Jennifer Connelly's Anti-Hero in Netflix's Snowpiercer

The finale of season one's Snowpiercer left us gasping for air, much like the torturous executions by "lung of ice" in episode nine. The freezing air is nothing compared to the shock of learning that not only is Melanie Cavill's (Jennifer Connelly) dead daughter, Alexandra still alive but so is the legendary Mr Wilford. Both of which, have been living on and travelling in another train!

The second train, known as Big Alice is a prototype of the Engine Eternal and is made up of 40-carriages containing spare parts for Snowpiercer. The supply train managed to chase Snowpiercer down before docking onto its rear.
The finale was a cinematic masterpiece; with icy landscapes, a heart-pounding race between two major trains and several shocking revelations that caused goosebumps to crawl up our spines.

In the meantime, Melanie tried to prevent Wilford from docking, and in her blinding determination, unhooked herself from Snowpiercer and ended up tossed from the roof of the train and into the snowy abyss. Melanie, however, is a strong, intelligent female character who has encountered many trying times.

We first meet Melanie as a powerful, authoritative figure who is seemingly acting as right-hand man to the mysterious Mr Wilford. She keeps peace within a hierarchy and society that is based on wealth, education and occupation, with classes separated according to carriage and a governance based on the systematic oppression of subordinated class groups which aims to keep working order aboard Snowpiercer. The poor, working class fought their way onto the train to live in the tail, whereas the wealthiest groups brought tickets to live a luxurious life aboard their new home. 

However, we soon discover that Mr Wilford is not aboard the train, with Melanie Cavill being the one to keep order behind the scenes. She is, after all, the woman who designed and built the train and is determined to keep humanity alive no matter the cost. These decisions see her become an anti-hero, a strong-willed character who is willing to sacrifice the few for the many.

She does many questionable things throughout the season, she places our main protagonist, ex-cop Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) in a 'drawer' to prevent chaos, and tortures Josie by freezing her finger off in an attempt to learn of Layton's whereabouts after he escapes from Doctor 'Creepo's' freaky drawers. Melanie later vomits after her attempt at playing interrogator and a fight ensues that ends with Josie's shocking death, which was an act of self-defence. 

Melanie is indeed a character that you either come to like or dislike, but her dedication to the train is one that should be praised and recognised. The character sacrifices her well-being to take on an authoritative role that comes to be despised by many characters, she risks her life to fix an engineering problem underneath the train, and makes many enemies because her actions and morality are often deemed questionable by those who don't have the last remaining lives of humanity in their hands.
Melanie even tells how she sacrificed her own daughter, Alex, to spend time building the train and how after leaving Mr Wilford on the train tracks with the belief that he didn't have the stomach to keep order and balance aboard, she even made the decision to stay with the train instead of looking for her daughter and parents. Her role is one that she seemingly decided to take for herself, because in her eyes there was no one suitable or capable enough to carry the rest of humanity on their shoulders.

It was a complex and tight train that Melanie ran, and her efforts kept the human race alive for seven extra years. But with Melanie's reign of Snowpiercer coming to an unexpected end, and with the difficult decisions coming to land on Layton's lap, it'll be interesting to see whether his heart will also eventually grow cold...because on a train with 994 cars long, sometimes you can be neither hero or villain.

* Season One is now streaming on Netflix*