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Snowpiercer Season 4: Everything You Need to Remember for the Final Season

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Snowpiercer Season 4: Everything You Need to Remember for the Final Season

Let’s talk about small miracles; Snowpiercer’s fourth and final season is coming soon with a release date of July 21st. Although production on Season 4 was set to wrap in mid-2022, the show was dropped by its original network, TNT, leaving an air date unknown until AMC has announced it had picked it up earlier this year. The series has indeed become entangled in production problems long before it even began, but humanity’s perseverance in the face of adversity is ultimately the point of Snowpiercer.

Considering the fact that the Season 3 Finale ended on a pretty serious cliffhanger, Season 4 of Snowpiercer will have some explaining to do right away. In the meantime, if your memory is a little foggy on what happened on the trains, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you need to remember for the final season of Snowpiercer.

Snowpiercer: The Basics

The Snowpiercer is a big old train that hurtles through the icy terrain of planet Earth, which was frozen solid by scientists 5-7 years ago in an incredibly stupid move. Former detective Layton (Daveed Diggs), his son Miles (Jaylin Fletcher), and his partner Josie (Kate McGuinness) are “tailies,” meaning they barely made it onto the train before the doors were permanently sealed shut. As such, they live in misery, dreaming of the better lives afforded to first-class ticket holders.

You’ll be surprised to know that there is indeed a class commentary here, as First Class is treated like royalty while the Tailies fight over scraps. In between them is a Second and Third Class who work day and night to keep First Class in luxury and the Tailies at bay. Hospitality expert Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) is the only person on board who communicates with the train’s owner, Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean). In the twist of the first episode, we discover that Wilford has been gone for some time and that she is the one really pulling the strings.

As Layton becomes the tailies’ spokesman, the politics of train life become increasingly tense, with many big fights in very small spaces. Things get even worse when Mr. Wilford himself reappears and hitches his train, Big Alice, to Snowpiercer. Life is just a game for Wilford, and he continues to throw a wrench into Layton and Melanie’s survival plans throughout the second and third seasons.

The Lie of New Eden

In the third season, Layton comes to believe that the Horn of Africa may still be warm enough to support life. Dangerously, he lies to the people of Snowpiercer to gain their support, assuring them that they will all survive there without any problems. Midway through the season, the on-again, off-again antagonist Pike discovers the truth, and Layton kills him in a knife fight rather than choosing to be honest.

After seemingly dying in the second season, Melanie makes a triumphant return at the end of season 3. Of course, she promptly comes into conflict with Layton again. Knowing that New Eden is a lie, she informs the people that there is no guarantee of safe passage, nor any evidence that the area can support life. This causes a mercifully brief civil war aboard the train, as Layton and Melanie once again find themselves battling for control of Snowpiercer.

Changing Loyalties

Although confused for a while, Layton and Melanie eventually learn that neither of them is controlling the people of Snowpiercer. While she remains steadfast in her belief that they must stay the course until a safer option presents itself, Layton continues to believe in New Eden. They agree to separate the trains once more, giving the people the choice to go one way or the other. In doing so, they find a new sense of solidarity with each other and with the people they represent.

This means a lot of switching for the train passengers. Brakeman Till initially wanted to go to New Eden with her found family, but in the end she chooses to stay with Miss Audrey. Yes, Audrey was bad for about a season’s worth of episodes, but she’s back to normal now and dating Till. Short story, Till stays on Snowpiercer.

Melanie bids farewell once again to her daughter Alex, who chooses to go with Layton and the New Eden group. They say goodbye with tears in their eyes and leave on a good note, despite everything that has happened between them. Fellow engineer Ben chooses to stay with Melanie, and they agree to keep Snowpiercer running as a team. It’s not entirely clear who goes where, but aside from a few setbacks along the way, it’s a surprisingly peaceful split for the two groups. Oh, except…

LJ’s bitterly ironic retaliation

Though she has some stiff competition in the category, rich kid L.J. Folger is a pretty strong contender for Worst Person Aboard Snowpiercer in the entire series. The meandering murder mystery at the heart of the first season saw her deliberately causing multiple gruesome deaths, using her bodyguard boyfriend to carry out the senseless (as in, make no sense) crimes. Her parents died horribly and her luxuries were taken away from her, but things changed when she married fellow bad egg Oz.

Still, LJ’s primary loyalty is to himself. While Oz has grown considerably over the course of the series, LJ has reverted to type at the first sign of adversity and the two have parted ways. In a particularly odd anecdote in season one, LJ’s mother Melanie recounts that LJ’s father had a glass eye because LJ stabbed him during a tantrum as a child. The creepiness between them was further heightened when she borrowed her father’s eye and put it in her mouth as a joke. Now that her temporary husband has left her for greener pastures (literally), LJ puts the eye in her mouth for old time’s sake and promptly chokes to death. It’s fine.

They threw Wilford

Teaming up with Melanie and Layton gave them a common enemy in Wilford. After seasons of the man toying with the lives of everyone aboard the trains, they finally shoved him in a life pod and shot him out into the tundra. We’d say “good thing we’re gone,” but it’s hard to believe this is the last we’ll see of him (especially since he’s, well, in the Season 4 trailer). Even with many of his supporters dead or defecting, we’re betting he’ll still be able to throw a few more bucks at the rails before he’s done. Well, that’s about all, except…

There’s a big rocket coming towards us

Season 3 ends with pretty much everyone making peace with each other and their choices, but it wouldn’t be Snowpiercer without a final zinger. Lest we end on too positive a note, we should remind you that there is, in fact, a rocket headed our way.

In a “three months later” time jump, Melanie is hard at work on Science. She looks up to enjoy the sunlight streaming through the window and is surprised to see an explosion in the distance. We’re approaching a missile shooting through the sky. Whose is it? Who, or what, is the target? Are there really other survivors? And most importantly, why are people shooting missiles at each other during the literal apocalypse? We’ve told you everything we know. You’ll have to put up with Season 4.

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