Warning: SPOILERS for Snowpiercer Season 1, Episode 4 - "Without Their Maker"
Snowpiercer's biggest secret is out: Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) deduced that there's no Mr. Wilford on the train and that Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) is posing as the mythical billionaire savior. Not only did this discovery end up with tragic consequences for the Train Detective, but it also puts a fascinating new spin on the Snowpiercer TV series' biggest change from the 2013 film directed by Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite) and the graphic novel.
TNT's Snowpiercer separated itself from the previous versions of the story from the get-go, and the TV series' intricate world-building, as well as its cavalcade of all-new characters, makes the show an even more immersive experience. The Snowpiercer series kicked off with a murder mystery wherein Layton, who spent seven years living in squalor in the train's Tail section, was recruited to solve the crime. As Layton, in his new role as Train Detective, secretly uses this opportunity to explore Snowpiercer to help the Tail's plan for revolution, the audience gets to visit many of the Great Ark Train's 1,001 cars through Layton's eyes. Meanwhile, the ending of Snowpiercer's pilot episode revealed that Melanie Cavill is Mr. Wilford, a secret only a couple of her most trusted friends know. All 3,000 survivors aboard Snowpiercer believe the myth that Wilford is reclusively keeping the Engine Eternal running, and Melanie has maintained her deception for seven years.
But as careful as Melanie has been to preserve her secret, Layton has been suspicious of her and of Mr. Wilford's true whereabouts from the start. It turns out Layton is, indeed, an excellent detective: in Snowpiercer episode 4, "Without Their Maker," Layton figured out the true culprit behind the gruesome murders is L.J. Folger (Annalise Basso) and that she got her bodyguard Erik (Matt Murray), whom she was romantically involved with, to carry out their depraved crimes of passion. But even before Layton cracked the murder case, he solved the train's biggest mystery about Wilford. When Melanie "called Mr. Wilford" and feigned a conversation with the billionaire to placate the First Class passengers, Layton knew it was all a bluff. After L.J. was arrested, Layton called Melanie's bluff - but he didn't realize that Melanie is equally perceptive and she knew that he knew her secret. Melanie, who was never going to let Layton return to the Drawers and incite the Tail section to revolt with the info he gained about Snowpiercer, drugged the detective and placed him in the Drawers.
TNT's Snowpiercer's compelling twists fundamentally change the source material's story, and it's an improvement that galvanizes the TV series. In the original French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige, there is no Mr. Wilford at all. Instead, the main character, Proloff, meets Alec Forrester, the engineer of the Snowpiercer train. Proloff ends up replacing Forrester as the caretaker of Olga, the train's engine. Mr. Wilford was an invention of the Snowpiercer movie; played by Ed Harris, he was the insane final villain Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) fought in the train's Engine Eternal at the end of the film. Wilford's master plan was to reduce the train's population and kill 74% of its passengers.
Turning Melanie into Mr. Wilford in the Snowpiercer TV series is a masterstroke; not only does Jennifer Connelly portray Cavill so that the Voice of the Train is a captivatingly complex character, but it also gives the audience a constant reason to debate whether Melanie is a good or bad person. Melanie is obviously highly intelligent, and she's not without compassion and fairness, but with the fate of the last 3,000 human survivors riding on her shoulders, she is also responsible for all of the cruelty enacted to maintain the train's order so that its structure and society can function as intended. Further, Melanie brilliantly uses the mythology of Mr. Wilford to give the train's passengers a savior to believe in, which concurrently helps her keep control. And now, part of Melanie keeping her order is freezing Layton in the Drawers for discovering Snowpiercer's darkest secret.
Snowpiercer airs Sundays @ 9pm on TNT.