Back in 2018, <em>Yellowstone</em> changed the game when it came to modern Westerns. By combining Taylor Sheridan‘s storytelling with Kevin Costner as the lead in John Dutton, the series became a blueprint for the genre, and was proof of how big a Western TV show could become. But while Yellowstone might always be used as an example, an underseen Western that came out years earlier was more ambitious and expansive, and deserves a watch from anyone who’s kept track of Sheridan’s ever-expanding Western franchise.
On November 6, 2011, Hell on Wheels, which originally aired on AMC, was released, and the series is not only a classic Western following a gunslinging antihero, but is an all-encompassing view on an important chapter of American history. The series went on for five seasons, coming to an end in 2016, but it’s been underseen and underrated ever since.
What Is ‘Hell on Wheels’ About?
Hell on Wheels follows the real-life story of how the Union Pacific Railroad was built. As the railroad was constructed mile by mile across the country, a mobile encampment of laborers, surveyors, and prostitutes traveled along it and set up camp. This camp is where the show earns its name, as “Hell on Wheels” was the nickname given to the encampment because of its rough-and-tumble, lawless environment. More specifically, the series follows Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), a former Confederate soldier who joins the railroad project because he’s trying to search for several Union soldiers who viciously murdered his wife and son during the Civil War. Cullen is a somber, man-of-few-words, but he does end up commanding respect, and eventually moves up through the ranks of the railroad workers.
Spanning several years, starting in 1865 (right after President Abraham Lincoln‘s assassination) through 1869, the series has an epic scope into a critical chapter in history. And although the focus remains on Cullen throughout, several fascinating characters together help paint the full picture of what life on the Transcontinental Railroad in the nineteenth century was like. Among them are Elam Ferguson (Common), a former slave who is trying his best to adjust to life as a freed man who’s still facing discrimination and injustice, Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott), a delicate, elegant wife of a surveyor for the railroad, and Eva Toole (Robin McLeavy), a prostitute who was kidnapped and raised by Native Americans from a very young age. Each of these unique characters helps set up a realistic grittiness and intriguing narrative for all five seasons of the show.
WhichTaylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
Yellowstone
Landman
Tulsa King
Mayor of Kingstown
01
Where does your power come from?
In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
‘Hell on Wheels’ Is Much More Expansive Than ‘Yellowstone’
Given how far backHell on Wheelsreaches and how much history it encompasses over the seasons, the series feels far more expansive in scope thanYellowstoneever was. Rather than using the frontier merely as a backdrop for family power struggles, it presents the American West as a historical crossroads shaped by war, race, class, immigration, violence, and the nation’s rapid expansion in the wake of the devastating American Civil War. Through its ensemble of characters, the series weaves a gritty tapestry of frontier life, creating a sweeping portrait of the people, institutions, and competing interests surrounding the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Each character is fighting not only for survival but for influence over the future of a country being transformed by one of the most determining infrastructure projects in American history.
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With that said, whileYellowstonewould forever be remembered as one of the best Western TV shows,Hell on Wheelsdeserves a place in that conversation as well. Anchored by an incredible central character, the series delivers a storyline that is not only engaging but revealing into the realities of life on the frontier. The result is a Western with true emotional weight, meaningful consequences, and historical accuracy that make it enthralling and educational all in one.
