First Impressions - Snowpiercer Season 2

I thought the first season of Snowpiercer was okay and now the second season has come to Netflix and I have watched the first episode and here are my first impressions, there will be spoilers ahead for the episode. 

Sean Bean as Wilford is a highlight 

Sean Bean is a great actor and we knew he was coming in as Mr Wilford this season and the show wastes no time bringing him in and he is probably the best part of the episode. He is just so charismatic as the bad guy, he is an interesting character and after a season of build up it is great to finally put a face to the character and I hope he is here for the majority of the season and really becomes a great antagonist. 

Layton is a weak protagonist

Look I love Daveed Diggs and he does the best he can with Layton but this character has never done much for me and this episode just reinforced my opinion on the fact that he is a weak protagonist. After fighting for a democracy for the whole of the first season he puts the train in Martial Law in this episode and basically takes over as a dictator totally going against his arc from the first season and I hope this gets addressed. 

The action is still pretty brutal 

One of the best things about the first season was that the show didn't hold back in its action and showed some brutal moments and this episode does the same. It shows murder, and some people losing limbs due to the ice and it just raises the stakes when you see these people at risk of seriously getting hurt. 

There is still too many sub plots

This show has always been a bit unfocused and that continues here, with a few too many stories going on and a few too many main characters. For example the girl who committed murder and the bad cop appear in one scene here and it took me out of it and don't even get me started on those cheesy doctors who hopefully never come back. 

Is the show leaving the train? 

An important scene at the beginning of the episode sees Jennifer Connelly's character Melanie outside the train where she claims it is snowing and she takes a sample. It has been made pretty clear over the show that it should be too cold for snow to be happening so does that mean that the world is starting to recover and see our characters head outside? 

Overall

Overall, it feels a lot like last season for me. Some decent acting and style but just not that much substance and a show that is watchable but won't be a memorable one or one you think about when looking back at the year.