The story of the long road taken by TNT’s Snowpiercer TV series from concept to actually airing is in some ways more compelling than the series itself. That’s certainly a problem for what appears to be an ambitious (and expensive) new prestige-y television show starring the likes of Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, and that falls under the increasingly expansive WarnerMedia umbrella, just weeks ahead of the launch of HBO Max, no less. But, like with any television series that experienced more than its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama, delaying its intended arrival and resulting in a sometimes questionable end product, there’s something appealing about watching it all unfold, and in discovering the good along with the not-so-good.
Adapted from (or inspired by) the 2013 Bong Joon-ho sci-fi fantasy/class allegory film starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Allison Pill, and more — itself adapted from the graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette — TNT’s Snowpiercer has the unenviable task of not only following in the footsteps of one of the most inventive and celebrated directors of the past decade, but also in crafting a story that travels a similar narrative track (sorry), concerning matters of class, wealth, and inequality, but also in offering a propulsive plot capable of sustaining a claustrophobic and heavily allegorical narrative for 10 hours or more.
In its search for that sustainable plot, Snowpiercer settles on the tried-and-true (or, perhaps, rote) notion of a police procedural. There’s a murderer on board the fantastical eponymous train, one who has claimed the lives of certain wealthy individuals who could afford to live out the icy apocalypse in relative and perpetually moving comfort and therefore must be dealt with swiftly, lest another member of the one percent is dispatched before his or her time. And because someone with the skills necessary to root out and apprehend the killer likely didn't have the financial means to purchase a ticket for the train, the powers that be aboard the Snowpiercer are forced to turn to Diggs’s Andre Layton, a former police detective and current member of the train’s starving lower class.
It’s a workman-like solution to a story such as this, but it fails to solve — or even address — the one major concern with the conceit of Snowpiercer: the more time the audience is asked to spend aboard the speeding train, the more the entire idea strains credulity. That is, Snowpiercer works best as a single-serve story, one that can go all-in on its class-warfare allegory, up to and including some of the more extreme and outlandish aspects of the film that, in case you weren’t paying attention, repeatedly hammered home the main point. To that end, TNT’s series, from writer Graeme Manson and director James Hawes, is asked to occasionally attenuate its more overt symbology, as a way of accommodating the breadth of the adjusted narrative, which in turn results in lengthy monologues meant to remind the characters and the viewers what’s really at stake.
The push-pull between the overarching concept of Snowpiercer and the series’ efforts to also become a police procedural, complete with a compelling-enough mystery to carry it through 10 hours, ultimately dilutes the central metaphor, literally remanding aspects of it to a drawer for later use. And in doing so, the story loses much of its potency, becoming instead a fairly mechanical murder show with allusions to class and inequality sprinkled about.
That said, Snowpiercer understandably relies a great deal on Connelly's Melanie Cavill and Diggs's aforementioned Layton, but it also has the benefit of several strong supporting performances from Alison Wright (The Americans), Susan Park (Fresh Off the Boat), Timothy V. Murphy (Sons of Anarchy), Mike O’Malley (The Good Place), and the always entertaining Steve Ogg (The Walking Dead). The quality of the ensemble, along with a major twist involving Melanie, goes a long way in giving proof of Snowpiercer’s ability to function as a television series, if not necessarily providing it with the depth that would otherwise make it the next must-see high-concept TV show everyone will be talking about.
Though it seems unlikely that TNT’s Snowpiercer will become the next monocultural television experience, it’s sure to appeal to those who were transfixed by the 2013 film. And though it will be hard-pressed to hold viewers’ attention for 10 hours, it’s a good bet there’s enough content on board this particular train to keep some people tuning in.
Snowpiercer premieres Sunday, May 17 @9pm on TNT.