4
Miss Audrey has always been a bit of a nebulous character, seeming at times like a cipher for the other characters to unload on. But “A Single Trade” suggests that Miss Audrey surrounds herself with performance and spectacle as a necessary survival mechanism. She has long been relegated to the confines and control of others’ fantasies, serving as a high-end escort who had an exclusive arrangement with Wilford in the beforetimes. Alex jokingly refers to Audrey as Wilford’s paramour, leading him to snap at her. Wilford sees Audrey as much more than that and also.much less. He doesn’t see her as a real person with autonomy so much as someone who exists to pleasure him. The episode’s title brilliantly contains the emotional turmoil of Audrey’s situation. It’s just one trade. Frostbite relief for the burned passengers of Snowpiercer in exchange for a party on the Night Car. But presenting it as just a single trade of course obscures the real stakes. Wilford is asking fo