Snowpiercer Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Life Source

Layton’s desperate need to reunite with his daughter leads him to make unconscionable decisions on Snowpiercer Season 4 Episode 3, “Life Source.”

It’s no secret that Layton has his downfalls like any other man, but in the past, we’ve seen him go to extreme lengths to save those who can’t help themselves. That’s not to say he hasn’t had his fair share of questionable ideas or viewpoints; however, they’ve never reached this depth level.

Meanwhile, Till and Ben make new strides in their efforts to discover Admiral Milinus’ plans and get a warning to New Eden about the looming threat.

Shrouded by Pain

It’s valid for Layton to be in a state of distress and denial and have an inability to focus on anything but Liana after her kidnapping and Zarah’s death. Still, he can’t continue making spur-of-the-moment decisions. With the predicament he and everyone else are in at New Eden, those days are over.

One wrong decision could be the difference between life and death for them. 

Layton to Josie: “We both know if this was about your daughter, we would not be having these discussions.”

The series’ decision not to extend Layton’s hostility and vileness towards everyone is a decision I’m thankful for because waiting for Josie to check his attitude and how he’s treating her would thoroughly upset me.

It’s normal for people to be in fits of rage in dire circumstances, but Layton taking his anger and frustration out on the one person who has been there for him no matter what is not a well-thought-out move. He had her crying and evaluating everything out on her own instead of taking the time to treat her like his partner.

With only a three-week timeframe given for their mission, Layton, Josie, Ruth, Alex, and a handful of people from the tail days stand between life and death for New Eden.

We’ll likely see another time jump at the beginning of next week’s episode, but I hope we’re given a substantial amount of time to see Roche holding down the fort.

Putting him in charge is one of the best decisions Ruth could make because he has the temperament, sensibility, and care for the people of New Eden that will make every decision he makes derive from a sense of care. He’s a natural-born leader, and the series needs to interweave his character throughout the storyline more.

Chemical Experimentation

Till and Ben’s efforts land them in various types of hot water: thrown in the hot box, put in dangerous situations, potentially resulting in death by chemicals, and lose their edge on Milius.

The only good outcomes from their actions are the realization that Milius is potentially gearing up to use the people of snowpiercer as guinea pigs and the revelation that Audrey made it to New Eden in one piece. The latter is only revealed when Till attempts to kill Nima for what they did to Audrey.

Nima’s actions on “Life Source” pose the potential for him to alter who he gives his loyalty to, and that’s an exciting development. Milius clearly only cares about getting results for the orders he’s under and not trying to preserve life aboard the snowpiercer, despite Nima’s promises to Melanie that nobody would be hurt.

Milius to Nima: “When the world is starving, you don’t name the lobsters in the tank. Do you understand me, doctor?”

With his increased awareness of how Melanie could perceive their actions, his almost revealing dirt on Milius to Ben, and his adamance to not expel the experimental gas, it’s looking more and more like we’ll see him end up on the side of snowpiercer by the series finale.

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Even though we are just three episodes into the final season, the series seems to be gearing up for a battle between our favorite beloved characters and a corrupt government.

My current hypothesis is that this international peace organization is a front for the military to experiment on the surviving people of the world in an attempt to make them cold-resistant so they can live outside again, much like how Dr. Headwood experimented on Liana in the womb. 

Stray Thoughts:

• It is getting tiring to see Melanie only a handful of times, or none at all, in this episode’s case. We need to know what’s going on with her in the present day and what she’s doing while everyone is tortured and worked to the bone.
• Alex’s developments into the surrounding atmosphere are alarming because not only does New Eden have to worry about an imminent attack, but now there’s an additional worry that the weird phenomenon could cause them to die from exsanguination, just like Alex’s pigeon.
• With all the focus we’re spending on Oz without anything of substance coming from it, I hope it’s foreshadowing the character growth we could see him experience later on.

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

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Snowpiercer airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC.

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