WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 2, Episode 2, "Smolder to Life."
As the second season of Snowpiercer began, Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) made it clear to Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) that if he needed to play dirty to get his train back, he would. Melanie ended up locking Big Alice together with Snowpiercer, so in a sense, he does have the Great Engine again, with 1,034 cars now under his watch.
The problem is that Wilford doesn't have access to them all and is still vastly outnumbered in case he wanted to enact a coup towards the other side. However, the latest episode finds him cutting loose a bit as he shows his killer instinct, showing more of his true colors.
Wilford makes it clear that while he's got brutes like Icy Bob, he prefers to use his brain to get his ark back. It's why he negotiates a transfer to send Mel over in exchange for Kevin, his head of Hospitality. He invites Kevin in after the swap, runs a hot bath and gets in the bath with him. It turns out, Wilford is intimidating Kevin in an inquisition of his own. Kevin is questioned by Layton, and it's here Wilford discovers that Kevin ate meat for the first time in years. Now, Wilford knows info was sold out.
He never finds out Kevin said Wilford has 100 people. He just knows acting hungry is a sign of weakness and a signal Big Alice is short of resources. And like a true cult leader, he shoos Alex (Mel's daughter) out of the room, hands Kevin a blade and thanks him for his service.
He presses the blade against Kevin's wrist and encourages the nervous worker to commit suicide, as his time serving the mission had come to an end. It's remarkable to see this blind loyalty and fear, but it gets even darker as a naked Wilford is seen in the bloody bathwater while his dog comes over to drink from it. The way Alex put her headphones on and locked herself into the driving pit is another sign that when Wilford loses it, violence and chaos ensues.
Things get worse following Kevin's death. Later, when Layton and Mel invite them for a summit to discuss atmospheric changes, Alex hides a razor in her mouth, prepping for an assassination. But it turns out it's Wilford's idea. He knows they'll be searched and he wants Alex to kill Layton.
It doesn't matter how young she is, how she's like a daughter to him, or what will happen to her after; it's all for the mission. Wilford's people are his sheep, totally devoted and like obedient robots. He's a conniving politician who uses mind-control and brainwashing, whose forked tongue has the power to take lives.
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.