AMC's "Hell on Wheels" premiered its fifth season last Saturday, with viewers having their first look on the current frame of mind of former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) and his new job at Central Pacific.
In episode 2 titled "Mei Mei," TV Guide reports that Cullen and Fong (A. Zhou) will find themselves in a heap of trouble while transporting a locomotive over the Sierra Nevada mountain. Meanwhile, Thor Gundersen (Christopher Heyerdahl) aka the Swede will be earning Phineas' (Josh Caras) trust.
Last week, viewers met Cullen's new antagonist in Chang (Byron Mann). As the overseer of the daily activities of Central Pacific, Chang had taken advantage of his position to embezzle money from the poor workers. The boss, Collis P. Huntington (Tim Guinee), did not really pay attention to what was happening to his employees, as long as they did their job.
Cullen saw the unfairness of it and tried to bring the matter up with Chang. At the pretext of befriending the newcomer, the Chinese joined Cullen and his new friend James Strobridge (Reg Rogers) for a drink. He then tried to find out who ratted out on him regarding his shady business. Thinking that it was Tao (Tzi Ma), Chang sent his men to beat him up until Cullen went to his rescue. In truth, it was Tao's young son Fong who told him about the wage issue.
Meanwhile, the Swede showed up in Cullen's doorstep, raining insults while telling him he would be joining the Central Pacific construction. Viewers also saw Doc Durant (Colm Meaney) appear in this episode and it was revealed that he was the spy in Huntington's office. Apparently, the wealthy businessman did not only feed the boss with information on the progress of the railroad, but about Cullen as well.
"Hell on Wheels" airs Saturday at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.
