Hell on Wheels Season Finale Review: This Means War Comments (Page 5)
220 Comments
RAS-WLFD
October 10th, 2012 2:16 PM
I'm hoping the killing of Lily was a dream - OR - she has a twin sister who comes looking for her - OR - the writers have lost their minds.
Dracula
October 10th, 2012 1:10 AM
I cant believe they killed Lily! I was sitting there crying and then going on about it after the show ended. WTF? What were they thinking? I was fan of the show but now not even picking it up on bluray. That ending completely sucked! Good job, bone-headed writers!
David
October 10th, 2012 12:33 AM
Also, has anyone voiced the very real possibility that Dominique McElligott's contract was up and she didn't want to renew it? Don't be so quick to lynch the writers when you don't know any of the facts.
David
October 10th, 2012 12:29 AM
This show has never been about Lilly, or Durant or Elam. It's about the Railroad and how one man, Cullen, see that it's built. So for those saying the show won't continue after Lilly died. It will.
Cullen has now had to bury two women that he has loved, both victims of murder. The bigger question is what sort of man will we see now. Remember his dogged determination to find those Blue Coats? With the Swede dead, where will he channel his anger now?
rmw
October 10th, 2012 12:12 AM
Wanna love this bc I love westerns, but this season and especially the finale was an EPIC FAIL. What a weird season. So many holes; so much randomness. The heavy focus on the two least interesting characters--the Swede and the reverend--was exasperating. And a COMPLETELY different show than the first season. One episode the Swede is doing the books; the next he's dragged back on a horse with a hole in his belly? It really tried to go way deeper than it needed to and the writers don't have the chops to do it well. And kill Lilly? She was the only thing that made Cullen human, vulnerable and likable. Most viewers will tune out if there's no empathy required and we're not able to really get to know any of the characters and their motivation.
Raphael A.
October 9th, 2012 11:35 PM
Just to conclude
I'm not a psycho to enjoy people dying, but it is like a movie, with its ups and downs, a genuine drama! I am deeply involved with this show and hoping for a third season! I must say, romance is not the theme or genre proposed for this series, a harsh and realistic view of the western expansion. There are more proper shows in the romance genre for interested public.
Raphael A.
October 9th, 2012 11:29 PM
I can’t believe people are complaining this much about the show's finale. Even more annoying are people who said that likes Hell on Wheels and are going to stop watching it! I do really enjoy these sudden unexpected deaths writers have been doing in the shows recently. That happened so many times, like Game of Thrones first season's main character and Dexter's wife in Dexter and Opie in Sons of Anarchy; it only brought more curiosity and fans for these shows, among many other examples! I don't think a long, solid romance between Lily and Bohanon would make the show interesting. She's one of the best actresses of the show and very beautiful. I will miss her so, but I admire the writers’ audacity at the same time. They were building their romance even in the last episode and she dies in that sad, sad way. Don't you think they know this act can ruin their show?? I'm sure they have a great surprise coming. I'm not a psycho to enjoy people dying, but it is like a movie, with its ups an
Killing off Lily was bad enough in the insanely stupid dept but the scene with Cullen and the Swede calmly walking down the track so Cullen can hang the Swede off the track over the water was almost Felliniesque in its absurdity.
I suppose there is .001 chance that this was all a dream and or Lily is not dead but I dont think these writers have the chops to come back from this in a way a remotely buyable way.
gatvfan Rank: Guest Star
October 9th, 2012 9:25 PM
So disappointed to see Lily killed. I don't see how this series will be able to continue on without her.
Joe Banks
October 9th, 2012 6:09 PM
Lily should return and most likely will; after all Mr. Toole took a .45 to the mouth from Elam and was able to walk back to camp with a hole the size of an egg in the back of his neck... If however, Lily doesn't return... I will stop watching the show...
Cindy
October 9th, 2012 5:30 PM
I cannot express how dissapointed I was to watch this season finale. I cannot understand the ignorance of the writters to get rid of Lily. I understand the strangeness of the show since in those days the people out there really were risk takers and not quite the perfect person's we imagine them to be in the first place. I don't think I'll watch the show anylonger.
