When the show opens, Thomas ‘Doc’ Durant (Colm Meaney) attempts to get Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount) to stay with the railroad. The pair argue over Ruth (Kasha Kropinski) and her actions, before Cullen insists he is going home. Before he departs, Doc says he will not accept Cullen back again. Cullen shares a goodbye with Psalms (Don Norwood) on his way out.

When Cullen arrives at Fort Smith, he finds a blood massacre and a few missing residents. When Louise Ellison (Jennifer Ferrin) returns to her office, she finds it wrecked and destroyed. She tells Campbell (Jake Weber) that she will not be intimidated.  Ellison rejects Campbell’s offer to work together and thanks him for getting her motivation to continue pumping out stories.

Meanwhile, Cullen finds a line of graves, but not much else. Instead, he begins a long journey to Salt Lake City to find answers. At the motel, Cullen is told he came a long way for nothing. Feels a little like HBO’s Big Love, as Cullen is attacked for his wife’s Mormon beliefs. Meanwhile, Zeke (Daniel Arnold) and Harry Spinoza (Simon Longmore) try to negotiate with The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl). The men refuse to take the deal and tell The Swede and his business partner to get their wagons elsewhere.

Next, we see Dandy Johnny Shea (Andrew Howard) and Mickey McGinnes (Phil Burke). The pair are met by a group of soldiers. It appears John Campbell is attempting to acquire the businesses and is kicking out the business owners. Campbell tells the men to leave in the morning. In the meantime, Cullen tries to receive information about the survivors of Fort Smith. He is told Fort Smith was hit by an outbreak of smallpox and there were very few survivors.

Cullen visits the local hospital and finds someone, with the last name of Hatch. He discovers Naomi’s mother. Meanwhile, a group of men, who are referred to as “The Dead Rabbits”, have been terrorizing the prosititutes at Cheyenne. Eva (Robin McLeavy) confronts Mickey, as the pair agree to travel West with the prostitutes. Meanwhile, The Swede kills Harry Spinoza and forced Zeke into the deal. Gundersen suggests he be sent to the Central Pacific, where he can achieve more.

Cullen confronts Naomi’s mother and requests information about his family. She says they’ve been moved West, where Cullen will never find them. Cullen tells her he will never let the children know of her, before she passes away. Cullen is approached by the nurse, who suggests Naomi died peacefully, since Cullen was there.

Cullen is approached by Collis Huntington again. Meanwhile Campbell confronts Durant and tells him he has begun the process of claiming ownership over all of the town’s buildings. Durant agree to hand over the deed to Chicken Hill, if Campbell can take it from his desk. The two fight and end up in the mud outside, as everyone watches.

Meanwhile, Cullen and Collis share some hard whiskey, while discussing the Central Pacific Railroad. Collis suggests joining the Central Pacific is perhaps the best way for Cullen to find his family. Collis offers all of his resources to Cullen, if he is willing to work for him. He also offers him a small piece of interest in the company.

In the morning, Shea, Eva, Mickey and all of the prostitutes travel West. Meanwhile, The Swede heads West. Doc has made it to the summit, where he sends a telegraph to California and brags about his expedition. Meanwhile, Cullen arrives in California, where he encounters Chinese workers. He meets with Collis and accepts the deal to work with the Central Pacific Railroad. Cullen sets up a deal that he can leave and keep his share, as soon as he finds his family. The pair read the telegraph, which was sent by Durant.

Review


While this was a decent episode of Hell on Wheels, it certainly didn’t feel like a legitimate finale. Instead, this felt more like a good opening episode for the next season. Really, it was little more than a treasure hunt, which led to nothing but a railroad at the end of the railroad.

Still, the episode did achieve something. It appears everyone is headed to California, besides Durant. Everybody from Durant’s past is going to be working against him in the next season. Or perhaps the Central Pacific will be too busy fighting with themselves? While the episode wasn’t great, it was decent and setup the next season nice. Still, a lot of the episode felt like filler. The biggest problem? We won’t see the show against until 2015. Then, we’ll have to wait until 2016 to see the next season’s finale. Sadly, AMC plans on dragging out the railroads construction, until the automobile is invented.

The episode itself deserves a 7.5 out of 10.