Hell on Wheels s02e03 Episode Script

In the beginning there was blood.
The land demands it.
Every new land demands blood.
And we relent.
It is our nature.
We are, after all, animals.
In our arrogance, we forget this, but in the end, we rise from the land, only to return.
You're very skilled with a blade, Mr.
Bauer.
Very efficient.
- There's no pride in wastefulness, huh, Swede? Only sin.
- Mm-hmm.
- We must use all.
And this.
- Hmm.
Yeah.
Hmm! - A good butcher does not waste lives.
- It is a shame, what happened to your friend.
Dieter Schmidt, uh - It is not fair.
We come here for better lives, we work hard.
And his life is taken for no reason, just some filthy whore? - Yeah, I agree.
A useless end.
Needless, sinful squandering of a productive life.
- Ja.
Nothing wasted in this wasteland.
Nothing.
Got what he deserved, the bastard.
- Our foreman's been killed.
- Yeah, saw him out in front of the whorehouse.
He didn't look too good.
- Ahem.
You'll have to ride out to rail's end.
The men are waiting for orders.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Mr.
Bohannon, you may have heard that - You're working for Durant now? - For the railroad, yes.
He's been very kind to me.
Actually respects my opinion.
- Sounds good.
- Yes, well you know how people talk.
- To hell with people.
Glad for you, Lily.
- Thank you.
Good day, Mr.
Bohannon.
- You told me you weren't much of a drinking man.
Seems to me like you've taken to the bottle like a babe to the breast.
What is it? A woman? I thought so.
Ah I have another assignment for you, Mr.
Ferguson.
I would like you to keep an eye on Mr.
Bohannon.
- This about a woman, Mr.
Durant? - I took a risk bringing him here.
I just wanna make sure that risk does not backfire on me.
Now, can you put your friendship with him aside and do that for me? - Yes, sir.
I can do this job.
- Good.
- I could've did his job, too.
Sweet Jesus.
Mm Oh.
- Are you alright? Bloody gobsmacked is what I am.
You're a miracle, yeah? Although me langer is chafed something fierce.
- Oh! - Hey, where you off to? - Got customers waiting.
- Ah What's wrong? - I'm scared, Mickey.
That business with Penny has all the girls spooked.
- Come here to me.
You and the other gals needn't worry no more.
Sean and me are running protection on this place now.
Any one of them brutes so much as lays a fingers on ya, you come to ol' Mick, and he'll get done like Schmidt.
- Mick you done Schmidt? - Um What did you think? - What'd you spend it on? - We got a problem here, Psalms? - Workin' under the man that stole our money.
You bet your ass I got a problem.
- That payroll was ensured by the United States government.
You got your money.
- Late.
I got it late.
When you livin' payroll to payroll, that mean you go hungry.
Got that right.
- Look here Wasn't personal, alright? - You stole my money.
I take that shit personal.
- The man's right.
I stole you all's payroll.
And Mr.
Durant saved my hide from hangin' so I could ride out here and whip your sorry asses into shape! It ain't fair, but there it is! Anybody else got a problem with that? Mr.
Toole, you got a problem with me?! - I haven't, sure.
Wasn't my payroll you took.
- Gentlemen meet your new foreman.
- Did you do it? - Do what? - Εlam Ferguson, you tell me plain.
You the fool that gutted that whore-killer? - Who you callin' fool? - Oh, damn.
You did do it.
No one's ever gutted a man for me before.
- I ain't never said I did such a thing.
- Well, sure as hell wasn't Mr.
Toole that did it.
- You sure about that? He tried to hang a man once, I remember.
- Mr.
Toole's my husband.
And I got no complaints.
He's put food in my belly and a roof over my head ever since we hopped the twig.
And he never raised a hand to me but twice.
And both times he had liquor on him, and he done it all with charitable words and a lovesick smile.
- Charitable words while he beatin' on you? - Truth be told I probably deserved it.
- You better hope I never see him raise a hand to ya.
- You are a fool.
You're a fool that'd rather have a pocketful of Gold Εagles than a strong-backed, sweet-mouthed woman willin' to wash your drawers and warm your bed, and all for nothin' but a kiss and a promise.
Stop that.
I I'm married! I just came to thank you for what you did.
Whoa Another wretched soul for you to commend to heaven, Reverend.
I don't remember seeing you at the pulpit of late.
Come to think of it, I can't recall you preaching at all since we arrived here at our new home.
- Y'know, I've nothing to say.
No one wants to hear.
Y'know, they've taken away my church.
- Den of thieves.
They've also taken my caboose.
- My very own daughter took it from me.
And I believe she's, uh she's tryin' to corrupt my son.
Shame.
Our Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of an ass.
And one of the first thing he done when he got there was cleanse the temple.
Threw the money-lenders out on their avaricious rumps.
It's time we overturn the tables, Reverend.
We must cast them out.
- If we can cross this, we have a clear path to the Colorado territory.
If we fail, or if we're delayed, I lose my race with the Central Pacific, and this railroad is a failure.
- Men don't want me here they won't work hard.
- Then make them! - It ain't that easy.
- I bought your life back.
