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Sam Roche

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“ Anne, you realize, Wilford… he designed this train with portals that freeze people’s limbs off. ”
— Sam Roche talking to Anne about Wilford in The Eternal Engineer.

Sam Roche is a main character on TNT's Snowpiercer. He is portrayed by Mike O'Malley.

History[]

Roche played three years of JV baseball.[2]

A former police officer, Roche worked security detail for Joseph Wilford for 4 years.[3] He eventually was hired to be Lead Brakeman by Wilford Industries. Before boarding Snowpiercer he had the privilege of shaking hands with Mr. Wilford. During the freezing of the world, he and his wife manage to survive due to his employment under Wilford Industries. However, two of his three children did not survive. He married his wife 20 years ago.[4]

Throughout The Series[]

Season 1[]

In These Are His Revolutions, Roche and the Brakemen block the charging Tailies in the Chains. However, only Layton and Bess Till approach him rather than attacking all at once. The two attempt to convince Roche and his men to stand aside peacefully for them with Roche unsure of what to do, his faith shaken by the revelation of the truth about Mr. Wilford. After Oz abandons his post, Roche decides that he can't bring himself to stop the Tailies and orders his men to let them all pass freely.

In The Train Demanded Blood, Till approaches Roche for help with their plan to detach the cars containing the Folgers, Grey, and their army. Though initially reluctant, Roche agrees to help and brings Layton to the schoolroom, supposedly as a surrendering prisoner. When Grey and the Jackboots take Layton uptrain to make an official announcement, Roche locks the door to the sub-train and pulls a hidden gun, leading to a struggle that leaves him unconscious. However, Layton and Roche are rescued by Z-Wreck, Strong Boy and The Last Australian. Layton orders his friends to take Roche with them to safety, identifying Roche as one of them.

In 994 Cars Long, Roche struggles to help maintain order as chaos spreads as the Tailies celebrate having the run of the train. Roche later joins the Tailies in preparing to greet whoever comes out of Big Alice when it arrives with the real Mr. Wilford, although he is shocked when Alexandra Cavill emerges. Roche is so shocked by this revelation that he lowers his spear.

Season 2[]

In The Eternal Engineer, after Wilford takes control of Snowpiercer, Roche facilitates Layton's surrender before he and his family are placed into the Drawers on Big Alice.

Season 3[]

In The First Blow, Bess Till talks with the imprisoned Miss Audrey about Roche and his family being locked in the Drawers and her hope to rescue them because of how kind Roche has always been to her even when they were at odds. Despite being on the opposite side of the conflict, a sympathetic Miss Audrey offers her sincere hope that Roche and his family survived.

After the Pirate Train's return and Wilford's defeat, Roche is rescued from the Drawers by Till and Doctor Pelton. However, the two discover that while Roche and his daughter Carly had survived and are in stable condition, his wife Anne had died at some point during their six months locked up.

In Bound by One Track, after his release and recovery from the Drawers, Roche spiraled into depression and started drinking and sleeping in the Night Car. Blaming Wilford for the death of his wife, he stole an IV bag of the suspension drug and a syringe and injected it into Wilford's heart, putting him into critical condition.

In Setting Itself Right, as the train passes through a cloud of volcanic toxic gas, Roche, now the lead Breakman once again, leads his men in checking on the passengers. While checking up on Carly, he discusses the loss of Anne with her and bonds with his daughter by dancing together.

In The Original Sinners, Roche keeps his Breakmen as a neutral faction between Layton and Melanie, attempting to keep order in the train. However, he reluctantly agrees to help Melanie after she joins forces with Wilford. Roche delivers Melanie's ultimatum to Layton who is uninterested in it.

After everyone is given a choice between remaining on the train and going to New Eden, both Roche and Carly immediately decide to join everyone on Big Alice in going to New Eden. Although the train derails, the passengers all survive and find New Eden to be habitable. Roche enjoys the outside world with his daughter for the first time in years.

Season 4[]

In Snakes in the Garden, a year later, Roche is a member of the New Eden Town Council and serves as the town's head of security. However, while Roche is looking after Liana Layton, he is attacked by Rat and Mrs. Headwood who kidnap Liana, killing Zarah as they escape. The still unconscious Roche is later found by Layton and Josie who call for medical help for their friend. Layton later expresses concern for Roche's state.

In Life Source, the recovered Roche reveals to Oz that he isn't crazy as Oz has been hearing the people watching them rather than ghosts from Snowpiercer as Oz had believed. Roche recruits Oz to help him with security for New Eden and he argues with Ruth Wardell about her unilateral decision to not let Layton take Big Alice after Liana. Roche urges the two to put it to a vote before the people of New Eden, telling Layton that he's sure a lot of people wouldn't be able to live with themselves if they keep Layton from going after his daughter. Roche expresses remorse for his inability to protect Liana, but Layton tells Roche that he's not to blame. After the town votes in favor of letting Layton take the Engine and a few cars, Ruth leaves Roche in charge of New Eden while she joins the mission.

