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Doc prepares to kiss major ass as Senator Crane comes to Hell on Wheels. As you may recall, Crane was the one Doc bullied into working on his behalf back in the pilot. Now he needs Crane to get him some soldiers, cut a deal with the Cheyenne and basically get him the funds he needs to make his forty-mile quota. The Swede, putting his eavesdropping skills to good use, tells Crane about Doc's shady stock dealings in exchange for help in tracking down Sergeant Harper. Crane is downright gleeful to have turned the tables on Doc, having sold his land in Nebraska, his shares in the railroad and now threatens him with utter ruin.
Things just aren't going Doc's way. Many Horses and a band of Cheyenne have come to town to negotiate peace. The "negotiation" involves Doc and the Senator telling Many Horses to move his people onto a reservation or else. They can't even comprehend why this isn't a tempting prospect to the Indians. As talks break down, Many Horses tells them about his son's vision. The son, who seemed much younger with body paint last week, is invited to race the train on horseback. He loses, of course, but Doc's triumph is short-lived because Many Horses still won't deal.
In the subplots, Lily gives the maps to Doc once she realizes how dire the situation really is. She also nearly comes to blows when she sees a Cheyenne woman wearing Robert's hat. Because Joseph is awesome, he gets the hat back for her while also opening her eyes to their mutual tragedies. Meanwhile, Cullen is mostly in the background for the episode, but he does manage to fire Toole for being a useless jerk. Toole, all het up and looking for someone to blame, targets Elam and his tattooed lady friend. The episode ends with the two of them being dragged out of a tent and into the night. Stay tuned for the recap.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: A Cheyenne soldier shot Lily with an arrow. She returned the favor by yanking the arrow out of her shoulder and turning him into a kabob with it. Doc bribed Senator Crane into working on his behalf by threatening to route his railroad around the Senator's land in Nebraska. Elam won a boxing match against Cullen, thanks in part to Sean slathering Elam's wrappings with pepper. Lily confessed to Doc that she has her husband's survey maps, but she didn't hand them over. Reverend Cole asked Joseph's father, Many Horses, to come to Hell on Wheels and talk peace. The Swede overheard Doc sending a suspicious telegram to his stockbroker. Elam made secret friends with the tattooed lady.
Currently: Doc has slapped a festive veneer on the open sewer that is Hell on Wheels. The train platform is bedecked with patriotic bunting and a big banner welcoming an as-yet-known visitor. Three musicians practice some distance away until Doc calls them closer to the platform. One man plays a fiddle, another a trombone. A shabbily-dressed woman -- likely a repurposed prostitute -- plays a tuba. I hope she becomes a regular. A tuba-toting hooker in the Old West is just automatically one of the most interesting characters on the show. Doc is exasperated to learn that the band leader plans to play "Dixie," and requests "Battle Hymn of the Republic" instead. As a train draws near, Doc hurries a photographer up onto the platform. Much to Doc's surprise, Lily wordlessly comes to his side and slips her hand into the crook of his elbow. "She takes my arm even as she stabs me in the back," he passive-aggressives. Lily remains cool. "Have you given my proposal any further consideration?" He calls it extortion. Lily calls it fair. Doc puffs up his chest and refuses to deal, but Lily just smiles like she has all the time in the world to wait for him to come around.
Doc excuses himself as the train pulls up. He commands the band to start playing. They're not terribly good, but one can't be too choosy. The last car in the train also bears patriotic bunting, which just seems like an open invitation to robbers. Senator Crane steps onto the platform, all smiles for the assembled masses. He looks like an alien from another planet in this setting, dressed as he is in a natty black suit, ascot and top hat. Doc refrains from dropping to his knees and puckering at Crane's posterior, but just barely. He turns to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for me to introduce a true friend of the railroad, who has come here with the full backing of the United States Senate to meet with the Indians, to thwart their opposition to our cause! From the great state of Illinois, Senator Jordan Crane!" Crane stands there with a big smile, eating it all up. Polite applause goes up from the gathering. Cullen, seated on his horse, watches from the back of the crowd and looks unimpressed.
Crane addresses the audience. "As Mr. Durant said, I am here, laurel branch in hand, to meet with the Indians." Reverend Cole applauds. Nobody joins him. Crane goes on: "But in the other hand, I wield a cudgel, and that cudgel is the full and mighty force of the United States military!" Now everybody else applauds. Crane gets the crowd going, promising a fight if that's what the "savages" want. One guy in the audience looks like he mistakenly wandered in from an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog shoot. Hello, there. Cullen scowls. Either he's displeased by what the Senator is saying or he's just being his usual grumpy self. It's hard to tell. Cue the opening credits.
