‘Hell on Wheels’ season 4: We discuss the future of AMC’s Saturday Western
This has been quite the revealing summer for AMC when it comes to their plans for the future. Are they still producing some original shows? Sure, but this is starting to become the “American Mundane Channel” when it comes to fresh and innovative ideas. Is “The Walking Dead” a smash hit? Then give it a spin-off. Give “Breaking Bad” a prequel! Let’s find a way to make a “Talking Mad” show; someone call Chris Hardwick? (Okay, we actually do kind of want that.) Our point here is that the network has almost abandoned what initially made them such a success story back when they were not making any original programming at all.
AMC has not exactly had a banner year when it comes to shows outside of their core franchises. “The Killing” was killed off yet again (despite being the best season they ever made), and their handling of “Low Winter Sun” was a disaster with the way in which they shoved it down the throats of anyone who watched “Breaking Bad.” Not even Gale could save it from the likely cancellation coming next week.
This brings us now to “Hell on Wheels,” a series that there is a reason to celebrate. For one, it’s visually stunning, and there is nothing else like it on TV right now. Westerns these days are mostly generic and boring, and you hardly hear anyone sitting around and talking about just how badly they want to greenlight another show with sweeping prairies and horses on the screen. The ratings for the show are not “hit” numbers, but they are solid … especially on a night in Saturday where most shows fall victim to their own sort of Western shootout.
As of right now, the fate of the series is not known, but based on the numbers and the quality this year, we still expect a season 4 to happen next year. This summer was a difficult one in particular for the show, as flooding in the Calgary area caused production to go all over the place. Just imagine what the show could do now during a filming period without a natural disaster, and if they (god forbid) actually got some publicity from elsewhere. There is an interesting story here, and given the setting there are dozens more tales left to tell if given the opportunity.
We will let you know if and when news about a possible season 4 comes around. Just remember this: We’ll be rooting for it just as much as you are.
Be sure to read our full review for the finale!
Photo: AMC
Patricia
October 29, 2013 @ 4:44 pm
We can’t leave him in the Mormon Fort!
Wretchedjules
October 28, 2013 @ 1:37 pm
Deserves to be renewed. Just an excellent show overall.
JIM
October 24, 2013 @ 7:18 pm
Great show, Belongs in the Top 10. One Of My Favorites. BRING IT BACK.
DD
October 19, 2013 @ 12:26 am
Totally fantastic addictive show. Great acting, storytelling and production. What gorgeous scenery in Calgary. Wouldn’t miss an episode and of course I own all past seasons! Please let there be a Season 4 and 5 !!
Erik Weston
October 9, 2013 @ 8:27 pm
Season one was very good. Season 2 was epic. Season 3 was garbage. I know they have changed show runners every season, but the guy who took over for season 3 basically undid all of season 2 within the first episode. The writing and stories were lazy. I only want a season 4 if they get a better show runner.
Deborah L. Brown
October 9, 2013 @ 5:47 pm
Wow. Great review. Love Hell on Wheels
Ed Blake
October 9, 2013 @ 3:30 pm
LOVE HELL
Mgumaer69
October 9, 2013 @ 2:20 am
Please please please let there be a season 4…I love love love this show!! I don’t watch much tv but this one I am hooked. Waiting with baited breath & will be excited for another season!!
Granny
October 8, 2013 @ 11:07 pm
PLEASE PLEASE KEEP THIS SHOW GOING. IT IS MY FAVORITE
Mahlon Bryan
October 8, 2013 @ 5:58 am
Got to be the best show on any channel-can’t wait to see what happens next. Every character brings meaning to this show–a realistic dramatization of what was involved in the building of the first transcontinental railroad. WHY this show did not receive EMMYS is a mystery to me.
Chkntalker
October 8, 2013 @ 2:45 am
I love He’ll on Wheels. I am already looking forward to season4
OKB
October 7, 2013 @ 9:54 pm
Great show. I love it
anthony
October 7, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
they need to stop messing with all the good shows maybe the writers need to come up with good ideas
Connie Hayes
October 7, 2013 @ 3:57 pm
I didn’t like the ending of season 2 when they killed Lilly Bell, and then to leave us just hanging after ending season 3, don’t do that to us! Please bring Hell On Wheels back for another season. Bohanon has still too much to do and please let Elam have survived the bear attack so that he and Eva can get back together.
swedehart
October 7, 2013 @ 2:01 pm
Please, please bring it back next season.
