The Sting of Survival

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"We're about to get off, have a fresh start. You're ruining it." — Ruth Wardell, Born to Bleed
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"Big Alice will need to be retrofitted when we join back up." — Nima Rousseau, By Weeping Cross
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The Sting of Survival
Season	4
Episode	2
Overall	32
Episode Information
Airdate	July 8th, 2024 (VTM GO) (Belgium) July 28th, 2024 (AMC) (US)
Written by	Renée St. Cyr
Directed by	Christoph Schrewe
Run Time	45 minutes
Episode Guide
← Previous	Snakes in the Garden
Next →	Life Source

The Sting of Survival is the second episode of the fourth season of Snowpiercer. It is the thirty-second episode overall. The episode aired on July 28st, 2024 on AMC+. On July 8th, 2024 the episode was however unexpectedly made available on a Belgian streaming service, without further comments from AMC.

Synopsis

IMDB: Milius and his Animal Squad storm the train; Melanie realizes something is wrong and shuts the vault doors to the engine; when Ben's life is threatened, Melanie surrenders the engine.

AMC+: Melanie realizes something is wrong as Milius and his Animal Squad storm the train.

Intro

“	I tried to warn New Eden. Instead, they were blindsided, just like we'd been on the train. After Big Alice left us, we circled the globe, not knowing whether our friends and loved ones were alive or dead. And then we were finally close enough to hear from them, all of us waiting for a sign. We waited, month after month, the guilt weighing us down. And when we finally did get a sign of life, it wasn't from New Eden. The night before Melanie saw the rocket was the last we knew of peace. And with a single shot, the peace ended on Snowpiercer, 879 cars long.	”
	— Miss Audrey

Quotes

Audrey: "Layton." Layton: "Yeah, Audrey I'm here. I'm right here." Audrey: "They took the train." ―  Audrey and Layton Audrey: "You know, for a mind reader, sometimes I have no idea what's going on in that head of yours." Till: "Ok. Rock. Rock. Puffy clouds. Tiny shrub next to a rock." Audrey: "I feel so much closer to you now." ―  Audrey and Till Bennett: "It was a trap." Melanie: "Yeah. They blew up a rocket to lure us. Who the hell are these people? How did they even survive? What turn are they talking about? I mean, our next switch is New Eden. That's over a thousand kilometers away." ―  Bennett and Melanie “ Attention, all passengers in First and Second Class are to evacuate to Third. This is only a temporary relocation. The new passengers want you to know that, um -- that, uh -- oh God -- that as long as you do as you're told, all is well. Thank you. ” — Tristian is forced to make an announcement. “ That's some medieval shit right there, Pelton. ” — Till gets some archaic medical treatment “ Hell of a view from up here. I could get used to seeing sunlight again, or the moon. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Clear for running. ” — Milius enjoys the view from the Engine while hinting at his Naval background Melanie: "We are turning. Is that east?" Bennett: "Can't be. There's no track there." Melanie: "We're not on Wilford track anymore. Whoever built that did it quick, too, because that was not there three months ago." Bennett: "Shit. If they have the manpower to lay a new track, how many more of them are out there?" Melanie: "Uh, well, we're going east, so what's east of here?" Bennett: "Uh, well, we turned before the Ethiopian Highlands." Melanie: "Right, so, that's Eritrea. Or Djibouti." Bennett: "Djibouti. International trade hub for the entire continent." Melanie: "International military hub." ―  Melanie and Bennett discuss the situation. “ Wow, a whole library for Mr. Joseph Wilford. Going in circles around the Seven Wonders of the World reading English literature while my people work the mines. We see he enjoyed the classics. Me, I prefer murder mysteries. Although there's not much mystery to this murder, is there? I know who did it. What remains unknown is your role in all this. ” — Milius to Audrey Melanie: "What's all this?" Bennett: "This is where Ruth led the rebellion against Wilford. She spent six months down here." Melanie: "Six months? And I bet she never complained. Think she knew her foxhole accessed a brake line?" Bennett: "Wouldn't put it past her, but Big Alice was going far too slow for Ruth to grind her brakes even as a threat." Melanie: "No time like the present." ―  Melanie and Bennett “ 100 passengers are being held captive in a partially breached car. In 20 minutes, they will freeze unless Melanie Cavill surrenders. They're in the Market Car. They got two guards -- ” — Tristan is forced to make another announcement and bravely uses it to pass on information. Bennett: "I told you not to open the door." Melanie: "Yeah. But I did. I did. Now we have to get back the Engine." Bennett: "We better make sure they don't see you coming." ―  Bennett and Melanie Melanie: "Intake's open." Bennett: "Good. How's it look?" Melanie: "Like if I entered, I'd be sprayed out." Bennett: "That's very visual. Thank you." ―  Melanie and Bennett Till: "When the train was separating, and we were standing on either side of the door, did it ever cross your mind to join me in New Eden?" Audrey: "Yes, of course." ―  Till and Audrey Nima: "My research team developed a compound that triggers CW-7 to denature in the upper atmosphere and fall from the sky. We've only launched missiles from a single location, but our compound has followed weather patterns across half the equator, creating six warm spots. Sulawesi, Gujarati..." Nima and Melanie: "...Managua, Atacama..." Nima: "-- Korea and the Horn." Melanie: "That was you?" Nima: "It was my team. But now, we -- we hit a barrier. These warm spots, they need to grow and -- and mix and feed off one another into a web that extends across the globe. But with half the equator still in deep freeze, there's no point. It's six candles in a blizzard. It's why we need Snowpiercer to help launch our compound from the opposite side of the planet." Melanie: "On the chance it'll work." ―  Nima and Melanie discuss his work, the effect it has had and why Snowpiercer is needed Melanie: "They're living outside." Nima: "Well, this is every trial, every test we've run. Go through it. We're on the verge of a breakthrough. This colony living in the Horn, what if we could make it like that everywhere?" ―  Nima and Melanie discuss New Eden and the possibilities that Nima's research represents Melanie: "You have the train, Mr. Knox." Bennett: "I'll keep her warm for you." ―  Melanie and Bennett as Melanie leaves Snowpiercer Audrey: "What if Miles misheard the admiral?" Till: "The words "ambush" and "New Eden" are pretty distinct." Audrey: "So they were already on their way?" Till: "I don't know. But if there's any chance they're planning some sort of attack on our friends, I gotta warn them. I owe that to Layton." Audrey: "You're crazy, you know that? I wouldn't last three seconds in this thing. If you die in this thing --" Till: "I promise to come back and haunt you." ―  Audrey and Till Bennett: "Till, do you copy? It's now or never." Audrey: "Ben, it's me. You have to send me instead." ―  Bennett and Audrey when there's an unexpected change of plans “ And then it was just me, alone in the cold, hoping I'd reach you, warn you. It's still too late. I'm sorry. ” — Audrey finishes her story to Layton Josie: "All this time I thought Miles was safe. I thought we were safe." Layton: "Melanie surrenders the train to soldiers. Headwood takes Liana." Josie: "Hey, Layton. Layton, where are you going?" Layton: "To find them." ―  Josie and Layton

