Or perhaps we should say they "jumped the shark." Hell on Wheels is another one of AMC's original series. Season 1 of the show (which debuted last year) started off in a very promising manner - introducing a wide array of interesting characters and setting the stage for a growing set of conflicts. The cast of the show is fairly impressive as well; from the lead character, Anson Mount, to nearly a dozen other supporting roles. Mount who plays Bohannan, is a civil war veteran who lost his family to several nasty union soldiers and he follows them out West for revenge (that's how he gets mixed up with the railroad). The Confederate widow cliche was just done last year in the Disney movie John Carter (in a strikingly similar manner). The show's premise is a mix of various cliches but that's ok as every Western tends to follow that pattern.
So Season 1 was chugging along nicely (pardon the pun) and then someone at AMC decided to jump a shark - a great white shark in season 2. For anyone who doesn't recognize the reference, "Jumping the Shark" refers to a particularly goofy episode from the hit series Happy Days where Fonzi jumps a shark tank with his motorcycle. It has now become an expression to be used whenever show creators run out of good ideas. What makes the Hell on Wheels season 2 situation so odd though was that there were still half a dozen excellent plot lines to be resolved but instead the shows writers chose to fixate on something very odd indeed - the White Spirit.
What's the White Spirit? It's a 6'7' Swedish guy who paints himself white to convince the Sioux Indians to go on the warpath (and even gives them guns). Now, the fact that the railroad was coming through their lands and the white man was killing all their buffalo (tatanka) wasn't enough - some guy who looks like Lurch and sounds like the Swedish chef from the Muppets becomes responsible for nearly every key plot twist in the second season. It's not Deus ex Machina - it's Deus ex Smorgasbord. and it's a recipe for shark jumping.
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| Mr. Bohannon - a man perpetually at war... |
Inside Season 2 of Hell on Wheels
What's the White Spirit? It's a 6'7' Swedish guy who paints himself white to convince the Sioux Indians to go on the warpath (and even gives them guns). Now, the fact that the railroad was coming through their lands and the white man was killing all their buffalo (tatanka) wasn't enough - some guy who looks like Lurch and sounds like the Swedish chef from the Muppets becomes responsible for nearly every key plot twist in the second season. It's not Deus ex Machina - it's Deus ex Smorgasbord. and it's a recipe for shark jumping.
Dominique McElligott as Lily Bell
In the process of watching the Swedish Chef gone wild the series sacrifices two of its most interesting characters in Hell on Wheels. The first is the preacher who turns into John Brown (at the behest of the White Spirit) and the second is Lily Bell who must be sacrificed for no apparent reason other to deprive Mr. Bohannon of happiness (just like James Bond!). The actress who plays Lily was without a doubt the most charismatic presence on the show.
Worst of all, Bohannon, who shoots everyone else he sees, fails to kill the White Spirit in an overly elaborate attempt to hang him from the railroad bridge and we're left with the prospect that Albino Thor might return in season 3. AMC can do itself a big favor and possibly save the show next season by ditching the writers who took all that potential from season 1 and translated it into one giant shark jump - oh and please send Thor back to Sweden to found Ikea or something, thanks.
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| Lurch introduces Dances with Wolves to Swedish Meatballs and Lingaberries |
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