To give a bit of context first, I've not seen Boon Ho's film version of this yet, nor read the graphic novel that both are based on. The 10 episode series (that airs on Netflix in the UK) is decent enough, although I wouldn't consider it "prestige" television at the moment.
Following a cataclysmic ecological disaster, where Earth has frozen, the last remaining human beings inhabit Snowpiercer, a perpetually moving train, made up of 1001 carriages that loops the planet knowing that if they ever stop, the cold will kill them off. There is a class structure on the train, that was based on financial clout in the old world, but seven years into their rotations, the underclass tail residents are ready to for a revolution and to claim a place on the train for themselves.
That plot synopsis written, the first three episodes don't feel like that at all. Though the class struggle is there from the start (and that's what the show really is, a microcosm of how life works. Those in power wielding their influence to maintain a status quo) those episodes focus on a murder, and give the show almost a police procedural nature which (fortunately) doesn't last. The focus then is on Andre Layton, played by Daveed Diggs, trying to organise and inspire a rebellion and to get the tail to rise up (see what I did there?). And like I said, its fine. It's nicely shot, the performances are all good and like the train itself the plot keeps moving.
But it's lacking in inspiration, in anything new or surprising to say. There are, from what I understand, variations from the film version, so there might be surprises if you were expecting those things to happen. . . but nothing, even leading up to the final moments of the final episode of this first season, will be anything you won't have seen coming. And I don't really buy the train as actually existing. The carriage sizes vary wildly, which isn't really reflected in the establishing exterior shots. Some carriages have walkways down on side, or the middle, but not all of them do. The train is 10 miles long, but when the plot requires it, people can appear in whatever location they need to be in.
I don't want to get too negative, I'll be back for the second season presuming that filming is eventually allowed to commence, but I already worry that I've seen everything that "Snowpiercer" has to offer.
