Friday, August 16, 2013

(Spoilers) Hell on Wheels: Season 3, started Aug. 9/13

***SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers may be found in the post below about VARIOUS ITEMS. And I'm going to add in a bit of filler text here to limit how much of the main article gets shown in a preview. That should take care of most of it. Hopefully. And away we go. SPOILER WARNING. ***


Not like Season 2
Unlike last year, I actually saw the ads for Hell on Wheels and caught the season premiere on time despite the schedule change. A good chunk of season 2 episodes were missed by yours truly when it started in early August. I wasn't looking for it and stumbled upon what seemed like a rerun in late August. After a while, it became apparent that I hadn't seen any of these scenes before. One google search and a ton of swearing later there was a revelation.

Season 3: Saturdays at 9pm
About a week has passed since season 3 premiered on a new night at 9:00 pm on a Saturday night. Kind of a weird time since the only new shows that are broadcast on Saturdays are those slated for cancellation: Cops and America's Most Wanted. Not sure where this one fits in. I'm actually surprised it even got a season 3 despite the mass kill off of last season.

Quick Summary
Regardless, the first episode was a two hour premiere. Last season ended with the death of Lily Bell, which I'm still pissed about, and the imprisonment of Thomas Durant. She's still dead, apparently buried by Cullen in a field of flowers, and Durant's still in jail but scheming.

The first half starts with Cullen at an outpost with only one other person who ends up dead and frozen. He makes it back to town, meets up with Elam who is living with Eva who is about to burst (pregnant). A little drama later about Cullen being removed as the head of the Union Pacific railroad and we're back out in the frontier.

Episode two is fully focused on the railroad with a reporter from a paper. It's a she, and I get the feeling she's going to be the replacement for Lily. This story's mainly about a family of Mormons, namely his dad, sons, and the dad's wives who don't want the railroad going through their land. They're willing to kill to keep their land, end up doing so after being served with an eminent domain or expropriation notice. They are evicted, a son hangs for a killing, and episode over. Also, Durant gets out of prison and he's working against Cullen in the background.

Impressions
To be upfront, I have low standards for TV. I watch to see what happens and enjoy crappy movies and shows very much. Hell on Wheels is far from being one of these. It's off to an interesting start so far. Cullen's the head of the railroad and he's definitely not Durant. The workers seem to actually respect him, and he respects them to some degree. Having a potential new love interest adds some drama, but I still can't believe they killed off Lily. Still not sure if the Swede is alive or not.

I also think I heard that the railroad is approaching the mountains to the west. There is also more talk about Native Americans and a small unit from a nearby fort has brought some U.S. Cavalry soldiers into the story once again. So, something possibly new and a bit of the old.

Looking forward to the rest of the season. Must admit that I actually like Saturday at 9:00 pm. Sunday's way too packed with good stuff despite having a DVR with two tuners.


Related
Hell on Wheels: S3E3 "Range War" Impressions
Hell on Wheels: S3E4 "The Game" Impressions
Hell on Wheels: S3E5 "Searchers" Impressions
Hell on Wheels: S3E6 "One Less Mule" Impressions

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