‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4: A look inside the mind of Louise Ellison
With there being no new episodes of “Hell on Wheels” coming on AMC until November, we are left with quite a bit of time to sit around, speculate, and wonder what the future for so many of these characters could be.
With this in mind, we were pretty happy when AMC’s official blog for the show published a Q&A session with Jennifer Ferrin, who plays the role of intrepid journalist Louise Ellison on the show. She’s been a fascinating person within Cheyenne as of late, and we’ve had in particular one burning question about her: What is with her relationship with John Campbell.
To a certain extent, we had theorized that her decision to sleep with the Governor was based almost out of self-preservation, and her fear that if she did not get close to him, things would be even worse for her than they would be otherwise given that his attraction to her was obvious. Based on what the actress had to say on the subject, though, there may be something more there:
“One of the things that we really talked about in developing Louise this season was rounding her out a bit more and giving her more of a personal life that the audience could connect to. We were finding that she had such a strong presence as a reporter, but we were lacking what was underneath all of that. So, when John Campbell came into town, it was a real alluring thought to see what their connection would be. They’re both smart and they’re both stubborn. The writers and I really talked about what it would mean for Louise to be attracted – however harmful it was – to a man like John, and what kind of internal conflict that would bring. I enjoy when a character is fleshed out fully, and we wanted to paint her as this complex character that might fall for this person who doesn’t pigeonhole her into a type. I think that leaves it open for her to perhaps find love or just find herself.”
Now, the question is whether or not this potential relationship will be short-lived, given that Campbell’s time in Cheyenne has been tumultuous at best. While he’s still alive for now, he may have to pay at some point for his critical error in hiring Sydney Snow, and setting off a violent chain reaction in the town.
What do you want to see for this character moving forward? Let us know with a comment, and head over here to find out more about our season 5 renewal hopes! Also, sign up to score some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter.