Snowpiercer, the TV show adaptation of Oscar winner (remember the 2020 Oscars?) winner Bong Joon-Ho’s film, certainly enters the TV landscape at an auspicious time. With the entire world dealing with a global pandemic, here comes a show where nature has turned against humanity to the point that the last dregs of it are on a long train cycling the globe. While the show doesn’t contain as vicious of a bite of the film, it carves out a lane for itself as a fun piece of pop art amidst the pandemic woes.
Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, Snowpiercer tells the story of that 1001 car train. Fresh enough from launch, but far enough in the future, the train has had time to settle into its classes: the rich rule the first two classes, third is the free for all group, and the tail, well its filled with some tough people. One of those people is Layton (Daveed Diggs), a former homicide detective who has managed to become one of the leaders of the tail. Knocked down a peg from her previous perfect life, he’s managed to draw the eye of the mysterious Mr. Willford, who conscripts him to help Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) helping solve a murder investigation. From there the series takes off and the seeds for a revolution are planted.
What Snowpiercer has going for itself is a lovely cast that fully understand the exact show that they are making. Actors sometimes don’t realize this but there is great power in meeting a show where it’s at. There are gritty elements of the subject matter, but this is a slick, occasionally silly show and every actor knows just how to calibrate their performance. Led by award winners Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly, the ensemble grounds their character’s in a fully realized way. Diggs especially, well known for his showy start turn in Hamilton, gets to dig deeper into the characterization of Layton than I initially expected. Connelly, on the other hand, seems to be having great fun in the role as Mr. Wilford’s right hand woman/head of hospitality.
While Snowpiercer gives it’s cast much to do and uses the urgency of its setting well, many of the storylines do feel like they are presented with a bit of a sheen, the production is so glossy, the depth of the show can’t quite go as low as it maybe could. The showy gets messier the longer it goes, but there does seem to be something missing whether in the direction or the writing. That does not mean that the show will not be a perfectly lovely way to spend your time as the chance to return to a unique microcosm of society offers enough meat to satisfy viewers.
Snowpiercer premieres this Sunday at 9pm on TNT.