At the saloon, Cullen pours himself a shot of that "corn likker." Why he even bothers with a glass is kind of a mystery. Mr. Toole is expelling some hot air at the bar. "First the floozies and now they're lettin' the Injuns come for a party," he says to his assorted cronies. Is he seriously complaining about prostitutes being in town? Because they wouldn't be there if horny toads like him weren't shelling out the dough. "I tell ya, lads, we'll soon be workin' for the likes of them." Cullen drinks and tries to ignore them. He notices the Swede at the bar with that bearded fellow he met at the logging camp. They glance back at Cullen during their conversation. Cullen's view is suddenly blocked by the appearance of Reverend Cole. "You ain't here for a drink, are you?" Cullen asks. "A spirit of a different sort possesses me," the Reverend says. Cullen thinks the Reverend means to try to save his soul again, but the Reverend has something else in mind this time. First he reminds Cullen that he once gave him asylum in the church and then tells him the Cheyenne are coming to talk peace. "Who's crazy-ass idea was that?" Cullen asks. The Reverend gives him a pointed look and Cullen rolls his eyes. "Beg pardon, preacher, but somehow I don't see that ending well." He reaches for another drink of whiskey, but the Reverend pours the shot for him. He asks Cullen to talk to the walking bosses and tell them to keep their men in check. He fears bloodshed otherwise. Cullen thinks on it a while, then shrugs and says he'll do what he can. They shake on it.
Time for another picnic! Doc, Lily and Senator Crane dine alfresco near Doc's train car. "A toast to the fair-haired maiden of the West," says Crane. Why do they keep calling her that when she was married? Is it because it had a better ring than "fair-haired widow of the West"? There's a fourth gentleman with them, but he doesn't say anything, so his identity is a mystery. Lily's scar peeks out over the neckline of her green velvet dress. Considering the severity of the wound and Cullen's field surgery, it looks remarkably well-healed. It's hardly visible at all, really. I have a small scar on my wrist that looks worse, and it was stitched up by a fancy doctor in a sterile environment. Crane speculates that Lily must be eager to return to civilization. She admits she is, but has some unfinished business first. She smiles over at Doc who scoffs in return. The menfolk get down to discussing some business of their own, like why the payroll was late. "Why the money problems?" Crane asks. Doc laughs and makes up some crap about a "miscommunication" with the bank. Crane presses him about rumors he's heard that the banks weren't extending credit to the Union Pacific anymore. Doc pooh-poohs that idea, too.
Lily listens to all of this with interest, then jumps in with, "What about the route to the Rockies?" Doc, in the middle of taking a drink, glares at her over the rim of his glass. Lily bats her lashes and pretends to be but a simple-minded female. "Thomas has been trying to explain it to me -- I think I finally managed to grasp it -- that the route my husband mapped through the Rockies holds the key to Thomas choosing the right path..." This is apparently the first that Crane has heard of this. He turns to Doc for clarification. Thomas hems and haws and has to admit he doesn't have the maps. "No forty miles by May 16th," says Crane, "no government subsidies." He adds insult to injury by reminding Doc that Central Pacific has already made their quota. Doc boils. "Seems these Chinamen are quite the busy worker bees!" Crane says. Yes, it's how I make my recapping deadlines. Lily enjoys all this with barely concealed glee. That fourth dining guest is probably wondering if he can slink away from the table without anybody noticing.
In town, Cullen wants to have a word with Elam -- or Mr. Ferguson, as he finally calls him -- but Psalms stands bodily between them. Elam puts a hand on his shoulder, letting him know it's fine. We rejoin Cullen and Elam a moment later already in mid-conversation. "You ain't got to worry about us messin' with no Injuns," Elam says. "Ain't no red man ever bloodied my back." They shake on it. "We don't need no more fightin', do we?" Cullen asks. Elam teases him about their own fight. Cullen accuses Elam of cheating, saying he tasted the pepper juice. (I'm realizing now that's what he tasted when he wiped his face after the fight; I thought he was tasting a bucket of whiz. Glad I was mistaken.) Elam disavows all knowledge of cheating and Cullen instantly takes his word for it. If he thought the guy would cheat, why wouldn't he think the guy would lie about it? Anyway, they part on pretty good terms, it seems.
