Hell on Wheels s01e03 Episode Script

Good morning, sinners.
I can say that because I'm a sinner, too.
I know the dark path of drink and debauchery.
I traveled it well.
Yeah, but now I'm on the path to God's light.
And I invite every last one of you to come along.
All are welcome.
Black, white, sinner or saint.
Even you papists.
All are welcome in God's house.
Thank you, Father.
I mean, Reverend.
I'm glad our dear, sweet mother wasn't here to see that.
What? Just being polite.
Why you always on me ass? The house was half full last night.
Be half again tomorrow.
What do you want me to do about it? Worry about it.
Like I do.
The Swede will come calling, you know, sooner rather than later.
That must be the new girl.
The savage one.
- What do you mean? - Haven't you heard? Mr.
Toole told me the whole story.
She was but a girl, white as we, taken captive years ago.
Sold to the highest heathen bidder, she was.
Some say she was a slave.
Others claim she be an Indian princess.
Will you stop with your tall tales? She's just a whore, Mick.
Well, then go talk to her, you bastard.
Make me a liar.
Go on.
Good morning to ya.
He buy the man a drink first, that's what I hear.
He buy the man a drink, take him out and goes savage as a meat axe on him, you hear me? He didn't kill Johnson.
They was gonna hang him.
They didn't.
Yet.
Good day, Mr.
Bohannon, sir.
A fine day, is it not? Fine or not.
Guess we got a good day's work ahead of us.
Mr.
Kretschmar.
I need that rail end leveled down to the next marker.
Mr.
Toole, I need you and your men down at the end of the iron.
Looks like the train's bringing down that load of ties, all right? Yes, sir, Mr.
Bohannon, sir.
Elam, - I need you and your men - It's Mr.
Ferguson.
Elam.
You and your men get down in the cut.
I need men.
Men not afraid of the heathens, men not afraid of making some money.
What is this about? The fair-haired maiden of the west.
Mrs.
Lily Bell, she has been taken captive by the Cheyenne dog soldiers.
A Mr.
Durant has promised a bounty to the men who rescue her.
Ain't nobody going nowheres.
Or there won't be a job waiting for you when you get back.
Dix will take a party north, Bolan, south.
You.
- You.
- Yeah.
- You.
- I told you.
I can't spare these men.
Mr.
Durant wants her found.
Mr.
Durant wants a railroad built.
You and you.
No, this ain't happening.
Boss man, let 'em go.
We can do their work and our work.
You get your men and you get the hell out of here.
One more thing.
I'm looking for a man named Harper, Frank Harper.
He's a friend of Johnson's.
I got something for him.
I believe he's out with the logging crew.
Where's that? Well, it must be 15, 20 miles west of the cut by now.
Is that a bullet? What? What you got for Sergeant Harper? Ain't you got some work to do? Yours and theirs? Get to it.
The people, they are scared.
The Indian massacre.
They seen the bodies, heard the stories.
Your stories.
I need troops.
Seven men we lost last night.
Left the employ of the Union Pacific, some on the train, others just ran off.
More tonight, I expect.
Seems the men prefer to keep their scalps on their heads.
Are you afraid? - No, sir, Mr - What about you? - Well, as a matter of fact, I - Enough.
Now, why do you wanna shit on my railroad? Well, under our current pace, we won't make the 40-mile mark.
So, what I would propose is we straighten the route.
The route remains the same.
But, Mr.
Durant, as I understand it, the deadline has been pushed up.
And in light of Central Pacific's recent advances Keep to the plan.
I'll make it a reality.
Yes, sir, Mr.
Durant.
You're amused? No, sir.
I'm just looking forward to watching, yet again, as you smite the forces agin you.
The search continues? For the maps? Yeah.
For the woman, Lily Bell.
I've got my men out despite Mr.
Bohannon.
Still more concerned about your killer than my railroad? No, sir.
But whoever cut Daniel Johnson's throat is an ongoing concern.
More importantly, is my new foreman building my railroad? He is.
Yet there is something about the man that does not quite add up.
To, Jordan Crane, Washington, DC.
Stop.
Honorable Senator, work continues at a fever pace.
Stop.
However, hostile Native action threatens progress.
Stop.
The march of civilization in jeopardy.
Stop.
To heal the nation, we must displace the savage.
Stop.
Otherwise, the savage will displace us.
Mrs.
Bell? Mrs.
Bell? Whoa, boy.
You speak English? Yes, sir.
Move.
Who are you? Joseph Black Moon.
You Cheyenne? Christian.
Whoa, whoa.
Hold steady.
