Hell on Wheels, Season 4, Episode 9, “Two Trains”
Written by Bruce Marshall Romans
Directed by Marvin Rush
Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on AMC
“I looked into his eyes and saw a wickedness that has yet to be unleashed”
Hell on Wheels has had a difficult fourth season. There have been excellent episodes like “Elam Ferguson” and the introduction of brilliant new characters like Campbell (Jake Weber), but with only four episodes left in the season it seems like Hell on Wheels has no real direction. Strong acting and interesting characters haven’t been able to save the season from its aimlessness.
“Two Trains” ranks with “Elam Ferguson” as one of the season’s best episodes. It is a quickly paced, violent, down and dirty episode full of great moments, exceptionally clever directing, and excellent performances. This is the Hell on Wheels viewers have come to expect and love.
The opening scene between Cullen and Sydney (Johnathon Scarfe) sets a brutal tone for the episode. “This war is between Campbell and Durant, not us”, Cullen tells him. It’s a simple warning before the oncoming storm. It also shows that the fight has become personal for Cullen. It did the moment Snow held a gun on Cullen’s wife and son, but now that they have been driven out of town, Cullen is angry and ready to throw down. What he’s been through this season has made him even more short tempered and unwilling to bend.
In many ways, Sydney and Campbell’s arrival and subsequent actions have instigated a war that was a long time coming. Every battle that has ever been fought on Hell on Wheels has been one between men who push each other until there are no options remain but to fight. Cullen tells Ruth (Kasha Kropinski) that a lot of men lost their way after the war and you can sense his guilt when he says it; Sydney represents what Cullen was so close to becoming in season one. And Cullen is not stupid. He sees this and it’s obvious that he is fighting Sydney and Campbell because he is fighting himself.
This is the first time Sydney hasn’t seemed like a violent and unnecessary cartoon character. Instead, “Two Trains” allows him to become a viable opponent to Cullen. They are two sides of the same coin. The one question, the question that stops Sydney from being a fully realized character, is simply, “Why?”. What are his motivations? This has been the same question following his character since his first appearance on the show. Why does he hate Cullen so much? Why is so willing to start a war? Is it simply because he misses the power that fighting offered him before? If so, that is a cop-out; it’s much too simple an explanation, especially for a show like Hell on Wheels, which has always excelled at creating rich characters. “Two Trains” also calls into question the motivations of Louise Ellison (Jennifer Ferrin). Why exactly does she sleep with Campbell? We’ve always known her to be a lesbian but her choice to be with Campbell and simply write it off as “curiosity” feels a little false and unfair to the character.
Those issues aside, though, “Two Trains” works very well. What is so great about the episode is its slow build. The episode starts slow and quiet, building tension and allowing us to catch up with each of the important figures on the show, as well as episode standouts Phil Burke (Mickey) and Kropinksi. The war between Durant and Campbell and Cullen and Snow has been a long time coming and this episode is the culmination of that.
This is a tense and visually stunning episode and credit should go to director Marvin Rush. The episode is full of interesting camera angles, as when the train takes off and the men prepare for war. The resulting gun battle is an exceptionally effective scene, and this reviewer’s favorite sequence of the season.
Hell on Wheels hasn’t had the perfect season, but great episodes, like “Two Trains”, reminds viewers how great the show is capable of being.
Tressa Eckermann