The following contains major spoilers for Snowpiercer Season 4, Episode 2, “The Sting of Survival,” which premiered Sunday, July 28 on AMC.

One of the most interesting aspects of Snowpiercer is how it hinges on classism and elitism. It follows the French graphic novel, as well as the Snowpiercer movie. In three seasons, however, fans got a more in-depth experience of the struggles aboard Mr. Wilford’s engine and why Layton’s rebellion was needed.

It was about freeing people from the shackles of an oppressive hierarchy. It was also about allowing them room to breathe in a survivalist story, with everyone in one confined space jostling for power. As Snowpiercer Season 4 rolls on, the show is spreading its wings outside the tracks and becoming more like The Walking Dead in a good way.

Snowpiercer Has a Fascist Military to Deal With

Snowpiercer Season 4 has Clark Gregg’s Anton Milius leading an army of soldiers onto Melanie’s train. The first episode left it vague why they wanted to raid and control Snowpiercer. Episode 2 confirms they need the engine because their science team at the International Peacekeeping Forces have a method of heating back up the atmosphere and making the world livable again. Melanie sees footage of some places being able to sustain life.

This military just needs the train so they can ride around the tracks globally and launch the missiles with the chemicals into the air from six different points. One of them is New Eden, where Layton and his team have their colony. However, while Milius’ lead scientist, Nima, is kind (for now), the military isn’t. Milius shoots Till to send a message and even tries to sacrifice other passengers in scare tactics.

He’ll put bullets in them, or let them freeze to death. He doesn’t want to, but it’s his job, which nods to villains in The Walking Dead like the Governor. His team has the energy of the Commonwealth soldiers as well. These are people who think brute force and intimidation count for more than diplomacy and ambassadorship. They are megalomaniacs in every sense of the word, who think their authority alone counts in a post-apocalyptic world.

This is why a new rebellion is needed. Melanie hands the train over and goes to work with their scientists, but Ben and Till are forging a revolution. They can’t stand how, nine months later, their people are basically slaves. They are being used to improve the train physically with new machinery for the task. This is why Audrey escapes in a car, gets frostbitten, and clings to life to let Layton know what’s coming: dictatorship — the very kind they battled against with Wilford.

Snowpiercer’s Cure Could Divide the Heroes

Evil can come from within, as The Walking Dead showed with its many devastating civil wars. Season 1 saw many colleagues feeling skeptical about Rick’s plan to get to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he thought there was a cure for the zombie infection, and possibly, serums to protect humans who weren’t turned into Walkers yet. Not all in his camp bought into this plan, which led to infighting. Later seasons of The Walking Dead had the same quarrels. Andrea turned against them, for example, thinking the Governor’s colony offered salvation. With no cure around, refuge became the new cure.

The idea of homes tempted other heroes and even led to Rick taking Alexandria by force. Everyone became corrupted, as though they knew what was best. Shows like The Last of Us and Netflix’s Sweet Tooth played on this idea of a cure causing conflict because not everyone trusted those who offered it up. It spoke to how manipulative messiahs could be in dire, depressing times. Snowpiercer Season 4, Episode 2 is rife with this same turmoil. Melanie is skeptical of the cure, but she goes along to protect her train. Till and Ben, however, fight back against the system.

It’s not certain, however, that others on Snowpiercer feel the same. Miles is a young boy who has a big future. As a genius who can pilot the engine, he may be lured to Milius’ side, thinking sacrifices have to be made to create a paradise. People in New Eden might feel the same way. This could be why Layton’s lead scientist, Mrs. Headwood, betrayed Layton’s team and defected with his baby — an incident that killed Snowpiercer’s Zarah. The child, Liana, looks like she is insurance and leverage to force Layton to hand over New Eden in the name of salvation.

There is no telling who else besides Headwood got messages over the radio and became moles for Milius. As disappointing as it may be, it’s understandable and relatable. These individuals would be thinking of the greater good and how rockets could make Asia, Africa and the Americas inhabitable. People could go home again. When that sort of philosophy and symbol rises, Layton could lose followers. This is why cultists followed Wilford: he offered hope. Milius is enticing with the same deal, but on a much bigger scale.

Snowpiercer Keeps the Unpredictability of Nature & the New World Going

Milius is also making trips for Snowpiercer to add more soldiers to his army. His empire is growing. This is the trope that The Walking Dead used best: humans being the most terrifying monsters around. It was seen in spades on this show with Wilford’s elites. But it’s amplified even more by strangers showing more cutthroat sides. There is no telling what’s at Milius’ base, and what other technology they have. It’s a creative injection that freshens Snowpiercer and weaponizes the environment.

To top it off, Snowpiercer is mixing sci-fi and superhuman elements. When one of Milius’ soldiers gets killed, the blood that leaks out turns to vapor. Season 2 explored the idea of Wilford’s lab creating super-soldiers to withstand the cold. The fact that Milius’ men don’t ever take their helmets off teases they may have done the same to soldiers, but created mutated beings obedient to Milius. It has fans curious about other communes, science cells and ravagers out there, and how they devolved. It’s very much like The Walking Dead, but without snow.

It’s very apparent that communities will feud for territory, amid hidden threats in the tundra. Oz seems to have learned more of this; he stays up in the mountains, as he can’t adapt to life in New Eden. He keeps hearing voices and seeing things. While fans assumed he was mentally fraying, it looks like there are others out there. Whether they are friend or foe remains to be seen. Josie knows snow cats and other mobiles are roving, encroaching on New Eden, so she can tell they are going to be targets.

Headwood was the first missive and Liana was the second. This is the kind of cat-and-mouse game that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan played in The Walking Dead. He struck when the heroes were vulnerable and when mind games sunk in, all to assimilate various groups into his empire so he could rule all the lands and rebuild society in his image. In this case, Rick had Alexandria, Layton has New Eden and Snowpiercer to worry about, and Milius is the man playing god. All as part of a plan that the heroes can’t predict.

Ultimately, Layton’s camp has to rally to extinguish external and internal threats. They don’t have the undead around, but with armies eyeing their home and mysterious beings on the outskirts, they may well find that in time they are the walking dead, but under much more frigid circumstances that will make the escape even harder. The Walking Dead had many vehicles, rivers, forests and asphalt roads, but Snowpiercer is a much more isolated world with terrain that can’t be used and with minimal allies around.

Snowpiercer airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on AMC.