The Snowpiercer Scene That Aged Poorly
The TNT series "Snowpiercer" faced an uphill battle as the second adaptation of the French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige," which was previously adapted into a movie in 2013 by South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho (via IMDb). However, the show has managed to garner its own set of fans over the course of its three-season run, with a fourth season already confirmed (via Deadline).
The series revolves around the inhabitants of a train, the titular Snowpiercer, which traverses the globe in a post-apocalyptic future where it's too cold for humans to survive outside the train. According to IMDb, the show's ensemble cast includes Daveed Diggs, Jennifer Connelly, Sheila Vand, Mike O'Malley, Mickey Sumner, Sean Bean, and Rowan Blanchard, and was co-developed by Josh Friedman, who previously worked on "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," and Graeme Manson, who also co-created "Orphan Black."
However, not everything in "Snowpiercer" has aged well over time. Here's one particular scene from the show's first season that has aged poorly.
A serial killer remains one of the show's key characters
"Snowpiercer" kicked off with the suspicion that a serial killer was onboard, which led to Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) recruiting Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs), a former detective, to investigate and find the killer. Layton subsequently uncovers that Lilah Junior, or LJ (Annalise Basso), the daughter of two first-class passengers, is the one behind the murders, with the help of her bodyguard.
LJ stands trial for the murders and is found guilty, but Melanie overturns her sentence out of fear that LJ may reveal secrets of the train that she'd rather keep hidden. In subsequent seasons, however, LJ being a serial killer, and this information being public knowledge on the train, has seemingly not affected the character at all — both internally and in her relationships with the other passengers. Even after Melanie is removed from power and LJ's parents are left behind by the train, there are still no repercussions for the murders she committed.
Over on the show's subreddit, users expressed similar frustration with how the character has developed. User u/VikingWearingHeels wrote that "LJ is a proper murderer," adding, "Why do I get the feeling the show is trying to redeem her/humanise her? I hate it."
Fellow Redditor u/olivish added, "I don't understand what the writers are doing with her. She's like [Joseph] Wilford in that she's irredeemably evil, but – and I hate to say this – she isn't nearly as entertaining to watch as Wilford is, so I don't get it."