John
October 9th, 2012 12:48 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Cullen/Lilli's relationship grow. How she was able to break through to him. I am v-e-r-y disappointed in her shocking (apparent) death but bring her back! Just spin it that she was unconscious or you lost 2 viewers.
Deathknell
October 9th, 2012 12:41 PM
First of all, there are actually many opportunities left for the writers if they decide to take them, so please calm down. As others have said, Lily may indeed be alive, they never show her being buried. It could be that she revives from near death (a coma) in the next season just as Kirk awoke from this Death match with Spock in "Amock Time". And the Swede could be alive as well, although somehow I think plummeting into a shallow river from that height makes it unlikely. But this is TV, people, and good TV.
But suppose they are both dead? The comparison of "Swede" and Bohannon cannot be ignored. The Swede called himself the "White Spirit" which actually symbolizes the "Pale Rider" (Death). But in reality I think that Swede has become a fan of Bohannon, and thinks that Bohannon is the real "Pale Rider" leaving destruction in his wake. Swede is just helping him all he can to keep him from being happy and staying his old self. Happiness will not ensure the Pale Rider continues
Honey
October 9th, 2012 10:04 AM
The finale was strange. Left too many questions unanswered. Cullen found out that Durant wanted Lily killed. Cullen's intent was to get some satisfaction using the bull whip on Durant but Lily intercepted him and told him to leave it alone. She had a better plan in mind. So, I am wondering if it is a fabricated tale Cullen is spinning after the town was attacked and burned. And too, if Lily was truly dead why didn't Cullen march back into town and blow Durant away? It's all about Lily's plan to take down Durant. About the Swede, I don't think he's dead. He just escaped a hanging. He'll not drown he'll wind up somewhere down river, alive to live another day to raise hell on Hell On Wheels.
kontma
October 8th, 2012 11:39 PM
No one actually said she Lily was dead. She looked dead... but was she...? the producers have left it open to gauge the viewers responess.
David
October 8th, 2012 11:33 PM
I am an avid lover of good westerns. They are very rare today so I watched every episode of Hell on Wheels. I will not be watching anymore. Killing off Lilly was the most idiotic decision ever. You must have 3 year old writing for you. Yes,they killed Gus in Lonesome Dove but that was at the end of one of the greatest Westerns ever made. You knew the characters, each episode flowed seamlessly into the next. None of that happens in "HOW" and there has been plenty of time to develop it. Its' disjointed, and character development is almost nonexistent. The viewer needs to develop a relationship to the characters so they will want to tune in each episode. In killing Lilly, you erased the most interesting and defined character in the series. Kevin Costner did a thousand times better when he made "Open Range" and he did it in 2 hrs.
Lsed
October 8th, 2012 10:41 PM
If Lily's dead not watching anymore
Monte
October 8th, 2012 10:34 PM
I agree with those who HATED the finale and are DONE with "Hell on Wheels," a show I looked forward to every week. Lily's articulate beauty was the antidote or counterbalance to Anson Mount's inarticulate grunts, with him reminding me often of the Shroud of Turin attempting to speak (in western garb, of course). I am tired of writers thinking how brilliant they are by doing what they know damn well is going to piss of their most loyal and dedicated fans. They've shown their disdain for me and it will be my pleasure to never watch the show again and be on the lookout for future shows the writers & producers are involved with so I can avoid their insults in future.
I'm done with this show and couldn't disagree with this article more. They jumped the shark by killing off Lilly.
Also, the song at the end was terrible and I think they just want to sell soundtrack music. Many shows are doing this like Smallville and it's terrible. Today, everyone seems to be scrambling to make excuses for the final episode, which most of us must have hated for AMC and this site to do so, like this is some great bold thing to kill off a main character. I don't think so.
I don't have to watch the show, so I won't. AMC has a loser.
I honestly think they didn't want to renew Dominique's contract. She probably wanted more money, deservedly so, and they didn't want to give it to her...a decision they will regret imo.
They lost me as an avid viewer. I honestly hope the show doesn't come back so they learn from their mistake.
hjs3
October 8th, 2012 8:43 PM
Enjoyed it all! Never missed a bit and found that kinda odd too..
