Infinity Train: The Family Tree Car

January 10, 2020 4:20 PM - Season 2, Episode 2

Chasing after Alan Dracula, MT and Jesse find themselves descending down a literal family tree - whose main branches seem to be "Hatfield" and "McCoy". But when neither of their approaches seem to address the issue of descending a literal house divided, the two are going to have to learn to (grudgingly) work together...
posted by NoxAeternum (3 comments total)

So, this episode served as a good demonstration of something that a lot of people hoping for a second season realized - just because we know the broad strokes of what the Train is about doesn't mean that the mystery of the Train is solved at all. Instead, it shifts from "what is the Train?" to "okay, why did this person wind up a passenger?" - which in some ways is a more interesting question. And while we don't get a full answer to what brought Jesse to the Train, we get some hints, which are shown to us through his actions and interaction with MT and the tree. There's a scene about halfway through where Jesse is trying to placate several members of the tree, and we see his number increase as he acts conciliatory to them, only to decrease when he stands up for himself - a major clue towards why he's now a passenger.
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:41 PM on January 10, 2020

It's interesting to see how there's a problem to be solved regarding the feuding tree families, but it doesn't need to be done to progress to a lower number.

Also, I think since the whole season dropped in a week, it might be better to just have a season 2 post rather than per episode.
posted by Marticus at 2:44 PM on January 12, 2020

A passenger's number reflects the distance between them and resolving the trauma that brought them to the Train, with them hitting 0 when they've finally come to terms with it and have resolved to move forward in a positive direction - for Tulip, this was accepting that what has happened has happened, it's not the end of the world, and all she can do is move forward (importantly, the revelation that unlocks her exit also gives her the resolve to reject taking it until she sets things right.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:59 PM on January 19, 2020