In North Star, a week after Big Alice's departure, New Eden deals with wild weather and power outages. Oz returns from patrol with a severed hand that Roche enlists Javi to investigate. As Javi and Sykes discover that the hand belongs to a Snowpiercer passenger, Oz and Roche search the mountainside for further clues amidst a blizzard. As Oz hears a mysterious radio transmission, Roche spots something and abruptly vanishes as Oz frantically looks for him.

In Bell the Cat, Roche remains missing with Oz's attempts to find him being unsuccessful. Oz's search for Roche leads him to Stu Whiggins, a former First Class passenger and a Jackboot who is the source of the severed hand and is in a tent near where Roche vanished. Oz and Sykes suspect that Roche has been taken prisoner by the International Peacekeeping Forces and try without success to find out where he might be from Stu.

In By Weeping Cross, Roche, wearing the white armor of a member of Animal Squad, comes to Layton, Josie and Liana's rescue aboard the detached section of Snowpiercer, having heard Layton's distress call. Roche rescues the family just in time to save Layton from freezing to death and drives them back to New Eden in a stolen snowcat, telling Josie that there's a wild story behind how he ended up at the Silo. At New Eden, Roche is happily reunited with Carly, Oz and Till, again mentioning that there's a wild story behind his disappearance. Resuming his role as the head of security, Roche joins the rest of the town council, Oz and Sykes in preparing to defend the town from an upcoming attack aimed at stealing Big Alice's Engine by Doctor Nima Rousseau, the man who caused the Freeze in the first place. That night, in order to inspire the people of New Eden, Roche tells his wild story, revealing that he fell, twisted his ankle and was captured by the International Peacekeeping Forces and taken to the Silo. In the chaos, Roche managed to escape with his story getting crazier and crazier until Roche claims to have met Bigfoot. However, Roche's enthusiastic delivery and crazy story put the people in good spirits.

Afterwards, Carly praises her father for his cool story and Roche reassures her that Carly can survive without him if it comes to that because she's strong like her mother and Roche is in awe of the woman that his daughter has become. However, Roche still won't let Carly drink. Layton approaches Roche and, expressing his admiration for how good of a father Roche is, asks his old friend to take care of Liana should something happen to Layton and Josie. Although surprised, Roche accepts the responsibility, and the two old friends share a hug. Layton, Ruth, Sykes, Roche and Oz share a toast expressing what they're each fighting for just before the attack begins. Coming under attack by a sniper, Roche heads to get Liana while the others deal with the attack.

In Last Stop, having stayed behind in New Eden to take care of Liana, Roche and Carly greet Layton with his daughter when Layton's forces return with both Snowpiercer and Big Alice and the rescued passengers. At the victory party, Roche enjoys himself and stops Carly from drinking, quipping that he's going to have to bring up the lack of a drinking age in New Eden at the next council meeting.

Personality[]

Entrusted by Wilford along with Nolan Grey in upholding law and order aboard Snowpiercer, Roche took his responsibilities as the train's de-facto "Chief of Police" very seriously, maintaining strict discipline among his men. However, unlike Grey who was loyal to Wilford to the bitter end, Roche did not approve of the mistreatment of the Tailies, nor the many other morally questionable decisions by the train's leadership. Upon learning the truth about Wilford not being aboard the train, it did not take much convincing for Roche to switch allegiances to the Tailies and help them with their revolution.

Relationships[]

Sam Roche had a wife, Anne Roche, and three kids, whom only one daughter, Carly Roche, survived. Before the Freeze, Anne had always wanted to take a holiday to the Giza pyramid complex, but they never managed. They’d made some crack that they were smart to wait till the off-season.

Appearances[]

Appearance EP1 EP2 EP3 EP4 EP5 EP6 EP7 EP8 EP9 EP10
Season 1 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Season 2 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Drawers
Season 3 Drawers ✔ ✔ ✔ H ✔ ✔ ✔
Season 4 ✔ ✔ ✔ Missing ✔ ✔
Appeared Did Not Appear H = Hallucinations
V = Voice C = Cameo F = Flashback

Memorable Quotes[]

Layton: "I'll do it for rations and Third Class immigration for the Tail."
Roche: "You're not entitled to anything here! The passengers had tickets, all the crew had jobs. [...] You Tallies boarded the train like rats!"
―  Layton and Roche in First, the Weather Changed.
“ Your only concern is finding out who tortured and killed Sean Wise. And if you try communicating with the Tail again, I’ll stick your head out a port myself. ”
— Roche to Layton in Access Is Power.
Roche: "Uncuff him."
Jackboot: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."
Grey: "Not you too, Roche."
Roche: "Cuffs. Quickly."
Grey: "Get them off."
Jackboot: "All right."
Grey: "Do you know how much damage a bullet can do down here?"
Roche: "I'm counting on your brain pan to slow it down. You two, on the floor."
―  Roche aids the revolution in The Train Demanded Blood.

