Arka Mukhopadhyay
Samuel L. Jackson has no time to chill in David R. Ellis’ 2006 action-horror airplane movie ‘Snakes on a Plane.’ The movie envisions a scenario where a horde of poisonous snakes turns a heating flight into a cold, slimy hell. The B-movie ambiance notwithstanding, the story reflects how humans can pull through anything under the sun if they work as a team.
Strangers become friends and lovers, lives are lost, and snakes come out of peoples’ mouths in this bizarre tour-de-force. However, the final turbulent minutes may escape you, especially if you closed your eyes since you were too afraid to look at the venomous creatures. How do the snakes end up on the plane, anyway? Let us speculate. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Snakes on A Plane Plot Synopsis
While on a cycling trip in Hawaii, Sean Jones witnesses the horrifying murder of prosecutor Daniel Hayes at the hands of notorious gangster Eddie Kim. Sean hurriedly leaves the scene and comes back to his room only to find out that the murder has become the talk of the town. Eddie Kim and his men attempt to assassinate Sean, but he is rescued by FBI agent Flynn in the nick of time. While Sean is initially reluctant to testify against Eddie, Flynn manages to convince him.
They board the South Pacific Air 121 from Honolulu to LA and brace themselves for a five-hour-long flight that would go miserably wrong. The passengers on the plane include, among others, pop icon Three G’s (who has haphephobia, fear of being touched) and his two sidekicks, a grumpy corporate businessman, a couple returning from Honeymoon, a woman named Mercedes with her dog Mary Kate, air-hostess Tiffany, Grace, Ken, and Claire, pre-teen adolescent Curtis and his brother Tommy, and lastly Flynn, his co-agent John, and Sean.
Flynn and his company hijack the first class, and thus, the first-class passengers have to be downgraded to the coach. Some boarders are upset, but the minor inconvenience is nothing compared to what they would have to face next. Claire loves night flights because passengers mostly sleep and do not cause an uproar, but this flight would be different. Before they know it, an army of snakes unleashes hell on the plane, and the fun flight turns into a living nightmare.
Snakes on A Plane Ending: Can They Land the Plane?
After the snakes reveal themselves, the coach turns into a chaotic hell. The pilot is one of the first to encounter snakes, following the couple who were busy hitting joints and having sex in the bathroom. In another loo, a snake chews off a guy’s dick while he is taking a leak. As the situation escalates out of control, the air attendants escort people to the front end of the flight. Flynn directs to put up a wall between front and back with carrier luggage.
Grace breaks the wall to save a mother and her baby while getting bitten herself. But she succeeds in her mission, and the wall is put back in place. When the snakes attempt to break on through to the other side, Flynn grabs a fire extinguisher to deter the horde. As it turns out, Flynn’s seemingly tough co-agent John has ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes. He dies from a snake bite. Claire finds out that there is a doctor on the flight, but he is dead as well.
Tommy gets bitten, and a young mother sucks the poison out of his hand with the help of some olive oil and her earrings. However, they have no weapon on the flight to fight the snakes other than sporks. Hank Harris from the FBI LA unit gets hold of renowned herpetologist Dr. Steven Price. Price instructs Flynn to document every snake species on the plane to get an idea about the antivenoms needed. Flynn puts an angry mob of passengers to work, but on the downside, the co-pilot, Rick, is also inflicted by a snakebite.
Claire is a little late to discover this, and when she goes into the cockpit, a snake waits to greet her. Meanwhile, the plane heads towards a fall into the Pacific. While Flynn and Claire take the steering wheel, Sean makes an executive decision and guides the passengers upstairs to the first class. Co-pilot Rick gets up on the cockpit, to the relief of Claire and Flynn. Rick gets back on his seat while Claire and Flynn come back to take care of the situation outside. In the first class, the airways are jammed, and the AC stops working.
Cool customer Three G’s loses his calm, takes the gun out of Flynn’s strap, and hollers it at everyone. He goes back to his seat on the insistence of his sidekicks. Meanwhile, with the assistance of Claire, Flynn makes a heroic journey to the netherworld of the cargo hold and manually resets the outflow valve monitor. The situation is seemingly contained, but at this point, they find co-pilot Rick dead and the cockpit infested with snakes. Flynn has had enough, and he shoots at airplane windows.
While the passengers brace themselves, the air suction takes out most of the snakes. Well, the flight is still without a pilot. But Three G’s sidekick Troy has 2000 hours worth of flight experience, and he becomes the new captain. However, we come to know that his so-called “experience” is on a PlayStation flight simulator, but he seems to have it under control. The touchdown is bumpy, but Troy manages to get the plane on the ground, all thanks to his PlayStation experience.
Is Sean Jones Dead or Alive?
The plane finally lands, but it is not the end of the drama. At the airport, Ken’s girlfriend comes to receive him. Both are elated, and they leave for their home. The other passengers keep coming out, and with wartime urgency, Dr. Price administers the antivenom to Tommy and others. But as Flynn and Sean are coming out, a snake appears from nowhere and goes for Jones’ chest.
Flynn does not blink before shooting Sean, and the horrified crowd sees Sean falling down the slope. However, Flynn is not an inexperienced player, and he knows the value of Sean in the case of Eddie Kim. Shortly after, we see Sean walking as he exposes a bullet-proof vest under his t-shirt. Sean is alive, and he is even down for giving Flynn surfing lessons in an epilogue.
Who Leave the Snakes on The Plane? How Do They Do It?
Presumably following the instructions of Eddie Kim, a guy laces the leis with pheromones. The pheromones permeate through the air system of the plane, making the snakes hyperaggressive. On the ground, Harris and Price locate the guy who smuggled the snakes for Eddie Kim. Harris secures the list of all the snakes on the plane. Interrogating the smuggler, Hank Harris becomes sure of the involvement of Eddie Kim in getting the snakes onboard.
But it is not easy to get snakes on the plane, as you may have an idea about the stringent measures taken by airport security. But the movie ends with the music video of “Snakes on a Plane” by Cobra Starship, which gives a plausible theory about how the snakes appeared onboard. For the snakes to appear in the cargo, they have to be checked in as luggage. The band members carry snakes in their bags and guitar cases in the music video, while Maja Ivarsson, a (former) band member, seduces and distracts the security personnel. With the music video, the movie attempts to explain how the snakes ended up on the plane.
Read More: Where Was Snakes On A Plane Filmed?
