‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4, episode 13 (finale) preview: Watch a reflective Anson Mount scene

What “Hell on Wheels” does very well is developing an identity of its own, while also playing with some of the familiar techniques and motifs found in many Westerns. For them, silence really is golden as a valuable way of storytelling.

While Cullen Bohannon does not say a whole lot in the sneak peek below from Saturday’s season 4 finale “Further West,” the facial expressions on Anson Mount’s face, even the one for the video thumbnail, say a whole lot. This is a changed man, and someone who cannot look at the railroad in the way that he once did. You can go back and forth on what the catalyst for the man’s change truly was, and whether it was the death of Elam, or Ruth’s decision to allow herself to be executed. To us, one simply led to the next, and after seeing so many people who were practically Cullen’s family died, he realized just how important those close to him really are. The last thing he can afford at this point in his life is losing more.

Therefore, part of the finale will revolve around the character’s attempt to return to Fort Smith, where he can reunite with his wife Naomi and his family. Unfortunately, that is no guarantee of happiness. We’d be worried about the Swede if we were you; this story has been set up for a reason, and obviously this man is not done with Cullen just yet. Given how fantastic Christopher Heyerdahl was during some of the earlier episodes of the season, this is a win for us, but probably not one for Cullen.

At the moment, there’s no telling how this journey will end for Bohannon tomorrow, but with a fifth-season renewal already out there, we can at least guarantee that it will not be the ending.