Hell on Wheels - Season 5

[The Old Mixer]

The new episodes start a week from tonight, so we might as well get the ball rolling.

The official website has a couple of brief trailers up...

Changing Sides

Lie Cheat Steel

...as well as a more substantial behind-the-scenes video extra:

A Look at Season 5

It looks like they're really going to fully change the focus of the show. I have to wonder how much Durant and the Union Pacific will figure into things at all.

 

[The Old Mixer]

It looks like AMC is doing a Season 4 marathon on Saturday starting at 8 a.m. EST, leading directly into the Season 5 premiere:

"Chinatown," S5/Ep01
The Season 5 opener finds Cullen in California with the Central Pacific Railroad, building east through the mountains. As he contends with new bosses and workers, word on his family comes in from Salt Lake City.

Was also checking out some Season 5 extras on the official website. It seems that the Union Pacific will still have its share of the spotlight...Durant, Mickey, Eva, Psalms, and Louise Ellison will be among the main characters. Also caught a photo with Delaney and Dutch in it.

 

[sojourner]

Calling it now, Fong is really a daughter, not a son.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^Hmmm....

[ETA: You made me look it up. The actor certainly looks male in the close-up cast photo they have on the site, but I couldn't find an IMDB match, and they're using an ambiguous initial for his first name. The site has a brief actor bio that gives numerous details, but avoids using a gender-revealing pronoun.

Just caught some video extras on the website, including a preview scene from next week in which Fong is having a rough time. Fong's cries sound distinctly feminine. You've sold me.]

I'm not sure what to make of everything so far...lots of set-up for the new location. But I've learned not to underestimate this show...it's all going somewhere.

Something about the Strobridge character, though, makes me think Young Indiana Jones...maybe it's the hat and patch combo....

Keep an eye on that stagecoach driver...

Spoiler: Something I read on the official site

...she's supposed to become a love interest for Psalms.

ETA: There are now some season- and episode-specific video extras on the official site. In case you were under the impression that Laramie and Truckee were a few states apart, they're actually on different sides of the same lot.

 

[The Old Mixer]

"A. Zhou" is "Angela Zhou" in the credits this week...you were so right, sojourner!

[ETA: A Q&A with Angela Zhou on the site.]

And speaking of the credits, none of our Union Pacific regulars this week...and here I was unsatisfied with Durant's only scene last week being exactly what we saw in the commercials. I didn't catch a sign of them in the preview for next week, either....

 

[Anwar]

Are Mickey and Eva gone for good, or will they be back?

 

[The Old Mixer]

On the official site they're listed as regular characters, and their bios include some new plot information, so I have to assume they'll show up sooner or later. The focus on the new setting is to be expected, but I'm surprised that it's taking so long for them to significantly touch base with the Union Pacific side of things.

Worst case scenario, they might focus almost exclusively on the Central Pacific side of things this half-season, and share the focus more in the second half next year...but that's pure speculation.

And the plot info does indicate that Mickey and Eva (and Mickey's psycho cousin) will still be traveling with the UP/Hell on Wheels.

 

[auntiehill]

Finally got around to watching episodes 1 and 2; spotted "Fong" right away.

If I were Bohannon, I'd have shot Gunderson the second I saw his face. That dude is all kinds of pyscho-evil-bastard; it's just a matter of time before he goes all Jack Nicholson-stabby on everyone. Every time they show the dog, I'm afraid Tor's going to kill him. Don't get me wrong; he can kill all the Mormons he wants. He just better not hurt that dog.

OH, and that scene with the toes----eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww.

That made me cringe.

I love this show, but I want to get back to the other camp; what about Mickey, Psalms and Eva? I hope we get to see them soon. I really like Psalms--maybe he can finally get some character development?

 

[Shanndee]

I agree auntiehill, there are so many interesting characters and so much story to tell at that camp.

I understand that the competition between the rival rail road companies is important, but I want to see more of the characters I have grown to care about, not all these new people who won't get time to fully develop.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I suspect that the Swede and Chang will join forces and try to bring down Bohannon by ruining him in Huntington's eyes. Cullen's hands were a bit tied by the time Gundersen showed up because of the incident with Chang and Huntington's insistence that there be no more distractions. Settling his feud with a representative of the Mormon work force wouldn't have gone down well with Huntington, and would have jeopardized the completion of the railroad, which has been Bohannon's ultimate goal for most of the series.

