And that didn't take long to have our first major death of the season, did it? Hell on Wheels killed off Ah-Tao, a character who I've grown to like over the course of the first five episodes, and normally, I wouldn't really care if a character that was only around for a few episodes was killed off, but the writers handled Ah-Tao so well that I'm going to miss his character. The shock and unexpectedness of it all made a powerful end to the episode, as "Elixir of Life" delivered one of the strongest of the season so far. It's also my last before I go on a two-week trip to France, as mentioned in last week's review, but also, as mentioned in last week's review, I'll be recapping the next two episodes in one go when I get back in the first week of September. So it should be interesting to see what happens, but in the meantime, let's recap "Elixir of Life", which saw the show continue to develop very well.
Once again, we got the dreams that Cullen has been having lately of a life when he's done his job. There was a scene where he filled a bottle with water from the pacific, and handed it to the child, who didn't believe him at first despite his instance. Although brief, it was a powerful reminder of the goal that Cullen desperately wants to accomplish. A completed railroad and a happy life with his family. However, the night is always darkest before the dawn, to quote The Dark Knight, and I don't think we're out of the woods just yet for Cullen, and particularly Ah-Fong, who's distraught over the death of Ah-Tao, and now will have to fend for herself in a world where she has to keep her identity secret. You'd have thought that Chang having his life saved by Cullen in an earlier episode would make him ease the distrust that he had for our hero, but apparently that's not the case here, as was heavily foreshadowed at the beginning when Chang explained that it was “Such a Western notion that the past does not matter, the past can be forgotten", and it was pretty clear from that scene on the railroad at the beginning that something was going to happen. I just wasn't entirely sure what it was, and the death of Ah-Tao hit me hard.
The scene between Chang and The Swede also made it clear that something ominous was on the horizon. After all, they're the main two enemies that Cullen has left to face, and it was fun to see them working together to stop Cullen, as they share a common enemy. One of the most tense scenes in the episode happened when Cullen and the Swede confronted each other, and all the time I was left on edge, as the show managed to keep the suspense going. It didn't help that Phineas was now, no matter how much Cullen tried to talk him out of it, clearly under the sway of The Swede, who was also manipulating Chang at the same time, who was drawn in by a promise of power. But what Chang doesn't know is that the Chinese workers are drawn together under Cullen via the aid of Ah-Fong and Ah-Tao, who's starting to learn Mandarin to help ease the translation problems that played a heavy part in the earlier episodes of the season. And with two episodes left of the first half of the season you can tell that there's certainly more planned ahead, but the question remains how Cullen will tackle his two enemies. And of course, he's still got Durant to keep an eye out for as well.
That takes us to the other group quite nicely, and whilst Durant's story was not quite as engaging as the events leading up to and during the Festival of Tin Hau Don, it was pretty solid nonetheless. We spent some time with Eva and Durant on their own respective storylines, with Eva having to deal with her prostitutes as a problem arose in the form of Louise Ellison, who's carrying Campbell's unborn child. We also saw Psalms and a group of freedmen combine their earnings to buy some land from Durant, who was initially reluctant at first. His scenes with Maggie were also solid too, and it doesn't feel as though this is only the character's second proper appearance (outside of the premiere's cameo) of the season, as it's great to have him and the others back on a regular basis. There's still the ever lingering question of when these characters will reunite, but so far, there's still enough drama to keep them both separated, and whether they will aid, ignore or hinder Cullen in his battle with Chang and The Swede remains to be scene.
But for now though, I'm happy as things are and as a result, it's safe to say that "Elixir of Life" was a pretty important episode with a shocking death that saw an unfortunate end to Ah-Tao's character, packing an unexpected twist that keeps things fresh and engaging, because, as you should know by now, nobody's really safe, especially in the final season of the show. What did you think of this week's episode? Were you surprised by Ah-Tao's death? Will you miss the character? Let me know in the comments below, and catch the next episode of Hell on Wheels on August 22, "Hungry Ghosts", on August 22 at 9/8c on AMC.
Overall Episode Verdict: A
Positives:
-Unexpected Twist.
-Foreshadowing.
-Cullen's dreams.
-Chang and The Swede teaming up.
Weaknesses:
-Whilst solid, the Durant/Eva/Mickey subplots aren't quite as good as Cullen's main storyline.