In the church, Ruth and Joseph lay some of those new Bibles on the pews. Judging by the number of books, they must be feeling pretty optimistic about attendance. Joseph smiles when Ruth glances up at him. They work in silence for a while. "How did your mother die?" Joseph asks without preamble. Does this guy have conversation skills, or what? "Consumption," Ruth answers. Joseph says that she's with God now and his earnestness is damned near heartbreaking. Ruth doesn't seem particularly eager to continue the talk, but Joseph keeps going. He tells her his own mother died when he was a boy. He remembers her taking him to the creek every morning, playing by pretending to drop him and then catching him at the last second. "She's with God now, too," he says. Ruth is perplexed. "Was she a Christian?" she asks. Joseph admits she was not. Ruth is even more confused. "Then... how can she be with God?" Joseph looks sad and they go back to work without speaking for a while. Then Joseph, displaying those smooth conversation skills again, says to Ruth that he's sorry her father left her. Ruth gets riled up, defending her father and his great mission to help the "inferiors." Joseph lets her stand in that pile for a bit. She awkwardly tries to explain that she meant the Negroes, but Joseph knows she also meant Indians like him.
Senator Crane has gone out behind Doc's train car to have a smoke and empty his bladder. He's in mid-pee when the Swede moseys into the scene and just... stands there. "Would you like to hold it for me?" Crane asks. "Or do you have some information?" Does it have to be one or the other? "Mr. Durant has taken private funds from the railroad for his personal use," says the Swede. Good Lord, Crane is still peeing. Did he drink one of the Great Lakes before getting on the train? The Swede tells him about the $147,000 he overheard Doc using to speculate on railroad stock. Crane finally packs away the garden hose. He reaches into his vest pocket for a wad money. "Money's not necessary this time," the Swede says. Yeah, he knows where your hands have just been, bud. Instead, the Swede asks for information. He tells Crane about Sergeant Harper, but leaves out the Cullen parts of the story. He just says Harper was someone who worked for the railroad and ran off. Now he wants to know where Harper is. Crane is confused as to how he's supposed to help, so the Swede explains Harper is from the Senator's home state of Illinois and has family in Chicago. Crane thinks about it and says, "I'll have my people --" The Swede cuts him off. "Yes, you will." If the Senator hadn't already drained himself dry, he'd probably wet his pants a little at the tone of the Swede's voice.
Toward sunset, three Cheyenne ride on horseback across the plain. They stop at the railroad tracks. One guy gets off his horse and approaches the tracks. He's the one who did the Sun Dance ritual last week. I thought at the time that that was the first we'd seen of this guy, but it turns out he's also the one who was doing such a bad job of tracking Lily. He looked different and younger when covered in white paint. I can find no name listed for the character, so I'm calling him Terrible Tracker -- Tracker for short. He touches his hand to the metal rail and draws it back in a flash. He gives his traveling companions a worried look. A few moments later, they hear a train approaching. Tracker watches it as it appears on the horizon belching black smoke and holds his ground as it races past him.
The morning, the men are back at work laying railroad ties. Why they're doing so in a muddy ditch instead of on the miles and miles of raised ground surrounding them is a mystery. Maybe it's part of why Doc's having such a hard time making that forty-mile mark. Toole spies the Cheyenne negotiating party in the distance. The sight of them sets his britches afire. He tells his men to leave the work. "It's our turn for collecting some scalps," he says. The freedmen start to follow, too, until Elam stops them. "Y'all Negroes get back in that cut. We ain't got no fight with them Injuns." Toole sneers at Elam, accusing them of being afraid for their scalps. Except he calls it "nappy fuzz," like he and the lice condo he calls hair have any room to slight anyone's 'do. Also: Elam is bald. Cullen sees this from a distance and shouts for Toole to get his men back to work. "I don't take orders from any man walloped by a nigger," Toole says. Cullen rides on over to Toole, who takes a step back like the chicken shit that he is. "You're fired," Cullen says. Toole was not expecting that. "I'll fix your flint for this, Bohannon," he says. "You have my word on that!" Cullen is unmoved by the little twit's threat. Toole turns to his men: "Come on, lads, let's go." His former underlings shuffle their feet and avoid looking at him. He doesn't have the pull he thought he did. In the background, Cullen's horse is nodding his head repeatedly and nickering softly. Is that the equine equivalent of a laugh? Can we pretend that it is? Toole stomps off in an impotent rage as Cullen orders the rest of the men back to work.