The toes made me wince and look away...but it's hard to top Sydney's leg....

 

[auntiehill]

^ True. That was freakin' horrible.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Also, I don't think that randomly killing people is the Swede's style (Lily being an outlier, and only after he'd burned all his bridges in HoW)...he tends to scheme. Right now his scheme involves collecting guns and manipulating Brigham Young's son...and we know that he has no loyalty to Young and considers him a false prophet. Perhaps he intends to fan the flames of an armed revolt by the Mormon workers?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Still no UP regulars in the credits for tonight's episode....

As anticipated, it didn't take long for Chang and Gundersen to cross paths....

Teaser for next week: Yay, they're back!

 

[auntiehill]

Wow, great episode tonight. Most set-up for much bigger things to come, but very interesting nonetheless. What the HELL is the Swede up to? He has more guns than men, so where are all those guns going to go? Nowhere good, that's for sure.

The minute the young man said, "Brother Gunderson, you're the only one I can trust," Hubby and I said to each other, "Yep, he's a dead man."

I think Bohannon will very quickly find himself back in the role of law enforcement.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Well, I think they've said that there are something like 8000 Mormon workers there...we're just seeing them on a budget. If the Swede plans to lead them in some sort of revolt, that's a lot of guns.

Another bit where this show pays off in the long term..."rice" being used as the code-word for the guns being smuggled. One can retroactively see the wheels turning in Gundersen's head when he asked Huntington what the Chinese workers ate last season...and even threw in the comparison of a work force to an army.

And of course, the books were probably cooked by the Swede himself to get the money to pay for the guns....

They're putting Chang in an interesting place...on the one hand, he should be grateful to Tao and Bohannon for coming to his aid...on the other, he's got good reason to be pretty pissed at white men in general. It's also interesting how Byron Mann talks about his character in interviews...he definitely doesn't see him as an out-and-out bad guy, just a shrewd businessman.

 

[auntiehill]

Well, of course the Swede cooked the books; that's totally obvious. He's setting the son up to revolt against his father. He's planning some sort of revenge against the Mormons, as he plainly told Bohannon. The only question is how it will come about.

Chang is a very interesting character; he reminds me of Durant--capable of doing some pretty evil things but not a monster--but I think Chang is actually smarter than Durant in some ways.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Another question about the Swede's plan is how it will tie in with his vendetta against Bohannon. While it's likely to disrupt the progress of the railroad, which would certainly be a blow against Bohannon, the Swede has specifically stated his intention to expose Bohannon for what he really is.

Then, of course, Bohannon's family is still out there somewhere, and I'd be surprised if they're not being kept somewhere by either the Swede or Huntington. It's telling that MacKenzie Porter's name was in the opening credits of the first episode, in which she appeared briefly in Bohannon's fantasy...that indicates that she's still a regular, and therefore should be popping up again sooner or later.

(But then, they put Common's name in the opening credits for two episodes last season, and we know how that turned out for Elam....)

 

[auntiehill]

^The actor often gets credited, even if they only show up in a "previously on--" segment. That gets annoying, because you think, "Yay, they're back!" But, no, it's just a clip in the intro.

 

[The Old Mixer]

And finally some familiar old names come back in the credits--Let's all welcome Hell on Wheels back to Hell on Wheels!

Chang was stopped here, but he's proving himself as a force to be reckoned with. It was an effective choice not to translate his strike-launching speech for the benefit of the audience...we got the gist of it.

It didn't escape my notice that Chang was asking for a slightly higher stake than Bohannon's...does he know what Bohannon's stake is?

Miss Ellison at the chemist...could she be...pregnant? Maybe with the illegitimate child of a certain governor...?

I think Johnny Shea just got Worfed. It might have been more effective if he was asserting himself as the new foreman before the stagecoach lady handed him his balls.

I'd already seen some photos, but it looks like Dohn Norwood lost a bit of weight.

Interesting angle that Phineas is apparently dyslexic....

Feels like things are just getting good, and we're already over the hump for this year's episodes....

 

[auntiehill]

I like Mary Fields. She's awesome. Was hoping to see more of Psalms but at least we got a little.

I'm glad we got at least a peak of how things are going back with Durant & Company; I hope we get to see a bit more.

I love this show. I can't wait to see what happens next.