James Douglas
October 7, 2013 @ 12:47 pm
The Best show on TV in My BOOK. I really enjoy most any show AMC has to offer but this is the BEST !!! Great actors Great Story and REAL !!!!
dan
October 7, 2013 @ 10:35 am
just watched the finale of season 3 i hope they make a season 4, i love this show so much and every time i love a show it gets cut short. lets hope they keep on
Christy McKee
October 7, 2013 @ 6:27 am
We need Hell on Wheels to come back for Season 4. It’s America. There are so many good stories to tell about building the West. This season there is such a concentration of cop shows and reality TV and “Wheels” is a refreshing change. Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel aired Saturday nights for many years. Elam and Cullen Bohannon are interesting and complicated men.
Uttiya Goswami
October 7, 2013 @ 5:24 am
I am In faraway India and I am absolutely addicted to this show. There’s got to be a Season 4 with at least 10 episodes, if not more. And I think Elam has survived because he killed the bear. And I would love to see the fake bishop/Swede getting whacked for good and Durrant thrown in jail again. Hell of a show.
BEAR
October 7, 2013 @ 4:37 am
Hell on Wheels is a true relief form the rest of the junk on TV. The season 3 finale
provided for a terrific segway into season 4. Already waiting!…
Tina Godwin
October 7, 2013 @ 3:37 am
Finally a show worth watching on Saturday night and that my husband and I both enjoy.Please bring this show back.THE BEST ON T.V.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Becky
October 7, 2013 @ 3:32 am
I never post on these things but I just have to speak up this time. Hell on wheels is captivating, always keeping us guessing. We wish it was on for 2 hours every night. We hope for a season 4 as well and wonder why it isn’t getting high ratings. Honestly, why are people watching the other garbage on tv and not something as original as “Hell”. I personally am still upset by the death of Lilly Bell and now I am praying the Psycho Swede doesn’t hurt the sweet Mormon girl. Really, we didn’t see that coming. Are you listening AMC, we are already wanting season 4 to be here as this is the only show we are recording every week.
kyle creel
October 7, 2013 @ 2:26 am
Just a little correction; the Winchesters are 1866 Yellowboys in 44/40 caliber, and the cartridge handguns are Colt Mason/Richards conversions also done starting in 1866. Colt would take your black powder cap’n ball revolver and for a “small” charge would “convert” it to a cartridge firing revolver. They bored out the cylinder and barrel from 36 to 40 or 44/40 caliber and added a loading gate and ejector rod. I owned Uberti reproductions of each of these weapons and enjoyed shooting them very much. Both weapons were available well into the late 1870’s. Originals of both are extremely prized by collectors and can cost in excess of $5000.00 if they are in very good condition. This is one of the things I noticed about the show, accuracy and attention to detail.
Justin P
October 7, 2013 @ 2:15 am
Canceling this show would come shortly before canceling my cable. Very shortly. Hope AMC knows what they have here, the only series worth watching on television.
Kathy Palmer
October 7, 2013 @ 1:59 am
My husband and I love Hell on Wheels. AMC would be crazy to not do an fourth season.All the actors are great but Anson Mount is beyond any other. I compare him to Clint Eastwood. Please bring it back!!!!!!!!!!!!
Connie Hayes
October 7, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
I enjoy watching that show every week. Please bring it back for season 4. It would be great if Elam survived the bear attack. Bohannon has to get rid of the Swede i.e. now Mormon Bishop and Durant. Will be very disappointed if they leave us hanging!
Gene Hudson
October 7, 2013 @ 1:07 am
Me and all my friends watch Hell on Wheels….we are Western fanatics…Please bring it back for anothere season
D.M.E.
October 6, 2013 @ 9:26 pm
They have to have a season 4, best show in a long time, tired of reality tv there has to be a season 4, the acting is great and great story line.
Jeremy Shine
October 6, 2013 @ 9:15 pm
I think in season 4, Elam, should be rescued by the Cheyenne. Impressed by his bravery as a potential warrior, his life is spared. After spending some time with the Cheyenne he learns fighting strategy until he is confronted by Bohannon and persuaded to rejoin him to reclaim the rail road.
knightoftheiguanas
October 6, 2013 @ 7:59 pm
Season 4 with a surviving Elam, guarantees the current numbers plus some. They should make sure the shows old seasons are available thru stuff like Netflix and Hulu to get more viewers for the future. Cuz anyone that watches a season is hooked.
Debbie smith
October 6, 2013 @ 7:33 pm
I love this show.. Has to be a Season 4.. Tired of all the other crap they show on TV, this is different old school with a new flair. Let’s get revenge on Durante and that god awful swede . Hope ELam survives
Drukin
October 6, 2013 @ 6:32 pm
A good series, but like many western themed shows and movies, they use guns made before they’re time,i, e, winchester 73s and colt 45s with pre-made cartridges, these weapons were not made until 1873-4 not 1867, a not uncommon mistake Iam afraid,
kyle creel
October 7, 2013 @ 2:28 am
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Nannie
October 6, 2013 @ 6:15 pm
Please please renew this show!
