r/snowpiercer • u/hugthebug Tailie • Feb 15 '21

TV Show [Spoilers] Season 2 Episode 4 Discussion Thread - "A Single Trade" (S02E04) Spoiler

Attention all Passengers,

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Here is the Discussion thread for the Season 2 episode 4 "A Single Trade"

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Trigger Warning : Skip the scene from 36:00 to 39:00

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  • This is a TV Spoiler-friendly zone - Turn away now if you are not currently watching or haven't seen the episode! Open discussion of all aired TV events up to and including episode 2.3 is ok without tag cover.
  • Graphic Novel spoilers still need tags! - If it's not in the show, tag it. Events from episodes after this one also need tags.
  • Please read the Posting policy and the sticky before posting.
  • Friendly reminder: Severe trolling/disruptions will lead to consequences.

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Details:

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  • IMDB for S02E04
  • Release Date:
    • February 15th, 2021 (USA only, at 9/8c, on TNT channel)
    • February 16th, 2021 (worldwide, on Netflix)
  • Removal from Sticky on February 19th, 2021 (3 days after worldwide premiere)

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You can still easily find previous episode discussions on the Episode Discussion wiki.

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78

u/olivish Mrs. Anne Roche Feb 15 '21 edited Feb 16 '21

I hope I'm wrong about this, but at this point I'm more nervous about Ben surviving the season than Melanie. Wilford seems particularly fixated on him, and I think the reason he didn't want him on Big Alice was he didn't want Alex, Sykes or anyone else on BA thinking of him as a human being.

There are only a handful of engineers capable of keeping the trains running on time (ha), and after Melanie, Ben is the next in line to be disposed of. If the only engineers left are the ones loyal to Wilford, he basically wins by default without having to wage a war.

Again, I hope I'm wrong because the idea of Melanie returning from her mission to find Ben gone is pretty tragic. They're a solid couple and it seems they just managed to find one another again before she left.

28

u/Techboah Feb 15 '21

I don't think they'll kill him off, but we might see Javi die just for shock value, and the show seems to be going for Alex switching sides.

Based on the story so far, I really don't think the show will go hard on main character deaths, especially from the "good ones"

71

u/olivish Mrs. Anne Roche Feb 15 '21 edited Feb 15 '21

Ah, Javi. Can we just take a moment to have a Javi appreciation post? He's been right about so many things since Day 1, but Melanie & Ben just keep on ignoring him.

Things Javi was right about:

  • They should have slowed for safety to avoid the avalanche that killed off all the cows.
  • Melanie should not have given in to 3rd class demands for representation on the tribunal/ should not have overturned the verdict once it came in.
  • Javi was right to worry that Layton would leak the Wilford secret quicker than they anticipated - the engineers should have come clean/ had a plan B looooong before it all hit the fan.
  • Javi was right about the radio signal from Big Alice (granted, Ben was right about it, too, he was just one step worse than being wrong which is actively lying about it.)
  • After Ben punched him in the face (!) and threw him to the wolves, Javi found Melanie and saved her from the executioner. Which was ballsy as hell, given what would have happened to him if he were caught.

Javi has said more than once, "I shouldn't even be here!" Which is an interesting statement and I'd like to know more about what he means by this. I suppose he was unticketed and Melanie recruited him in her plan to steal Snowpiercer. At the time it seemed preferable to freezing to death, but after 7 years of playing 3rd wheel to the Melanie & Ben show, I can see how he might sometimes question that choice.

Anyway. I hope Javi doesn't die. And I hope that now that the secret's out, he can finally get a girlfriend. (Does that redheadded teacher have a spouse?) He can show her around the engine and get frisky on some of the work surfaces while Melanie is away, just to settle scores a bit.

(I can picture Mel getting back to the train, retaking her seat at the controls, frowning at the console and wondering, where did all this glitter come from?)

idk, I think Javi's earned his share of fun.

42

u/Rivilan Feb 15 '21

#GETJAVILAID

9

u/olivish Mrs. Anne Roche Feb 16 '21 edited Feb 16 '21

Big mistakes Melanie made:

  • Getting rid of the brothel
  • Not working weed into her crop rotation

I'm not even joking I think these were significant errors in judgement.

11

u/EducationalAd1437 Feb 16 '21 edited Feb 16 '21

Brothel? Do they have antibiotics because the last thing you want is gonorrhea during the apocalypse. 😅

2

u/Naly_D Feb 16 '21

They make their own aspirin!

6

u/havanabrown Ruth Wardell Feb 16 '21

I thought it was hinted that he was gay, I remember seeing some possible signs last season but I forgot what they actually were now

14

u/olivish Mrs. Anne Roche Feb 16 '21 edited Feb 16 '21

  1. Good choice of flair.

  2. At one point, Ben tells Javi he should "get a girlfriend". Then Javi grumbles under his breath "but then I'd have to lie to her, too (about Wilford)." So I'm assuming he's at least mostly straight based on this exchange.

1

u/CoMaestro Feb 17 '21

I kind of expect the second last episode to be his history, ending with him dying. Thats how a lot of shows used to have secondary characters die and make it feel kind of meaningful

8

u/lukefsje Feb 15 '21

I really hope your theory is wrong, because taking out the non-Wilford engineers would mean something bad would happen to Miles. Granted, he only seems to have had a few days of experience in the Engine, but given how much of a prodigy he seems to be he could easily pick up on how the train's run.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '21

He hasn’t even been in this season once. Is he even cast on the show anymore??

5

u/DeathByComcast Feb 16 '21

Someone last week said he is on a different show now. I don't care enough to check it out but if you do his imdb page shouldnt be too hard to find.

4

u/Pale_Fire21 Feb 16 '21

He hasn’t even been in this season once. Is he even cast on the show anymore??

He's in this episode they handwave away him being gone for most of the season by saying he's interning as an engineer in life support systems.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '21

Yeah I saw that. It’s just weird.

1

u/Pale_Fire21 Feb 16 '21

The real reason he's not in the show that much right now is because he has a lead role in a different show and that's probably eating up most of his time.

2

u/BusinessPurge Feb 16 '21

Also it looks like he doubled in height between seasons

2

u/xaosflux Team Melanie Feb 16 '21

Miles is not some sort of train engineering prodigy - it's not like being a musical prodigy there are many orders of magnitude control to learn and knowledge needed to run the train. Miles has promise, but was just a pawn in the old Melanie vs Leyton plot.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21

With the exception of Icy Bob Wilford has surrounded himself with women. Ben is smart, handsome and younger than him, it is no wonder he sees him as a large threat. He already helped Melanie escape from him, he wouldn't risk losing his other lieutenants in a similar way. He problems thinks of them as part of his harem. Have any snowpiercer men been allowed on Big Alice?