This week’s episode of Snowpiercer season 3 finally revealed that Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) is still alive.
After being thought of as a long-dead at the end of the season 2 finale, Melanie reappeared in season 3, episode 9, which detailed how the character had survived on her own with little to no supplies for six months.
What happened in Snowpiercer season 3, episode 9?
Titled A Beacon for Us All, Snowpiercer season 3, episode 9 opened with a montage revealing how Melanie managed to keep herself alive in a track scaler using the suspension drug for the Drawers. The episode then showed the titular train catching up to Melanie’s vehicle, thereby rescuing her.
After an emotional reunion with her daughter Alex (Rowan Blanchard), Melanie becomes concerned about Layton’s (Daveed Diggs) plan to take the train to the Horn of Africa. A quick data check and a brief talk with Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) made Melanie realize that the track in the Horn of Africa is unsafe. This prompted her to make a huge public announcement that Layton’s quest to find New Eden is based on a lie.
With the help of an enraged Javi (Roberto Urbina), Melanie ultimately took control of the train from Layton, forcing him and his crew to retreat to Big Alice’s Engine, where he vows to fight Melanie for control of the train with whoever is still left on his side.
Why did Melanie betray Layton?
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Connelly explained why Melanie betrayed Layton. “There’s been a huge reckoning,” Connelly said of what led her character to finally expose Layton’s secret. “I think she’s gone through some things that have really changed her and changed the way she looks at things and [she’s had] a fundamental shift in her being.”
Connelly continued, “I think, just the extent to which things were getting out of control in season 1, I think that she was forced to confront the person that she had become, and how reprehensible so many of her actions were. She had to really come to terms with that, and I think it changed her. And I think that Layton was the one that brought about that change, he was the catalyst for that change in her.”
The actress added that Melanie’s six-month stay in the track scaler changed her for the better. “This sort of near-death experience also pushed her further along in that journey and strengthened her resolve in terms of what she thought justice look[s] like, and fairness and respect for the passengers,” Connelly said of Melanie. “She just felt that it was too much to gamble with, to keep the power from the people by keeping them in the dark and telling them a lie, even though she had been guilty of doing the same thing herself. She just felt she couldn’t bear to go back there, especially given that it was so risky.”
Snowpiercer season 3 will wrap up its 10-episode run on Monday, March 28th, at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.