The penultimate episode of Hell on Wheels was on tonight. And a real downer of an episode - 5.13 - it was.In a nutshell, we see Bohannon and the Central Pacific beating Durant and the Union Pacific to Ogden. That part of the story was uplifting, featuring the Chinese workers coming back from the mines and the African-Americans leaving Durant to join forces with Bohannon to win the race.
Inspiring. But Durant wins anyway by threatening to get the Central Pacific rails inspected. It's apparently vulnerable to what government inspectors might find. Presumably both sides did shoddy work here and there, but the Central Pacific has more to lose than the Union Pacific.
So Durant's business brutality wins the day, and Bohannon is left drunk and screaming on the floor.
Since history records that the Union Pacific won, I guess Hell on Wheels had no other choice but to play it this way, with Bohannon winning but Durant getting the credit. And who knows what might happen next week.
Truthfully, at this point, I care less about the railroad and more about Cullen Bohannon's ultimate happiness. Since he's a fictional character, all can end well for him, or at least relatively well, next week.
I'm pulling for him to be reunited with Mei, and the two of them get a homestead and have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after somewhere. Or maybe a townhouse in New York City, or a houseboat in San Francisco Bay.
I'll see you here next week with my reaction to what Hell on Wheels brings us. I'll need some cheering up, in any case, with the Trump GOP convention just concluded.
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 ... Hell on Wheels 5.12: Sailing Away
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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