20 replies to this topic

[SlovakPrincess]

So all I really got out of this show was that almost everyone in the Wild West was dirty and creepy. And that poor Colm Meaney never gets cast as a nice guy. This show drags quite a bit for being so violent and crazy. The best scenes were Lily hiding out and Cullen making his escape.

Lily sewing up her own wounds like that was pretty bad-ass. Of course, then she passed out, but given all she's been through, I think we're lucky she's remained conscious at all.

This cracked me up:
"How do you put your trousers on, son?"
"Sir?"

[ReadIshmael]

There's still a lot going on here that I can't make myself care about, but the critics were right that the "Swede" really livens things up...dude is hella creepy. And I enjoyed Bohannon's escape and his appeal to Colm Meaney (whatever his character's name is) to save his life and give him a promotion.

[Puds38]

I liked this episode a bit more than last week, but I'm still having a hard time learning characters. I can't recall anyone's names and can only tell the really obvious ones apart (Common, the woman from the massacre, Colm Meaney, The Swede & the guy who was to be hung). I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing.

[hunterhunted]

I wish the show hadn't sadled Bohannon with the revenge motivation. It is the single most boring thing about his character. In fact, Bohannon only got interesting when went to Colm Meaney for the job. I'm on the fence with this show. I like the supporting cast, but I'm bored by the protagonist.

[thuganomics85]

Found it much better then the pilot, but still has a ways to go to being actually good. I agree that the best parts where when Bohannon and Doc meet for the first time and the Swede. Really, I think he alone made things more interesting; found him very creepy and where they go with this character can be intriguing. I'm not only curious about if he'll try to get revenge on Bohannon for outmaneuvering him, but if he'll find out it was Common who did the actual killing, and what is going on between him and the Irish brothers. I kind of like those fellas, so I'm already concerned for their well-being.

Still, I'm also having problems learning everyone's names, besides the two leads (even then, I usually of Doc as Colm Meaney first, and then I remember the actual character name. But everyone else is the just the preacher, the Irish bros, the Swede, the Native American who is civilized, the only woman that has speaking lines on this show, and, of course, Common. I actually like some of them like the bros, Common, and the woman (stitching herself was badass); or at the very least see potential in them (the preacher, the Native American), but I couldn't tell you any of their character's names if you offered me a million bucks or put a gun to my head.

And that poor Colm Meaney never gets cast as a nice guy.

Aw, I thought Miles O'Brien was a nice guy. He could be cranky and a hardass, but I don't blame him considering some of the shit that went down on Deep Space Nine.

Edited by thuganomics85, Nov 14, 2011 @ 3:13 AM.

[nodorothyparker]

I liked this episode better than the premier, but that's often the case for me. I like the addition of the Swede very much and loved his backstory of learning to control people through numbers. The relationship between him and Cullen will hopefully be interesting going forward now that they're going to be on the same payroll.

I too wish they hadn't saddled us with the typical vengeance story or at least hadn't been so heavy-handed about it. It makes Cullen very one-note. I'm really struggling to get a sense of who he is or why we should care at all about him beyond THEY KILLED HIS WIFE!!! although I did like his escape and Durant is right that he must have enormous balls to waltz into his office and ask for a promotion after all of that. I'm still having trouble getting some of these characters names down too though.

[eforeman]

Missed the premiere, but I saw enough in last night’s episode to want to keep watching (and go back and see what happened first). The “Swede” is a great character. He hides a lot of menace underneath his well-tailored clothes. Main guy, Cullen, he seems alright although having missed the first episode I’m trying to resolve how he was able to take temporary refuge with freed slaves (or free northern blacks, not sure which) if he was a confederate army officer. The little tip of the cap at the end between him and Common as a sign of respect seems clichéd, but perhaps there would be an understandable reason depending on what went on in the first episode.

The stitching up of the wound by the woman was, well, difficult to watch. Colm Meaney seemed a little over the top, but he had the best line of the night (about Cullen’s trousers). I’ll have to remember that one for a sig.

Edited by eforeman, Nov 14, 2011 @ 6:15 PM.

[8matt8]

I was one of the few who really enjoyed the pilot and I think the second episode was even better. I love the gritty feel of the lighting,costumes etc. An earlier poster compared it to a spaghetti western but I don't think that's such a bad thing. I enjoy over the top characters as well as low-key mysterious characters. I like the fact that it incorporates such beautiful landscapes and still has a tawdry and kind of dangerous feel when showing the camp scenes. It's enjoyable escapist entertainment and I hope it stays on the air for quite a while. ps: I totally agree that the "swede" is one creepy dude!

