Hell on Wheels Season 2 *SPOILERS*

[Anwar]

Durant will be back, Colm Meany is too much fun to get rid of. And he's at least owning up to his personal failings thanks to a near-death experience and might end his thing with Lily to atone for it.

No one knows the Swede was behind this whole incident, and the Father took that secret to his grave. But the build-up to the inevitable battle with the Sioux is still happening...

[Derishton]

Mrs Durant is in three episodes this season, so there's no question Durant will be around.

A good episode in a season that I think is actually slightly stronger than the first.

[sojourner]

^Unless Mrs. Durant is coming out to take over for her dead husband.

[Derishton]

That would be intriguing, but I think the last episode - with its emphasis on Durant's need to apologize and make amends for his behavior - was too clearly setting up an extended interaction. But if I'm wrong, I think your suggestion woud be a really interesting development.

[sojourner]

I don't know, Lilly's good bye at the end of the episode seemed pretty final.

[Anwar]

Lily said goodbye to Durant, as in "I know we aren't together anymore"? Must've missed that.

Why did Ruth stop loving Joseph by the way? It wasn't because he stabbed the Father.

[auntiehill]

^Because it was pretty obvious that they could never marry and settle down. I think deep down she still loves him but is trying to force herself to find a man who could actually be her husband. She had a small conversation with the one of the Irish brothers, where he said virtually the same thing, and she didn't disagree.

[137th Gebirg]

Anwar wrote:

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Also, now that Bohannon's quest is over (he most likely has already killed everyone responsible for his wife's death, Johnson was just BSing about the Sgt) his character lacks any real motivation or goals. He's only there because Durant has basically enslaved him.

This particular thing puzzles me the most. In season 1, I got the impression that there was more to these particular murders than simple late wartime blue-on-gray pillaging. I can't remember precise dialog, but there seemed to be an implied ritualistic, almost supernatural motive, behind these murders. IIRC, one of the lower-ranked Federals involved mentioned a demon or devil. Or maybe it was Ted Levine's character (the ringleader). Although, perhaps it was nothing more than simple Victorian-era language usage. Can't be sure.

There always felt (to me at least) that there was something deeper going on surrounding the events of his family's death, the pursuit of which, through clues would lead Bohannon to a deeper conspiracy. Sadly, what has come since then has seemed quite mundane by comparison.

[sojourner]

Yeah, I never got a supernatural undertone to this show.

[auntiehill]

Me either. Not in the least.

[Valin]

^Outside of the "Hell" in the title.

One of the best episodes in the series so far, in my opinion. Well written and acted.

[Star Wolf]

Well there is Cullen knowing that the soldier who left The Big Parade would stop at that specific Catholic Church for confession on his way home.

[BennyRussel]

There is a lot of laziness in the execution of this show. Especially when it comes to portraying the law.

Consider this sequence of events.

1. Lily and Bohannon are duty-bound to adhere to an arrest warrant for Doc, although nobody but Lily and Bohannon even know he was part of the gang.
2. Bohannon and Ferguson are allowed to summarily execute a member of the gang without any kind of legal authority
3. The union soldiers show up to arrest and execute Doc. They have no interest in the murders and kidnapping being perpetrated in the train car right in front of them. They are content to sit on their horses and observe calmly.
4. Joseph stabs Cole to death and everyone in attendance knows it. Whether Cole was Deranged or not, Joseph should at least have to explain himself to the "Authorities" that are in attendance. In that environment where all the races are pitted against each other and the Indians are considered the enemy, they see an Indian walk out of a train car with a bloody knife in his hand and just watch him ride away.

What is the law? Who is the law? If there is no law, why was there a warrant and why did anybody care about it.

[Valin]

Star Wolf wrote:

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Well there is Cullen knowing that the soldier who left The Big Parade would stop at that specific Catholic Church for confession on his way home.

Cullen had placed a fake ad in the newspaper stating that that church was running a confession special for returning Union soldiers who'd taken part in murdering Confederate wives.

[auntiehill]

Well, thanks to AMC's spoiler-rific previews, I know how one major plot point will be resolved, and when.

Still, I loved the conversation between the Swede and Bohannon; they do understand each other very well. It's also interesting to the see the Irish brothers starting to swap roles--the younger becoming the aggressor while the younger goes for the softer approach, perhaps due to his crush on Ruth.

I wonder if we will see the Swede again; the actor is also on True Blood now, isn't he?