Dystopian shows like Snowpiercer feel too much like the real world

Salon.com

"If you watched the second season premiere of Snowpiercer you would have been treated to the sight of a failed insurrection and the first glimpse of a charismatic despot threatening the train's freshly won and newly formed democracy," says Melanie McFarland. "Said autocrat loves cruelty, mind games and thrives on worship. He's also played by the charismatic Sean Bean. For some of us Bean's addition to the Snowpiercer mix may be enough reason to clench our jaws through a second season that launches with more surety and narrative clarity than the first while somehow feeling less watchable because . . . look around. Depending on your living circumstances you may have felt like you've mainly been existing inside of closed-in spaces for almost a year now, almost as if our world has shrunken to the space of a few connected cars. The good news is that we have access to delivery, takeout and the grocery store while these poor schlubs have to exist on whatever they can grow in the agriculture cars. The bad news is that our winter may feel just as bleak, or worse, for reasons other than a manmade ice age. Our real world and this fictional one share a few familiar beats, though... In the way of so many coincidentally on-the-nose dramas, Snowpiercer feels too close to actual living to fully provide us with escape let alone much comfort. But then, this also was true in May when the first season premiered. TNT picked up the show's second season long before the series opener aired or was even scheduled – and the show's third season is already a go. Behold TV's future, whether you enjoy its relevance to the moment or shun it. Although that factor makes it hard to fathom how or why jumping on a weekly journey through a super-train at the end of the world would be worthwhile or even desirable right now, Snowpiercer is an investment in tomorrow."