Cast

Main Characters

• Jennifer Connelly as Melanie Cavill
• Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton
• Mickey Sumner as Bess Till
• Alison Wright as Ruth Wardell
• Iddo Goldberg as Bennett Knox
• Roberto Urbina as Javier De La Torre
• Michael Aronov as Nima Rousseau
• Rowan Blanchard as Alexandra Cavill
• Katie McGuinness as Josie Wellstead
• Clark Gregg as Anton Milius

Guest Starring

• Lena Hall as Miss Audrey
• Jaylin Fletcher as Miles
• Karin Konoval as Doctor Pelton

Co-Starring

• Fraser Aitcheson as Lion
• Herschel Andoh as Wolf
• Ian Collins as Tristan
• Noah Crawford as Rat
• Tommy Europe as Gazelle
• Greame Guthrie as Ace of Spades
• Taylor St. Pierre as Brakeman Elliot
• Adrian Neblett as Barkeep Winston
• Olga Zippa as Buffalo
• Lauren Bradley as Nurse Ellie
• Rhinnan Payne as Teenage Girl

Trivia

• Miles is seen working in the Engine again, continuing on from his return to it in The Original Sinners. He also appears to be either working in the Engine or in a job that places him close to Anton Milius nine months later.
• The Resistance's Hideout is revealed to have access to one of Snowpiercer's brake lines. While Ruth Wardell might've known about it, Wilford's Rolling Gulag was going too slow for Ruth to use it even as a threat.
• Dr. Nima Rousseau reveals that his research team developed a compound that causes CW-7 to denature in the atmosphere. It was launched in missiles from one spot and was spread by the weather patterns across one equator of the planet. This is the true cause of the 6 warm spots found by Melanie.
  • The six warm spots are identified as being Sulawesi, Gujarati, Managua, Atacama, Korea and the Horn of Africa.
• Melanie and Nima are revealed to know each other from MIT which Melanie is known to have attended, suggesting that Nima was either a former colleague or professor of hers.
• The International Peacekeeping Forcesis revealed to have a Bunker, located in a mountain in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa. It has two floors of supercomputers engineering Nima's project.
  • Melanie states that the turn for the bunker is located over a thousand kilometers from the turn for New Eden.
• It is shown that the International Peacekeeping Forces have abilities to both build a fitting track for Snowpiercer within three months and have members who can drive it. This appears to mean that not only people associated or educated with or by Wilford Industries can engineer the trains.
• Although the Market Car is damaged in this episode, it's eventually repaired and repurposed as seen in the flashforward to nine months later.
• CW-7 is mentioned for the first time since Many Miles From Snowpiercer.
• It's revealed that Miss Audrey was sent in the Track Scaler to New Eden because Miles overheard Milius talking about an ambush on the colony. It was originally supposed to be Till, but a scuffle with one of the Animal Squad forced Audrey to go instead and left her with her facial injuries.

Body Count

• Gazelle (shot in the head by Bennett Knox with a model of Snowpiercer's Engine using a pneumatic tube)
• One IPF guard (bashed in the head by Bennett Knox or Miss Audrey)