Doc's train car. Crane takes his sweet time lowering the boom on Doc. It's like savoring a fine cognac. You don't just slam it down; you enjoy the sweet, sweet burn. He goes on a bit about whether or not Doc really has things under control, until Doc finally wonders if there's a point he's trying to make. "I'm well aware of your schemes," he says. "To put it plain, they don't concern me... except when they concern me." Doc gives Crane a long, hard look. "Jordan, why are you really here?" So Crane tells him that he knows Doc's been using Union Pacific funds to speculate on the railroad. Doc puffs and blusters with indignation about unfounded rumors and such. Then Crane mentions that $147,000 -- a sum far too specific to be rumor. Doc squirms but refuses to talk. Meanwhile, Lily's been listening to every word from the back of the car.
Many Horses and his people ride into town. They do not get the banners and bunting and tootling horns of welcome that Crane got. Instead, they are treated to all the sights and ungodly smells that Hell on Wheels has to offer. A woman vomits behind a building. A calf lies dead in the mud. Unkempt prostitutes glare at the Cheyenne as they pass. Some guy drives by and throws a bag of garbage out his car window. It's enough to make a grown man cry. "Come for more scalps, have ya?" Toole calls as they ride by the saloon. He takes off his hat and the Cheyenne dudes are probably like, "Ew, no, you can keep that." Many Horses and the others come to a stop in front of the church where Reverend Cole, Ruth and Joseph are waiting. The Reverend opens his arms wide. "Welcome to our town," he says. "Don't be afraid, you're among friends." (They don't look at all afraid.) The Reverend introduces Ruth and Joseph as his children and thanks the others for coming in the spirit of "peace and fellowship." Many Horses takes it all in, then turns to Ruth. "Are you the daughter he abandoned?" She looks up, mouth falling open in shock. "Maybe peace and fellowship are more important to him than his own family." Ruth looks away. The Reverend manages a smile even though he looks like he just swallowed a piece of glass. Or maybe he's upset by the electric guitars playing in the soundtrack right now.
thing you know, everyone's having a sit-down at a nice little table with some cheese and fruit. They're really getting a lot of use out of that fabric gazebo. The Reverend introduces Many Horses to Crane and Doc while the Swede stands off to the side in his long black coat like the Grim Reaper waiting to see who bites it first. Doc leans toward Many Horses. "Do... you... understand?" "I speak your language," Many Horses says. Doc seems surprised to hear this. Alas, although they're speaking the same language, there remains quite a gulf in understanding. Doc tells Many Horses that Crane has come to offer his people a "better way of life," and honestly cannot comprehend why Many Horses does not leap at the opportunity. Many Horses politely tells him that he's happy with the life he has now. Crane is baffled, too, that anyone would choose to live in -- as he calls it -- the Stone Age when they could join the great industrial revolution. Many Horses has no response to that. The Reverend tries to explain that Many Horses doesn't understand, but it seems like less a lack of comprehension than of agreement. "The United States government is prepared to offer you a piece of land of your own," Doc says. "We have our own land," Many Horses says. Crane bristles at that. To him, the government owns the land. To Many Horses, this is impossible since the government didn't buy or trade for it. The Reverend says Many Horses has a point.
Doc and Crane are stumped for a logical argument, so he tries another tack. He offers them a life without hunting the buffalo or wandering the prairie. "You can depend on your country to take care of you!" Many Horses narrows his eyes at him and says calmly, "You are not my country." Doc grits his teeth. He can't understand why these people won't submit to living on a reservation. Who could resist the prospect of unending submission and dependence? Nonetheless, Many Horses declines the offer. Doc, fed up, pushes away from the table. He notices Tracker examining the train a short distance away, curiously touching the rim of a wheel. The wheels in Doc's brain start turning.
At the church, Joseph and Ruth sing a hymn to an audience of Cheyenne visitors. Some of the visitors pick up the Bibles and give them confused looks. A young woman in the front pew wears a white man's hat with a feather tied around the crown. After the hymn, she asks in her native language about Jesus Christ. Joseph answers her, then translates for us: "I told her that Jesus Christ is our savior and born of a virgin." Ruth gives him a proud smile. The young woman in the hat says something that makes her fellow visitors laugh. Joseph doesn't quite suppress a smile and translates: "She says she would like to hear Mary explain the virgin birth to her husband." Now the white parishioners in the back of the audience join in the laughter. Ruth looks a wee bit scandalized.
