AMC has proved that bringing cinema to TV hauls in the viewers. The network has brought us some fantastic TV in Breaking Bad, Mad Men and The Walking Dead and has laid the foundation down for another hit series. Hell on Wheels - written by John Shiban and Mark Richard - takes us to the building of the transcontinental railroad. Post Civil War strife is embellished with whiskey, filth, steel beasts, prostitutes and an anything but ethnic friendly vernacular.
The railroad makes for a perfect melting pot for all walks of life and the casting done for this series was pretty on point. The “builder” of the railroad is - more correctly stated as the face and greedy, low-life Senator - Thomas “Doc” Durant (Colm Meaney). Durant is fighting the bank for loans to make the endeavor across America as the leader of the Union Pacific Railroad. Pressed towards failure but ever relentless, Durant represents the crude business men of the late 19th century looking to weasel every dollar possible out to become wealthy.
Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) is an ex-Confederate soldier and the spotlight of the cast. Mean mugged and pretty eyed, this soldier is fighting with his own losses from the war. Hunting those that took his family away from him, Bohannon has stumbled upon Hell on Wheels - which is actually the name of the town set up while building the railroad - and can’t leave until he takes care of some things.
The rapper Common has a role in Hell on Wheels as freshly emancipated slave Elam Ferguson. Segregated from the white folks, the African-Americans must stick together - even though their new freedom sometimes has them turn on one another. Elam has mysteriously - even luckily - stumbled upon the good graces of Bohannon and Durant and these men seem to have a flourishing future together.
The town is made of tents and never stays anywhere too long. Despite the nomadic lifestyle, the town manages to have a bar, brothel, sheriff, tax collector and a church (where, by the way, the Reverend has taken an Indian under his wing to adapt him to “white culture”). Basically, if this town doesn’t have what you’re looking for than you’re looking for something not from from post Civil War America. I’m saying the representation is like the cast - pretty on point.
The fear of Indian raids is fanatical throughout the camps and town. The war between Native Americans protecting their sacred lands and the white man seeking out manifest destiny is another well represented aspect of this new series. The western genre brings a charming new feel to TV that seems to be overrun by vampires and werewolves nowadays.
AMC has emerged as a new front runner for TV hits. Well done cinematography coupled with good writing and entertaining viewing has become their trademark. Although Hell on Wheels most likely will not share the same lime light seen by Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the character developments and relationships seems to be of a depth that can grab and captivate an audience for awhile. And just when things may seem to get a little dull in the plot line, expect gunslingers to take over and bodies to drop. Similar to The Walking Dead, I wouldn’t get attached to many of the characters because the road they travel doesn’t promise good fortune.
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