Roche: "What’s on your mind?"
Ruth: "When Audrey and Mr. Wilford turned back at the border last night, he asked me to step over on to Big Alice."
Roche: "Well, you’re still here."
Ruth: "Didn’t know what to do. There was a time that I would have."
Roche: "Now you’re not so sure?"
Ruth: "I serve Snowpiercer just like you. We had order for seven years. I know it was Melanie, but they were his rules, weren't they?"
Roche: "Yes, we had order. You want to do that job again? Taking arms? Running a gulag at the back of the train?"
Ruth: "[Sighs]"
―  Ruth and Roche discussing about Wilford's system in Our Answer for Everything.

Roche: "Hey, just passing through the neighborhood. You all right?"
Carly: "Is it really super poisonous out there?"
Roche: "It’s never easy, is it, sweetheart?"
Carly: "I keep imagine Mum out there with Alex’s mom. I know she isn’t, but I can’t help it."
Roche: "Hey, you can think about it anyway you want. You wanna know what I do? It’s crazy."
Carly: "What?"
Roche: "I get up in the morning and I tell myself, “Anne is in the closet.” I know she’s not, and I know I’ll be disappointed, but… I go to the closet anyway. Start moving clothes around. ‘Hello? Anne?’ I look high… and I look low. ‘Anne?’"
Carly: "Shitty, Dad, she’s not there."
Roche: "Right? But then what happens? Something interrupts. You. Farting, or snoring, or sleeping late. […] And I know... I’m just saying, this is what happens. But I know, if you’re still here, then she is too. So I make her a fake coffee and I go about my day."
Carly: "It’s quiet around here without her."
―  Roche comforts his daughter as they both loses someone they love in Setting Itself Right.
“ Back before the Freeze, Anne had always wanted to take a holiday to the pyramids, but we never managed. Then we get on Snowpiercer, and there they are, every three months, just whizzing past the window. Anne would make some crack that we were smart to wait till the off-season. ”
— Roche talking about his late wife in A Beacon for Us All.