Outside, Cullen keeps the peace, mostly by standing around and looking foreboding. Toole and some of his cronies loiter around nearby, guns at the ready. Lily walks up to him with a smile. He greets her with a polite "ma'am," a doffing of his hat and the spitting of a loogie off to one side. "What are you doing here?" she asks. "I guess I made a stupid promise to somebody," he says. He's surprised to see her, having figured she wouldn't want to see any Indians, but she says these are the peaceful kind. Cullen scoffs at that and spits some more. Bleh. Looking suddenly teary-eyed, Lily says that she'll be leaving town soon. Cullen appears unmoved by her decision, which seems to peeve Lily a bit. She gathers up her skirts to walk away, but then she spies that Cheyenne woman in the hat. At first Lily looks sad, then she looks really pissed. She storms over to the woman. "Where did you get that? That's mine!" She moves to snatch the hat off the woman's head, but Cullen hauls her bodily out of the church. Lily struggles and demands he let go of her. "It was your husband's hat, wasn't it?" he asks. Lily fumes in silence. Joseph comes over. "You lied to me," Lily says. "It was your people!" She stomps off, leaving Joseph looking ashamed and worried.
Cullen chases after Lily. She's going to tell Doc that they're here, the ones who committed the massacre. Cullen warns her that women and children will be killed, too, not just the braves. Tears streaming, she wheels around on him. "What's your stake in this, Mr. Bohannon? Why do you care?" He doesn't try to talk her out of it, exactly, but he cautions her. "Everything has a price, Mrs. Bell. If you think you can afford the price of this, then go on." Lily thinks about that for a minute, possibly waiting for an "I know from personal experience" speech, but Cullen says nothing else so she turns and continues on her way.
Senator Crane is still trying to reason with Many Horses, but they have entirely different views on reason. "You must think of your women and children," Crane says. "I am thinking of them," says Many Horses. "How can I ask them to give up what they have for this?" He waves an arm toward town. "I have never seen such a dark, filthy place." Doc, who's been pacing this whole time, stops and gapes at Many Horses. Apparently, when you've lived knee-deep in human waste and disease long enough, you just get used to it. Crane warns Many Horses that there will be war if he doesn't accept the deal. The Reverend sits between them as they argue, looking more hopeless by the second. He tries to get them back on task, but the men aren't through threatening each other with slaughter. Doc's had enough. He goes to Many Horses and lays it out thusly: "This train means the end of life as you know it." Many Horses gets up, looks Doc in the eye. "My son had a vision. He will defeat your train." Doc laughs and laughs, then thinks for a second and offers Many Horses' son a chance to make his vision come true.
So they set things up for a race between Tracker and the train. Tracker prays with his people. I don't understand the Cheyenne language, but I think he says something like, "Please let me better at racing than I am at tracking." While they wait for the race to start, the townsfolk find other ways to occupy themselves. Psalms and Elam greet the Cheyenne women with appreciative smiles. Ruth and Joseph chat; although we don't hear what they say, they seem to be getting more comfortable with each other. Doc stands around looking constipated. Must be all that picnic food. Lily takes up a spot to Cullen to watch the race. She hasn't decided yet whether to tell Doc about Joseph's people. As Elam joins the rest of the crowd, he and his tattooed lady friend look at each other for much too long and with too much familiarity. Toole sees the exchange and seethes.
Tracker gets up on his horse. The Swede stands between him and the train, a red flag in his hand. The Swede waves the flag and Tracker is off to an early lead. The train heaves its great bulk along the track. A man shoves chunks of wood into the furnace. The wheels turn faster. The train catches up to Tracker, then begins to overtake him. Tracker pushes his horse, but to no avail. He loses the race, although not by much. Doc is triumphant. The Reverend, Ruth and Joseph look distraught.
