As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
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The Film
- When Mason starts to speak to the tail-enders, the translators repeat what she says in multiple languages. Mason shuts them up by telling them not to bother, as they only have seven minutes until Andrew's arm will be completely frozen. It's some great Black Comedy.
- While constructing their means of escape, Edgar runs up behind some guys rolling three barrels with a board yelling, "Out of the way!" Not because of anything urgent or dire, mind you, but just so he can ride the board over the barrels like a surfer. It's endearing to see one of the few moments where Edgar gets to act like a carefree teenager.
- A lot of Minsoo's informal language comes up as a Running Gag.
- The translator translating his swearing.Translator: "Yes, I'm listening. Fuck."
- The translator failing to translate his rant about how his name isn't "Nam", but "Namgoong", and that Namgoong is his last name and Minsoo is his first name.Translator: (in Korean) "Unable to translate speech. Please try again with appropriate words."
- Minsoo warns Curtis about something during the battle against Wilford's soldiers. Yona promptly produces the appropriate translation:Yona: "He says you guys are fucked."
- The translator translating his swearing.
- Minsoo casually lights a cigarette, to the shock of everyone around him (they thought cigarettes were extinct). He takes a puff, and the entire compartment happily breathes in his secondhand smoke.
- Minsoo and Yona asking Curtis for Kronole every time they get to a new train car becomes a bit of a Running Gag as well. Yona is always smiling cheerfully when she asks, and Curtis is always annoyed by their addictions taking precedence over his cause.
- Just before the Axe Gang fight, Edgar goes on a lengthy rant at Minsoo, cursing him and his addiction out in a delightfully annoyed way. Meanwhile, Minsoo snarks right back at him, just fanning the flames. Curtis looks this close to slapping both of them.
- The Faceless Mooks suddenly stopping the fight when the train crosses Yekaterina Bridge, as reaching this place indicates a new year has begun. Why do they briefly stop fighting? To loudly wish a Happy New Year!
- Not just to wish a Happy New Year. It is all previously planned: after the bridge, the train will go through a long tunnel. The "Happy New Year" is both to pump them up and remind them to remember to whip out night vision goggles and kick the tail-enders' teeth in while they can't see.
- Just after said scene, Edgar, the youngest fighter present, complaining about getting old.
- Likewise, the brief halt in fighting while the train SMASHES its way through several barriers of ice, and automatically everyone grabs hold of something or is thrown around like peas in a can. Nobody moves until one of the officers officially declares "safe passage". It's obvious that this instinct is so deeply ingrained in absolutely everybody that nothing — not even a violent rebellion — can go on until the all-clear. The fact that all of them momentarily snap from anger to annoyance just makes it better.
- During the first half of the fight, Curtis is running rampant...and then slips on the fish the mooks had used to intimidate the tail-sectioners earlier.
- Edgar's thick accent also provides laughs.[about Namgoong] "He's high as a fookin' kite!"
- A Mook Lieutenant gets taken hostage by Grey in the middle of the tunnel fight, and starts screaming to Mason to surrender before they kill him. Mason responds with a hilarious "who, me?" gesture, then shrugs indifferently and lets him die.
- Tanya's reaction to being able to eat sushi in the aquarium car.Tanya: (to Mason) "Hell yeah, line that shit up!"
- Curtis forcing Mason to eat a protein block while the rest of them dine on sushi. The curious "huh..." look on her face while she chews is priceless.
- Yona is a major source of Funny Background Events, but a highlight has to be the classroom car, where she follows the students in making a Wilford "W" with her fingers and looks at it utterly confused.
- Later, after getting through the party car, Yona passes out from getting drunk and high off the Kronole and liquor she's stolen off the front-enders.
- The children in the schoolroom car cheerily singing "We all freeze and die" call-and-response style to the question "What happens if the engine stops?" It's dark, but very funny.
- Not to mention Mason's gleefully singing along.
- Curtis' face throughout the scene just screams You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!.
- Tanya cracking her egg on the top of the bratty girl's head.
