Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2: The Final Episodes Blu-ray Movie Review

(Golden) Spike TV.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 1, 2016

According to the not always reliable internet, the First Transcontinental Railroad took around six years to build, a timespan encompassing 1863 to 1869. Anyone who has ever traveled by train knows it’s not exactly a speedy proposition (at least lacking a bullet train), but it’s notable that Hell on Wheels, a series built around this epochal construction project, only took a little less than five years to get its story told. The endgame of this long simmering series has some surprisingly effective emotional dividends, even if a number of strands in an overstuffed plot don’t really get a ton of development as things wend their way to their own “Golden Spike”. As I’ve mentioned in reviews of previous seasons, having grown up in Utah as I did, a state where the eastern and western elements of this grand scheme met at Promontory Point, meant that the tale of the railroad was a regular item in history class, especially during elementary school. That said, Hell on Wheels, while hewing at least relatively close to some of the facts of the case, hasn’t worried too much about presenting “actual” history, instead using the historical record as a foundation upon which to set various characters careening through their own private traumas. That proclivity certainly continues in the final few episodes of this volume of the final season (as with several other recent series, the final season was split into two parts), but at least with regard to Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), there’s a commendable emotional reality to his character development that may be whimsical in a certain way, but which “feels” right.

For those wanting to catch up on the story thus far, our reviews of the series’ previous seasons can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Hell on Wheels: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review

Hell on Wheels: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray review

Hell on Wheels: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray review

Hell on Wheels: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray review

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 1 Blu- ray review

The first “half” of the final season culminated in a little contretemps which might be amusing to Utahns at least, with Cullen arguing that Promontory Point might not be the best terminus to join east and west, and instead arguing for Ogden, a mid-sized burg to the north of Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, other subplots (some pretty fictionalized) involving The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl) and such legendary figures as Brigham Young (Gregg Henry) had given a somewhat melodramatic aspect to certain plot arcs. (The Swede's fate is dealt with fairly quickly in this final batch of episodes, and suffice it to say he is perhaps slightly more sympathetic than some might think.) The curiously affecting relationship between Cullen and disguised worker Mei (Angela Zhou) provided most of the emotional impact of several episodes, and continues to inform the series to its final moments.

The second half of the final season continues to mine Utah history for some fascinating tidbits, again not necessarily totally steeped in actual history, though typically tethered to the facts just enough to "ring true" for those of us who are perhaps more up to speed on Utah's past than the general public. Some of these can be relatively minor but more or less historically accurate, as in a passing use of Salt Lake City's historic Fort Douglas (I'll leave it to the enterprising Googler to discover a cool connection between my family and the fort, one I'm very proud of). While the use of the Fort is tangential to the story, it at least shows that the series’ writers regularly attempt to link their sometimes hyperbolic plot developments to the actual history of the place, and this is probably nowhere more evident than in the depiction of the roiling discontent between Mormons and the United States government back in the day. (I’ve joked for years that Fort Douglas was the only such fort in the entire history of the United States built to protect the “Indians” from the settlers, since the Mormons were threatening to secede at one point.)

What tends to at least slightly subvert the narrative thrust of these closing episodes, though, is the ping ponging nature of the story, as the writers offer vignettes that span huge arcs of time, in an obvious attempt to provide both back story as well as “future” developments. It’s a risky gambit, one that is perhaps meant to tie up as many loose plot strands as possible, but for a series that has been built (both literally and figuratively) on “getting to the end point,” it tends to diffuse energy at times and may leave some viewers frustrated, at least that is until things get back to the matter at hand, namely finishing the railroad and letting Cullen find some kind of closure.

As such, the completion of the actual railroad kind of comes as an anticlimax of sorts, something that’s made more evident by at least a couple of events that happen after the Golden Spike is supposedly driven into the rails. A somewhat ineffective coda once again tries to tie up loose ends, probably failing to do so with regard to Durant (Colm Meaney), but managing to offer a bit more satisfaction with regard to Cullen. Hell on Wheels’ journey hasn’t always been an easy one, but it’s been a gritty and often extremely involving drama that introduced a number of very memorable characters. The show’s tendency to have so many characters (something that only increased in the final season) could lead to a certain diffused quality, but the series closes on an unexpectedly hopeful, focused note.

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2: The Final Episodes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2 The Final Episodes is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Perhaps a little surprisingly, these final episodes tamp down what had been a surprisingly vivid palette in the first half of the season. Some of this is due to the flashback sequences, which are often graded toward an intentionally desaturated look. Some of the segments, notably some documenting The Swede's travails, have noticeable flicker, but I'm assuming that was added in post to give the footage a kind of "distressed" look. When not graded and when lighting is sufficient, detail levels are typically excellent, especially in close-ups where some of the finery of the costumes' fabrics is easily discerned. As with previous seasons, the show pops best when it gets outside, even when the weather is on the gray, gloomy side. Interior scenes can have slightly diminished detail levels at times.

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2: The Final Episodes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2 The Final Episodes continues the series fine use of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, once again offering good immersion in big crowd scenes as well as the usual use of source cues. Dialogue and effects are all rendered cleanly, and often with surprising force, on this problem free track.

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2: The Final Episodes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Look at the Final Episodes (1080p; 3:58) is brief a generally spoiler free.


• Golden Spike (1080p; 1:19) offers some brief comments about what completing the Transcontinental Railroad meant, as well as the significance of the Golden Spike.


• Wrap Up (1080p; 4:05) features memories by the cast.


• Inside the Episodes

  8. Two Soldiers (1080p; 4:58)

  9. Return to the Garden (1080p; 5:07)

  10. 61 Degrees (1080p; 3:07)

  11. Gambit (1080p; 3:40)

  12. Any Sum Within Reason (1080p; 3:09)

  13. Railroad Men (1080p; 4:39)

  14. Done (1080p; 4:35)

All of the supplements are found on Disc Two of this two disc set.

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2: The Final Episodes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As I've documented in reviews of the previous volumes of this series, I've had a lifelong love affair with train travel and also grew up in Utah where the saga of the Transcontinental Railroad is (or at least was) a regular part of school history lessons, and so Hell on Wheels has always had a special place in my viewing heart, even when I've been momentarily distressed by the series' tendency to go off on odd tangents. That proclivity continues here, albeit perhaps understandably in an obvious attempt to tie up as many loose plot strands as possible. These final episodes hopscotch around both temporally and content wise perhaps a bit too much, but the central narrative of Cullen's quest for redemption gives the series' final moments real emotion. Technical merits are generally strong, and Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2 The Final Episodes comes Recommended.