Hell on Wheels: Season 2, Episode 4 “Scabs” (B+)
There’s nothing like the sight of a man being crucified by Native Americans to incite fear and anger among a traveling town. As usual, Cullen responded in a cool and collected manner, shooting the poor man before the cruel deed could be completed. Durant was predictably enraged about the strike, and it definitely wouldn’t have been good to be a scab on that train coming into town since the striking workers gave them hell the moment they arrived. A fight between Elam and Psalms has been brewing for a while now, and it was considerably bloodier and more brutal than I might have imagined. If nothing else, it managed to separate Elam, described as nothing, not black or white, from the rest of his people, who now have been given arms to defend themselves as part of the deal to get back to work. Elam did have a short-lived bit of happiness at the start of the episode on his picnic with Eva, but his cold-hearted reaction to her pregnancy, which consisted of a love confession and a subsequent instruction to get an abortion, ruined that relationship too. Eva was surprisingly honest with her new beau about her child’s paternity, and it seems that, after all the strike took out of him, he’s willing to forgive her and stay with her anyway, whether or not that’s what she wants. It was intriguing to see Cullen take the Reverend in after finding out that he was sleeping in the cemetery only to have him leave because Cullen believes that they’re at war with the Sioux. The best conversation of the episode was the Swede’s conversation with the Reverend, in which he said that they have to decide which side they’re on. It’s always great to see supporting characters fighting to stay relevant.
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