I'm unarmed, sir.
What did you do to her? - I I didn't do - Hey.
Hey.
What did you do to her? I saved her.
From the Indians? Yes, sir.
She took an arrow to the shoulder.
I'm trying to take her to the railroad to see the doctor.
When this happen? Two, maybe three days ago.
All right.
My horse, there's a field kit in the saddle bag.
Here.
Hold her down.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold her down.
Hey, stop! Stop it! Hold on.
Now, the man say we gotta do our work and theirs.
But I ask ya, why ain't that Negro ass down here with us? Y'all know who he is, that's all I'm saying.
Back in the day Them days was bad.
Don't get me wrong.
Massah drove me hard.
Nearly drove me to the grave.
You hear me? Some things was better back then.
- At least you knew your place.
- Psalms! Less talk, more work.
Bust me some stone, Negro.
How 'bout I bust me your head? You got something to say to me? Yes, I do.
What would that be? How come we got to do the white man work, huh? Oh, that's right, 'cause you think you is the white man, not the high yeller house nigger you is.
We got to do their work and our work.
But this ain't for them.
This is for us.
White man ain't gonna give you nothing, because they want us to fall.
They all want us to fall.
Hey.
Sir? Are you leaving? Yeah.
Somewheres I gotta be.
Thank you for helping her.
Yep.
Whoa.
Damn it.
You ain't thought this thing through, have you? What do you mean? Indian brings that woman back to town, Indian don't get out alive.
But I live there, at the church.
You don't get it, do ya, boy? They brought them back in yesterday on a buckboard.
Everybody's seen what they did to them bodies.
Why cut 'em up? Huh? What do you people get out of it? Your people have done much worse.
Yeah, maybe.
Maybe.
But that ain't gonna keep 'em from skinning your ass alive, you bring that white woman back to town.
I'll have to take her.
Explain to me how I work harder than them, and they go to bed with three more dollars in their pocket than I do.
That don't make a lick of sense.
Well, it don't.
We work as hard as them, right? Damn right.
Then why don't we get the same reward? You crazy.
We deserve a taste, too.
Huh? We can't go in there.
You ain't one of them nancy boys, is you, Psalms? Now, I know you get horny, I hear you back behind that tent every night.
Damn, boy, you gonna go blind.
Lookee here.
You go in there, you coming out on the bad end of a rope.
You ain't scared, is ya? You're damn right I'm scared.
Well, I ain't.
She had a face like a hatchet and an ass like a Venus, I tell you.
Just what do you want, you mule-colored bastard? Spend some hard-earned money, same as you.
Same as me, he says.
Have you looked in the mirror lately, Mr.
Ferguson? You think we the same, well, then, you got a big surprise coming, I tell you.
Face like a coal scuttle, he has.
Why don't you just mind your damn business? You the man to make me? Well, if it ain't Mr.
Toole.
Watch out, ladies, he's back.
We call him "The Blade," for he'll gut you like a trout.
And who would you be? Your next customer.
Look at him, can't even land a cheap-ass whore been plowed by every heathen buck in the territory.
Is this what you're looking for? My shoulder's feeling much better.
Where's Joseph? He took off.
Why? Ma'am, it is way too late and way too wet to be trying to figure out some Indian, all right? I regret we haven't been properly introduced.
Cullen Bohannon.
I work for the railroad.
Have I done something? It ain't what you done.
It's who you are.
What do you mean? You ain't whore nor squaw.
You shouldn't be out here.
You don't know who I am, or what I'm capable of.
No, I don't, and I sure as hell don't care.
"Request for military support to be taken under advisement.
"Very concerned regarding lack of progress.
"Need to understand impact of surveyor loss.
" The Honorable Senator is very concerned.
If he were in my shoes, he'd be downright suicidal.
Ah! Damn.
Henri? Your look of disdain reminds me of my dear wife back in New York.
What Hannah failed to grasp is that where most men seek the warm glow that only whiskey can provide, I imbibe to fuel a conflagration.
There's a fire in my belly which must be fed.
Otherwise, we'll never see the Pacific.
And did your wife accept this excuse, Monsieur Durant? As a matter of fact, she didn't.
Sorry, mate.
You missed the last show, I'm afraid.
Oh! Very well.
I see.
Mr.
Durant, sir, an honor and a pleasure.
This is quite an establishment you've got here.
I'm only sorry you're closed for the night.
Next show begins at dusk tomorrow.
Quiet, you daft bastard.
This is Thomas "Doc" Durant.
A private view he'll be having.
Thank you.
- How much? - That will be five Dollars.
