‘Snowpiercer’: Jennifer Connelly On Melanie & Layton’s Feud in Season 3 Finale

Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 9 found Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) and Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) at odds once more. After Melanie was rescued from her six months of being stranded on a mobile solo car, she returned to Snowpiercer to find Layton had misled the passengers about the reality of New Eden.

In Season 3 Episode 8 of the TNT drama, Layton put the decision to travel to the horn of Africa up to a vote. But in his adamance to hold on to hope, he lied about the life-threatening conditions they’d have to survive to get there. He also said New Eden was able to sustain life, when the data didn’t explicitly support that claim. Melanie threw the train into chaos when she informed everyone of Layton’s lie, putting herself in conflict with Layton yet again.

The enemies-turned-allies have been able to resolve their differences before, building a foundation of respect and trust between them. In this TV Insider exclusive, Connelly details how Melanie and Layton could get through this new conflict without becoming enemies once more.

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In all fairness, Melanie was right to give the passengers the full picture of what to expect on this perilous journey. The data doesn’t guarantee that the horn of Africa will be habitable, if they even make it across the bridge that takes them there. But there’s merit to Layton, her daughter Alex (Rowan Blanchard), and the rest of the team’s decision to take a leap of faith. Conditions on the train are getting worse, resources are steadily decreasing, and they all want off the train.

Melanie wants the same, but is convinced now is not the time to do it. Connelly says not to expect Melanie to back down on this stance in the finale.

“I think that Melanie is going to hold her ground, and that the thing that she wants is to have Layton come to the table,” she says. “I think she really tried. She tried to have a conversation with him, she tried to talk to Alex. She was shut down. She’s made this move, and the thing that she wants is for Layton to come to the table and discuss another way forward. I think that that’s what she is going to play for.”

Another factor that must be considered? Joseph Wilford. Snowpiercer‘s villain, played by Sean Bean, broke free of custody in Episode 9 and still has support from some people on the train. Connelly says Wilford is a liability Melanie, Layton, and the entire train share, even if Wilford’s supporters don’t agree. Connelly says leaning in to their common enemy may help Melanie and Layton find a compromise.

“Wilford is another issue,” she says. “What we’ve found in the past when Layton and Melanie have come together, they may find themselves on opposite sides of a train or other ends of an argument, but they fundamentally respect each other and value each other as leaders and as people and as thinkers. And so, that’s the thing that she really wants, is to get the two of them together to come up with some kind of solution together.”