Dunno who decided to 86 Lily over the Swede but that's why I'm not in that business...
Not much left to pick-over as carcases go.....Durant and his wife deserve one another and both equally treacherous...Cullen staying to continue the r.r. makes no sense since he's free of all obligations. Just don't get it...
I guess that's it
Sarah Stegall
October 8th, 2012 6:52 PM
This finale sucked wide. How un-original: Cullen goes off to fight someone else's war, and comes back to find the woman he loves murdered. Is this not the pilot episode, all over again? Can't the writers come up with something just a little more innovative? Worse, we have lost a brilliant character in Lily. She was resourceful, daring, brave, a woman determined to make her own future and not leave it in the hands of men. Who are we left with now? A Bible-thumping hypocrite, a former prostitute who could not make up her mind between two different men, and a scheming rich woman who manipulates people with her husband's money. I have no interest in those characters. Killing off Lily was a stupid, stupid mistake, one which I believe the producers will come to regret very soon.
Paula Welch
October 8th, 2012 6:50 PM
How dare you kill Lilly. She better not be dead! Furthermore, don't make it into some damn soap opera where it does not take up from where you left off. A Dumb-ass soap would have him and her separated until the end of the next season when they may or may not find one another again or where she and he is interested in someone else. Thought you were decent writers, just another long line of soap writers. Audiences are sick of that interpretation. Again Lilly better be OK and it begins where it has ended. Doesn't anyone have the ability to write anymore except for the same old same O. That is why the soaps went to hell in a hand-basket. The same crap over and over. It is just lame. Never any fulfillment
julie
October 8th, 2012 6:44 PM
really love the show i hope lilly is alive she made a great mate for cullen love all the characters hope for a 3 rd seasonmakes my sunday night
dahawk
October 8th, 2012 4:55 PM
After reading all the comments, I have concluded this season's finale was perfect. If the series is not renewed, they left a believable and finality in the ending that few programs do any more. There have been many programs in the past that ended with cliff hangers that never get to be resolved. If it is renewed, then the fact that Bohannon tells what happened in flash backs makes for an easy out by showing what really happened sometime in the early episodes of next season.
October 10th, 2012 2:16 PM
I'm hoping the killing of Lily was a dream - OR - she has a twin sister who comes looking for her - OR - the writers have lost their minds.
October 10th, 2012 1:10 AM
I cant believe they killed Lily! I was sitting there crying and then going on about it after the show ended. WTF? What were they thinking? I was fan of the show but now not even picking it up on bluray. That ending completely sucked! Good job, bone-headed writers!
October 10th, 2012 12:33 AM
Also, has anyone voiced the very real possibility that Dominique McElligott's contract was up and she didn't want to renew it? Don't be so quick to lynch the writers when you don't know any of the facts.
October 10th, 2012 12:29 AM
This show has never been about Lilly, or Durant or Elam. It's about the Railroad and how one man, Cullen, see that it's built. So for those saying the show won't continue after Lilly died. It will.
Cullen has now had to bury two women that he has loved, both victims of murder. The bigger question is what sort of man will we see now. Remember his dogged determination to find those Blue Coats? With the Swede dead, where will he channel his anger now?
October 10th, 2012 12:12 AM
Wanna love this bc I love westerns, but this season and especially the finale was an EPIC FAIL. What a weird season. So many holes; so much randomness. The heavy focus on the two least interesting characters--the Swede and the reverend--was exasperating. And a COMPLETELY different show than the first season. One episode the Swede is doing the books; the next he's dragged back on a horse with a hole in his belly? It really tried to go way deeper than it needed to and the writers don't have the chops to do it well. And kill Lilly? She was the only thing that made Cullen human, vulnerable and likable. Most viewers will tune out if there's no empathy required and we're not able to really get to know any of the characters and their motivation.
October 9th, 2012 11:35 PM
Just to conclude
I'm not a psycho to enjoy people dying, but it is like a movie, with its ups and downs, a genuine drama! I am deeply involved with this show and hoping for a third season! I must say, romance is not the theme or genre proposed for this series, a harsh and realistic view of the western expansion. There are more proper shows in the romance genre for interested public.
