‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4 premiere review: Cullen vs. The Swede; plus, a baby
For those of you wondering just how where “Hell on Wheels” was going to pick up for its season premiere, the answer was pretty simple: With a train sinking into the river. Durant made a big move in order to prove his mettle, but this locomotive could not handle either the ice or the overall conditions.
The season 4 premiere Saturday night was in part a testament to how many characters tried to squirm out of tough situations. Durant now realizes that he has a hard road ahead after this train fiasco, and it certainly does not help that there is a man coming from the east in John Campbell to govern the region. Given that this is a man who likes to hold court and get what he wants, don’t you think this will be a problem? The only problem that is close to this is the idea of Mayor Mickey. Who thought that this was a good idea?
With no Elam (at least not yet) and Eva seeing her entire life fall apart (and with her being seemingly raped and abused in the night’s saddest moment, given all she’s been through already), we turn to the other focus of the hour: Cullen Bohannon, who is already pondering how he could eventually escape from the Mormon compound he finds himself in right now. Naomi had the couple’s child, but did so while the Swede tormented our hero/killer (weird as that sounds) and kept him at the bottom of the well. Cruel stuff, but these scenes between the two characters were phenomenal. Cullen and Naomi wanted to name the child William, but of course there were immediate threats for him to get out of town.
The episode concluded with a face-to-face between Cullen and the Swede that made it clear that a confrontation is near, there are threats of exposure, and also the possibility of a death on the horizon. In a nutshell, we’ve got a great reason to watch again (even though that was already very much in the cards).
This premiere was in the end a very strong start to the season. The introduction of Mackenzie Porter was pretty effortless and we enjoy the Fort Smith story, and our only real critique we’d have here is Mickey somehow getting a position of power given his history and reputation. Still, this episode was a great reminder of what we missed, and how pumped we are for more adventures from this world. Grade: B+.
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Photo: AMC