Long Train Running
After almost derailing, the TV adaptation of Snowpiercer finally arrives
IF YOU KNOW SNOWPIERCER, IT’S most likely from the 2013 film directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Chris Evans. But that film’s premise was actually adapted from the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige – which is also very much the inspiration for the TV adaptation that has just premiered in the US, and is about to hit the UK.
“When I heard about the job, I went back to the graphic novels, and I explored them for some of the big ideas, the philosophy and the leaps of imagination,” executive producer/ showrunner Graeme Manson tells Red Alert. “And I wanted to keep the series [as] an action adventure, like the movie.”
The premise is that in our ecologically ruined near-future, the remnants of humanity have escaped the global frozen wasteland aboard a self-sufficient super train, Snowpiercer, that endlessly travels on a circular track to nowhere. Inside its 1,001 cars reside the wealthy 1%, the workers who make it all run, and one car full of the poor – who, having fought their way onboard, are very much an afterthought.
Where the TV show distinguishes its take on the mythology is by introducing a murder mystery that plucks poor “Tailie” Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) out of his dire situation and into the cars he’s never seen. Knowing Layton has expertise as a former homicide detective, train concierge Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) enlists him to help solve some serial murders they’re trying to keep secret.
“When I came on to rewrite the pilot, the archetypal roles for the two characters were Layton, the man from the tail, and Melanie, the woman from first class,” Manson says. “So the pilot was really about establishing that relationship – and, much like in Bong’s movie, allowing the audience to discover the train through Layton’s eyes. As he moves forward and sees luxuries, the world opens up.”
It’s through these two characters that the audience navigates the huge ensemble cast that represent the vast inequities on the train. “I think that’s the kind of thing that Snowpiercer does [well] in the long-form, TV format,” Manson says. “You can create really rich, detailed characters and spend time uncovering their contradictions, and their backstories and reasons for how they present themselves, or who we see them as at first.
“Jennifer’s Melanie is an interesting character, because the journey with her this season will be about discovering what makes her tick,” he continues. “Getting into her backstory, and understanding the secrets that she holds, and her own personal reasons for these cruelties. At the same time, Layton’s journey will take him to places that challenge his morality as well.”
Because of the vast wealth behind the train, audiences will get to see a lot of incredibly rendered ecosystems, from lush hydroponic gardens to the sleek engineering car and the cesspool of the tail. Even then, only a fraction of the train will be touched upon in the 10 episodes of season one. In particular, Manson is excited to introduce the cabaret car in episode two, as it becomes a recurring location. “It’s a place of performance where we add new elements to the show, as well as the geographical centre of the train,” he teases. “And it’s where people can come together on neutral ground, where all the secrets are kept.”
While Snowpiercer’s exploration of class inequity certainly isn’t new, its claustrophobia and simmering desperation will certainly strike a chord with globally locked-down audiences. Manson acknowledges, “Those timeless themes of inequity are in high relief now. But I think they would be with or without Covid-19 – and we’ll see it play out in different ways.”
As to where it will all lead by the end of the season, well, Manson isn’t sharing. But he will admit that he looked to his experience writing Orphan Black with co-creator John Fawcett to inspire Snowpiercer’s season finale. “We were like, ‘Whatever we do, we just have to drop the biggest bomb, a massive cliffhanger, at the end of season one, so that it’s inarguable that you can’t come back,’” he laughs.
So expect something incendiary for season two: “We’ve got two seasons essentially in the can, and the show hasn’t aired yet,” Manson confirms of that. He’s also excited that the second season will pair actors who may not have shared a lot of scenes in season one. “That creates new stories and new shades of relationships, as well as writing to those actors’ strengths,” he enthuses. “It’s just a great feeling when you know that the characters are completely acting, and reacting, within the rules of the world that you’ve built. That’s when [a series] is standing on its own, and that’s what I hope this show can do in adding to the Snowpiercer canon.” TB
Snowpiercer is on Netflix UK from 25 May.
You can create really rich, detailed characters and spend time uncovering their contradictions