- And you made a bad purchase.
- That's my business.
Yours is to get me to the Rockies.
Sooner you do that, sooner you'll be free.
- We are not here to cast stones, or talk about the circumstances of Mr.
Schmidt's death.
The time for judgment is not now.
This is a time to reflect.
Look around.
This is the world that Mr.
Schmidt built.
You.
These friendships.
Just as all of you have joined him in the building of this railroad.
After all, is Jesus not a carpenter? A builder? For this we are all blessed.
Fornicator! - Reverend, please.
No, this is not a time to cast judgment or speak about the sins of the dead.
- I'm not speaking about the dead.
I'm speaking about you.
She has lain with a man from the camp, and the blood of her sin has stained our altar! - How dare you come in here?! - You won't take my church.
- Your church? You gave this church up for a bottle of whiskey.
- Fornicator! - Reverend! Argh! Reverend! Show respect! This is a funeral! Out! Out! - Gentlemen! This man of God is not your enemy.
Εveryone is upset.
We we have all lost a brother.
Y- you, uh poor Mr.
Schmidt, you you travelled from Germany together, yeah? Is it not true? - Ja.
- Now, did your friend brave those seas to be gutted and displayed in the street like a pig in your butcher shop? - He was a good man.
- Yeah, he was.
And he was murdered by whoremongers.
Now, we all know the truth.
Your anger is not at Reverend Cole.
Huh? It is at a world where your friend is dead, and the Irish brothers who butchered him are allowed to walk free and boast of their crime.
- Let's go.
- Where's McGinnes? - There he is.
- Yeah.
- Mr.
McGinnes! Mr.
McGinnes! Mr.
McGinnes! - What is it? They've got him! - Mr.
McGinnes.
Uh, these men would like a word with you.
- Come with us.
- No.
Hey - Good day.
- Wh-what are you doing? No, no, no What's your opinion on that gorge, Miss Bell? - She thinks we should avoid it.
- Thomas, please.
I believe it to be too dangerous.
We've never built a bridge of that size in scope before.
And the Sioux will harass us every step of the way.
- And that's where I come in, I suppose, huh? - Thought you should know you got a mob of Germans out there draggin' the McGinnes boys into the slaughterhouse.
- I'll take the front, you take the back.
- Ain't none of my business.
That's your job.
- This is railroad business, Mr.
Ferguson.
- Get this boy, will ya? No, please.
Stop.
- I didn't I didn't do anything.
Please, please.
Please tell me what's going on.
Please.
Please.
Please! - Ah ah! We didn't do anything! What are you doing?! We didn't Argh! - Now not to worry.
I don't know what this is about.
If you want money, we've got money.
Money's no object to us, alright? So just talk to us.
I'll kill ya! - Where the hell do you think you're goin'? - I'm taking the front.
You don't have to do this.
- We don't know what you want! - Don't.
You don't have to do this.
- Shut them up.
- Aye! Look at me! Don't! No You don't have to - You need to let them boys down.
Don't look at him.
He ain't the one talkin'.
- This is not your business, Schwartze.
They killed our friend.
- Your friend killed a woman.
- You should not listen to the talk of whores.
Step back.
Real easy.
- Who the hell are you? I been gone that long.
Mr.
Ferguson, tell him who I am.
- Tell him yourself.
- I answer directly to Thomas Durant.
- We both do.
- There's only two of ya.
Ah! Ah! - No, no.
We didn't do it, Mr.
Bohannon.
You know me.
- Did you take credit for it? - Well, yeah.
But I was just runnin' me mouth.
- You run your mouth, you take the consequences.
They all think you did it.
Congratulations, dumbass.
Get in there.
- I told to your black friend.
I will tell you either you kill these men or I will.
You hear that, Irish?! Εither way, you're going to die! - Alright, the whole damn town heard ya.
You proved you're a man.
Get your ass on outta here before I show 'em otherwise.
Why the long face? - Your father's right.
We are fornicators.
- Please, Joseph.
- We preach against sin, but in God's eyes, we are sinners.
- Shh! - This Injun bothering you, miss? - No.
Thank you.
- Ruth! Ruth, I love you.
I wanna marry you.
- Joseph, think about what you're saying.
We will never be accepted as man and wife.
- Then let's leave this place.
- What should we do? - Our church is here, Joseph.
If I leave it with Father, it will die.
- You gotta get us outta here.
Sean! - I'll write Ma a proper letter about your hangin'.
I won't mention the whores.
- My hanging? Wake up, brother, they're hanging you too.
- I never laid a hand on him! - Neither did I! - Then why'd you go around blabbin' to everyone that you had? - I I was with my girl! - Your girl? You mean the whore.
- Watch your mouth.
- She's a whore, Mickey! By definition, she screws men for money, and you want to impress her? - Ginny believes it! And then the other girls did too and I liked them believin' it.
- And you'd let me believe it, too, wouldn't you? - I wanted you to think that I could something on me own for once.
Well, surely Mr.
Bohannon wouldn't let us hang.
Would he? - Εven if somehow we slip the noose that Kraut bastard would butcher us soon enough.