Sunny Las Vegas
October 6, 2013 @ 5:16 pm
I WATCHED ALL OF THE HELL ON WHEELS MARATHON. CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON 4. THIS NEEDS TO CONTINUE UNTIL THE GOLDEN SPIKE IS DRIVEN AS THE TWO RAILROADS JOIN.
Reenactorlady
October 6, 2013 @ 3:09 pm
Season 3 was a disaster. No way would Cullen have had sex with a young girl who was the daughter of his host. How can you have him breaking that kind of hospitality rule? He is southern for goodness sake. Then have him all ready to marry her thus upholding honor that never would have been broken in the first place. Why is the girl a dutiful daughter now and yet did something like have sex with a total stranger? The show never provided an explanation of how that happened , just bam they were having sex. He would not be with whores and how long did it take him to have sex with Lily? Bad bad plot device. Anti climactic death for Elam, and the whole Ruth thing ruins her legitimacy as a character. It makes her a joke. Only good episode this season was “one less mule” . Too bad they choose a bad gimmick to create a confrontation with the swede again which I acknowledge must happen. Really bad place to leave off if there is no season 4. If there is hopefully they will find a way to return Cullen Bohannon to the great character he was in the first 2 seasons. As of now he has been emasculated.
apstar
October 6, 2013 @ 3:23 pm
Are you Cullen’s psychotherapist? If not, you have no idea what he’s thinking or why he acts the way he does. He’d had more than his share of misery and isn’t exactly an angel or devil (as poignantly pointed out by “Bishop Joseph”). As to Elam, he may not really be dead for all we know, just badly wounded. As to Ruth, ministers are themselves not without sin, so the portrayal as Ruth as a human who’s made mistakes herself is not unrealistic. Something tragic is bound to happen to free Bohannon — I suspect the boy will identify the Swede as a fraud and his world will hopefully come to a tragic end. Cullen’s young wife may possibly die in childbirth, ending that chapter of his life and once again robbing him of wife and child. We will see — or not.
And, BTW, the cinematography is first class — in the same league as Breaking Bad and Vikings.
Horace Cense
October 6, 2013 @ 2:38 pm
Hell on Wheels is an outstanding show. It is one of very few that I have made an attempt to watch all episodes over the years. Bones jumped my shark when the baby came along, I’m tired of hearing about Red John on the Mentalist but I’m still hanging in there with Castle.
There are to many questions left unanswered to let this program end.
Candace Holden
October 6, 2013 @ 2:23 pm
I love this show… Please come back and don’t kill Common off… then I want watch….
knightoftheiguanas
October 6, 2013 @ 7:54 pm
Way too much bromance and good dialogue going on between Bohannon and Elam for them to kill him off like that ( although that was the biggest bear I have ever seen besides polar bears )
They have to bring him back. Have to! Best acting I have seen Common do, and he is no slouch. Great stuff.
Debra
October 6, 2013 @ 6:46 am
My absolute favorite show. Well done, insanely interesting, great character and story development. Hope there is a season 4…. and 5…. and….
knightoftheiguanas
October 6, 2013 @ 7:55 pm
yup
Spencer
October 6, 2013 @ 6:37 am
No season 4 would be so disappointing..
Kathleen Walsh-White
October 6, 2013 @ 6:15 am
this is such a fantastic story; a terrific reflection of the tangle between good and evil. Surely, they will do Season 4. There is so much potential here. The young boy must recognize “The Swede” for his evil doings..and Cullen and his new Bride must have a new beginning. If Elim is truly dead..and not just severely wounded, that is a hard loss for all of us. Eva is now truly a lost soul-and Durant is high on his faux success. I am working on a book of historical fiction, and the details regarding the history of the RR, the shady doings along with the heroic work of so many…inspiring and also gave me some good leads. Yes, Please do advocate for Season 4. Let us all know how we can help! Find me on FB
Laurie Edwards
October 6, 2013 @ 9:40 am
I can’t believe this discussion is the right place for such self-serving drivel as a plug for your own book.
jake
October 6, 2013 @ 5:59 am
this frigging show rocks, cant wait for season 4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carol
October 6, 2013 @ 5:40 am
I feel in love with this show the very first time I saw all of the wonderful photography and the realistic sets. I could almost feel the sweat and pain of the characters. It’s the best western I’ve ever seen. I thought Lonesome Dove was good, but this is better.
Heather
October 6, 2013 @ 5:40 am
love this show more than anything!! better be a season 4 Heather
Luke
October 6, 2013 @ 5:28 am
Does anyone really think that baby is truly Cullen ? I thought Ruth would have been the nice choice… But he’s not officially married. Sweet girl but I think the young boy that wae hung is the father. Cullen just happen to be available.
