'Snowpiercer' 2.07 Review: Our Answer for Everything

This post contains spoilers for Snowpiercer.
Check out our last review here. 

What an episode for Ruth Wardell. As Snowpiercer continues to go to hell after Wilford successfully facilitated his plan against the Breachmen, Ruth is forced to reckon with the cruelty she inflicted on the tail and the things she was willing to do in the name of hero worship. The beginning of "Our Answer for Everything" has her questioning the way they've decided to do things and lamenting the order she once benefited from. But, when asked, she can't give an answer one way or the other as to whether or not she'd be willing to go back to taking people's arms and keeping a gulag in the back of the train. 

This week's episode is all about choosing sides. Ruth (Alison Wright) faces her choices on Snowpiercer, but things are just as hairy on Big Alice. Both Alex (Rowan Blanchard) and Miss Audrey (Lena Hall) have their loyalty questioned by Wilford (Sean Bean). Alex's test is yet to be seen, but Audrey finds herself in hot water after the screwdriver she brought along to switch the comms is fished out of her luggage by her nosy host. To prove herself, she is taken to the surprisingly still alive Kevin (Tom Lipinski) and told to fix him or else. "Fix him", in this case, means helping him find release in the same way she assists the people of Snowpiercer. But, for Wilford, it means reprogramming his broken toy back into the lapdog he once was.

Though Bess Till's (Mickey Sumner) side was chosen long ago, she'll face her own set of challenges as anarchy starts to take hold of the train. A fleeting reunion with her former partner, Oz (Sam Otto), gives her a lead that takes her to first class. It's there that she discovers that the attack on the Breachmen wasn't facilitated by the tail, but by Eugenia (Amanda Brugel) and the Pastor Logan (told y'all). Eugenia and her manicure are an easy enough takedown, but Pastor Logan proves to be a separate conversation. Till comes out on top, but just barely in time to stop the Wilford loyalist from offing himself by way of ice lung. The writers on Snowpiercer are really going that extra mile to prove just how far his followers will go to curry favor with their overlord. 

Despite Till making real headway on her case and managing to make it through the confrontation with a (mostly) alive suspect, the damage has been done. As they pass through the loop that will lead them back to Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) — should they actually turn around — lights spark in the windows of Snowpiercer. The red lights signify a support for James Wilford, and they seem to take up well over half of the train. It's a crushing blow to Andre (Daveed Diggs) and his cause. One that he certainly didn't need after nearly losing his arm in an attempt to save Pike (Steven Ogg) after he was taken hostage by second class Wilford sympathizers. 

It's not Andre who saves the day this time though. Instead, it's Ruth Wardell. Ruth is forced to recon with all the terrible things she's done in the past seven years. When she and Zarah (Sheila Vand) get locked in the clinic with some Tailies to avoid the mob, Winnie (Emma Oliver) screams in fear. When Lights (Miranda Edwards) points out that Ruth was responsible for the death of Winnie's mother, she doesn't deny the allegation. But she doesn't remember it either.

That lack of remembrance is what shakes things loose for the once callous head of hospitality. She doesn't doubt what she's done, but the fact that she can't remember the arms she took or the people whose lives she ruined is the push she needs to realize that the order they had before came at an unacceptable cost. Andre's words aren't enough to calm the mob ready for blood, but Ruth's pleas are. It's only a temporary cease fire, but it's enough to save two men and truly begin the path to redemption for her character.

As things become more black and white on Snowpiercer, the lines continue to blur on Big Alice. In the beginning of "Our Answer for Everything," Andre and Ben (Iddo Goldberg) are quick to believe that Audrey is lost to their cause and once again swayed by the allure of Wilford and his abuse. I found myself pretty indignant at how quickly they were ready to write her off, but things don't look good for the head of the Night Car. As she reprograms Kevin, she reminds him that he wasn't abused, he just didn't know love before he met Wilford. That Kevin is nothing without him. That he owes his leader everything. Could it all be Audrey playing the long game? Yeah. I'm definitely choosing to believe that's the case. But they did a damn good job making me doubt our girl! By the time it's all said and done, she has Kevin literally licking Wilford's shoe.