The Televangelist: ‘Hell on Wheels’ Season 1, Ep. 6

• AMC.com
• “Oh good, now that they’re busy trying to kill the Indians maybe they’ll forget about us”

There was a charge against “Pan Am” at the beginning of its (now cancelled?) season that the show was like a beautiful ornament with nothing inside: all style and no substance. This was levied against it as an (inevitable) comparison to “Mad Men,” which has always maintained great emotional depth. I’ve written a great deal about the differences between “Hell on Wheels” and “Deadwood” and can’t ever quite put my finger on what it is that, for me, makes “Hell on Wheels” so much less compelling. Is it the acting? The quality of dialogue? The lack of frisky scenes? Or is it an inability to connect emotionally to any of the characters. Was there ever enough time spent with Cullen, around whom the show presumably revolves? Even in last week’s fight, Cullen is mostly just there. He’s still two-dimensional as a character, and while this was a virtue I praised early on to orient us with the camp, we know who everyone is now. Give us depth!

“Hell On Wheels” does give complexity to the tale of Pawnee. In fact, this may currently be the show’s greatest virtue, even in episodes like this that play out a bit like a historical documentary. The Pawnee are not ignored, nor are they strong and stoic without troubles of their own. The conflict between the Chief and Durant culminated in the John Henry-like race of man versus machine (or in this case, put-upon pony versus a train), but the emotional conflict of the Pawnee and the white men came to a head between Lily and the widow of the man she slayed (who had, in turn, killed her own husband). The interconnectivity and the hopelessness of the cause were deeply felt last night in such moments. It also seemed to prove that if women were running things, there would be a lot fewer silly races, and more hat-trading and apologies.