Dutch girl
October 6, 2013 @ 5:23 am
This is the best show on television! The writing and acting is phenomenal. And Cullen…even my husband agrees he’s hot as hell!
TheRonin
October 6, 2013 @ 4:38 am
Love the show!
Really hope we all get a season 4, if AMC deems the show isnt doing the ratings it wants, costs too much etc…then at least finish the damn show…dont leave your viewers with the season 3 finale. One thing i despise about tv programs is that these networks seem to leave them hanging a lot…makes me feel ripped off.
Lenore Jameson
October 6, 2013 @ 3:31 am
love this show come back please,
June Mann
October 6, 2013 @ 3:20 am
Bring on season 4 ASAP!!!! Hell on Wheels is an awesome show and I can’t wait to see who really dies, Elam or the bear? I vote that u knock off the bear, the show would be lost without Elam!!!!
aaron916
October 6, 2013 @ 3:11 am
love hell on wheels hope it comes back.
Chris Barrow
October 6, 2013 @ 3:11 am
I hope there will be several more seasons that would show how history has progressed also. I LOVE THIS SHOW! They need Elam as much as Cullen.
Chris Barrow
October 6, 2013 @ 3:11 am
I hope there will be several more seasons that would show how history has progressed also. I LOVE THIS SHOW! They need Elam as much as Cullen.
Jennie
October 6, 2013 @ 3:11 am
Hey don’t leave us hanging here! There has to be a season 4! Come on now we can’t wait, season finale was great!!
Nimmi Noodle Kathy Kelly
October 6, 2013 @ 2:59 am
Hell on wheels is my ALL TIME FAVORITE show! We can’t wait to see it on Saturday nights. What a nail biter…..good God it’s intense!
Ryan Olaf
October 6, 2013 @ 2:46 am
Love the show. Compared to the crap on TV, it is fantastic. Really hope the ‘Powers That Be’ haven’t killed off Elam Ferguson, his charactor would be missed…
May
October 6, 2013 @ 2:45 am
best show on TV please let it continue
Sandy
October 6, 2013 @ 2:41 am
Spell bound from the start, nice to see a good western, with a story and some great actors! Wonderful change from all the other things they call shows on TV now days! Stay with us “Hell on Wheels” and please don’t loose anyone else! Except maybe the Sweed, Bohannan can take care of him!
Will be watching for season 4!
rideshorses
October 6, 2013 @ 2:36 am
Absolutely the best show! Please, there has to be season 4!
Chickles1
October 6, 2013 @ 2:31 am
They’d best renew it!!! It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time!!!!
Bruce
October 6, 2013 @ 2:28 am
We just finished watching the final show and honest to GOD there better be a season 4. It is very true there is a lot more stories to be written about that time in our history. This is also the time when the Indian wars were getting very bad. There needs to be a season 4.
I have to see how how Colin takes care of that whacko pseudo Mormon Bishop, Also his black buddy ought to make it through the bear attack for season 4. Stretching it I know but hey it is TV right?
Denise Smith
October 6, 2013 @ 2:55 am
Elam is the name of the African American character portrayed by Grammy award winning rapper/actor Common.
Bruce
October 6, 2013 @ 3:03 am
Well he is one hell of an actor he does an awesome job hope he survived that bear
Granny
October 8, 2013 @ 11:10 pm
I believe he will somehow survive.
John in NC
October 6, 2013 @ 2:10 am
Cullen Bohannon for CONGRESS!!!!!!!!!!
Metiscree
October 6, 2013 @ 2:07 am
It’s #1. I for one am sick of all the reality shows. It’s great to watch a show that has great acting and content. It better be back next year.
loyal viewer
October 6, 2013 @ 2:06 am
Hell on wheels is the best show on tv! Very few shows I watch weekly sons of anarchy, duck dynasty but hell on wheels is the only one I make sure I don’t miss.
manofsteel78
October 6, 2013 @ 2:03 am
Must have a season 4!!!! Colin Bohannon has to save the railroad and kill Durant
mommafaith
October 6, 2013 @ 1:50 am
They MUST have a season 4…best show on TV right now !
billy the kid
October 6, 2013 @ 2:05 am
agreed
cory
October 6, 2013 @ 12:35 am
Season 2 was the best hope there are afew more seasons
Nickolas Kossup
October 5, 2013 @ 11:01 pm
HELL ON WHEELS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! Id be crushed if they didnt have a fourth season.
M
October 5, 2013 @ 10:12 pm
Its been a great season with great actors. I would love a 4th season of the show!!!