DISCLAIMER: This recap of Snowpiercer Season 4 Episode 8, “By Weeping Cross,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Sh*t has effectively hit the fan on Snowpiercer. It’s hard to believe that, after this, we only have two episodes left of the series. With Milius and Wilford out of the way, I imagine this final battle will shut the doors on the narrative. I wouldn’t be surprised if Melanie delivers the killing blow to Nima. Now, whether we get more good guy casualties remains to be seen. I highly doubt it, though. Side note: Nima is 100 percent Alex’s father. You can’t persuade me otherwise.
“By Weeping Cross” is a solid episode that zeroes in on the endearing family dynamics among these characters — something of which this season has been sorely bereft. Much of Season 4 has been heavy on plot movement and light on juicy character beats, so this outing gives me what I crave in that regard.
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Snowpiercer, “By Weeping Cross”
We open with Javi (Roberto Urbina) providing the narration this week in Spanish. Sykes (Chelsea Harris), Lights (Miranda Edwards) and Oz (Sam Otto) rush to his side in the immediate aftermath of the bomb detonation. Thankfully, he’s alive but concussed. Meanwhile, on our titular train, Alex (Rowan Blanchard) orders Milius’s soldiers (well, Nima’s now) to step aside. She’s taking over the driver’s seat.
Elsewhere, Layton (Daveed Diggs), Josie (Katie McGuinness) and baby Liana are aboard the car ejected from Snowpiercer — left alone to freeze and die. Josie and Liana are at least cold-resistant. Thus, Josie volunteers to venture outside to get help. However, Layton doesn’t believe this is a good idea. She’ll need to watch Liana if anything happens to him. Layton tries to contact the Silo but to no avail. He’s now shivering uncontrollably.
Tending to Javi
Next, Sykes helps Javi into medbay. Bess (Mickey Sumner) and Ruth (Alison Wright) contact New Eden again. Sykes gives Big Alice permission to cross the bridge into the settlement. Later, Bess, Ruth and Big Alice’s passengers (from Snowpiercer) enter New Eden. Sykes ushers Dr. Pelton (Karin Konoval) into medbay to tend to Javi’s wounds. She concludes that he has a concussion.
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Javi asks Ruth about Ben and whether he’s on Snowpiercer. Ruth evades answering said question, instead urging Javi to rest up. New Eden needs its engineer. Bess visits Audrey (Lena Hall), who’s taken up residence in the other medbay. You can see Audrey’s trauma scribbled all over her face. She’s also self-conscious about the right side of her face, which bears severe burns. Bess is gentle with her. She’s just glad they’re together again.
Later, Nima (Michael Aronov) informs Alex that Melanie is working on the Gemini compound. Alex doesn’t look convinced. According to Nima, Mel “overlooked” the test results. Alex offers her expertise and the data she collected from studying the New Eden pocket. However, Nima insists they don’t need help. Suspicious.
Saving the Day
Nima pivots, claiming he needs Alex’s know-how regarding Big Alice when Snowpiercer rejoins with the latter. They’ll require both trains to eject the Gemini compound into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, Josie wraps her arms around Layton to keep him warm. At the same time, she hears a knock outside. What appears to be one of Nima’s soldiers emerges from the subtrain. We see it’s none other than Roche (Mike O’Malley) once he removes his helmet. He’s alive!
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Roche claims he has a snowcat outside. He and Josie help Layton into the vehicle. While inside, Josie notices that Layton doesn’t have a pulse. She and Roche encourage Layton to hold on for his daughter. Thankfully, Layton regains consciousness. Josie tries to keep him warm with plenty of blankets. Elsewhere, Javi is back on his feet. At this point, he knows about Ben’s death. My heart breaks for him. Javi switches the lights back on in the settlement.
Next, Roche is about to tell Josie the wild story about how he survived and wound up in a soldier’s uniform when Layton calls out for her. She urges him to sleep; they won’t arrive in New Eden until the morning. Layton reminds her that he promised to return Big Alice to the community. Josie reassures him that everyone will understand. After all, he saved Liana.
Taking Control of Big Alice
Then, Nima meets with Dr. Headwood (Sakina Jaffrey) and two of his soldiers. He insists that the people in this room will change the world. Nima encourages the men to remove their helmets. He believes they should wear their scars and burns with pride. Milius might’ve loathed to see their faces, but Nima’s not like that. He’s a cool villain.
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Anyway, they decide to detonate the bombs planted in the mountains above New Eden and bury the town. Then, they can take control of Big Alice. Headwood suggests to Nima that they send Alex into New Eden to steal the train to avoid casualties. Meanwhile, Bess brings Audrey “New Eden spam chowder.” Bess hints at Audrey moving in with her, but the latter doesn’t feel this is a good idea. She urges Bess to make the most of their “borrowed time.” How ominous.
Elsewhere, Javi and Sykes brainstorm ideas on how to protect New Eden from Nima’s inevitable attack. Javi suggests they barricade in Big Alice and hold off the enemy that way. Sykes expands on this idea, wondering aloud if they block the alleyways and leave the main entrance open. This way, they create a bottleneck, forcing their foe into a convoy where their numbers will count for less. Javi seems on board with this.
Returning to New Eden
Then, Roche, Layton, Josie and Liana arrive. Roche reunites with his daughter, Carly (Esther Ming Li). Josie embraces Miles (Jaylin Fletcher), too. It’s a sweet moment. After this, Layton and Ruth reunite, wherein the former reassures the latter that he doesn’t blame her for leaving him in the Silo. She had a responsibility to the people of New Eden and promised to return Big Alice.
