Hell on Wheels Season 5 Episode Guide!
5.01. "Chinatown" - Review!
5.02. "Mei Mei" - Review!
5.03. "White Justice" - Review!
5.04. "Struck" - Review!
5.05. "Elixir of Life" - Review!
5.06. "Hungry Ghosts" - Review!
5.07. "False Prophets" - Review!
5.08. "Two Soldiers" - Review!
5.09. "Return to the Garden" - Review!
5.10. "61 Degrees" - (Airs June 25)
5.11. "Gambit" - (Airs July 2)
Hell on Wheels 5.09: "Return to the Garden"
Directed by Marvin V. Rush & Written by Jami O'Brien
Cullen has run into new problems it seems while he's been away, and his absence from Naomi has seen her fall in love with a new man, a farmhand played here by Toby Hemingway. Cullen is informed by Isaac that with Brigham Young's approval they will move to Zion where they can start a new life. Cullen promises to take them both there, and speak with Young himself where he eventually manages to get Young to bless Naomi and Isaac's wedding. It's kind of annoying to see that Cullen is still denied the happiness that he craves with his family after the events of the first half of the season, but the season isn't over yet and at least Naomi and Isaac actually look pretty happy together and reasonably well off. Young decides to accept the arrangement of Naomi and Isaac's wedding if only to spite Cullen, as he wants the man to die alone and without happiness. Now seeing that Naomi, Isaac and William are safe, Cullen decides to leave them behind, heading back to Truckee, where he and Mei share a passionate embrace.
It's clear that Naomi and Isaac were surprised by the fact that Cullen did actually return to the farm and they were expecting him to leave again, after all, he has been away for more than one year. This naturally was always going to create frictions between Cullen and Naomi's new love interest but Cullen has never actually been one for peace, growing old out of the conflict. He's somebody who prefers getting his hands dirty and would rather play his part in the construction of the railroad and eventually relents to Isaac because he knows that Naomi wants to put what's best for William first. Cullen can't bring them the stability that they need, and at this time it would be the perfect opportunity for William who would grow up without any real memories of Cullen at all.
The real challenge will be now for the new development in the relationship between Cullen and Mei. It's only going to be a matter of time before Mei's secret is revealed, and it's going to be interesting to see how the show deals with the problems presented in the differences of culture between the two of them going forward. There's no doubt plenty of routes it could take.
After a Durant-lite episode last time out, it was interesting to see what we got with the character in the small amount of time that we spent with him. Both Durant and Maggie Palmer are going about their usual business, and the residents of Laramie here are upset with him over his decision to make Cheyenne a railroad hub. It's unsurprising to see Durant deflect the blame this time on the board and agrees to a compromise, buying their land at 10 cents per acre over the average rate.
He also managed to deal with Maggie's help regarding Mickey's influence on the railroad. Durant wants more Irish workers but Mickey will only get them if he gets shares in the railroad in return. Durant in the end was convinced by Maggie, and it'll be interesting to see how these two deals help establish him further on his quest to win the race to get the railroad completed.
On the whole, the second episode of the final run of the series managed to maintain the quality of what we've come to expect from Hell on Wheels as we edge closer to its end. This show has been consistently brilliant over the course of the fifth season which might actually be its best yet. It hurts therefore to see that the series will likely be joining Penny Dreadful, Person of Interest, Limitless and a bunch of other great shows in ending this season, but I'm sure the writers will continue to give us some top quality drama right to the last.
What did you think of Return to the Garden? Let me know in the comments below and look out for the next episode of Hell on Wheels this Saturday at 9pm on AMC.
Overall Episode Verdict: A+
Positives:
+Cullen's return to Truckee.
+Durant up to his usual tricks.
+Cullen/Isaac/Naomi drama being dealt with well.
