Throughout the series, Psalms seems to harbor a very deep-seated hatred for anyone of Irish descent. From calling them micks to getting into fights with Irish, hell, even willing to kill them without hesitation. It makes you wonder, why does he hate the Irish so much?

I think I might have the answer as to why, it's two big reasons,

1.) During slavery, many of the harshest and toughest overseers on the plantations were Irish.

2.) The Draft riots of 1863 in New York when multiple black civilians were beaten and lynched by white mobs. Most of the rioters were Irish.

During the last seasons and episodes, why is it that Elam would never once mentioned by any of the other characters? I'm not kidding, throughout seasons 4 and 5, none of the characters talk about, or even mention Elam, despite having left a huge impact on many of them, and the town as a whole. Cullen does mention him once in a conversation with Durant, but that's it. Not even Psalms and Eva mention him.

I would've liked to have had either Cullen, Psalms, or Eva sit down and reminisce about the good ole days, and then remember Elam and talk about how much they miss him.

Was it ever said? My thought was it was Campbell's kid. Obviously we never found out for sure due to the >!abortion!< she had.

But was it ever confirmed by the showwriters or did I miss it in the episode?

Although Elam and Psalms were good friends who cared for each other, they seemed to have resentment for each other that appeared to be a lot deeper when you think about it. And it think it might be due to them possibly being brothers.

They always refer to each other as "brother", something that neither of them calls any of the other black men on the railroad, and it's implied that they grew up on the same plantation. Hell, Psalms even seems to know that Elam's father was the master. Personally, I think that they're half-brothers, in that they had the same mother. Here's how I see their childhoods transpiring,

1.) Their mother was raped by the slave master, resulting in Elam's birth. This of course results in a lot of tension in their family.

2.) He is given special privileges by their master (living in the house, being taught to read and write, eating good food, being dressed in good clothes, and being made to believe that he was better than the other slaves, including his brother), which would lead to a lot of jealously, hatred and bitterness between Elam and Psalms.

3.) Even when slavery is abolished, Elam acts like he's Psalms boss, which makes the latter pissed off beyond all measure.

But what do ya'll think? Is it possible that Elam and Psalms are blood brothers, and that most of the tension between them in the early seasons was a result of their upbringing on the plantation during slavery?

Elam wants to go off and do something and tells Bohannon to go back or not to worry about him, but Bohannon always shows up to help or save the day. It seems like Bohannon dont think that Elam is capable of doing what he says he will do. Is that Racism, Realism or Friendship

The baby is clearly a white baby. It is from Mr. Toole. Not from Mr. Ferguson.

I doubt that he would love a white male baby from an Irish man as his own , but he views females as no threat

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I'm watching the show for the first time and noticed something weird that is probably just bad writing but...

End of season 3 Naomi tells Cullen she let the elders know she wasn't forced to sleep with him and they both seemed to be making an effort to make it work despite Thor's attempts to keep them apart. The wedding dinner showed him being polite to Naomi's mother and she returned the niceities.

Season 4 opens with her father, while still pissed about Jeb (...your own fault asshole!), had no problem working side by side with Cullen and having conversations with him about both Thor and leaving. Her father even spoke up for Cullen when he was trying to leave.

When Naomi went into labour she was screaming for him. As someone who has never given birth, but has dealt with extreme pain, to me that says he's a comfort to her. She would know if it was common for men to not be present for a birth (assuming that's why they held him back), yet she called for him - so him being there was more important to her than tradition.

(Speaking of...between Cullen praying, which she asked for, the singing, and Thor babbling, that seems extra chaotic during a normal birth. That baby was breech. Poor Naomi!)

Suddenly the mother is being a bitch to him, Naomi is telling him he could leave without her, and at Chyenne she's mostly cold and bitchy to him.

I get she had a baby then sudden culture shock, but so far (S4E5) she's just stuck up and rude. Yeah, he's made a few mistakes, but it's clear he's trying but she's just reminding him how much better her father is, and how nothing is good enough. It's like from S4E2 onwards she can't stand him and the show gives no reason why.

I've taken interest in saving HoW interviews since most of them are pretty old and are at risk of getting deleted. (Happened with one i was looking for, luckily i was able to recover it via the Wayback Machine.)

Now I'm thinking about spending some time on archiving all the interviews I can find and store them in one place. Rn I only have interviews related to The Swede, but I want to put them all in a google doc or something. Or maybe there's a better way to archive them? I don't really know.

I'm thinking a lot about how Thor's character might be influenced by the works of Knut Hamsun. In "Knut Hamsun remembers America" he was writing a lot about how his identity was just simplified to "a swede"(although he was Norwegian), and how it was bringing him trouble. Also I do see some parallels to Thor in Hamsun's "Hunger." Both books are a great read by the way.

Also, I do see an obvious references to The Judge from Blood Meridian, but I feel like there are way more possible influence from something more human, like Hamsun's own memories, as The Swede is a VERY human character. I haven't found any proof though, so it all is just an observation.

Started watching this. Does anybody know why they killed her off? Was she fired, or did she leave to pursue another project?

Either way, I don't know why show creators don't recast anymore after a main character leaves suddenly.

