WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 2, Episode 4, "A Single Trade."
Season 2 of Snowpiercer puts the brakes on the show's major romances as the power struggle continues aboard the Eternal Engine, especially now that Wilford (Sean Bean) has attached Big Alice to it. Layton's moved in with Zarah to care for their unborn baby, while he and Josie struggle to move past her getting disfigured by Mel.
As for Bess, she's over her relationship with Jinju and trying to keep peace as the new detective. However, the latest episode reveals one shocking love affair that's seemingly being rekindled which could doom the embattled train forever.
With Wilford coming over for a science dinner regarding Mel's work, Audrey, head of the Night Car, makes the shocking revelation she and the boss were once lovers. Apparently, in his drunken days before the train left, he threw lavish parties with all his elite friends, seducing young girls. Audrey was his personal lover and he controlled her as if she were his property.
It became toxic, which is why she was all too glad to jump on the train when Mel decided to steal it. They both wanted to leave him behind knowing he could derail humanity's plan to survive. But once more, she asked to make a sacrifice and served mankind. Now, Layton wants her to perform a new duty: to seduce her ex-lover and maybe glean insight into his plans. Layton believes Wilford will be vulnerable once he reconnects with Audrey, and so said, so done.
But in their private session, she's vulnerable to him, too. We discover Wilford had such a tight grip on her that they entered into a death pact and he almost made her kill herself when the Great Freeze occurred. Escaping him meant she got a new lease on life, but here, he exposes her old wounds again and sinks his teeth — literally — into her. Luckily, Zarah, now with Hospitality, sees it and notes the red flag, as she suspects Audrey could be corrupted to be one of his loyalists again.
Zarah's disappointed as Audrey promised to manipulate Wilford, but it turned out to be the other way around. And if he can sway her, lying about democracy and preying on insecurities from their past, it may be setting up a nasty betrayal.
It's hinted Audrey didn't like how Layton pimped her out, so this could be her way of getting back her agency. More so, if Wilford can sell her on being a better leader, Layton would definitely have shot himself in the foot. As it stands, Audrey doesn't know Zarah is keeping an eye on her. But should she regress to her old ways, she could end up with this tyrant narcissist again, and then, be a tool used to doom the Eternal Engine.
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 Mondays at 9pm ET/PT on TNT