AMC is on a roll with hour-long dramas like "The Walking Dead," "MadMen," "Breaking Bad" and a few others.
"Hell On Wheels" is probably going to turn out to be another success story for them.
Set in the timeframe of the United States just after the Civil War, the series follows the story of Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) a former Confederate soldier who is seeking revenge on the Union soldiers who murdered his wife. We aren't given much information about this - part of the reason to continue to tune in is to find out I'd guess. But the implication is that the death was brutal and that Cullen doesn't know everything about it so we'll discover as he discovers.
To pursue his revenge he's heading out to work on the railroad that is currently being built toconnect East with West and features former slaves who form the working spine of this endeavor.
Nary a Chinese coolie to be found in this crew - they work for the other railroad also trying to connect East and West which is the direct rival of the conniving and treacherous Thomas "Doc" Durant (Colm Meaney,) a businessman and investor who is milking the government teat for subsidies and grants to build the roadway that will bring civilization to the West.
Of course, since the government is paying him by the mile, he can't have his railroad go straight - it has to curve all over the place to assure the continued money flowing into his greedy hands.
Other players in the drama include:
- (rapper) Common as Elam Ferguson, a freed slave who is handy with a knife and has some anger issues.
- Dominique McElligott as Lily Bell, whose surveyor husband is murdered by Indians.
- A pair of Irish lads Ben Esler and Philip Burke who seek their fortunes out West.
- Eddie Spears as Joseph Black Moon, a Native American who is baptized by -
- Tommy Noonan, a very tall and interesting preacher who isn't afraid to drop his church right in the middle of the hooker row in camp. Of course, he's challenged by the spitfire hooker who tells him it's a gonna be a competition to get customers each night. Given that Noonan has played creepy bad guys so well in the past, I'd look for him to have a larger role in the dirty deeds in the camp.
The pilot was ably written by brothers Joe and Tony Gayton and directed well by David Von Ancken. The production values are decent and the acting top notch.
There was a real sense that you were in a railroad camp and in the moment of the era. I even saw dirt on Colin Meany's hands and he was in a railroad car for most of the show. It wasn't a pretty or cleanly time; and I'm always amazed at the amount of clothing people wore back then even when sweating in 100 degree weather. The actors looked like they were finding out just how hot it could be under those conditions - they all looked uncomfortable which added to the veracity of the camp living.
Although the pilot wasn't as compelling as I'd have likes I am reminded that "Deadwood" wasn't either in the pilot episode but it was good enough to keep me watching every week. And "Deadwood" got much, much better as it found its voice and Swearengen emerged as a larger-than-life presence. The previews for the second ep of HoW showed some very interesting material so I'm definitely tuning in to see if this show can replicate the "Deadwood" paradigm. The main issue is that I don't see a Swearengen in this and he was a huge part of why "Deadwood" worked as well as it did as the series progressed.
"Hell On Wheels" is on Sunday nights on AMC.
