TV Review: HELL ON WHEELS 1.7, 'Revelations'

If all we can hope for Hell on Wheels at this point is minor victories, then “Revelations” wasn’t half bad.

rating: 2.5

If all we can hope for Hell on Wheels at this point is minor victories, then €œRevelations€ wasn€™t half bad. Don€™t get me wrong €“ the overarching plot decisions (which I€™ll get to later) were as frustrating and misguided as ever, but as a mindless, entertaining hour of television, €œRevelations€ had a fair bit of success. The majority of the episode hinges on Cullen and Elam€™s escape from the Hell on Wheels campsite, and it is in their moments together that the episode truly shines. We€™re treated to familiar, but nonetheless entertaining scenes of Elam€™s rescue from near-execution, Cullen€™s lessons on how to shoot a pistol, and an ambush that leaves the two standing victorious over the half-dozen gunmen that were tracking them through the countryside. Again, nothing here feels completely fresh, but it doesn€™t really have to be €“ it€™s the type of action Westerns are known for, and there€™s a reason these scenes have been done over and over again throughout the history of the genre. Quite simply €“ they€™re fun €“ which is something Hell on Wheels hasn€™t really been all that often as we€™ve moved throughout the weeks. This comes, of course, with a caveat. Laced throughout this plot thread, and the episode at large, are all too convenient character revelations that scream of lazy writing. Cullen has one €“ explaining why he€™d take the time to save Elam€™s skin in the first place. Durant does too €“ right before he pulls a double-cross that requires him to be seen in a positive light to have any sort of payoff at all. And Elam has one too €“ although it comes in the form of a flashback. That flashback €“ the reveal that Elam can read, and is fairly well-versed in the bible, is used to give the episode a book-end that€™s supposed to be clever but comes off as undeserved. In fact, there€™s a lot of attempts to poetically tie things together in €œRevelations€ that do not succeed simply because they€™re so forced. Take the aforementioned target practice scene between Cullen and Elam. Cullen makes it a point to mention how vital it is to keep track of the other guy€™s bullet count, and, of course, when the big gunfight does happen, the scene€™s climax hinges, predictably, on this lesson. This happens more than a few times throughout €œRevelations€™€ hour, and is so painfully transparent it nearly kills the good these scenes have. But let€™s move on to bigger things. There are two substantial plot turns in €œRevelations€ that feel both out of left field and products of bad creative judgment. Although the Cullen and Elam plot yielded the strongest scenes of the episode, the very idea that they€™re abandoning the campsite undermines one of the narrative backbones of the show. The reason behind Cullen€™s involvement with the transcontinental railroad is to aide in his search of those that murdered his wife and child. If he leaves now, how important, exactly, is this goal? The very idea that the man would willingly lose the only footing he has in this makes little sense, and places Cullen€™s main objective even further on the backburner. And then there€™s the romance angle between Durant and Lily Bell €“ a choice that only works as an excuse to keep Bell on the show. Much like the idea of Cullen being on the run, it€™s a narrative choice that may change the very foundations of the show. And given how rocky those foundations already are, the last thing Hel on Wheels needs is to shake things up further. We are now three episodes away from this season€™s finale, and still nowhere near anything resembling a narrative focus. Unfortunately, it€™s evident the show may never have one.
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Cole Zercoe hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.