Hell On Wheels S01E06 OAD 12/18

Great episode and loved all the points you mentioned.

Not being familiar with the laws of the day is the basic premise that if you kill someone that is coming to kill you then everything is cool? Or is it that if you kill someone then nobody is going to complain one way or the other?

Either way, while I get that the racial issue between Elam and the tatted hooker was unpalatable in the US for the next 100 years or so, it does seem weird to me that a public daytime lynching only had one white person willing to go to bat. Where were Joseph and the preacher?

Lily is so freaking hot that I would be as mentally fogged as Durant any time she looked my way. Poor/lucky bastard.

I was surprised that Lily didn't have a mourning dress for the meeting with the in-laws. I understand that she was surprised that there was such a gathering but the colored dress was still jarring to me.

I don't understand why the Swede took the side he did. Why would it be in any way helpful to his controlling the camp by letting the Irish kill a black guy? Swede seems to be invested in making the railroad work but he doesn't seem to be helping.

Best episode yet. Will Bohannan ever bed Lily?

The Swede seems to be playing the role of spoiler for pretty much everybody, but it is not clear how it benefits him in any way. He was trying to skim some black powder when that shipment came in, but did we ever figure out why? Is he reselling it or just likes blowing stuff up?

Was the whole point of him telling the senator about the $140K part of a long con with Durant or was he just itching to be unemployed or perhaps get a chance to kill the senator?

Love his character and his accent though.

LlamaLarry said:

The Swede seems to be playing the role of spoiler for pretty much everybody, but it is not clear how it benefits him in any way. He was trying to skim some black powder when that shipment came in, but did we ever figure out why? Is he reselling it or just likes blowing stuff up?

Was the whole point of him telling the senator about the $140K part of a long con with Durant or was he just itching to be unemployed or perhaps get a chance to kill the senator?

Love his character and his accent though.

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Now that you mention it I wonder if he's really working against the railroad. Trying to keep it from hitting the 40 miles it needs to kick in the government cash.

Could some competitor, or stock speculator, have planted him there?
That could fit with telling the senator about the financial pecularities.
And whipping up, or condoning, violence in camp is unlikely to contribute to an effective workplace.
So in that case diverting the black powder would either be to slow down work (can't blast without powder) or to use to for some kind of sabotage (or both).

I do love his accent though

efilippi said:

I was surprised that Lily didn't have a mourning dress for the meeting with the in-laws. I understand that she was surprised that there was such a gathering but the colored dress was still jarring to me.

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I wonder if black for mourning wasn't a New World/Puritan thing, that she might not have been aware of..?

Odd show, but I sorta like it. It doesn't make sense to me that Bohannon would risk his life to rescue Elam. Just like I didn't see benefit to fighting him. They might be connecting his past, but it would be nice if motivations were more evident. I liked that "The Hunters" of Bohannon & Elam were portrayed as scared men. Generally westerns paint everyone as a tough guy, but these were obvious wannabes.

The best show currently, but not much competition.

Rob Helmerichs said:

I wonder if black for mourning wasn't a New World/Puritan thing, that she might not have been aware of..?

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My wife is Italian born and they sure wear mourning clothes over there. Often for the remaining life of the widow. Yikes.

I do not know about England, though, but it certainly is not just a new world thing.

efilippi said:

My wife is Italian born and they sure wear mourning clothes over there. Often for the remaining life of the widow. Yikes.

I do not know about England, though, but it certainly is not just a new world thing.

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But was she born in the 19th century?

Seriously, though, looking at Wikipedia it seems that even in England there were pretty strict conventions about mourning clothes, which the Widow Bell was flagrantly defying. Although she somehow didn't seem to be aware of that...or at least the writers weren't aware.

I think I just read a few spoilers before realizing the thread is titled wrong. 12/18 was episode E07 (which I haven't yet watched). Episode E06 aired back on 12/11.

Jeeters said:

I think I just read a few spoilers before realizing the thread is titled wrong. 12/18 was episode E07 (which I haven't yet watched). Episode E06 aired back on 12/11.

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Man so sorry about that. I actually searched here to see if there was a thread and thought I had it right. I got the date right though. I guess there was no thread for ep 6 so I just assumed this was it.

I'll live. My post was meant to be more an FYI than a complaint.

Family said:

Odd show, but I sorta like it. It doesn't make sense to me that Bohannon would risk his life to rescue Elam.

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Elam saved Bohannon's life when he slashed Johnson's (previous Foreman) throat when Johnson had a gun on Bohannon.

As for the Swede, he still thinks that Bohannon killed Johnson, and should be punished for it. Johnson was probably in cahoots with the Swede.

Absolutely BEST episode of the show! Very powerful in several scenes! Up till now, the show was only so-so IMHO. A very poor PG copy of Deadwood.

Quite enlightening with the Irish guy telling Elam "We Irish are the n*$g#ers of the British Empire..." while explaining that was why he was lynching him because he felt the Irish had to dump on somebody.

Cheryl

Excellent episode, I just watched the last two in a row... loved Lilly taking care of the in-laws and Bohannen & Elam taking care of business.

I believe there is no episode Xmas night, does it resume on 1/1 or 1/8?

VegasVic said:

I believe there is no episode Xmas night, does it resume on 1/1 or 1/8?

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I believe it's 1/1.

Wow, it is really only 10 episodes for this season? It's coming to an end awfully quickly

For some reason, it tickles me when the Swede says "Mr. Dooo-rahnt"

I was surprised when Lily slapped the shiznit out of the obnoxious woman's face. "How you like me now, *****?"

I'm so glad they finally killed the racist Irish guy. I got tired of him a couple of episodes ago.

It was funny when Bohannon asked Elam if he knew how to shoot a gun and Elam replied something like "Sure, Master let all of his slaves play with the guns."

cheesesteak said:

It was funny when Bohannon asked Elam if he knew how to shoot a gun and Elam replied something like "Sure, Master let all of his slaves play with the guns."

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And interesting the way Elam thought Bohannon was blowing him off when he stopped teaching him how to shoot and told him, in effect, that it wasn't about being able to hit something; it was about staying cool under fire. And then in Elam's first gunfight he wins because he's the one who stays cooler under fire.

I'm still not seeing how the railroad is benefiting from Bohannon's run as foreman. He was awol for about a day and he and Elam killed four or five other workers.