[nodorothyparker]

I find myself willing to cut the show a little slack and give it more time to get it bearings because of the cinematography. The lighting, washed out color and general grittiness give it a very definitive sense of style.

That and it's hard not to like the two Irish guys who have the right number of toes between them.

[taiko]

I flashed to "The Greek" of The Wire when The Swede said he wasn't even a Swedish. But hearing a prisoner tried to eat him minutes after The Walking Dead was on, oh my.

[smithgirl]

[quote] So all I really got out of this show was that almost everyone in the Wild West was dirty and creepy. [quote]

Just like Deadwood, without as much profanity. But Deadwood had Tim Olyphant (super hot!). This one is all grit and no eye candy.

Not sure I will stick with this - they treat the audience as idiots, using too many cliched ideas. Three stuck in my craw this time: The Swede was in Andersonville, because the viewers are too stupid to know there was more than one POW prison. #2, when Bohannan takes over Johnson's tent, there is the piece of needlework his wife had been working on in his memory. How flippin' convenient and totally unbelievable. Then the Indian war party could not track a stumbling, bleeding woman - geesh, she had to be leaving a trail a cub scout could follow.

Edited by smithgirl, Nov 15, 2011 @ 9:14 PM.

[Prospero]

I too wish they hadn't saddled us with the typical vengeance story or at least hadn't been so heavy-handed about it. It makes Cullen very one-note. I'm really struggling to get a sense of who he is or why we should care at all about him beyond THEY KILLED HIS WIFE!!!

ITA. That's what I thought was so great about Deadwood - it had lots of characters, all rich, charismatic and each with a different agenda. Hell on Wheels lacks this.

Also the story is just too vanilla for my taste. A noble southern gentleman is on a vengeance mission decorated as a western. He is opposed by typical enemies and typical "unlikely allies". The richest and most powerful guy on the show sees him for the first time and is already praising the size of his balls. And then he is praising himself for five minutes straight and gets a job. And everybody just doesn't give a crap that he isn't big for respecting authority and had just murdered that guy. Meanwhile, a pretty lady, who has just lost her beloved husband (how convenient!), is making her way from point B to point A, where our protagonist currently resides. Oh boy, I wonder what might happen there!

Swede was fucking awesome, but IMO that's mostly due to the actor's delivery - the lines were ok, but nothing too good. I've seen Christopher Heyerdahl on Supernatural before and he was just as good (if not better - he got to be pure evil there). But it looks as if they are planning to put him in the background as an angry dog who occasionally bites the protagonist, but just not too hard. I hope that I am mistaken though.

The whole setup and character interactions remind me more of a romance novel than of a western. It's pretty, the directing is fine, but it doesn't feel right. It's like Downton Abbey in the prairie.

[vadafaith]

It's like Downton Abbey in the prairie.

Woah. Cold.

I'm on this side of liking it. I admit to being a sucker for Westerns, so maybe I'm easy to please.

I thought this episode was much better than the pilot. Although after watching ep 2, I gave the pilot a second pass and it grew on me. The sets and costuming are fantastic. And the cinematography.

Things I liked:
1. The two muscle guys the Swede send to fetch Bohannon tell him it's for a job. If they'd told him the truth, they would have had a fight on their hands. This way he went quietly. Smart writing.
2. The Swede. Cold, dead eyes. How do you "act" dead eyes?
3. The Swede basically offering Bohannon an out if he'll implicate one of the Blacks. He doesn't care who killed Johnson, as long as he presents the appearance that someone paid for it. More of those "Immoral Mathematics."
4. Lily's toughness and resourcefulness. She pulled a piece of whalebone from her corset and made a needle out of it. Although the Cheyenne not being able to track her is hard to believe.
5. Bohannon's escape was suspenseful. I liked that they showed him baiting the Swede without giving himself away.

About the revenge plot, one possibility is that Bohannon tracked down one of the perps, who told him who the other perps were/are (maybe thinking he'd be spared if he talked -- or die quickly instead of slowly). Only he left out the sergeant for some reason. So Bohannon tracks one of them to D.C. Maybe the guy goes to mass every day? Has a routine that B. can exploit. After D.C., the next name on the list is Johnson. Who, though he fought for the North, was a racist SOB.

Regarding Bohannon's supposed liberal attitudes towards freedmen, I don't see him sitting down with Elam to have a drink or hang out. He isn't going to socialize with the African Americans. He may have freed his own slaves to make his Northern wife happy, but it doesn't sound as if it was from any real conviction of his own.