I know this sub is old as hell, but I need to talk to someone about how great it was. I just finished my first watch through, and my God was it awesome

Just finished watching the show for the first time, and I have to say it was amazing. Enjoyed a lot of it a couple questions come to mind though, firstly, why did they never pick up the plot line where the guy reveals he was not the sergeant in the picture that strangled his wife? I find it odd they just dropped the plot line. Secondly, I wish we would’ve got to see more of Joseph Black Moon whether that’s him and his tribe or him coming back I really like his character overall really enjoyed the show.

Aw man get off the train track you broke it :(

1. Lilly?

2. Ruth?

3. Naomi?

4. Mei?

5. Elam?

6. The Swede?

As a long time fan, and a now resident of Alberta, I’m curious; is the set still available to go visit?? I heard somewhere that even after filming stopped, you were able to go wander around the film set. Now, that was many years ago, but I’m wondering if you still can? Anyone get to go visit it in recent years?? Any Cowtown locals know any information about it??

Elam is riding out with the chief of railroad police, to roust those Mormons, and the guy is just jabbering away. So Elam asks him if he ever stops talking, and the guy says "A quiet man is twice as likely as a talkative one to get his beard clung to by a bear."

This is clearly foreshadowing that moment in in the next season where Elam's beard is briefly shaved off. Brilliant storytelling...

!Okay, obviously there is another plot element referred to with the 'bear' thing.!<

!For those who don't know, 'bear' is a term meaning 'large, hairy, gay man.' And the guy who said it had this fruity little mustache...clearly the line is referring to the homoerotic undertones between Cullen and Elam.!<

!See also the word 'beard,' a term for the partner a closeted gay person uses to hide in plain sight. Bohannon's had a series of these, and it's not a coincidence the chick we see him getting the most down and dirty with started out dressed as a man. And he never cried over miss Lily Bell or Ruth the way he did for old Elam...!<

She so clearly wanted that Bohannon-dick. She should have just been wife #2. Naomi would have been good with it, then they could all be one little Mormon family with Ezra and William 😭

There were a few moments in season 5 (if I remember correctly), where Thor was speaking Norwegian. Is there a translation of his words?

In Season 5 Episode 13, after the last spike is planted, and later that night everyone is partying, the band is playing the song "Little Armalite" (though without lyrics) an Irish Rebel song from the 1970s, which to my knowledge was an original tune, not like other songs from the troubles, which used older pre-existing tunes with new lyrics.

I’m binge watching the show now, just started season 5. 1 episode in. Enjoying it. I also just finished TURN: Washington’s spies. I notice AMC overuses a lot of sound effects. I was just curious if anyone else noticed that? I didn’t notice that in Breaking bad. They use the hawk screeching constantly in this show lol. In Turn they overused sound effects period, where they didn’t need to be. They used the same sound effect for every door opening which was the same sound effect you got when opening the mystery box in original call of duty zombies games. Not a complaint just an observation to start a fun discussion.

I love this period of history and thoroughly enjoyed HOW. Anybody have some good book recommendations about this period in history? Oregon Trail, Railroad, Westward Expansion, etc.

Currently reading “The Indifferent Stars Above” and loving it.

This caught my attention while researching for a project and decided to give it a go considering the 8.4 rating and Anson Mount from Star Trek. Boy oh boy! i was taken right in.

I’m difficult to convince and find the most favoured by public “Emmy winning drama series’” boring. So, to catch my attention for 60 hours straight in less than a week was a task! Then, I had a long nap for over 18 hours.

Things that worked so well, is one - the live location which I so adore, and adds reality and makes it more so dynamic compared to the shows with set on studio. The authenticity,… just shows with the sludge and the rawness.

Two - the characters and their story arcs,… they are on their own and don’t interlink. They exist side by side and it is like, they are real people with full lives. Great writing considering most shows don’t do this and either integrate or isolate from the main arc. Love how they tied the church lady and Ezra together,… It just feels so lived in, never scripted.

Three - interpersonal dynamics,… now that each characters are each their own - their relationship with one another isn’t in relation to the story at all but as lived in and realistic as it can get. Eva’s relationship with everyone is different ,… and their relationship with her is different as well. She means different things to different people. She is a good caretaker to Durant,… and he treats her as such. She too respects Durant in a way others never did. Elam sees Durant differently than Cullen and Eva ever will. Mick’s relationship with Cullen, with his brother and without is different. Situations change, people change and it is so accurate. There are no friends, no enemies - just people and people along the way. Some have good judgements, some have poor judgements, each have their own moral and ethics and more so - each had lives, and were selfish. Real as it can get.

Four - It felt like reading an unputdownable, well written book.

Five - Great Cinematography 📹, Soundtrack and Sets.

That said, this goes right to the top of my lists - as a genre series that might define my thoughts and processes as a human being, for my story - has similar beats and I echo morals akin to the ones in the show. Im closer to Lily,… and looking to become more balanced like Mei.

I'm just doing a Hell on Wheels rewatch after a few years and one thing I've noticed. Is it just me or is Cullen considerably more outwardly racist at the beginning of Season 3? He was (arguably) subtly so in Seasons 1 and 2 but after all the development in his character in this regard over the first 2 seasons he seems to have amped it up. Why?