WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 1, Episode 4, "Without Their Maker," which premiered Sunday on TNT.
Snowpiercer stunned fans in the final moments of the series premiere when it was revealed Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) was actually Mr. Wilford, the inventor of the Great Ark Train circulating around the world to protect Earth's remaining humans from the Big Freeze.
Many wondered if it was a fake-out and if the real Wilford was hiding somewhere in a cabin, or maybe he'd been overthrown and placed in the Drawers under sedation. But now, as of the opening monologue in "Without Their Maker," a new twist has been revealed that could be a clue to what happened to Wilford.
Jinju (Susan Park) is a chef that tailors for the upper-class, making sushi she and Melanie enjoy, all while murder engulfs the train. She's seen diving into the aquariums to harvest seafood too, as she always has a hands-on approach. As this episode opens and viewers see a bit more of Jinju making her sushi, talking about the finer things in life, including how classes divide between the Ark as in the real world, she mentions that elites had mind upload technology before the Big Freeze.
Apparently, while Wilford opted to build his train, the rich decided to upload their consciousness into bodies, although Jinju doesn't state how successful that program was. It's unclear if it used clones, other bodies as surrogates or even robots, but she glosses over quickly to paint Wilford as a man of foresight. This now has many wondering if Melanie is actually a body Wilford implanted his mind in.
Now, fans know this is a prequel to seeing Ed Harris as Wilford later on in the movie, so right now, Melanie could be a genetic copy, a daughter or just a random body. Some believe Wilford passed away before the train launched so to ensure he'd see it to fruition, he uploaded into Melanie. Others think he survived on the train a bit and then used Melanie as part of some deal. It's still a mystery if the process can be reversed and if he's in her body temporarily.
There are so many possibilities here and for Jinju to mention this, it has to be very important. It adds insight into the marvelous tech before the modern Ice Age and suggests fans aren't not seeing all the science labs aboard the Ark. If Wilford is indeed using a technique, and jumping from body to body, that would be pretty intriguing. Mel does mention she grew up poor on a farm in Pennsylvania and she was seen studying at MIT and Yale to act as a chief engineer too, so it could be these are actually Wilford's memories.
So much of his past is kept secret so undoubtedly, fans are going through hoops with guessing games, but again, it would be a clever disguise as to how he and Mel know so much. This could mean no one is who they say they really are, well, at least for the elites. But then again, it's unclear if the tech was appropriated to infiltrate lower cars so Wilford could plant spies. Either way, if Wilford did this, he's more or less immortal once he has replacements, thus adding a new layer of mystery to the rich people who lord over everyone else.
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.