AMC’s new post-Civil War drama HELL ON WHEELS is a lush, visually stunning and, at times, graphic account of revenge and retribution. In 1865, America was uneasily settling into a routine where the North and South had put aside their differences. But old tensions were still bubbling beneath the surface; and battle wounds, scars and seething rage were testament to the recent civil war. The lure of the open West and money to be made through the ambitious pursuit of building a railroad across America brought men together so long as they could leave the past behind. While the old plantation owners, former slaves, and retired military officers could see the sense of turning their backs on the past and looking to the future, the only ones not to quick to jump on the bandwagon to modernize were the Indians. Greed and power were pushing the railroad barons to race to build a railroad to bring prosperity across the land, but with time working against them, funds running low and a hostile indigenous population, it is not going to be easy. [Read more…]
