AMC's Hell on Wheels - Season 2 - The series that is unappreciated by so many.

[Droflet]

Without giving anything away I'd just like to say it's about time.

 

[REBerg]

Without giving anything away I'd just like to say it's about time.

Spoiler

But, is the breath fog on the mirror test an absolute confirmation of death?

 

[Droflet]

Hmm, yeah. We'll see.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler

But, is the breath fog on the mirror test an absolute confirmation of death?

No. It's not. Double tapping is a way to make sure that enough of damage has been inflicted to keep the target on ground.

 

[REBerg]

I am 99.99 percent convinced that the deed has been done. That .01 percent is being insistent, though.

 

[REBerg]

This piece puts that .01 percent to rest ... or is that what they want it to do? Hmm.

Hell on Wheels Q&A – Christopher Heyerdahl (The Swede)

 

[REBerg]

5.09 Return to the Garden

Emotional episode.

Spoiler

Bohannon's struggle to do the right thing by his Mormon wife, Naomi, and son, William, was heart-wrenching. I agree that he had made his decision when he chose the railroad over his family.

Bohannon was unrealistic to think that he could simply pick up where he left off once he found them. An Isaac coming into Naomi's life was inevitable. Getting the three of them back into the good graces of the Prophet and the Mormon Church before he left was the greatest thing Bohannon could have done for them.

Bohannon's smoldering relationship with Mei Fong upon his return burst into flames far too quickly. She didn't know what he had just experienced when she literally threw herself at him. Being the rebound girl doesn't usually work out.

I am enjoying Durant, who I see as the Donald Trump of the Old West, reaping the benefits of his swindling ways. To be fair, the real Durant made a much more significant contribution to American history than I foresee Trump ever making.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler

I said to Viv, "He should turn around and just go," when Naomi's new love opened his mouth. The look on their eyes told everything. Bohannan thought he was able to come back as a victor in Naomi's and William's life at wilderness.

The Native Indian at the beginning got it without using any words. He saw there was a devil staring right at him, and there was no other threats needed to be aired. Naomi's boyfriend just came to Bohannan to rub salt in the wounds as if the situation wasn't tricky already. In his shoes I would have stayed away and let the old man play until wife says: "No more."

Just what happened with young Chinese lady. She had enough of that bloody tunnel and went to do some R&R by smoking a pipe. To be honest, man could have used same stuff to take off his stress, and levitate the pain of leaving behind his wife and son.

I am enjoying Durant, who I see as the Donald Trump of the Old West, reaping the benefits of his swindling ways. To be fair, the real Durant made a much more significant contribution to American history than I foresee Trump ever making.

I agree.

 

[REBerg]

5.10 61 degrees
Explosive episode.

Spoiler

Literally more than narratively. Cullen his letting his new lust for Mei cloud his normal good judgement. Or maybe he just doesn't have enough knowledge about nitroglycerin to realize that rocking a table loaded with the compound is a bad idea.
Looks like Chang is more than a little suspicious of Cullen's visit to Mei's tent. He may have guessed the the truth about Mei's gender.

 

[REBerg]

5.11 Gambit

It was interesting to watch an entire episode set on the Union Pacific side of the tracks.

Spoiler

Add Johnny and Maggie to the long list of character casualties as this series heads into the final stretch. The former is no real loss; the latter is a true tragedy, another victim of Durant's entirely self-focused life.

I really wondered at Mickey's tortured approach to the necessity of taking Johnny out. Mickey had already killed his own brother, so what was the problem with offing a cousin nasty enough to rip a guy's eye out?

I had hoped to see Durant break down over Maggie's sacrifice, but I guess he doesn't have enough humanity in his character. Dying broke and alone in shack seemed like an appropriately karmic ending for his life.

5.12 Any Sum within Reason

I want to see Bohannon stop limping around!

Spoiler

Yet another lost love for Bohannon, with Mei apparently on a slow boat back to China at the end of the episode. I was amused at the pained look that flashed in his eyes as he attempted to squeeze out those three little words in delayed response to Mei's earlier love declaration.

I loved the way he shut Chang's mouth with a bullet to the forehead. How unlike the years-long battle he had with the Swede. Bohannon's bum leg and cane didn't seem to hinder his Clint Eastwood-level gunfighting skills. Taking out all of Chang's gang was a bit unrealistic but highly satisfying.

I didn't understand Chang's obsession with recovering Mei, apparently dead or alive. His boss didn't seem to have much of a problem with the situation in the interest of preserving future business connections with the railroad. I guess the issue may not yet be completely settled, or I don't know why Mei had to leave.

 

[ctg]

I'm sorry I'm on pause, and will be till the end of the month, because my graphics card is only passively cooled at the moment, and new one arrives at latter half of the month.

 

[REBerg]

5.13 Railroad Men

Spoiler

Bohannon's collapse at the end of this episode was unexpected and a real measure of Anson Mount's acting chops.
Jeez! I thought he was having a massive heart attack, and this was how the character was to meet his end in the series. He was actually crumpling under the massive emotional weight he had been shouldering during the course of completing the railroad.
His personal losses have been enormous -- including Lily, Ruth, Ezra, Elam, Naomi, his infant son and finally Mei. His spirit had been crushed long ago, but he couldn't give in to it until the goal had been met.

 

[REBerg]

5.14 Done
Another great series comes to the end of the line. (sorry, couldn't resist)

Spoiler

No sellouts for Bohannon -- either testifying against Durant or keeping the "Union Blue" colonel commission (although he had me worried) and heading back west to defend the railroad by killing Native Americans.
Corny though it was, I applauded his decision to ship out to China and find Mei. The man had more than redeemed himself and deserved some happiness in the last half of his life.
Cheers to Eva for rejecting the book of her life story. Her line that she was "done whoring" was perfect. Again, riding off into the sunset on her freshly tamed white horse was corny, but satisfying.

I enjoyed the actors' insights into their characters in the series wrap-up after the finale. I will miss Hell on Wheels. Well done, AMC.

 

[ctg]

It has been a long time since I should have watched the end of this series. I guess the fault was that I really didn't want this to be ending, but as it is with everything, nothing will last forever. I doubt there will be another western starting in near future. The period is done to death and it will only confuse people seeing the year numbers. But that is what made Hell on Wheels so interesting.

It was never afraid of showing how hard the life was in the Wild West, or the speed of progression that was coming over the turn of the century. Back in those days, when Thomas Durant tried his best to swindle his way to the victory over the rail-road crossing America, nobody was aware that days of passenger service wasn't going to be big thing.

In Europe we made our best to connect the countries together, while the Hell of Wheels shows a promise of something that went downhill as soon as the petrol engine started rumbling out from John Ford factory. The railroad they built in the Hell on Wheels is mostly used for trafficking cargo.

You could even claim that it was something Bohannan never thought that as soon as his life work was finished, the rail-road became just a symbol and didn't see it's intended use. Then again this series was never about symbolising the advancement in technology, but the struggle people (white, black, red and yellow) faced during the time after the civil war.

Hell on Wheels showed that torment without hiding the facts that nothing back then was easy. Not even to those that had money to backup their luxurious lifestyle. It might be something we have forgotten, but it certainly wasn't the same to any of these historical men.

If you watch this series know that it's absolute quality that only AMC seems to be able to make. It will show you history and science behind the innovations that made America so great.

As a last note, I think AMC made a mistake when they cut the last season in half. It would have been better if the last season would have been just one long string.