WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 1, Episode 3 "Access Is Power."
As Snowpiercer finally inches closer to discovering the identity of the killer on board Wilford's Great Ark, Andre (Daveed Diggs) is slowly realizing it might all be part of a bigger plan to subjugate the poor and keep them as junkies addicted to Kronole, a hallucinogenic drug the Janitors are dealing.
In "Access Is Power," as he knocks down the right doors, though, the former cop garners clues that suggest the Janitors may not be the masterminds of the whole system. Instead, it seems to be the pet project of a shady First-Classer, LJ (Annalise Basso), who might be orchestrating all this for kicks.
In the first three episodes, LJ's been seen scowling around with the elites at the lunch table, making it clear she wouldn't mind slumming it in lower cars. She's curious how the Tail works, as well as Second and Third Class, but obviously, her rich parents aren't entertaining the thought of it. In fact, they keep condescendingly reminding Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) and her Hospitality crew to maintain order as people like them have spent billions on the Ark. Basically, they're the Chosen Ones and they need to be treated as gods. It's a notion LJ has scoffed at from time to time, which does fuel tension with her family.
Interestingly, every time the lower cars are mentioned, we've noticed LJ looking up at her bodyguard, Erik (Matt Murray), suspiciously and in this episode, viewers find out why. As Andre speaks to the head janitor, Terence (Shaun Toub), on Kronole being produced from sedatives, clues are dropped Terence isn't the mastermind after all. He obviously won't sell out the real backer, but the dealer hints orders come from somewhere else, as well as the means to produce and distribute. Andre begins to suspect an elite, which ties into why Sean was killed. He's been outed as a rat and it could be either the janitors or the powers-that-be wanted him silenced. He may have even tried to move in on their turf and pull rank if he was part of it too. But either way, he'd have known too much as a spy and they just couldn't risk Wilford being informed -- it's actually why Melanie thinks the drug is new when it's been out for a while. Taking Sean out means there's a lack of information heading back up.
As Andre has this chat on 'Fight Night,' though, LJ's confirmed as a key player, monitoring the janitors, which suggests they're her couriers. When Nikki -- the person who was put away for a murder years ago -- emerges in her state of dementia from the medical bay, LJ then gives Erik a look as if to say that's a loose end that needs to be tied up ASAP. Erik sneaks to the infirmary and bludgeons two people to make his way to Nikki. It's not subtle and could backfire as that means more victims for Andre to investigate, but again, dead men tell no tales. Still, that's just more breadcrumbs and it gets worse when Erik screws Nikki's bulbs out and eerily tells her, "You don't remember me, do you, Nikki? But you do know who I am."
It seems he's on the verge silencing her, all because LJ may be treating poor people as toys. They're clearly pawns to her and this drug lord game provides her with some sort of recreation, all while creating chaos downstream so that she can secretly get back at her overprotective and snobbish parents. It's rebellion via the narcos industry and the shocking thing is, it's unclear just how deep Nikki's web runs.
Snowpiercer stars Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand and Jaylin Fletcher. The series airs on Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on TNT.