‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4, episode 6 reaction: Common, Anson Mount, more discuss Elam story
Last night, “Hell on Wheels” aired one of his most dramatic and different episodes of its entire run in “Bear Man,” and we are still trying to wrap our head around all of it.
The basic way to sum this up is that even though Elam Ferguson is back, he’s not the same Elam we remember. His body and his brain have been badly damaged, and he definitively is no longer of his right mind.
In the video below, Common explains what it was like for him to play some of these pivotal scenes, and how Elam now thinks of himself in a completely different manner than he once did when he had Eva and the two parties were happy. Meanwhile, Anson Mount (who is also a producer in addition to a star) and executive producer John Wirth discuss the key choices that are made throughout here, including the lack of music until the very end, and why they wanted to include the visions of Eva just so that there was still a certain aspect of the Elam so many loved within this new version of the character.
Now, you have to look at the road ahead and wonder if this is really a man who can redeem himself. Redemption feels pretty far away at the moment, especially since there is a potential battle brewing with Cullen Bohannon and not even the familiar can shake the man out of his current state. We’ll find out soon enough, and you could say that the stakes are higher for next week’s episode than they have ever been across the entire run of the series so far.
If you missed it last night, head over to the link here to read our full review. Also, you can sign up now to get other TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: AMC
Margaret Phouston
September 11, 2014 @ 11:07 pm
HOW, I saw nothing wrong about last week episode, “Bear Man.” It just follow the story line of Elam getting attack by a bear, surviving with serious wounds. History/Psychology has taught us that when people such as Eva and Elam are put in situations such as they were, you learn to adapt. This is called survival. Prisoners of war do this. I realize that this is a story, but isn’t life a story. I like to watch HOW and try to guess where it may lead. I especially like The Swede and Thomas Durant. Both are very clever and smart, (look at what they both have gotten into yet managed to convine their way out.
Dave
September 10, 2014 @ 2:44 am
Absolutely a terrible hour of a tv show that I have thoroughly looked forward to each week. If this was the first time that I had watched Hell on Wheels…it certainly would have been the last. Who ever approved this miserable hour long production should be removed from their job. Not sure if I will continue to watch the program!!