Note: Major spoilers for the episode of Hell on Wheels. You have been warned.
With this week's episode, we pick up where last week left off, which is with Cullen and Mei in bed, talking about how what they are doing is dangerous. This would be a pretty common theme throughout the episode, as everything that Cullen is doing at this point is dangerous, and continues to propel him down this spiral that he seems to be destined to be heading down.
In a continuous effort to finish this railroad, apparently no matter the cost, Cullen has found a solution to the mountain problem that they have run into, and that is to used nitroglycerin to blow it up. This is to the dismay of Jim, whom says it is too dangerous, but Huntington realizes that he needs to see progress and now, so he goes along with Cullen. Cullen asks Jim to show him how to mix it, just one batch, and Jim reluctantly agrees. In doing so, we also find out what happened to Jim's eye, as he explains that he lost it in an explosion many years ago.
While setting the charges for the first time, we get to see just how dangerous it can be, as one of the charges doesn't initially blow, and ends up killing three of the men. Jim uses this to show just how dangerous it is, but Cullen says that he will monitor the charges himself, to make sure that nothing bad happens again. Huntington agrees, but says Cullen can't watch it entirely by himself, and so he volunteers Jim to help, but Jim refuses. This ends up causing Jim to lose his job, and he and his family have to leave the railroad. Jim says to Cullen, "I was your only friend," which clearly hits Cullen right in the feels, mainly because he knows that Jim is right.
Later, as Jim is packing his things, Cullen shows up to say that one of the live charges is stuck in the wall. Despite his intents to leave Cullen to his own problems, he gives in and tells Cullen that he needs to drill a hole near the live charge and set up a new charge to blow them both. Cullen and Mei do this task together, and it goes off without a hitch. At this, there is also light showing through from inside the mountain, and it looks like Cullen's plan has worked, and they have made it through the crew on the other side.
Meanwhile, Durant has gotten himself into trouble, as the men he sold land to are upset that Cheyenne is no longer the main depot along the railroad, and so they come looking for their money. They give Durant two days to get the money, and so he sets up a plot to have Mickey hire someone to kidnap Durant and then have the government pay a ransom, which he will use to pay off the angry men. Mickey hires his cousin, which is a stupid idea, and foreshadows how well the scenario is going to go, and so it goes as we expect. Delaney gets killed in the process, Durant is taken, and Louise is left with the ransom note.
To end the episode, we see Cullen and Mei talking, and he gives a very good speech about his leg, saying that everyone he comes in contact with is gone, and all that is left is the scars. I thought this was a well done speech, and really speaks to where Cullen has gotten to in his life. At this point, he really only has Mei and the railroad left, and so that is too much for Cullen to have. And so, we get a knock on Mei's door, and it is Chang. Cullen leaves and tells Mei to get his people in order, to throw off Chang of what is really going on, but it is apparent that Chang is now suspicious. This can only end badly for Cullen and Mei, which is what I've come to expect from the show at this point.
Overall, the episode was fine, but it just feels like the show is cruising into a lackluster finish at this point. There are four more episodes at this point, and it just keeps getting bleaker for our main characters. I can only assume at this point that Cullen will lose Mei, and I'm starting to wonder if he is even going to get to see the railroad finished. If he does lose Mei, and the railroad is all he has left, then I can only guess that in the final episode, Cullen is going to die before he gets to see the end of the line. I don't know how I feel about that, and I guess we will just have to see how the final four episodes play out, but I'm really starting to lose hope in this show. I hope they can recover and give a coherent ending that makes sense, but I am really having my doubts.
My rating for the episode is 6/10
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