Hell on Wheels 5.12: Sailing Away

Sailing away can sound like a good thing.  In the last scene of the excellent episode 5.12 of Hell on Wheels last night, it was not so good, or maybe a mixture of good and bad, with hope for some good sometime in the future.

Bohannon has just told Mei Fong that he loves her.  He's also said that he was lying when he said he's lost everyone he's loved - lying, because he actually left them, at least at first.   This was the case with his wife before he left to fight for the South in the Civil War, then Lily of the West, and most recently his Mormon wife.  Bohannon says he's not going to do that, again.

Mei loves him, too.  Perhaps too much.  Because she's witnessed how close Bohannon came to death when he protected her - making like the great gunslinger that he is, which was good to see - but Mei does not want to be the cause of her beloved's death.  So the last scene shows her on that boat to China, in place of Chang's woman.   Hey, she's still alive, while there's life there's hope, so we may yet see Mei and Bohannon back together before the series ends.

I have no idea how long it takes to sail to China and back - months?   It doesn't matter.  We've already seen Hell on Wheels skip to the future with last week's powerful Durant story, so it can do the same with Bohannon.  He's a fearsome man now - his limp only makes him more so - and there's certainly every chance that he will survive.

Of course, since Durant is a true historical character and Bohannon is not, Durant's survival after the rail is completed is assured, while Bohannon's is not.  I assume Durant dying alone which we saw last week is historically accurate.  Now Bohannon is alone, too, but there's no real history to insist that that this sad symmetry be the final fate of Bohannon, too.

Just two more episodes left in the series, right? I'm betting we'll see him standing in the end, and if not with Mei, on a boat to China to find her.

See also Hell on Wheels 5.1: Rails and Truckee ... Hell on Wheels 5.2: Mei and Cullen ... Hell on Wheels 5.3: Prejudice ... Hell on Wheels 5.8: Letting Him Live? ... Hell on Wheels 5.9: A Good Night for Bohannon ... Hell on Wheels 5.10: Nitroglycerin and Love ... Hell on Wheels 5.11: Durant and Shakespeare

And see also Hell on Wheels 4.1-2: Rolling Again ... Hell on Wheels 4.5: New Blood ... Hell on Wheels 4.6: Bear and Sanity ... Hell on Wheels 4.7: Why? ... Hell on Wheels 4.8: Aftermath and Rebound ... Hell on Wheels 4.9: High Noon ... Hell on Wheels 4.10: A Tale of Two Sicko Killers ... Hell on Wheels 4.11: The Redemption of Ruth ... Hell on Wheels 4.12: Infuriating and Worthwhile ... Hell on Wheels Season 4 Finale: The Buffalo

And see also Hell on Wheels 3.1-2: Bohannan in Command ... Hell on Wheels 3.3: Talking and Walking ... Hell on Wheels 3.4: Extreme Lacrosse ... Hell on Wheels 3.5: The Glove ... Hell on Wheels 3.6: The Man in Charge ...Hell on Wheels 3.7: Water, Water ... Hell on Wheels 3.8: Canterbury Tales ...Hell on Wheels 3.9: Shoot-Out and Truths ... Hell on Wheels Season 3 finale: Train Calling in the Distance

And see also  Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on the Track, and the Telegraph ... Hell on Wheels 1.6: Horse vs. Rail ... Hell on Wheels 1.8: Multiple Tracks ... Hell on Wheels 1.9: Historical Inevitable and Unknown ... Hell on Wheels Season One Finale: Greek Tragedy, Western Style



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