EPISODE

14. Done

The golden spike, government hearings and unpredictable actions mean new beginnings and endings for the survivors.

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THIS ENTRY’S STORY

Plot summary and ending

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Complete story — includes the ending

Following the golden spike ceremony, both Durant and Cullen are given summonses to appear before Congress in Washington, D.C. Durant has been charged with bribery, fraud, and corruption. Cullen asks a Chinese worker to translate Mei's note: it's an address in China. Eva declines Louise's book deal offer, her "survivor story", saying that she is "done whoring". In Washington, President Grant offers Cullen a position as army colonel and undersecretary for the western territories. Cullen states that he is a railroad man, to which Grant counters that he is a soldier "without a war to fight". Dressed in his Union Army uniform before Congressmen, Cullen refuses to implicate Durant, repeating that their railroad could not have been built without Durant. Cullen then goes to the church where he killed a man in the first episode, and a priest asks if he seeks salvation. Cullen breaks down, thanks him, and leaves. Despite Durant's lawyer's invoking the Fifth Amendment, his client defiantly describes the future that he has wrought for them. As Durant speaks, Mickey departs for San Francisco, Eva rides her horse into the sunset, and Cullen boards a train, leaving his uniform behind. He disembarks in San Francisco and boards a ship for China to be reunited with Mei.

Sources and content license

Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Hell on Wheels season 5. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license