The going rate for a private show.
Mickey, show time! I have followed your exploits and investments since I got off the boat.
How you rose up from nothing, pulled yourself up by your bootstraps.
You're a gentleman and a true capitalist.
Thank you.
Hmm.
I assume you two are immigrants from this beautiful country? Aye.
From County Wicklow, to be exact.
We left our sweet mother and four brothers and set out for the new world to seek our fortune.
You left a beautiful life to come and wallow in this filth and squalor and muck.
Well, it beats starving to death.
No, but you could have remained in New York or Boston or Chicago.
There's plenty of work to be had.
Yet you chose to come here.
Makes me wonder why.
I'm not quite sure what you mean, sir.
Well, you and thousands like you have followed me out here and I'm genuinely curious.
Why? Well, sir It seemed a proper investment of our time and efforts.
MICKEY: That's not it at all.
I remember it well.
Like it was yesterday.
What are you talking about? What is it you remember? We were just lads, me and Sean, never been much further afield than the bit of land our father worked, God rest him.
And one day, we heard the whistle, and it was the Dublin special on its daily run.
Well, we jumped the steaming bastard.
It took us all the way to the city.
Yes, I remember.
I never felt so free.
The railroad gave you freedom.
Aye.
And our father gave us the whipping of a lifetime.
I prayed you'd stay away, my son.
This is my home.
Not a very safe one right now for one born out of the grace of God.
But I'm baptized, Father.
Yeah, well, that does not always sway the cruel prejudice of others.
It's not your fault.
But it is.
They were from my band.
Our dog soldiers, they're the ones that did this.
Your family had nothing to do with this.
I recognized the arrows, Father.
It was my brother.
You must tell no one.
Never speak of this again.
But it's the truth.
Never.
Well, there you are, kitty cat.
What do you want? We want you.
We've been searching over hill and dale for the fair-haired maiden of the west.
We've come to rescue ya.
Thank you, no.
I'm quite all right.
No, you ain't.
You barely escaped massacre.
You've been held captive.
You've been sullied by the heathen.
You're out of order, sir.
Listen, you ain't come with us, we ain't get compensated.
Yeah, there's a bounty on your head now, Go ahead.
Easy now, girl.
- You just take it easy.
- Stay back.
- Easy now.
- Stay back! Now, you're making this a lot more unpleasant than it has to be.
Miss Bell! Damn it.
Come on! My ear! My ear! My ear! Where is it? Whoa.
Whoa, hold up there.
Death's no stranger to this godforsaken place.
Death abides in the hard labor of a rail gang, or the searing heat of a prairie fire.
Death abides at the bottom of a whiskey bottle or the smoking end of a gun.
There's death by famine, flood or pestilence and a thousand other ways.
But, yes, brothers, death abides and he will reap his dark harvest.
But must we be death's accomplice? Must we do his bidding? I know that your hearts seek vengeance for the deaths of those men, I know that, but haven't we had our fill of war? Our fill of killing? Shedding of blood? "And they will hammer their swords into plowshares.
"And their spears into pruning hooks.
"Nations will not lift up swords against nation.
"And never again will they learn war.
" Never again.
It's Isaiah 2:4.
"Wake up the mighty men, "let all the men of war draw near.
"Hammer your plowshares into swords.
"And your pruning hooks into spears.
" Joel 3: 10.
I, too, am sick of war, Reverend.
But we must consistently ask ourselves, "What is worth fighting for?" What is worth laying our lives on the line for? Robert Bell gave his life for this undertaking, this grand idea, and I assure you, he did not give his life in vain.
For he knew what this railroad would mean to us as a nation.
He knew this railroad is a new birth of freedom.
Not just the freedom of long-distance travel, but the freedom to choose your fate, the freedom to make your fortunes in this untamed land.
And we cannot let that freedom be threatened by ragtag bands of marauding Stone Age primitives.
But that is not to say that there is not a peaceful solution.
If they will put down their sticks and stones and come into the fold, like this young man here, then we will talk peace.
Now, look at him, wearing our clothes, speaking our language, washed in the blood of our savior.
If these violent nomads roaming the plains are willing to do as he has done, then there is very real hope that our mission might be accomplished peacefully.
If not, then they are the authors of their own destruction.
LILY: It's been months since I've seen such a Shit hole? Whoa.
Will you be all right from here? You're not taking me in? There's a church and the doctor straight on up ahead.
Wait.
What about the bounty? I told ya, I got business to attend to, Cheyenne territory.
About four hours of daylight left, gotta move.
Mr.
Bohannon?