Hell on Wheels (episode)

"Hell on Wheels" or "Pilot" is the pilot and first episode of the first season of American television drama series Hell on Wheels, which premiered on November 6, 2011, on AMC in the United States and on TCM in the UK. The episode was written by developers Tony Gayton & Joe Gayton and directed by David Von Ancken. The pilot introduces the series' protagonist, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a former Confederate soldier whose quest for vengeance has led him to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first transcontinental railroad.

The pilot episode was filmed entirely in Alberta (Canada), with assistance from the provincial government of Alberta's film-development program. "Hell on Wheels" garnered a 3.1 HH rating, attracting 4.4 million viewers (2.4 million, aged 18–49; 2.3 million, aged 25–54) to become the second highest series premiere in AMC’s history.^[1] Critical reception of the pilot was mediocre. The Los Angeles Times said the show "gathers steam as it goes on," The Wall Street Journal called it "a bag of unpolished stones," and Variety pegged it as "a diluted, herky-jerky ride."^[2][3][4]

Plot

The series opens in the year 1865, shortly after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A young Union soldier (Tom Carey) enters a church in Washington D.C. to confess his sins. Shortly after he begins, the priest asks the soldier about the Destruction of Meridian. The soldier, confused, asks the priest how he knows about Meridian, before being shot by the priest, who exits the confessional to reveal that he is not a priest, but Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a former Confederate soldier. Across the country, Thomas "Doc" Durant gives an inspiring speech about building the Transcontinental Railroad to a group of prominent Americans, including Senator Jordan Crane (James D. Hopkin). Afterwards, Durant reveals to Crane that, through the use of his company, Crédit Mobilier, he will essentially pay himself to build the railroad with government subsidies. Durant bribes Crane with shares in Crédit Mobilier for his assistance in this endeavor, adding in threats to route his railroad around the lands Crane owns, significantly lowering their value.

Arriving in Hell on Wheels, Bohannon seeks work from Foreman Daniel Johnson (Ted Levine), and though he has no experience in railroads, Johnson hires him as a "walking boss" after learning he owned slaves before the Civil War. Johnson introduces Bohannon to the "cut crew" - the men who dig the trail for the rails to be laid in, and who are predominantly black. In a nearby river, the idealistic Reverend Cole (Tom Noonan) baptizes a young Native American, Joseph Black Moon (Eddie Spears), and rides with him into Hell on Wheels, to set up their church.

Deep in the Nebraska Territory, surveyor Robert Bell (Robert Moloney) plots the path of the railroad with a small surveying team, including his wife, Lily (Dominique McElligott). Robert expresses to Lily his hope that she will return to Chicago, as they are entering hostile Cheyenne territory, but she refuses to leave him as he is ill. The following day, they are attacked by a small group of Cheyenne, who slaughters the mostly unarmed surveyors. Robert and Lily manage to escape, but are caught by one of the natives, who kills Robert and badly wounds Lily. She takes Robert's maps, which show the route through the Rocky Mountains discovered by the team, and flees into the woods. On his way to Hell on Wheels, Durant learns of Bell's death which greatly complicates things.

While digging the cut, Willie, one of Bohannon's workers, almost collapses because of the heat. He is aided to the water by Elam Ferguson (Common), but before they can get back into the cut, Johnson arrives on horseback. A nearby explosion startles the horse, which kicks Willie twice, killing him. Although unintentional, Johnson is callous about the death, telling his workers, "This is what happens when you break my rules." After the day's work is finished, Bohannon checks on Elam in his tent. He finds Elam sharpening a knife, intent on killing Johnson to avenge Willie. Bohannon tries to talk him out of it, and later joins Johnson for a drink. After they discuss the war, Bohannon asks Johnson if he has ever been to Meridian, to which Johnson responds by taking him hostage. Johnson tells Bohannon that he read of the Union soldier killed in Washington by a Griswold revolver, and seeing Bohannon's Griswold when he hired him, coupled with the mention of Meridian, confirmed his suspicions. Johnson lets slip that Bohannon's wife was murdered, and she did not commit suicide as he had thought. He claims that the sergeant strangled Bohannon's wife, and hung her to cover his murder, but refuses Bohannon's request for the sergeant's name. Elam appears and slits Johnson's throat, saving Bohannon, but killing the chances of Bohannon learning the identity of the sergeant.

Filming, cinematography, and environmentalism

"Much like each and every film we produce, it is imperative that when we shoot on a pristine, untouched tract of land, that we leave it in better shape than when we found it before we set foot on that land. For example, the site chosen on T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation for the actual tent town site of 'Hell on Wheels' was put back (seeded) into prairie grass, to ensure we left no scarred earth, tire marks or foot print behind." — "Hell On Wheels" producer Chad Oakes.^[5]

Filming of the pilot took place between August 2010 and September 2010 on location in Calgary as well as in central and southern Alberta, Canada.^[6] The T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation, an Indian reserve in southern Alberta, was the location for most of the exteriors. The entire production team was mandated to preserve the environment in its wild state. They were also doing their part to protect the environment. "We were one of the first Canadian production companies to use the new Scenecronize System, which digitally distributes scripts and all production paperwork to the crew, network, studio and talent, cutting our photocopy usage down by 500,000 copies on the first season alone," producer Chad Oakes points out, adding that, after realizing that the crew consumed more than 25,000 bottles of water in the first half of the season, "We implemented water coolers and 'bring your own bottle to set' policy to cut down on our plastic bottle consumption."^[5]

Reception

Critical reception

The show was given a 63 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews, indicating mixed reviews.^[7]

The Washington Post's Hank Stuever rated the show highly, commenting, "Hands down, the most intriguing show on the fall slate. Though imbued with epic sweep, 'Hell on Wheels' is a western at heart, even if that heart is cold. Plenty of guns, knives, arrows, scalpings — mixed with the incendiary socio-psychological wounds left in the Civil War’s wake."^[8]

Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times says the show "takes its cues more from the movies than from life. Never, in the episodes I watched, did I feel as if I were actually seeing how a railroad got built, and sometimes it took a bit of squinting not to see the characters as actors in a field, reading lines. Still, for all the unlikely things [the creators] make happen in order to get their characters into place, and the dogged refusal of a couple of those characters to become interesting at all, the show gathers steam as it goes on."^[2]

Wall Street Journal's Nancy Dewolf Smith considers the episode "like a bag of unpolished stones... 'Hell on Wheels' finds enough beauty, danger and emotion to make some part of every episode seem fresh and worth waiting for. Not that new is always a good thing. Despite striking performances even in many of the smaller roles, the actors sometimes are made to symbolize very modern obsessions, e.g. with race and gender. The sight of modern sensibilities lurking behind the curtains can break ye olde spell."^[3]

Brian Lowry of Variety thinks "while the diverse mix of characters could work to the program's advantage over the long haul, jumping to and fro among them creates a diluted, herky-jerky ride in the early going."^[4]

Viewership

The pilot premiered on November 6, 2011. It was watched by 4.4 million viewers - AMC's second-highest series premiere in history, following The Walking Dead. Among key demographics, the pilot episode delivered 2.4 million viewers in adults 18–49. Among adults 25–54, it delivered 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The total viewership bested network slot rivals CSI: Miami or Pan Am.^[9]

References

External links

• "Pilot" at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com: Pilot
• TV Guide: Hell on Wheels Pilot