Reviews

While the episode was entertaining, it didn't quite live up to my expectation after the end of episode two. That's probably more of my fault then the show's though. It had a good storyline with the brothers, as yet more characters slide down a tragic path in the hard world of the frontier. Doing things that we in the modern world would rarely consider is a matter of survival their harsh reality. None of the other characters felt particularly compelling in this episode, although the Swede continues to draw you in with uncertainty every time he's on screen.

Overall, it was a fairly good episode that moved things along but didn't stick out in any huge way to me.

This episode was a sure improvement over the season opener. The biggest thing was the charm it had with everyone's reaction to seeing Cullen back. That made for a strong ending and brought excitement for the upcoming episodes, but the rest of the episode was solid too. Durant's train ride conversation ended with the best possible answer to Cullen's question. Seeing Lily with Durant is a little disappointing, but often characters in the show make decisions that as an audience you won't like but make perfect sense for the character. The new problems that come with the push into Cheyenne territory will surely only be slightly different than last season. I'm curious to see if the Swede's roll or the Irish boy's change during the season. A little bit of satisfaction was also to be had with Elam taking out the murderer, despite the fact that he was manipulated by Lily.

Overall, I felt a lot more connected with the characters again in this one, and bringing Cullen back into the fold really helped bring things back together.

This episode had stuff happening with the train robberies and such, but it just felt like it lacked the core chemistry of the first season that kept things interesting. Elam was still facing adjustments with his new position in the world, and Lily is kind of settled. With them kind of stagnant and Cullen on a not very interesting temporary side story, it just wasn't particularly engaging. The best part of the episode was the doctor that knew Cullen from before.

Overall the episode was fine, but it definitely felt like coming back from a long break and trying to get to know the characters again despite watching it a day after the season one finale on streaming.