Hell on Wheels: "Pride, Pomp and Circumstance" Review

It took a while, but here we are, with some form of cogent plot coming forward. Season 1 of Hell on Wheels has been weighed down by stagnation: the constant threat of wars with Indians; Lily refusing to give Durant the maps; racial tensions mounting and then, when it finally reached its apex last week, nothing was really solved or gained. A lot of the tension has been character-based, but even then, most of it was at a standstill.

This week, "Pride, Pomp and Circumstance," led us to the drinking water. There wasn't any serious advancement, but a major finger in the dyke, Lily withholding the maps, finally relented and now Durant has what he needs to move forward.

Another major issue of last week's episode, where I felt the Native Americans weren't getting a fair treatment, was resolved quickly. There was a great scene in this one where the chief of the Cheyenne, Joseph Black Moon's dad (Wes Studi), agreed to meet with Durant and discuss peace. Durant brought in a senator who helped fund Durant's initiative—and one that sees through Durant's plans to abuse the system and make the most profit from this as possible. Durant's relationship to the senator reminded me a lot of a father who doesn't think his son is living up to his expectations.

The chief and the senator and Durant are sitting at a table, talking, and the senator says it straight forward: you Indians are living in the Stone Age and we want to bring you into the modern times. The chief says we're fine. Durant says the US government will give you this land, a reservation, just for you. The chief says we have our land. Do you own this land we're on? Durant responds well no, but … The senators state if you don't agree to our terms, it'll be war and the chief, being far more rational than the other two, prepares to get up from the table.

It was a glaring scene that stuck out for its salience and ability to capture the history of the time, while furthering its own topics. Assimilation of Native Americans was a huge part of the 1860s frontier, especially white people feeling they had to make the Native Americans adapt to white culture. This is why Joseph is kind of important to the story. The Cheyenne aren't resistant; they're more or less complacent and that scene where the Cheyenne woman wondered what it would be like if the Virgin Mary explained Jesus' birth to her husband had me laughing out loud.

The men at the table somehow agreed on a race between the chief's son on horseback and the train. I'm not quite sure why'd they would agree to that, since we know that whoever lost was going to be unhappy anyway, but it happened and the chief's son lost and there's a mild look of disappointment in his face. (Hey, there's that fathers and sons connection again).

Lily went into the Cheyenne camp this episode too and ran into a woman who was wearing her husband's hat. She declared war on the Cheyenne and then forgave them when the woman offered the hat back and they shared stories about losing their husbands.

What the creators didn't do in this episode was slather on some heaping sympathy for the Native Americans. Instead, we saw their way of life and how they were comfortable. It wasn't overly done. The Cheyenne seemed satisfied. The white folk were the active forces, which is both true to history and the story we're being told. The Cheyenne are who they are and the eastern whites are attempting to force them to be something else. It's done very well.

Meanwhile, Elam was taken hostage by the Irish caricature of a racist person. I don't know what they intend to do with that, but good luck.

Overall, this was a decent episode and the best I've felt about the series since the beginning. We're hopefully heading in a specific direction and there will be blood.

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