October 9th, 2012 11:29 PM
I can’t believe people are complaining this much about the show's finale. Even more annoying are people who said that likes Hell on Wheels and are going to stop watching it! I do really enjoy these sudden unexpected deaths writers have been doing in the shows recently. That happened so many times, like Game of Thrones first season's main character and Dexter's wife in Dexter and Opie in Sons of Anarchy; it only brought more curiosity and fans for these shows, among many other examples! I don't think a long, solid romance between Lily and Bohanon would make the show interesting. She's one of the best actresses of the show and very beautiful. I will miss her so, but I admire the writers’ audacity at the same time. They were building their romance even in the last episode and she dies in that sad, sad way. Don't you think they know this act can ruin their show?? I'm sure they have a great surprise coming. I'm not a psycho to enjoy people dying, but it is like a movie, with its ups an
October 9th, 2012 11:05 PM
bring Lily back she help to make the show
Rank: Extra
October 9th, 2012 10:52 PM
Killing off Lily was bad enough in the insanely stupid dept but the scene with Cullen and the Swede calmly walking down the track so Cullen can hang the Swede off the track over the water was almost Felliniesque in its absurdity.
I suppose there is .001 chance that this was all a dream and or Lily is not dead but I dont think these writers have the chops to come back from this in a way a remotely buyable way.
Rank: Guest Star
October 9th, 2012 9:25 PM
So disappointed to see Lily killed. I don't see how this series will be able to continue on without her.
October 9th, 2012 6:09 PM
Lily should return and most likely will; after all Mr. Toole took a .45 to the mouth from Elam and was able to walk back to camp with a hole the size of an egg in the back of his neck... If however, Lily doesn't return... I will stop watching the show...
October 9th, 2012 5:30 PM
I cannot express how dissapointed I was to watch this season finale. I cannot understand the ignorance of the writters to get rid of Lily. I understand the strangeness of the show since in those days the people out there really were risk takers and not quite the perfect person's we imagine them to be in the first place. I don't think I'll watch the show anylonger.
October 9th, 2012 12:48 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Cullen/Lilli's relationship grow. How she was able to break through to him. I am v-e-r-y disappointed in her shocking (apparent) death but bring her back! Just spin it that she was unconscious or you lost 2 viewers.
October 9th, 2012 12:41 PM
First of all, there are actually many opportunities left for the writers if they decide to take them, so please calm down. As others have said, Lily may indeed be alive, they never show her being buried. It could be that she revives from near death (a coma) in the next season just as Kirk awoke from this Death match with Spock in "Amock Time". And the Swede could be alive as well, although somehow I think plummeting into a shallow river from that height makes it unlikely. But this is TV, people, and good TV.
But suppose they are both dead? The comparison of "Swede" and Bohannon cannot be ignored. The Swede called himself the "White Spirit" which actually symbolizes the "Pale Rider" (Death). But in reality I think that Swede has become a fan of Bohannon, and thinks that Bohannon is the real "Pale Rider" leaving destruction in his wake. Swede is just helping him all he can to keep him from being happy and staying his old self. Happiness will not ensure the Pale Rider continues
October 9th, 2012 10:04 AM
The finale was strange. Left too many questions unanswered. Cullen found out that Durant wanted Lily killed. Cullen's intent was to get some satisfaction using the bull whip on Durant but Lily intercepted him and told him to leave it alone. She had a better plan in mind. So, I am wondering if it is a fabricated tale Cullen is spinning after the town was attacked and burned. And too, if Lily was truly dead why didn't Cullen march back into town and blow Durant away? It's all about Lily's plan to take down Durant. About the Swede, I don't think he's dead. He just escaped a hanging. He'll not drown he'll wind up somewhere down river, alive to live another day to raise hell on Hell On Wheels.
October 8th, 2012 11:39 PM
No one actually said she Lily was dead. She looked dead... but was she...? the producers have left it open to gauge the viewers responess.
