Snowpiercer Review: Access is Power (Season 1 Episode 3)

One of my fears about Snowpiercer has been that as the train keeps rolling (pun fully intended), it could veer too far into procedural territory.

Snowpiercer Season 1 Episode 3, “Access is Power,” does exactly that. It spends a ton of time revealing new information about the case and the characters that are involved with it, but does little else to make the show more interesting. The premise is far too interesting to be wasted on a murder case.

“Access is Power” gives a catchy title to one of the best parts of the episode, which is the world building it accomplishes. By far the most interesting elements are the revelations about power structure on the train, and how things move between classes like supplies, drugs, and the like. 

But outside of that there’s just more investigating and trying to get people interested in “Fight Night,” which allows someone to literally fight for a class upgrade. Even that is just where many important people who need to be questioned about the investigation are spending an evening, making them easier to get at. 

It’s hard to be interested in some of the characters. For instance, the janitor who controls various substances and how they move through the train. It sounds interesting on paper, but his meeting with Andre is pretty informational and little else.

Or the redheaded 1st class passenger who obviously had something to do with one or both murders, or at the very least knows something. It’s obvious that she’s involved, but beyond that she isn’t intriguing or compelling.

Aside from the cool world-building element that introduces viewers to how things move through the train and how different systems operate, there are a couple of redeeming moments on “Access is Power.”

One is nearly every interaction Andre has with people he knows well. He has several moments (including a dream/memory) with Zarah that create more depth to both characters. 

He also gets to see Miles for a few minutes – which is an incredibly sweet and heartfelt moment. I hope these horrible train people aren’t going to turn on Miles.

But the most compelling moment of “Access is Power” is the culmination of the world-building and Andre’s emotional interactions as he briefly gets to interact with Josie through a window. Their brief conversation is intense and passionate and makes viewers hang on to every word. Their kiss, which turns out to transfer a microchip for car access, is a fabulous culmination of the episode.

The other compelling element is the great lengths to which Melanie goes to maintain the Mr. Wilford illusion. It’s unclear to me if there was never a Mr. Wilford, he’s somewhere hidden, or if he never made it on the train. But unlike the murder, that mystery is actually interesting.

Still, my general feelings coming away from “Access is Power” is that there isn’t enough focus on the compelling characters they’ve created, and too much on the murder case. The characters are layered and compelling. The case is not.

A few stray thoughts:

• Till and Jinju’s relationship has potential to be compelling, but in this particular instance only serves the murder case. 
• On that note – there’s also a surprising amount of nudity for a basic cable show.
• Nikki, the girl who was suspended for the first murder, isn’t compelling at all so far. She’s a plot device. However, her story may be more interesting after that ending.
• I still think Alison Wright needs more to do. 

What did you think of this episode of Snowpiercer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Snowpiercer airs Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.

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