Snowpiercer ups the ante for its fourth and final season

It’s so cold it will freeze you to the bone in the dystopian world of Snowpiercer, which returns for its fourth and final season. Set in a near future where Earth has become an uninhabitable tundra, a luxury train populated with the world’s only remaining humans circles the globe, waiting for a thaw that may never come.

Based on the 2013 film of the same name — directed by series executive producer Bong Joon-ho (Parasite ) — the show explores the revolution that takes place when the classes clash on the train. After several years onboard the never-ending rail journey, the lowest-class “Tailies” revolt against their living conditions and the train’s strict class divisions.

In a brutal, claustrophobic dystopia where a common punishment is the freezing and shattering of limbs by exposure to the extreme elements, it doesn’t take long for the oppressed to demand decency, if not outright equality. The leader of the resistance, Andre Layton, portrayed by Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting), has plotted and battled against the system and those who uphold it, such as the good train Snowpiercer’s head of hospitality, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly), and the billionaire creator of the locomotive, Joseph Wilford (Sean Bean), in the hope that a better future is possible.

 Hopping aboard Snowpiercer this season are new cast members Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Michael Aronov (The Americans). In the official trailer, Gregg’s character is among a small group of armed enemies who force their way onto the Snowpiercer. Taking 100 passengers hostage and putting their lives at risk by exposure, they demand control of the train. Meanwhile, Andre is out for revenge against whoever took his daughter, and Melanie must do what she can to resist or undermine the hostile takeover of Snowpiercer.

Last season’s finale saw passengers choose sides, split between Melanie aboard Snowpiercer and Andre on the secondary supply train, Big Alice. Snowpiercer would continue on the same track around the world while Big Alice embarked on an adventure to New Eden.

Motivated by a vision he had of dragon blood trees, Andre planned to take Big Alice and any passengers willing to take a chance along some of the most dangerous tracks of the rail system to a valley in the Horn of Africa. Miraculously, despite a derailment, passengers stepped off the train for the first time in years onto solid ground. Meanwhile, back on Snowpiercer, Melanie watched as an explosion went off in the distance, with shells heading in the direction of the train and no idea who had set it off as the third season came to a close.

The fourth-season premiere, titled “Snakes in the Garden,” takes place nine months after the two locomotives went their separate ways, as passengers on both encounter new, unexpected adversaries. After spending so much time battling each other, outside forces are a complete unknown.

Returning this season are Rowan Blanchard as engineer Alexandra Cavill; Alison Wright as resistance member Ruth Wardell; Mickey Sumner as lead brakeman Bess Till; Iddo Goldberg as engineer Bennett Knox; Katie McGuinness as Tailie and resistance member Josie Wellstead; Lena Hall as performer Miss Audrey; and Sam Otto as former brakeman John Osweiller.

Also reprising their roles are Chelsea Harris as Wilford’s former head of security, Sykes; Mike O’Malley as brakeman Sam Roche; Roberto Urbina as engineer Javier de La Torre; and Sheila Vand as Andre’s ex-wife, Zarah Ferami.

There were questions about whether Snowpiercer would return for its final season when, in 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery scrapped all the original scripted programming on TNT (on which Snowpiercer aired in the U.S.), putting the already-filmed fourth season of the show in limbo. Tomorrow Studios rallied and shopped the series around to other networks, eventually landing a deal to air on AMC (and on Crave here in Canada).

A statement released by the studio’s CEO, Marty Adelstein, and president, Becky Clements, shared high hopes for the upcoming season amid the cancellation drama: “We love Snowpiercer and believe season four completes a story with incredible talent that will entertain viewers while exploring issues of climate change and class warfare.”

Tomorrow Studios holds the rights to the story, so there is a chance that there may be sequels in the future of the Snowpiercer franchise.

Snowpiercer, streaming Monday, July 22, on Crave