The following contains major spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 4, Episode 6, “Bell the Cat,” which premiered on Sunday, August 25, on AMC. Torture is also discussed here.

When Snowpiercer When the AMC series reintroduced Dr. Joseph Wilford in Season 4, Episode 5, “The Engineer,” the AMC series had a lot of explaining to do. Not only was Wilford thought dead by audiences, but the character’s return also threw the entire Season 4 storyline into disarray. Season 4, Episode 6, “Bell the Cat,” serves as the writers’ explanation to viewers of exactly what they were trying to accomplish—and how the rest of the season (and the series) will play out.

This revelation is both positive and negative for fans. On the one hand, “Bell the Cat” finally delivers a lot of important information that the season needed. On the other hand, it hardly feels like an explainer. And when that happens, it’s because something strange or disturbing – or both – is happening. This is an important episode for understanding the story, but viewers don’t need to watch it again.

Snowpiercer clarifies who the villain is in season 4

Season 4, Episode 6 leaves no doubt about who to root for

One of the biggest problems with Wilford’s return was that she Snowpiercer Fans two characters to hate. Was the villainous mastermind of the season still Admiral Anton Milius, head of the ironically named International Peacekeeping Forces? Or was the TV series revealing that Wilford would once again be the villain that Andre Layton and his friends had to defeat? “Bell the Cat” provides a definitive answer to that question. The episode shows that Milius not only treats Wilford like a subordinate, but also does things that even Wilford finds uncomfortable, and the two end up on clearly opposite sides.

Joseph Wilford: Stay on the right side of the tracks, Alex.

The events of Season 4, Episode 6 do not mean that Wilford will not somehow become a villain by the end of the series or that he will be redeemed in some way. In keeping with the age-old concept of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” it is entirely possible that Wilford will help Layton defeat Milius and that the season will then end with another showdown between Layton and Wilford, in which Snowpiercer We’ve come full circle. But “Bell the Cat” also takes the time to highlight just how crazy Anton Milius really is. He goes from taskmaster to tyrant in another episode, and this one is even worse. He burns a soldier to death with one of Wilford’s cigars just because he didn’t tell Wilford he couldn’t smoke in the silo, and the audience sees him briefly lose control of his anger afterward. Later, viewers learn that what he calls a “dry run” actually means he’s sending the Animal Squad to hunt down former IPF soldiers who have been turned into human experiments.

While this episode clearly shows that Milius is the greater of two evils, it does draw attention to how little Clark Gregg is used. Viewers who have watched any part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe know how talented Gregg is from his MCU role as Agent Phil Coulson, and here he has no place other than to play the ruthless, psychotic villain. He does it wonderfully, but Snowpiercer definitely does not reach its full potential. Since each episode focuses on a specific character, it would be interesting if one of the remaining four episodes was told from Milius’ perspective and revealed more about him than the audience currently knows.

Snowpiercer Season 4, Episode 6 reveals many secrets

Nevertheless, puzzles remain

• Stu Whiggins was last seen in Snowpiercer Season 3, Episode 4, “Bound by One Track.”
• Actor Kristian Bruun, who plays Stu, is known for his roles in Orphan Black as Allison Hendrix’s husband Donnie.
• Most recently, he starred in Netflix’s popular spy drama The Recruit as Janus Ferber.

At this point in the season Snowpiercer has no choice but to explain himself. It does this a lot in “Bell the Cat” in a number of ways. First, the first few minutes show how Wilford survived being put in the Track Scaler at the end of season three, how he was found by the Animal Squad, and how Milius recruited him as an ally. These relatively short scenes bridge the gap between seasons.

But more than that, the episode brings back Stu Whiggins – the recurring character portrayed by Kristian Bruun – to claim the severed hand found in season 4, episode 4, “North Star,” and to reveal more about the Animal Squad’s initial attack on New Eden. Stu reveals that he identified soldier Zarah and Dr. Headwood, and lost his hand when he jumped off their snowcat in a panic after realizing Zarah had been murdered. While investigating Stu’s claims, Oz discovers a detonating cord that proves the Animal Squad’s plan is to blow up New Eden; it’s important information that the audience also didn’t have before, and brings New Eden back into the overall plot.

Dr. Nima Rousseau: This place is ugly. But every loss has a meaning.

But even more information is revealed in the silo sections of the episode. Layton wakes up on the floor sealed off by Milius, meets the disfigured soldiers, and learns that they were exposed to a chemical leak. Snowpiercer Details that the chemical leak occurred three years earlier when Nima was testing his Gemini compound – the compound he plans to launch in more rockets to create more areas like New Eden. While Layton learns details from the trapped soldiers, Nima passes them on to Alex Cavill, telling her that the nosebleeds she’s been experiencing are a side effect of contact with Gemini. While this means a lot of talking and slows down the pace of the episode considerably, in the end viewers have a much clearer picture of what Snowpiercer That’s what season 4 tries to do. However, two of the main characters continue to appear off-screen: Sam Roche is still missing and Melanie Cavill is mentioned but still gone.

Snowpiercer goes to strange places to advance the plot

Season 4, Episode 6 has its embarrassing moments

There are some embarrassing moments in Snowpiercer Season 4, Episode 6 – either because they are uncomfortable or because they are simply embarrassing. There are a few long whimpers when Milius forces Wilford to watch as he burns the soldier with Wilford’s cigar. And Oz’s method of getting information out of Stu is not something the audience expects or wants to see again. And watching the abandoned soldiers being lured out in a desperate attempt to get food while much of the sequence is obscured by darkness is still a powerful example of how poorly people treat each other in Snowpiercer‘s post-apocalyptic world. They are considered subhumans and hunting them is a sport.

Andre Layton: You should have caught the bullet.

But those aren’t the only reasons why “Bell the Cat” vacillates between explanatory and weird. Some parts of the episode just feel forced. Sean Bean continues to revel in his shameless portrayal of Wilford, but Daveed Diggs is mostly left to issue more threats against his arch-nemesis. The back-and-forth between Layton and Wilford is already boring, because the audience has heard this song before. Even when they’re supposed to work together, neither character leaves their expected emotional lane. Wilford even tries to convince Layton that they’re alike in a stereotypical way, implying that Layton’s self-interest in getting Liana back is the same as his self-interest in getting his features back. The only part of the episode that really hits a emotional nerve is the tribute Ruth Wardell and Bess Till arrange for Bennett Knox: They carve a “B” into Big Alice. Aside from that, Snowpiercer offers an episode that is important for understanding the season, but is hardly worth watching again.

Snowpiercer airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.