Roche: "Jesus, Josie, it's me! What the hell? We don't say hi anymore?"
Josie: "Roche?"
Roche: "Yeah, I heard Layton's distress call. Holy shit. It's freezing in here."
Josie: "Layton, Layton, Layton? Did you hear that? We need to get him somewhere warmer now."
Roche: "I got a snowcat. Let's go."
―  Layton and Josie have a surprise rescuer in By Weeping Cross.
“ Let's get home and hope no one beats us there. ”
— Roche heads for New Eden in By Weeping Cross.
Oz: "Oi!"
Roche: "It's me."
Oz: "Thought we'd lost you."
Roche: "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you."
Till: "All right, guys, that's enough. That's enough."
Roche: "Hey, thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone. Good work. And, um, did I hear correctly that you gave somebody a Nightcar service?"
Oz: "Yeah, well, uh, keep that under your hat, mate."
Roche: "Ok. And you, I gotta say, it's a damn good thing seeing you."
Till: "I took the scenic route, but I made it."
―  Roche reunites with his friends in By Weeping Cross.
Till: "What about you, boss? You know Halloween's over, right?"
Roche: "Yes. This helmet smells like death. I should probably get it off the table."
Oz: "Where did you get it from, anyway?"
Roche: "Uh, well, it's actually a wild story."
―  Roche again hints at his mysterious disappearance in By Weeping Cross.
Ruth: "The people coming are trained military forces."
Layton: "We'll do whatever we can. Till is making crossbows and shields, anything that can help level the battlefield."
Oz: "Except there won't be a battlefield. The hillside is rigged with explosives. They can just bury the town anytime they want."
Roche: "The man's not lying."
Layton: "We won't let them do that."
Javi: "How? We don't know how to disarm the bombs."
Layton: "We don't have to. All we have to do is make sure the Silo doesn't use them."
―  The New Eden Town Council, plus Oz and Sykes, discuss the situation in By Weeping Cross.
Ruth: "If we move Big Alice to the other side of town, they won't risk setting off any bombs."
Sykes: "Because it'll bury the tracks. What if they get the Engine? Then what?"
Javi: "If we lock the track switch and Big Alice is secure, then we'll force them into town. A bottleneck, right?"
Layton: "Lead them down Main Street. Have an ambush waiting from both sides."
Ruth: "We'll need someone dedicated on the track switch then."
Josie: "I'll do it. Let them come."
Layton: "Ok. The soldiers you need to worry about are the ones in the white body armor. They're the ones they will send for the switch."
Roche: "We will hit the sleeper cars. We will recruit whoever we can to fight or patrol the perimeter."
Oz: "I'll join up. Someone's got to make sure the old man doesn't disappear again, eh?"
Ruth: "That's right. We can't lose our head of security again."
―  The group comes up with a plan in By Weeping Cross.
Roche: "The, uh, mood seems a bit dour in here. You guys should say something. Come on, be a leader. Inspire the troops, man."
Ruth: "You know what? That's a great idea my friend. Absolutely right. Everyone, who would like to hear Mr. Roche regale us all with the tales of his survival?"
The Crowd: "Yeah. Let's hear it. Why not, man? Let's hear it."
Ruth: "The floor is yours, my friend."
Roche: "Touche."
―  Ruth puts Roche on the spot to inspire the troops in By Weeping Cross.
Roche: "All right, all right, all right. All right, all right. You all remember that night when Oz and I went out into the hills on patrol, right? Well, let me tell you, Mother Nature's wrath was strong that night. I took one wrong step. Boom! Ground gave way beneath me. I fell. I called after Oz. But he's screaming. He's screaming about God knows what."
Oz: "I was screaming for you."
Roche: "Yeah, well, I was screaming, too, at my twisted ankle. I was also laying on my back, all out of sorts from the fall, dark thoughts coming my way. And I'll tell you why. I thought the end was nigh. Not many people use the word nigh. Shakespeare and people who think their end is nigh. That was me. But that's when the soldiers found me. They shoved me into a snowcat. They brought me to the Silo. I'm in the Silo and at one point, all hell broke loose. Lucky me, I slip away. I started climbing a stairwell. I'm climbing, I'm climbing, I'm climbing. Around Floor 13, Doc, let me tell you, I hear footsteps. And I ran into 5 of the baddest commandos you've ever seen. Have you spent a lot of time with commandos, Doc? These commandos were badass. I then did what any of you would have done in that situation."
Z-Wreck: "You wept like a small child."
Roche: "I did not cry, Z-Wreck. I thought about Sykes, and I laid a smackdown on those goons!"
The Crowd: "Yeah!"
Roche: "That's right. Left and right, I took these suckers down. Then this blue-beanied joker comes at me with a bat. I yank it from him. I show these clowns what three years of JV baseball can do. Let me tell you."
Carly: "Oh, God, Dad."
Roche: "Yeah, I'm swinging at these guys. I'm dispatching with these goons, and I start climbing again. And I'm climbing, and I'm climbing, and I hit a garage. And the hanger door is left open to the elements. And all this frigid air is rushing in. And that's when I saw her, staring back at me with her cold, black eyes. Bigfoot."
Layton: "No, that's -- no."
Roche: "Now you're calling bullshit, now? It wasn't me, tiptoeing away or taking down commando after commando? But whether you believe my story or not, the fact that I am standing here, right now, right here, is proof positive that the people of New Eden are ready for any fight, versus man, beast, or train."
―  Roche entertains the masses with a wild story of his ordeal in By Weeping Cross.
Layton: "Um, I have always admired what a great father you are."
Roche: "Carly makes it easy."
Layton: "Yeah. Well, when this is all over, I'm going to need some tips."
Roche: "You already know everything you need to know. Love them, protect them. The rest, eh."
Layton: "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. When this shit goes down, I need to know that Liana is going to be ok. So, if something happens to me and Josie, will you take care of her?"
Roche: "Me? Are you sure?"
Layton: "Yeah, man. We trust you. And you really came through for us when we didn't have any other options. Who else would we ask?"
Roche: "I won't let you down."
Layton: "I have no doubt."
―  Layton asks his old friend for a special favor in By Weeping Cross.
Layton: "A little early for shots, isn't it?"
Ruth: "One last drink. Steady the nerves. A toast. I think we should all say a few words. So when the battle begins, we remember exactly what it is that we're fighting for."
Oz: "To Zarah, for showing kindness to an outsider."
Ruth: "To Bennett Knox, who gave his life so we could fight for ours."
Sykes: "To the warriors. If it weren't for them, there would be no life off the train."
Roche: "To the lost souls of New Eden. May they find their way home."
Layton: "To those we found. They're the future of this place."
Ruth: "To New Eden."
All: "To New Eden."
―  The group makes a special toast in By Weeping Cross.

Trivia[]

  • He has spoken the opening dialogue in The Eternal Engineer.
  • He has been married for 20 years.
  • Roche is allergic to peanuts.[5]
  • Roche has a Boombox and a Cassette tape of, Roxy Music, "More Then This".
  • In North Star, Roche mysteriously vanishes in a blizzard, leaving his fate unknown until By Weeping Cross.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Roche's Medical File
  2. ↑ By Weeping Cross
  3. ↑ A Single Trade
  4. ↑ Access Is Power
  5. ↑ Roche's Medical File
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