Snowpiercer: The Complete Second Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Snowpiercer: The Complete Second Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Snowpiercer surprised me last year. I was expecting it to be a hollow shell of Bong Joon-ho’s incredible film of the same name, and while it wasn’t AS perfect as the movie, the 1st season was a solid entry. It was unpredictable, filled with the same sense of dread and class warfare as the movie, and was fortunately (or unfortunately) being released right in the middle of a pandemic. A move which made the uncomfortable nature of the whole class warfare in a post apocalyptic society where everyone was under lock and key hit closer to home than the show runners probably predicted. As such, I was excited for the second season, and luckily season 2 is where the show hits its stride.

The first season sort of struggled to find it’s niche telling the complex stories from the Graphic Novel and the movie while still finding ways to keep the story running for 10 episodes. So they created a new character in the form of Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs), a Tailie who is called up from the back of the train to oversea a series of murders in the front compartments of the 1000+ car train that is carrying surviving humanity on its back). Week by week we came closer and closer to the inevitable uprising that is to happen when the downtrodden lower class finally get sick and tired of the decadence of the upper class in the higher numbered cars.

One of the biggest mysterious last season was if the supposed founder and builder of the train itself, Mr. Wilford, was really on the train at all running things. Or whether the voice of the train and chief of hospitality, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) was running the train by herself, acting as ruler of all 1000+ cars. Well, that ended up really interesting last year, as Mr. Wilford (played by Sean Bean) IS on the train and becomes the antagonist supreme after it’s revealed that Melanie is not nearly as bad as she seemed. The initial rebellion on the train has been quelled by Wilford, but Andre and his crew of loyalists are having a hard time keeping the peace when they know that Wilford is still in control.

Bit by bit the conflicts arise, with Wilford wanting his train back with his faithful followers, while the rest of the rebels want to keep Snowpiercer running FOR them. Naturally alliances are formed and Melanie is off the train looking to complete a secret mission for the people that very well may be the future for humanity, and Wilford himself has his own secrets. He still has control over Melanie’s daughter, and with that manipulation in hand hams it up to level 11 as the maniacal villain who will stop at NOTHING to have what is his under his control once more.

One thing the show gets really good at is explaining the train itself. The movie lets us know that it’s a gigantic train of epic proportions that is self sustaining, but this year we get to delve into the two trains, the technology behind them, and the machinations of how they work together and what they mean for the future as well. The same can said of people and technology, giving it a more sci-fi feel than raw post apocalyptic (such as synthetic limbs, and a giant man named Icy Bob who is genetically created to withstand the cold of the world).

The show itself is contained within a very small area, but the conflicts and their resolutions feel natural and “adult”, rather than there just to create unnecessary drama for the show. Alliances change and shift, with new surprises and new hidden motivations coming out. The end is a jaw dropper, allowing the show to expand in a completely different direction than it’s been headed so far (the movie hinted at it, but only gave us a 10 second teaser of this direction at the end), and should make season 3 a real nail biter.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

The second season of Snowpiercer comes with a near identical looking image to the first season (which is pretty typical from year to year from Warner). The heavily stylized show still has that gritty and overly teal tone inside the train (outside sometimes looks a bit brighter and whiter, with the snow being sunlit and the CGI adding a sort of smooth look to things). Black levels are generally really good, though I did notice some banding inside the bowels of the eternal engine, as well las some shots outside where the sun created some minor banding as well. Grain spikes are normal, but never that bad, and the rich and honey colored tones of the elite's cars add a soft and golden hue to the picture. Detail levels are good, but the show's soft hazy look to things and the excessive CGI blended it keep it from truly being super great. A good encode, heavily stylized with a few minor flaws, but still very good.







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is another stable good performer for the show. It's effective with it's ambience of close quarters on the rumbling and roaring of the train across the tracks, as well as raw music that flows from the metallic speakers on board. The score is even and clean, and vocals are located right in the center of the room like they should be. The show has large swathes of time where it is the only real sound in the room, but there are still plenty of action sequences and the general ambience on the clattering machine makes the surround an integral part of the mix. Bass response is good, never great, but always present in the heavy rumbling of the train. Solid, checks off all the proper check marks and without any real faults.










Extras:

• The Great Engineer: Bringing the Mysterious Mr. Wilford Aboard – Go behind-the-scenes with the cast for an in-depth exploration of the god-like Mr. Wilford as brought to life by Sean Bean.
• Season 2 Overview – An exciting and exclusive look at the second season with the cast.
• Behind The Character: Mr. Wilford – The cast discusses the mythical character of Mr. Wilford played by Sean Bean.
• Season 2 Roundtable – Take a seat with the cast and crew as they have a round table discussion about the show's characters and story.
• Daveed Diggs Season 1 Recap – The exciting first season of Snowpiercer is recapped through the POV of its main character Layton (Daveed Diggs).

Final Score: ​

I really started to Enjoy Snowpiercer this year. Season 1 was really good, but this started to reach the intense heights that Bong Joon-ho's film masterpiece. The acting is great, and it's nice to see Sean Bean in the roll of the mysterious Mr. Wilford. He's much more savage and cruel than Ed Harris's version, and I was also shocked to see he didn't die for once! (a Sean Bean show/movie that he doesn't die in are few and far between). A good show, a great second season, and hopefully an even more expanded world in the upcoming season 3. Highly Recommended

Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Sean Bean, Mike O'Malley
Created by: Joosh Friedman, Graeme Manson
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 440 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 16th, 2021

Recommendation: Highly Recommended