Hell On Wheels - Swedish Dances

I was honestly more excited about watching yesterday's episode of Hell On Wheels than the current piss poor season of Dexter. Every disappointing episode of Dexter has been followed by an uplifting one from this promising show. 'Pride, Pomp And Circumstance' wasn't one of the best episodes, but it had a lot going for it to make it relevant.

So with the settlement getting ready for the arrival of the Cheyenne, Reverend Cole had a small favor to ask Cullen (guess what he was doing at the time? That's right! Glug glug). A group of Indians paying a visit to an American settlement does not exactly constitute a cordial environment. Cole asked Cullen to keep his workers in check, lest the railroad be decorated with scalps of different shapes and sizes.

Remember Senator Jordan Crane? The dude Durant blackmailed in episode 1? The same dude paid a visit to Hell On Wheels this week to oversee negotiations with the Cheyenne and to make sure Doc D was keeping his nose clean (which he wasn't. Not by a long shot). And wouldn't you know it? The Swede has been feeding info to Crane all this time. Crane discovers Durant has siphoned off 147,000 smackeroonies of railroad money for his own personal use. So Crane has Durant's nut sack in a vice grip for a change, and he let him know it.

Meanwhile the negotiation with Chief Many Horses didn't go well. Not that we were expecting it to go well. The Chief's argument made me stop and think for a moment. The Industrial Revolution was a landmark in human history, but it came at great cost. Some had to pay for it more than others. It never hurts to reflect and acknowledge the price people have paid for the advancement of civilization.

Back at the construction site, Toole (fuzzy Irish dude who has a bee in his bonnet for Elam) got in Cullen's face for losing to Elam and for stopping him and his boys from doing what Reverend Cole was afraid of. Cullen (and the rest of us) finally got tired of his accent and his fuzziness, and thus decided to fire his ass. But fuzzy dude had big plans for this episode. Round two involved a second attempt to go with his armed comrades to confront the Cheyenne, but Cullen (doing his Clint Eastwood impression) would have none of it. And next came the coolest scene in the episode!

How awesome was it to see Cullen and The Swede on the same side of things? I was rubbing my hands together going "Hell yeah, it's on!". This show already has loads of cool moments and this was one of the best.

But wait, fuzzy dude wasn't done yet! Now visibly frustrated and pissed, he decided to direct his ire at the person it was originally intended for. It was an added bonus that Elam was in the act of getting cosy with Eva at the time. So will Elam get his ass whooped? Or will Cullen step in? Again?

After the discovery that Joseph's tribe was indeed the same one that was responsible for her husband's death, Lily had a rough time in this episode. She even hinted that her stay at Hell On Wheels will be ending soon. After finally giving Durant the maps, she gave me the impression that she's done trying to be someone she's not.

Overall, the series has given us another solid episode. But to keep the viewers interested, the story needs to move faster than it is right now. A gunfight between Toole and Elam sounds good. Or maybe an entire episode where we just follow The Swede around? Doesn't that sound cool?

Tidbits

- I personally thought the race between Pawnee killer (the Chief's son) and the train was redundant (am I using that right?). Maybe it had symbolic relevance, but I didn't feel it.
- I'm still waiting for Common to miraculously reveal a different facial expression. So the probable ass whooping he's going to get next week is kind of a welcome development. Either that, or he needs to get his bowels evacuated.
- Anson Mount is starting to grow on me as an actor. Maybe it's The Swede's influence.

What do I watch tonight? I miss Deadwood.

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