October 8th, 2012 11:33 PM
I am an avid lover of good westerns. They are very rare today so I watched every episode of Hell on Wheels. I will not be watching anymore. Killing off Lilly was the most idiotic decision ever. You must have 3 year old writing for you. Yes,they killed Gus in Lonesome Dove but that was at the end of one of the greatest Westerns ever made. You knew the characters, each episode flowed seamlessly into the next. None of that happens in "HOW" and there has been plenty of time to develop it. Its' disjointed, and character development is almost nonexistent. The viewer needs to develop a relationship to the characters so they will want to tune in each episode. In killing Lilly, you erased the most interesting and defined character in the series. Kevin Costner did a thousand times better when he made "Open Range" and he did it in 2 hrs.
October 8th, 2012 10:41 PM
If Lily's dead not watching anymore
October 8th, 2012 10:34 PM
I agree with those who HATED the finale and are DONE with "Hell on Wheels," a show I looked forward to every week. Lily's articulate beauty was the antidote or counterbalance to Anson Mount's inarticulate grunts, with him reminding me often of the Shroud of Turin attempting to speak (in western garb, of course). I am tired of writers thinking how brilliant they are by doing what they know damn well is going to piss of their most loyal and dedicated fans. They've shown their disdain for me and it will be my pleasure to never watch the show again and be on the lookout for future shows the writers & producers are involved with so I can avoid their insults in future.
Rank: Extra
October 8th, 2012 9:59 PM
I'm done with this show and couldn't disagree with this article more. They jumped the shark by killing off Lilly.
Also, the song at the end was terrible and I think they just want to sell soundtrack music. Many shows are doing this like Smallville and it's terrible. Today, everyone seems to be scrambling to make excuses for the final episode, which most of us must have hated for AMC and this site to do so, like this is some great bold thing to kill off a main character. I don't think so.
I don't have to watch the show, so I won't. AMC has a loser.
I honestly think they didn't want to renew Dominique's contract. She probably wanted more money, deservedly so, and they didn't want to give it to her...a decision they will regret imo.
They lost me as an avid viewer. I honestly hope the show doesn't come back so they learn from their mistake.
October 8th, 2012 8:43 PM
Enjoyed it all! Never missed a bit and found that kinda odd too..
Dunno who decided to 86 Lily over the Swede but that's why I'm not in that business...
Not much left to pick-over as carcases go.....Durant and his wife deserve one another and both equally treacherous...Cullen staying to continue the r.r. makes no sense since he's free of all obligations. Just don't get it...
I guess that's it
October 8th, 2012 6:52 PM
This finale sucked wide. How un-original: Cullen goes off to fight someone else's war, and comes back to find the woman he loves murdered. Is this not the pilot episode, all over again? Can't the writers come up with something just a little more innovative? Worse, we have lost a brilliant character in Lily. She was resourceful, daring, brave, a woman determined to make her own future and not leave it in the hands of men. Who are we left with now? A Bible-thumping hypocrite, a former prostitute who could not make up her mind between two different men, and a scheming rich woman who manipulates people with her husband's money. I have no interest in those characters. Killing off Lily was a stupid, stupid mistake, one which I believe the producers will come to regret very soon.
October 8th, 2012 6:50 PM
How dare you kill Lilly. She better not be dead! Furthermore, don't make it into some damn soap opera where it does not take up from where you left off. A Dumb-ass soap would have him and her separated until the end of the next season when they may or may not find one another again or where she and he is interested in someone else. Thought you were decent writers, just another long line of soap writers. Audiences are sick of that interpretation. Again Lilly better be OK and it begins where it has ended. Doesn't anyone have the ability to write anymore except for the same old same O. That is why the soaps went to hell in a hand-basket. The same crap over and over. It is just lame. Never any fulfillment
October 8th, 2012 6:44 PM
really love the show i hope lilly is alive she made a great mate for cullen love all the characters hope for a 3 rd seasonmakes my sunday night
October 8th, 2012 4:55 PM
After reading all the comments, I have concluded this season's finale was perfect. If the series is not renewed, they left a believable and finality in the ending that few programs do any more. There have been many programs in the past that ended with cliff hangers that never get to be resolved. If it is renewed, then the fact that Bohannon tells what happened in flash backs makes for an easy out by showing what really happened sometime in the early episodes of next season.