Hell on Wheels season 1

Lore & Background

The season was met with favorable reviews from critics, receiving a score of 63 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews. The premiere was watched by 4.4 million viewers, making it AMC's second most watched series premiere in history, following The Walking Dead. In January 2012, AMC confirmed Hell on Wheels as the network's second-highest rated original series behind The Walking Dead, averaging three million viewers per episode.

The main cast includes Anson Mount as Cullen Bohannon, Colm Meaney as Thomas "Doc" Durant, Common as Elam Ferguson, Dominique McElligott as Lily Bell, Tom Noonan as Reverend Nathaniel Cole, Eddie Spears as Joseph Black Moon, Ben Esler as Seán McGinnes, and Phil Burke as Mickey McGinnes. Filming took place in Calgary and areas in central and southern Alberta, Canada, with the T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation serving as the location for most exteriors.

The series was conceived after co-creator Joe Gayton saw a documentary about the railroad and learned about the "Hell on Wheels" encampment. AMC placed a pilot order in May 2010, and the pilot was delivered in November 2010. The series was green-lit on December 15, 2010, with an order of 10 episodes.

Reader's Guide

The first season of Hell on Wheels established the series as a significant entry in AMC's original programming lineup, becoming the network's second-highest rated original series behind The Walking Dead. Its favorable critical reception and strong viewership numbers demonstrated audience interest in a western drama set during the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The season's focus on a former Confederate soldier seeking vengeance, combined with themes of greed, corruption, and racial tension, set the tone for the series. The show's production involved multiple companies, including Endemol USA, Entertainment One, and Nomadic Pictures, and its success led to a home media release in May 2012 and a soundtrack release in August 2012. The season's legacy lies in its contribution to the revival of the western genre on television and its portrayal of a historically significant but often overlooked aspect of American expansion.

Did You Know?

• The premiere was watched by 4.4 million viewers, AMC's second most watched series premiere in history after The Walking Dead.
• The series was created by Joe and Tony Gayton, who wrote four episodes and served as showrunners.
• Filming took place in Calgary and the T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation in Alberta, Canada.
• The first season averaged three million viewers per episode, making it AMC's second-highest rated original series.

The Railroad as Living World

The series uses the construction of the first transcontinental railroad as its central backdrop, following the Union Pacific Railroad and the diverse community that grew up around it. The 'Hell on Wheels' encampment is not a fixed location but a mobile settlement that travels westward across the Great Plains, always positioned at the railhead where the tracks are being laid. Within its borders live and work laborers, mercenaries, surveyors, prostitutes, and countless others who call this rolling town home—and some of whom die in it. Season 1 is set in 1865, placing the narrative in the immediate aftermath of Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the end of the Civil War. The railroad itself functions almost as a character, driving the plot and giving purpose to every person in the encampment. The show aired on AMC in both the United States and Canada, with its premiere on November 6, 2011.

Bohannon's Transformation from Avenger to Railroad Man

Anson Mount anchors the series as Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate cavalry colonel whose life is defined by a single, devastating loss. During the Civil War, Union soldiers murdered his wife Mary and his young son, and Bohannon joins the railroad construction effort with one purpose: to find and kill those men. Season 1 captures the early chapters of this vendetta-driven character, but it also begins the slow process of reshaping him into something else. As he embeds himself in the encampment, Bohannon takes on the role of foreman for the Transcontinental Railroad, and over the full five-season arc he eventually rises to chief engineer. The show explicitly tracks his shift from a man consumed by personal grief to what the series calls a 'railroad man'—someone whose identity is rebuilt around the work of building the nation's most ambitious infrastructure project. His transformation is the emotional spine of the entire first season.

A Cross-Section of Post-War America

The first season assembles a vivid cross-section of post-war American society within the walls of the encampment. Colm Meaney embodies Thomas 'Doc' Durant, a businessman and investor in the First Transcontinental Railroad whose single obsession is accumulating wealth and who will sacrifice anything to achieve it. Common brings depth to Elam Ferguson, a recently freed Black slave searching for his place in a world that has not yet made room for him; he serves as security and general assistant to Bohannon. Dominique McElligott portrays Lily Bell, a widow whose husband was a surveyor for the railroad, now fighting to establish her own position within the operation. Tom Noonan plays Reverend Nathaniel Cole, a minister who took part in the violence of Bleeding Kansas before the war and is now weary of slaughter, hoping to keep white settlers and Native peoples from another conflict. Eddie Spears appears as Joseph Black Moon, a Cheyenne man who has converted to Christianity and must reconcile that faith with the traditions of his ancestors. The McGinnes brothers, played by Ben Esler and Phil Burke, represent the Irish laborers who crossed the Atlantic chasing glory and fortune.

Creative Stewardship and Production

Hell on Wheels was created and produced by the Gayton brothers, Joe and Tony, with development handled through Endemol USA under the guidance of senior vice-president of scripted programming Jeremy Gold. Production was carried out by Entertainment One and Nomadic Pictures, and the series found its home on the cable channel AMC, broadcasting in both the United States and Canada. The first episode aired on November 6, 2011, and the show ultimately ran for five seasons before its final episode on July 23, 2016. The creative leadership, however, experienced a notable disruption early on. In 2012, AMC made the announcement that Joe and Tony Gayton were no longer part of the day-to-day production of the series. Shortly after, on December 12, 2012, the network confirmed that writer John Wirth would step in as showrunner beginning with the third season. This change in stewardship marked a significant shift in the show's creative direction during its run.

Gallery