First Impressions: Hell on Wheels

Hell on Wheels is a mess of Western cliches and silly characters, a thinly-plotted pilot that doesn’t do much to set up Hell on Wheels as a series. The whole dull package is topped off by a multitude of underwhelming performances and predictable twists, all wrapped into a too-short 45-minute pilot. Let’s put it this way: if you struggle to remember the names of ANY characters by the end of the first episode, your show might have a few issues. It is an effort reeking of profit by lowest common denominator, and unfortunately, is closer in quality to The Killing than Breaking Bad.

The first problem with HoW is the drab, dull universe created in the pilot- an extremely important factor in any television show, but magnified when dealing with period work. There’s nothing distinguishing this post-Civil War world from any of the thousand Westerns and period dramas about the bleak, ruthless America of the time. Hell on Wheels spends entirely too much time trying to nail this point home, right down to naming a town ‘Hell on Wheels’ with a population which reads ‘One Less Everyday’ (which later on, we see being trampled over by an oncoming horse and buggy, to boot). I don’t have a problem with a mid-19th century drama being a bleak existence, but HoW goes so far out of its way to be corrupt and evil, it feels silly.

The show’s plot, much of which is revealed in the last ten minutes of the show, is centered around Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier who is out to avenge his wife. The writers again, try too hard to paint Cullen as the dark hero, a man who murders someone in a confessional in the opening scene, then talks later about how he let his slaves go free before the war, but still had to fight with the South for his honor. What about that sounds logical enough for a high-concept television show? Needless to say, the part is poorly acted by Anson Mount, who tries his best to go for gritty Clint Eastwood, but usually can only stare mindlessly as he interacts with different characters. Though for someone who’s probably best known for winning Best Chemistry at the Teen Choice Awards for his role opposite Britney Spears in Crossroads, this is a noticeable improvement.

The rest of the cast is equally as sheepish and goofy in their introductory scenes, most noticeably long-time character actor Colm Meaney (best known as Chief Miles O’ Brien on the long-defunct Star Trek: The Next Generation) who suffers through the over-expositional rants of Doc Durant, a man ripping off the government while building the railroads, and giving long speeches to himself about being a lion and zebras writing their own history…. or something of that nature, the flat writing of anything coming out of Durant’s mouth make him feel more like a caricature of white-collar men of his time, then an interesting and/or layered characterization of a man who is a bit wild with his ambitions.

The slew of characters introduced are rounded out by religious figures, silent but angry Native Americans, and a whole bunch of dumb, drunk white guys talking about America’s manifest destiny and whatnot. The most interesting bit of casting is rapper/actor Common as freed slave/mistreated railroad worker Elam Ferguson, and although Elam isn’t given anything interesting to do except fight the society of hatred around him (big surprise), Common sets an example for other rappers/singers trying to have acting careers (ahem, Chris Brown and T.I.), simply by not being terrible. It remains to be seen whether there will be any deep material for Common to work with, and if he can handle a heavy dramatic workload. Given the precedent set by this opening episode, I’m going to say there probably won’t be.

Most of all, Hell on Wheels fails as a drama because of its extreme lack of intelligence. Hell on Wheels is essentially an amalgamation of all that is bad with movies and network television: moral complexities and interesting plot devices are thrown out in favor of any explosion, gun shot, and storyline that will feed the American obsession of revenge fantasies. Of course, the pilot concludes with the reveal that our main character is not a broody violent man by nature: he’s after the men who killed his wife (two of which die in this episode), a twist which falls so flat on its face, it raises the question: will this show last past a first season?

While that answer is still to be revealed, the setup for the rest of the season is certainly nothing to get excited over. We’ve got a Native American versus ignorant American storyline boiling under the surface, with a young Indian who’s been converted to Christianity at the heart of it (a storyline I’m hardly expecting to reveal anything insightful, though it’s a ripe field for character exploration). Throw in some government corruption, the now-mysterious circumstances surrounding the brutal death of Gullen’s wife, and some race relations involving the one black member of the main cast versus everyone else. A whole lot of throwaway plot lines you’d expect more from an NBC premiere, than the recent pedigree of AMC original series.

All in all, Hell on Wheels isn’t horrible, but the sum of all its parts is certainly nothing to get excited over. There is still plenty of time for Hell to establish itself, and grow organically, but with the bare bones approach to every aspect of the show, Hell on Wheels already feels like a tunnel-visioned effort of cheap thrills and simple storytelling, without a whole lot of strong acting to back it up. I’ll follow Hell on Wheels for at least the first half of the season, but at this point, you can probably SKIP IT!

(that is, unless color-by-numbers Westerns are your thing, then go to town on this under-developed mess).