Hell on Wheels – Season 2 Premieres Aug. 12

Hell On Wheels Season 2 Premieres August 12, 2012 at 9:00pm on AMC. Check your local listings.

If you are not watching this show, you need to give your head a shake.

At the end of last season, Cullen Bohannon had fled Hell on Wheels after learning that the man he has just killed, Harper, is not the man who killed his family. Leaving the body in front of a train that brought federal marshals to arrest he, he takes off.

The Swede, who was also hunting Harper (albeit it in order to get information on Cullen), has been headed off by most of the residents of Hell on Wheels that he has been extorting, and upon his capture is promptly tarred and feathered.

I left a few questions at the end of my Hell on Wheels Season 1 Finale article, so lets look at those:

What was the deal with Mickey going to stop The Swede from beating Nell? Chivalry aside, there is something there. He has said as much, telling Sean he likes her.

I interviewed April Telek (Nell) shortly after the season ended, and she hinted at things to come for Nell. For me, that was a big clue that, coupled with Sean’s telling her he likes her, that Nell was going to be more prevalent in Season 2. If April’s Twitter is any indication, she has indeed been a very busy lady this summer.

I hope we see a lot more of Nell. I think April is a terrific actor, and would love to see more of her. I am also intrigued by the Nell storyline: I think the appeal of running away with a railroad is apparent enough, in those times, but I am interested in knowing how she and her merry band of whores came to be residents of Hell on Wheels.

Eva and Elam: do they or don’t they? Will she leave him for Toole, who clearly has a thing for her too?

After perceiving a slight from Elam, in that he tells her he never said anything about marriage, she runs to the dance and right into the arms of Toole, the man who had tried to kill Elam for sleeping with a white woman, whore or not. After being shot repeatedly by Bohannon and Elam, and living to tell the tale, Toole is a reformed man and apparently has some serious feelings for Eva. She accepts his request for a dance rebuffing him, and runs back into those arms after confronted by Elam.

I hope Eva and Elam develop a relationship. It is too easy to send her into the arms of Toole, a ‘reformed’ racist; I want to see how the writers play this one out. Besides, Common is hot, and Robin McLeavy even hotter – who doesn’t want to see more of that??

Will Lily give in to Durant’s advances now that Cullen is gone?

I wrote this question obviously before I knew that Cullen was back. I follow Anson Mount has been tweeting on-set pictures, and while I try to avoid spoilers, I think this season I am going to have to succumb to advance knowledge.

I think Lily is just savvy enough to keep Durant in the wings while she waits to see what happens with Cullen. After all, she was savvy enough to parlay her dead husband’s maps into a job as a ‘consultant’ of sorts to Durant, as well as a translator of said maps. She’s no slouch, this one: I really think she will factor largely in the upcoming season.

Joseph and Ruth (loves!!!) and Reverend Cole’s insanity

I heart Joseph and Ruth very much. I think now that Cole has ‘chosen hate because it’s so much easier’, the closest thing Hell on Wheels will come to a savior will be in the form of Joseph and Ruth together. I’m not sure how they will deal with Cole’s swan dive off the deep end of reason, but I hope they keep him around.

Every good dirty railroad town needs a crazy person, no??