- There's a dark but funny Cutaway Gag when Wilford says, "Heaven knows we've got enough crazies on this train," and the film immediately cuts to Franco the Elder, who is revealed to have survived his fight with Curtis and co.
The Series
Season 1
1 - First, the Weather Changed- After Layton has a proper meal for the first time in six years, he yells out to ask if he can have another bowl, only for Roche to shoot him down.
- Layton’s dull reaction to a butchered body is to tell his handlers: “You all got some serious problems.”
- It’s also Nightmare Fuel, but the way Layton suggests cannibalism when Till is considering the motives for the murdered victim’s butchered body is darkly comedic. He seems to enjoy reminding her of the meat she ate for lunch.
- Roche’s reluctance to talk when Layton tries to bond with him. “We’re doing this? Here?”
- During Fightnight, Ruth points Layton out to the Folders, and Lilah’s response is to wonder if that is his undercover look.
- Terrance, the Kronole drug lord, reveals that before he was a janitor on the train... he was a janitor at a regular high-rise building.
4 - Without Their Maker
- Melanie calls Bennett, and pretends to be speaking to Mr. Wilford about the Folders’ reluctance to let Layton search Eric’s quarters. Bennet’s response is a deadpan, “Well, that would piss me right off. Huff, huff, huff.”
- The dismayed way people react to Layton purposely tossing the Folgers’ room.
5 - Justice Never Boarded
- A bit Nightmare Fuel, but Audrey’s stunt with the plate of bugs to First Class.
- Upon learning that Wilford is alive, everyone is rushing to the back and gearing up for a fight. Ruth, on the other hand... brings out a whole parade filled with singing kids, food, and booze. The following conversation is a gem.Layton: Ruth! (moves past people) Ruth!Roche: RUTH, CUT THE CRAP!(kids gasp as they finally stop singing)Ruth: I am here officially, Mr. Roche. Hospitality leads the welcoming party, as per protocol.Roche: We are in a military situation here, Ruth! You gotta get these kids out of here!Layton: They are breaching the goddamn train!(Ruth frowns, turns around and pulls out a gun)Layton: Whoa! Hey! Back up! Back up! Everybody back!Ruth: I'm a dignitary!Layton: ...Yeah, I feel that.
Season 2
1 - The Time of Two Engines- Having been banished from Snowpiercer since just after it launched, Wilford has no idea how the train's society has developed in his absence. When told that the train is now under the control of a Tailie named Layton, he asks what the hell a Tailie is.
- Alex's reaction to being reunited with her mother after seven years? She is "distinctly underwhelmed."
- Melanie's determination not to give Wilford any information veers into absurd territory as Wilford compliments the alcohol brought over from Snowpiercer.Wilford: Drat.
- Pike gets his hands on a joint. When Layton finds him, he's already stoned.
- Informed that the people of Snowpiercer are storming Big Alice, Wilford orders his men to send in Bob... then has to specify that he meant Icy Bob.
- Icy Bob repelling Layton's army from Big Alice — then giving them the finger before the door closes. It looks oddly funny coming from such a huge and freakish presence.
- After Melanie pulls her gambit to prevent Wilford from detaching Big Alice from Snowpiercer, Alex flatly informs Wilford that "she's got us, Dubs."
2 - Smolder to Life
- Layton and Zarah are deciding what name they should give their baby. Layton suggests using the name of Zarah's mom if it's a girl. When Zarah asks him if it's a boy?Layton: Trotsky.Zarah: (nods) We'll talk about this later.
- Thanks to Pike and Terrance, weed is a thing now on Snowpiercer. The first thing that Zarah sees when seeing Ms. Audrey is the latter smoking out of a pipe.
- Layton and Roche try to interrogate Kevin about the situation on Big Alice. Kevin is stubbornly silent... until they serve him a plate of buffalo wings (mirroring Layton's grilled cheese from the first episode). He caves almost immediately.
- On receiving Wilford's invitation to a hostage exchange (Kevin for Melanie), Z-Wreck cautions that it could be a trap. Pike's solution? To immediately send for Ruth from Hospitality.