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Later, Nima walks into Alex’s room, where she explains she believes they can merge the hydraulic systems in the sub-engine to cut the retrofit time in half for Big Alice. Alex asks about her mother again, to which Nima responds that she’s working on the climate model. Alex points out the inconsistencies in Nima’s story — first, Melanie is working on the compound, and now she’s chipping away at the climate model. Nima counters that Mel is a woman of many talents.
Next, Roche reunites with Bess and Oz and prepares to tell his “wild” story of survival when Ruth calls them together for a council meeting. I love this running gag of Roche’s explanation of his disappearance getting interrupted. Ruth states that trained military forces are making a beeline for New Eden. Of course, Milius and Wilford are out of the picture now. However, that doesn’t mean Nima doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Protecting the Town
Javi tells the council to lock the track switch and secure Big Alice, forcing Nima’s men into town. He’s proposing Sykes’ idea, which makes her smile. The Powers That Be are trying to bring Javi and Sykes together, and I ship it. Layton adds that they could have an ambush waiting for the enemy. Josie volunteers to help with the track switch, ensuring Nima can’t take Big Alice out of New Eden. Roche offers to recruit folks to patrol the perimeter and fight. Oz vows to keep close to Roche so the latter doesn’t vanish again.
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Then, Josie locks the track switch while Javi moves Big Alice to a safe spot. Boki (Aleks Paunovic) pops his head in to chat with Josie about Zarah — being with her in her final moments and failing to do away with Headwood. Both Josie and Boki were also victims of Headwood’s “cold treatment” testing. Boki vows to stay with Josie to protect the track switch.
Meanwhile, everyone else prepares for Nima’s impending assault. Metalwork master Bess makes weapons while Roche assigns posts for those who can fight/patrol. He tosses a radio at Oz, revealing it belonged to one of the soldiers. You can hear voices, but they’re muddled.
The Next Move
On Snowpiercer, Nima realizes that Big Alice is now on the other side of New Eden, making Milius’s contingency plan null. One of his men suggests they use Alex; however, Nima insists she must stay on Snowpiercer.
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Alex learns about Nima’s plan to barrel into New Eden, guns blazing, and take Big Alice. Nima blames Alex’s friends, insisting they made things difficult for him. Alex volunteers to infiltrate New Eden and manually operate the track switch. Otherwise, they won’t get Big Alice. Nima reluctantly accepts her help.
Next, Layton chats with Bess as she makes weapons. He encourages her to go on a walk through the settlement with Audrey because they might die soon. How optimistic.
Grieving Ben
Elsewhere, Javi breaks down in his grief over losing Ben. Sykes lends an ear in support. Roberto Urbina gives a beautiful performance here. Then, Javi realizes that if Nima seizes control of Big Alice, New Eden is still in danger of getting buried once the explosives detonate. So, he must determine what frequency the receivers are on; they might not need to disarm all the bombs.
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Then, Bess and Audrey take a stroll through New Eden. Bess states they’ll live in the hills and walk into town every day. She’ll spend her time welding while Audrey will sing in the Town Hall and help the denizens of New Eden. Audrey claims she can’t go back to that life; she’s changed. Bess reveals that she was never a hopeful person until she met Audrey. Audrey helped her see the bright side. Bess wants to stay by Audrey’s side through all the peaks and valleys in life. They kiss. These two are precious.
Layton and Josie reunite in their quarters. Josie tells him that Miles will watch Liana during the battle. Layton asks Josie if she’ll join them in the Town Hall for one last hurrah before the enemy arrives. Josie declines, opting to spend some time alone.
How He Survived
Later, Roche finally gets the opportunity to regale New Eden residents with the tale of his survival. That night with Oz, Roche fell and broke his ankle. Milius’s soldiers found him, taking him back to the Silo. There, he battled said soldiers before escaping the Silo while dressed as one. Before he fled, though, he spotted Bigfoot. Yes, the Bigfoot. Carly looks embarrassed while the rest of the room erupts in laughter.
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Roche pivots, delivering words of encouragement to the group. They’ve survived worse; they’ll most certainly triumph over this. Meanwhile, Alex questions Nima’s approach. Stealing Big Alice won’t bode well for New Eden. Nima urges her to see the bigger picture. Once they launch the Gemini compound, all their work will pay off. They’ll save the world. Nima tells Alex he’s counting on her.
Elsewhere, Layton asks Roche to take care of Liana if anything happens to him and Josie. Roche is touched by Layton’s ask, and the pair hug it out.
Switching the Track
Later, Alex, accompanied by soldiers, sneaks into New Eden. One of the soldiers pushes Alex to keep moving. At the same time, Layton, Ruth and others toast to those they’ve lost and those still here. Javi tinkers away, trying to find a solution to their bomb problem. Alex asks what Nima has done to Melanie. One soldier threatens that if Alex doesn’t do her job, her mom won’t make it out alive.
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Josie catches Alex, asking what she’s doing here with Nima’s soldiers. Alex states she must switch the track. This is the only way. Josie asks another question: Have they got Melanie? Alex tries to access the track switch, but Boki impedes her path.
Suddenly, a sniper fires on the settlement, shooting Boki in the leg. Alex takes cover as Layton, Ruth and the others prepare for battle. Bess and Audrey bid farewell. Roche declares he’ll protect Liana as Ruth makes a beeline for Big Alice. However, Layton volunteers to draw their fire with his shield in hand.
Alex and one of the soldiers gain access to the track switch. The soldier cocks his gun and presses it against Alex’s temple, ordering her to switch the track.
This is war, y’all.
Snowpiercer drops new episodes every Sunday at 9 pm EST on AMC, BBC America and AMC+.
Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: MELANIE CAVILL
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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