Doc returns to his train car with Senator Crane. Laughing, he says, "I think the Chief got my message loud and clear!" Crane congratulates him, but he hasn't forgotten about that whole thing with the missing $147,000. He threatens to send investigators after Doc. Doc's feeling of triumph fades. He looks worried. Then he decides Crane is bluffing. He thinks the Senator is still beholden to him. "If you fall, you fall with me." With a good bit of pleasure, Crane disabuses Doc of that notion. He's sold his land in Nebraska and divested himself of his Credit Mobilier stock. Doc has nothing on him now. "You once had my head in a vise, Thomas. Now I have your pecker in my pocket." That's two penis references he's made one episode. Not that I'm counting or anything. Crane tells Doc that he's leaving for Chicago the day and will report him as soon as he arrives. "You'll be trading in your fancy duds for prison pinstripes!" With that, he turns to go. Doc pleads with him, but he doesn't even look back on his way out.
Joseph and the young woman in the hat seek out Lily. The woman holds out the hat, her eyes filled with sadness and understanding. "She wants you to have this," Joseph says. "And she wanted you to know she, too, has lost her husband. He was killed in a fight with one of his own arrows." Lily glances downward, realizing she killed this woman's husband. Joseph explains that the other braves brought the hat to her. Lily takes the hat. She's not angry or defensive. She understands. She takes the feather from the hat and gives it back to the woman. There's enough sorrow to share. Cullen watches from a distance.
Many Horses goes to the now-empty church. He hangs a necklace made of shell and bone over a cross. The bone looks like maybe it's been carved into a whistle. He looks at it for a long time, sighs, then walks away.
Outside, he's met by the Reverend, Ruth and Joseph. "We will now return," Many Horses says. The Reverend begs him to reconsider, but he turns to Joseph. "Son, these people are not good. If you stay here, you will die." Joseph is torn. His father asks him to come back with him, but Joseph says he can't. He glances over at Ruth and the Reverend and says again, "I can't." With that, Many Horses and his people turn and leave. In the distance, the sky is black and thunder crackles. Tracker gives his little brother a look of contempt. Joseph watches them go before walking away with Ruth. "Why did you leave him?" she asks. "So I could help the inferiors," he answers. Ruth looks embarrassed to hear her own words. Joseph looks like he's going to cry.
Lily visits her husband's grave. Sniffling, she hugs his hat to her heart before placing it on the cross above him. A sweet song plays to signify her letting go of him, as painful as it may be. She has dug up the maps and carries them back to town.
She goes to Doc's train car, where he sits in the dark, disheveled and very plainly drunk. "You were right," she says. He starts to get up, but she orders him back down. With a sigh, she goes on: "Robert needed you as much as you needed him." From behind her back she produces the maps. She lays them on the table before Doc. "My husband died for his dream. Now it's up to you to bring it to life." He looks up at her with gratitude, awe and confusion. Without another word, she leaves him with the maps.
In the saloon, Toole tries to rouse some rabble to go chasing after the Cheyenne. Cullen, sitting nearby, tips over a chair with his foot to block their path. Toole, feeling like a big man now that he has backup, tells Cullen to get out of their way. "We aim to go after those Injuns and there ain't nothing you can do about it." Cullen gets to his feet. "The hell there ain't," he says. He saunters over to Toole, looking all imposing and steely calm. Cullen might be kind of hot, you guys. Toole's not impressed, though. He points out that Cullen is outnumbered. It's not like he can kill all of them. Cullen says he can kill five of them. Toole sneers. "You hear that? He's not even fully loaded. Only five bullets he's got!" Cullen clarifies: "I got six bullets. I was just gonna shoot you twice." Ha! More of this Cullen, please, and less of the mopey one. Toole backs up, eyes wide, but clings to his bravado. That's when the Swede and some others join Cullen's side. "It's important to Mr. Durant that the Injuns remain unharmed," says the Swede. "I'm sure you boys can find some amusement here in town."
Toole and his gang decide to take out their frustrations on Eva, the tattooed lady. First they head over to the brothel, but she's not there. Then they head over to Elam's tent, where the two are canoodling in the dark. Toole and the others barge into the tent. Elam tries to hold them off, but they overrun him like a swarm of ants. "We didn't do nothing!" Eva protests. He jumps on Toole, pulling him off Elam. "Let him go! We was just talking." Toole throws her off and punches her. She falls to the ground. "Leave her alone!" Elam shouts. The men drag him out into the night and into the closing credits.
The last few scenes of the episode perked things up a bit. The rest of it felt like a stage play, and not a good one. It was slow and talky and... well, stagy. Someone needs to shove a lot more wood in this thing's furnace.
Contact Tippi Blevins at b_tippi@yahoo.com, or find her on Twitter.