3 - A Great Odyssey
- Asked if she ever laughs, Alex lets out a fake, sarcastic laugh.
- "That is some crazy shit, mom."
- Melanie's incredibly awkward introduction to Emilia as "Alex's mom", and Alex's mortified "Melanie" in response. It seems that even in Snowpiercer's grim future, parents embarrassing their kids hasn't changed.
4 - A Single Trade
- It turns out that the Last Australian isn't the last Australian. Emilia is also from Australia, and she also believed that she was the last Australian. The moment they meet, they hit it off.
- Wilford holds a lottery to see which of Big Alice's crew gets to spend a night on Snowpiercer, during which we meet Oiler Bob, who was confused with ''Icy Bob'' who was sent out to repel Layton's team back in the beginning of the season. Icy Bob is a near seven-foot-tall giant powerhouse. Oiler Bob is an thin, amicable young man who seems harmless. Somehow, when Wilford ordered Bob to go fight off an invading force, the crew seriously thought he meant Oiler Bob, which either speaks to Wilford's eccentricities or an ongoing problem the crew have mixing up the two.
- Miss Audrey asks Zarah to come find her if she doesn't return from her tryst with Mr. Wilford within thirty minutes. Zarah dutifully shows up after thirty minutes to check up on Miss Audrey... and finds her and Mr. Wilford engaging in some really screwed-up roleplay involving a mango.
- During the viewing party, to confirm Melanie having reached the outpost, Wilford deliberately pops a balloon at the height of the tension to frighten everyone.Everyone: (gasps)Wilford: (chuckles) Sorry.
5 - Keep Hope Alive
- We see Wilford's latest torment onboard Big Alice — mandatory book club, with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It's obvious that many of the participants have not actually read the book. Meanwhile, Emilia (who didn't finish it) ends up arguing with Alex (who apparently did) about it. There's also the Headwoods having surprisingly different opinions.
6 - Many Miles from Snowpiercer
- Cooped up alone in a freezing research station, Melanie hallucinates that Wilford is there, constantly trolling her.
8 - The Eternal Engineer
- The hulking Boki gives Layton a friendly slap on the arm as he affirms his new loyalty, and afterwards Layton walks away visibly wincing in pain.
- Making an effort to be nicer, Ruth tells LJ that her elitist snob parents would be proud of her for working so hard to contain the flooding — to which LJ replies that they really wouldn't, as she has callouses from actual work now.
- This episode finally reveals where Javi was when Melanie and Ben jacked the train; he was in the toilet when it happened. In other words, he was literally caught with his pants down. It's clear Javi hasn't gotten over it, and even Wilford finds it hilarious.
Season 3
2 - The Last to Go- When Oz accuses LJ of going along with Wilford's wedding plans because she still has delusions of one day ruling over the train, she cheerfully admits it, because she knows that Wilford won't be able to hold on to power forever, but she genuinely believes that after he's gone, she might be able to maneuver herself and Oz into the power vacuum if they just make themselves likable enough... never mind that Oz used to be one of the most crooked brakemen, and LJ was a serial killer whose parents attempted a counter-revolution.
- This delightful bit of Black Comedy;Wilford: Zarah, go see the cakemaker.Zarah: You put the cakemaker in Compost.Wilford: Then get him out! We're getting married!
- Alex smacks a monitor that's producing static, the way any other teenager might, even though Alex is a trained engineer who knows full well that smacking the monitor won't actually fix it.
- In the run up to LJ and Oz's wedding, Wilford and Oz squeeze each other's balls, as Wilford bellows "GIVE ME SOME BASSO PROFUNDO!"
- Z-Wreck stealing Kevin's drink right out his hand during the wedding celebrations. Wilford's acolyte doesn't even look upset, just mildly annoyed.
Meta
- The official Snowpiercer on TNT Twitter account asked fans if they would rather marry LJ or lose an arm. Sam Otto, who plays LJ's love interest, responded
"lose the arm tbh".