Him going to Doc Durant was a hail Mary, I admit. But he didn't have much choice. No place to hide, no place to run. And IMO, the arguments he used were compelling. Building the railroad was like fighting a war. He might be an asset.

And the foreman position was definitely available.

[nicepebbles]

Watching this episode made me glad I was born in 1979.

Jumping on the Swede is creepy train. Seriously. I don't remember him from SPN.

I don't care about the Irish brothers. I probably should've paid more attention to their plot in the Pilot. What I did pay attention to in this episode didn't do anything for me.

I don't mine the revenge plot. I liked this episode and the pilot even though there are things that make me go, "Yeah, right." Like

The Swede was in Andersonville, because the viewers are too stupid to know there was more than one POW prison. #2, when Bohannan takes over Johnson's tent, there is the piece of needlework his wife had been working on in his memory.

TPTB really didn't need to go there with these two. It just smacks of lazy writing. Did being in Andersonville versus some other POW camp really make a difference to the story? (Admittedly, I know nothing about POW camps during that time.) And why would Johnson keep such a thing?

Lily was badass in stiching herself up. I don't remember how she got away so I can't be sure if it's unbelievable that she got away. Were the NA that distracted? I doubt she was running very fast for very long.

Someone in the pilot episode thread mentioned Cullen having this deep gravely voice. Either he stopped doing that or I just don't think his voice is that deep and gravely. He did seem to me to have a different demeanor this episode than the pilot. Almost like he was less burdened, easing into this life. Which doesn't make sense because he should be more pissed off that there is some guy out there that's responsible for his wife's death and he doesn't know who that person is.

The richest and most powerful guy on the show sees him for the first time and is already praising the size of his balls. And then he is praising himself for five minutes straight and gets a job. And everybody just doesn't give a crap that he isn't big for respecting authority and had just murdered that guy.

I buy this because it's been shown what Doc's all about, money. I also think most people would be in awe, so to speak, of someone who had the balls to do what Cullen did. Cullen had to sell himself to Doc or else he was going to be hanged.

[taiko]

Did being in Andersonville versus some other POW camp really make a difference to the story? (Admittedly, I know nothing about POW camps during that time.)

Besides giving a Civil War buff the chance to show off his superior knowledge on the subject since Andersonville would be the only POW camp known by those with just general knowledge of the era, I can't see how. There is no opportunity for nit picking like a character saying he was rescued from Auschwitz by the Americans instead of by the Soviets.

[Prospero]

I also think most people would be in awe, so to speak, of someone who had the balls to do what Cullen did.

Why would anybody be in awe? He was already sentenced to death - a dead man walking, what's the worst thing that could've happened? He could pretty much do anything at all, worst case scenario - it would have ended the same way as if he did nothing.

[nicepebbles]

How would it have ended the same way if he did nothing? If he had done nothing he would've been hung.

In awe because the last place you'd think someone in his position would go would be to the boss that have given someone the authority to kill him.

[Tippi Blevins]

Recap is up.

I had a good time writing it. I hope you have a good time reading it. There was plenty of opportunity for snark, as well has a few history lessons.

[bulldawgtownie]

After someone I know told me to check it out I watched it ondemand yesterday. There were things I liked, always good to see "the chief". Some things were really cliched like Cullen having owned slaves and fought for the South, but of course he had freed his slaves and he only fought for honor. And the evil union soldiers killed and most likely raped his wife so now he's out for justice. And some stuff was predictable, like Cullen and Elam(Common's character) becoming friendemies. Overall though I'll give this show a few more episodes before judging whether to continue watching or not. Also for those of you with Ondemand AMC has a 7 minute segment about this series which is somewhat informative. That's how I learned a few names and I'll give TPTB some credit for at least admitting that Cullen is a cliched/stereotypical character. Nice to know that IRL their mobile town really was called "Hell on Wheels."

[Egeria]

It's like Downton Abbey in the prairie.

Except not really because Downton Abby is actually good. I've watch all the episodes to give it a chance and I just do not care about anyone, but Lily Bell and the native who saved her.

How does this show have it's own forum when Revenge doesn't? People actually want to talk about Revenge.

[Prospero]

Except not really because Downton Abby is actually good.

I just meant that HoW looks more like a pretty soap opera than a western and is an insult to the genre of sort. It obviously has nothing on Downton Abbey in terms of general quality and, in particular, casting.