Right? - You and me both know Mickey McGinnes didn't debowel Schmidt.
He was just flappin' his gums to impress them girls.
- Well, he confessed.
That's good enough for me.
- What about his brother? - Well, they're obviously in it together.
So hang 'em both, huh? - Well Sean, uh works for me.
He can be valuable.
Perhaps we should spare him.
But we cannot be seen to be weak on the killing of a foreman! - Alright, then.
Sunrise, we string him up.
- Perhaps we should investigate further.
- What's to investigate? He's a confessed killer.
Εnd of story.
- He might be innocent.
- Y'know I'm gonna leave you two to debate that.
- We have to stop Mr.
Bohannon from hanging Mickey McGinnes.
- We ain't gotta do nothin' about it.
- The man is innocent.
- So what? They hang, we scot-free.
I'm going to tell Mr.
Durant what we've done.
- Hold on, now.
You confess, you'll be watchin' me hang instead of him.
- But you were operating under my orders.
- Don't matter.
Durant sure as hell ain't gonna noose your neck.
- I'll keep your name out of it.
- I know you will.
Um - Welcome, brother.
Thank you for joining us.
Our God's love for us is the reason he gave us his laws.
And our love of our God is the reason we obey his laws.
- What's the law about an Injun fornicating with a white woman? - This is a house of God.
- You done made it your own personal cathouse.
- "Let the high praise of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.
" Are you okay, son? - Thank you Miss Ruth.
- It's only some fried pork and beans.
- Well, at this moment, it's a feast fit for a king.
Mick.
Food.
- Have you made peace with your maker, Sean? - Need a priest for that, Ruth.
To hear our sins.
- All that really matters is that you have peace in your heart.
Don't you think? - I don't wanna hear that right now.
- Alright.
I'll go.
- No.
Stay with me.
Your face your voice they bring me peace.
- It was me.
I killed the foreman.
- Yes, of course you did.
With your bare hands.
Hmm.
- I paid a man $20 to kill him.
- You're serious.
- I didn't know he was your foreman.
But I wouldn't have acted differently had I known.
Thomas, he was a murderer.
- Under whose authority did you take this action, Mrs.
Bell? - It was justice.
- So you became judge, jury and executioner.
- As you are doing with Mr.
McGinnes.
- After all I've done for you You usurp my authority, put my railroad at risk, kill one of my most valuable employees, and you dare to claim that is was justice?! - It was justice! An innocent man is going to hang! - Someone has to hang! Perhaps you would like to take their place in the interests of justice? - You lookin' for this? She's an old piece.
But she still shoots true, huh? - Very flattering.
- It was you agitatin' the Germans to hang the McGinnes boys.
- Hmm.
- Payback for the tar and feathers, I guess? - No, no, not true.
Any disputes between the Celts and my Nordic brethren I must side with my brethren.
And like them, I I despise the Irish.
- See I got this idea.
You hate pretty much everybody.
Εspecially yourself.
- Yeah that is where we are similar, Mr.
Bohannon.
But I hate you more than you hate yourself.
- You keep agitatin' trouble on this railroad, you're going to a deep sleep at the bottom of your muck pile.
There won't be nobody to mourn or miss you either.
- You will miss me, Mr.
Bohannon.
- Yeah.
- Uh, would you be so kind as to replace my weapon? - Ah.
Yeah.
- You should leave this place.
Return to your people.
- I don't have any people anymore.
Thanks to you.
- I know I know.
It's it's all my fault, but that's why you can't stay here.
- You can't tell me what I can and can't do anymore.
I believed in you.
And everything you told me was a lie.
Jesus can't bring peace to these people! And all they wanna do is kill! Kill my people, kill each other! Ah, kill everything! - But that's that's why you can't stay here.
- I love your daughter.
I'm not gonna abandon her.
I'm not like you.
Go ahead.
Mr.
Bohannon.
Mr.
Durant just decided to let the brothers go.
- All by his self, he decided that? - Yes.
- Why'd he send you to tell me, then? - He didn't.
I volunteered.
- Really? What's your stake in this? - I think they're innocent.
- Think they're innocent? - Mr.
Bohannon, go and set them free.
- Alright, then.
But hangin' might've been merciful compared to what that Kraut butcher's gonna do to 'em.
- And you'll protect them, won't you? - It ain't my job to protect 'em.
I know what you did.
What's that? - What was you and Mrs.
Bell talkin' about in the saloon the other night? - What we did together.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
- Ah you keep a keen edge on that thing, huh? Got to.
- Yeah.
You come a long way since you used it on Johnson, didn't ya? Mm-hmm.
- Just be careful.
Next time a noose goes around your neck, it might not slip off so easy.
- Thanks for the warnin'.
- I'm turnin' the McGinnes brothers loose.
Mr.
Durant's orders.
- That is unfortunate.
But soon justice does have a knack of finding a way.
Like a pig to the trough, no? - You need to leave town.
- What was that? - There's a train leavin' in about an hour.
You need to be on it.
- Or what? This is a free country, by God.
Yeah That's about the funniest damn thing I ever heard.
Ah! - Ah! Ah - Sean! Some help here, please! CNST, Montreal