This is probably a reach but in numerology, the number 3 represents the principle of growth and expansion. 3 possesses free form energy that doesn’t work well with structure. That’s not me saying some mental numerology thing I just googled it yeah…but, this could show why they chose third to be a big focus in the uprising. They may not have done that intentionally and maybe it happened by accident because 3…is a magic number.

Behind The Curtain

Josie goes to third to get Layton and she’s able to do this because of the access chip that the former gave her. Layton tells her that Melanie is the one behind the curtain which is a nod to the wizard of oz in which it was revealed that the wizard was just a man using trickery and dramatic effect to appear a certain way. This is of course apparent in Melanie who has used vocal recordings of Wilford to appear alive. Wilford is seen almost like a deity similar to how the wizard is in the movie and I appreciated this little line.

Josie can of course now go tell the tale this and things are about to kick off. She takes Layton to a clinic where a doctor is clearly aware of whats going on in the drawers and that they’re mainly used for silencing people. However, she has turned a blind eye to it because she has it good which again ties into the theme of the episode. John the brakeman knows things are bad but he’s happy with how he has it, the doctor does and it’s only third that seem to be questioning things now after their members have been murdered.

The doctor learns she’s on a secret blacklist that has been created and this changes her perspective, realizing, much like third that you can’t sit in silence when bad things happen to people as it may eventually happen to you.

This is reflected in Josie who initially doesn’t want to fight but after visiting Audrey she realizes that she must have the courage to do it. We also learn that she is pregnant and it would be crazy if both her and Josie were because Daddy Dre has been a bad man. Naughty boy.

Why People Are In The Drawers

The doctor divulges that there are 11 cars of drawers in which Melanie has been carrying out experiments and falsely imprisoning people on this list. I’m sort of jumping ahead a bit here but initially, it seems like Melanie has been silencing anyone who stands up, however, we later learn that she selected these for a number of reasons. They’ve been chosen for their diversity, knowledge, set of skills and more in order to carry on the human race once things begin to unthaw. Those on the train aren’t gonna live forever and therefore they need people to carry on the species which this represents.

I actually think this adds a lot of weight to the theory that Wilford is in a drawer as he would likely want to see the new world and who knows he may have even volunteered to do it and then let Melanie take his place with the leadership of the vessel.

The rest of the population were likely put there against their will though so I can imagine they’ll be angered.

I don’t know what way they’re gonna go with this but I can imagine that in the revolution that the tail may free these prisoners and thus they would have an army to completely desecrate the train with.

Wilford

In the train the woman who’s arm was frozen succumbs to her wound and it’s quite a sad scene. We then watch in the undercarriage that Melanie visits the leak and we learn that it’s shorting out the brakes. She goes to visit Miles and it’s clear that she’s keeping him as the ace up her sleeve to threaten Layton with should it come to it. She begins to lock down the train and angered by this Layton makes a mad dash to get Melanie.

She also has a conversation with Ruth in which clearly puts across her suspicions that something is up with Wilford and who knows, she may even be put in a drawer at one point for asking too many questions. Layton catches up with her and puts a scalpel to her neck whilst an accident causes the train to rock from side to side in what was…not gonna lie I thought it was gonna derail for a second.

This is when Layton grabs her and she explains the drawers. Layton obviously knows that he’s on the list and lets her live, perhaps because he’s one of the special people which again shows that with the promise of a good life people are willing to let injustices happen.

However, he also realizes that without Melanie the train is in danger and she goes off to fix it.

Now Melanie says a very interesting line which is ‘I designed her I can fix her.’

Melanie Designed Snowpiercer?

Due to her MIT and Yale Engineering clothing from earlier in the season, I think we can now confirm she was indeed an engineer. This line I think confirms that she designed the entire train and then Wilford built it. This would obviously make him have a great deal of trust in her and this could be why he may have chosen her to take his position as the leader.

Believing they’re at death’s door, Bess tells John that she won’t allow him to extort her and it seems like he actually starts to come round to her side with her stating that something is very wrong onboard the train.

She manages to pull it off but yeah, tense moments. I love how LJ is the only one sitting in first at the table and she pushes the dessert off showing that she was more interested in chaos and breaking things than she was herself or life.

Ruth delivers a speech and the tail also looks at a projection of the outside which they seem to love. Perhaps they have it so bad that they actually want to see things come crashing down to take their chances but yeah, there’s a lot of different interpretations you can take from this.

Layton goes to Josie and tells her that he didn’t kill Melanie because he was thinking of the bigger picture and keeping things in order but how long this will last for remains to be seen. Obviously he didn’t want to die and yeah, excellent action scene in a show that’s often more about drama than heart pounding moments.

It was a nice change of pace and it sort of wins Melanie back round in my eyes after the last couple of episodes painted her out as the big bad of the show.

Snowpiercer Episode 6 Breakdown

Bess returns to Jinjoo and the train celebrates, seemingly forgetting that they almost had an uprising. Again they have learned to be fine with what they have even if things, on the whole, continue to be bad. Bennett gives a rousing speech that toasts Wilford and people chant his name…then the whole carriage cheered.

Audrey reminds her that the distraction will brush things under the carpet for a while but how long we don’t know. The doctor allows Josie and Layton to use her cabin for love and in Melanie’s cabin, she brings Miles in and appoints him as an engineer. She knows that Layton is likely still coming for her and thus has him in her back pocket if she needs him.

When she got the tool out I thought it was the castration one that LJ used on her bodyguard for a second and thought…oop. this has gotten a bit dark but no she is taking him under her wing.

I actually think that Miles will be a key character that brings it all crashing down and though he is gonna be spending a lot of time with Melanie, he’s probably still loyal to Josie and Layton who no doubt want him to bring things down.

He also has train pajamas which is a nice touch but clearly things are gonna be getting shaken up in the next set up episodes. The show is starting to wind down and I think very shortly the truth about Melanie will start to come out which will reignite the fire in third and bring her control and schemes to light.