Hell on Wheels, Season 4, Episode 6, “Bear Man”
Written by Max Hurwitz
Directed by Clark Johnson
Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on AMC
“Lord, don’t take me like this. Not like this”
The last two episodes of Hell on Wheels, “Life’s a Mystery” and “Reckoning” were startling disappointments with only a few bright spots. This is especially true in comparison to just how good the first three episodes of the season were and how brilliant the third season was. Until the final minutes of “Life’s a Mystery”, it seems like Hell on Wheels has lost its direction.
Besides The Swede’s (Christopher Heyerdahl) fate, what happened to Elam (Common) has been season four’s biggest mystery. Did he survive last season’s bear attack? Did he die alone in the woods looking for Cullen (Anson Mount)? “Bear Man”, a rather telling title, picks up directly where we saw Elam last. It’s a bloody and disturbing moment, but this is perhaps the show’s best opening scene yet.
There is a good argument to be made that over the course of Hell on Wheels’ run no character has suffered quite like Elam, and that’s saying something for a show that routinely tests all its characters. The former slave has found love, lost it, lost his child, and now faced death. It is clear watching him recover that these tragedies have changed him. His quick, shocking acts of violence over the course of the episode tell us that the man we knew is essentially gone.
Elam has always been defined by his stubborn streak but his attack seems to have left him cold and ruthless as well. With his fight for survival and physical fight with the lead Native American we can see that he is a man who has strangely found a home where he feels like he belongs.
“Bear Man” is an unusual episode in the sense that we spend most of our time with only one character, rather than the entire cast. Set almost entirely around the Native American’s who save Elam and nurse him back to health, the viewers are given a heavy dose of that Native American mythology, such as the ritual scene halfway through the episode. For the most part, it is a fascinating.
This is a very self-contained episode. It is also very sure of itself, which is something the show has been missing in these last few episodes. Its tone also feels hectic and dangerous, and that is much more exciting than the rather boring two episodes previous. “Bear Man” also succeeds in showing us the weight that Elma carries with him. Just like Cullen, Elam has always been a man defined by his past. With Eva (Robin McLeavy) and their child he had a chance to escape this, but his entire identity has now been changed. Where this attack will take him once he arrives back in Cheyenne is an exciting new prospect for the show.
“Bear Man” is exactly what Hell on Wheels needed. Cruel and terrifying acts of violence, striking character developments, and sweeping landscapes are defining characteristics of the show and “Bear Man” allows the series to explore all of those things again.
Tressa Eckermann