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Snowpiercer Season 1 Episode 7 recap: The Universe is Indifferent

By Louis Skye

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Snowpiercer episode 7 slows it down for some train intrigue.

Having survived a potential derailment, one would expect the passengers of Snowpiercer to take a break from the infighting. But that’s not how things turn out in Snowpiercer episode 7.

After a daring rescue from the drawers, Andre Layton is busy setting a plan in motion to take down Melanie Cavill, but a crucial ally is about to betray the Tail. We also learn why Cavill is interested in young Miles, and the Front makes its first move towards assuming new leadership.

Snowpiercer Episode 7: A Promotion for Miles

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Cavill has been bringing children from the Tail to study in the Front—essentially, it’s a program to give children from the Tail a better chance at life. We’ve already seen some of them in the drawers, apparently for them to survive in a better future.

That is fortunately not Miles’ fate—Cavill promotes him to engineer of Snowpiercer, despite his youth.

Presumably, Cavill, Knox, and de La Torre can’t do this forever, hence the need for the younger generation to take over.

But little does Cavill know that Miles’ loyalties lie with the Tail—he made a promise to Layton and Josie that he would be their inside man in the Front. And he keeps his word in this episode.

Following the announcement of his promotion, Miles is gifted an orange, which he relishes. Only to fall ill shortly after. He is whisked away to the doctor, who Knox doesn’t know is a Tail sympathizer.

At the doctor’s, Miles is met by Josie, who had caused him to fall ill. She tells him that the revolution is afoot and that his part of the plan will come into play very soon. He is ready to do what the Tail needs of him.

Later, when Miles has recovered and Cavill is taking him to the engineering room, he pledges to leave his old life behind. Cavill takes his word for it—she shouldn’t.

Betrayals on the Train

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Miles is standing by his fellow Tailies, but another former Tailie is doing just the opposite. With Layton on the loose, and willing to share Cavill’s secret—that she’s pretending to be Mr. Wilford, creator of the Snowpiercer—Cavill is ready to pull out all the stops to find him.

She goes to the best source of information—Layton’s ex-wife, Zarah. Cavill knows the right buttons to push—Zarah is pregnant, a privilege afforded to very few on the train. She can take this away from Zarah if she doesn’t divulge Layton’s whereabouts.

Zarah hasn’t been the strongest of characters on this show and she caves almost immediately. Cavill makes a rare appearance in the Tail, with Zarah in tow, who singles out Josie as Layton’s rescuer. As the Tail watches in horror, their remaining leader is dragged away by Cavill’s enforcers.

Despite her fears, Josie refuses to break down. Even when Cavill freezes and breaks off her finger, Josie remains strong. Cavill, on the other hand, proves she has no stomach for the violence she perpetuates on the train—no wonder she never goes down to the Tail.

Cavill insists she does what she does because she inherited Snowpiercer’s rules from the late Mr. Wilford. But surely, she could have found a way to keep the peace without classism, torture, violence, and death? It’s easier to rule by fear, obviously.

Though Josie’s attempts to stay strong against Cavill are commendable, even she knows she can’t take much more of this.

Revolutions in Motion

Bess Till, who has been wavering in her belief in the Front—despite being promoted to Second because of her girlfriend—had helped Josie rescue Layton. Seeing Josie at Cavill’s mercy, Till is shaken. But she can do nothing to help—until Cavill takes a break.

Till manages to wheedle her way into the interrogation room and is shocked to see Josie’s condition. There’s no saving Josie now but Till is made an honorary member of the Tail and a crucial cog in the Tail’s revolution.

As per Josie’s request, Till freezes off her injured hand so that once Cavill returns, Josie can free herself to attack Cavill. It’s a good plan but doesn’t work out—Josie is weakened and loses the fight and her life to Cavill, who callously asks for Josie’s body to be moved to composting.

All this while Layton has been busy speaking to Third about how they can help the Tail—not everyone is on board but when Layton reveals that he has a secret that could destroy the Front, they’re interested.

Till arrives with news of Josie’s death, and Layton kicks his plans into high gear. Taking the time to mourn, he works with the Night Car to meet up with LJ, to whom he is planning to reveal Cavill’s secret. However, considering what LJ has been up to on Snowpiercer, does she already know this?

The Tail aren’t the only ones ready to revolt. Commander Grey has been working with the Folgers to propose a new idea to Ruth—she takes over as Head of Hospitality from Cavill. Ruth immediately goes to report it to Cavill, who is too busy interrogating Josie to care about Ruth’s problems. If Ruth wasn’t considering the Folgers’ plan before, she is now.

Cavill is completely losing her grip on this train, and she doesn’t even know it.

Final Thoughts on Snowpiercer Episode 7

Despite being a slower episode of Snowpiercer, the plot progressed quite well in this installment, setting up the final 3 episodes to go out with a bang.

Though the first half of the season focused well on Layton, ever since the end of his investigation, his arc and personality have completely fallen by the wayside. Hopefully now, with no romances to hold him back, Layton will be able to come into his own.

On the other hand, Cavill has really grown in this second half of the season—there’s so much depth to the character and her ambition, which makes her so compelling.

We’re closing in on the end of this first season but what precisely is the aim of this story? That’s still a mystery that hopefully will be solved soon.

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What did you think of Snowpiercer Episode 7? Will the revolutions from the Tail and the Front go ahead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Snowpiercer is currently airing weekly episodes on TNT and Netflix.

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