Hell on Wheels Episode 4.08 Under Color of Law

Red-stained water flows downstream as Naomi scrubs Elam's blood from Cullen's clothes in the river.

That night, Naomi is awakened by thunder and realizes Cullen never came to bed. With dawn breaking, she wraps baby William in a blanket and begins walking the streets of Cheyenne searching for Cullen. After avoiding some drunks, she finally finds Cullen at the train works, pounding away at an engine. Cullen starts to tell her about his idea to convert the steam dredge into a steam shovel, but Naomi interrupts him, saying he must eat and sleep. He tells her she doesn't understand and sends her back to their tent.

Cullen shows Delaney his plan to use switchbacks to reach the mountain's summit, and Delaney testily reminds Cullen that he's still chief engineer. Cullen requests a dozen men to assemble the steam shovel and refit a train car for it. After Durant gets Delaney to admit that Cullen's plan is doable, Delaney consents to giving Cullen 10 men, but only after Cullen concedes that he'll need Delaney's engineering know-how to complete the project.

A train, carrying Psalms and the freedman to work, begins to pull out of the station. Cullen leaps on board, scrambles into the engineer's booth, and pulls the brake. He then orders Psalms to pick ten of his best men and join him at the train works.

At the train works, Virgil Farnsworth balks at Cullen's instructions to build the steam shovel: "We fix what's broke, and that's all, and I barely got the manpower for that." Cullen says Psalms' men will be the manpower. As the freedmen begin working, Psalms broods. Cullen tells Psalms he knows Psalms sees him as the man who killed Elam, but that the Elam they once knew never came back. "That's all I'm gonna say about it," says Cullen. "Now or ever."

In Eva's tent, Eva helps Charlotte get dressed. Still in shock, Charlotte says she has no one, and no home, to return to. Eva invites Charlotte to stay with her until she figures out what to do in Cheyenne, pointing out that because Charlotte is pretty and educated, she doesn't have to resort to becoming a whore.

Atwood delivers a telegram notifying Campbell that Heckard's body has been found. Campbell immediately suspects Durant.

Cullen returns to his tent and finds it empty. He immediately realizes Naomi has packed up and left with William.

Cullen rides hard across the plains and catches up with Naomi, driving the buckboard with William in a basket beside her. He ties his horse to the back of the wagon and hops aboard. She hands him the reins.

Cullen and Naomi arrive at the Mormon fort, and Cullen shouts to the sentry to tell Hatch that his daughter is at the gate. Hatch runs out to greet them. Cullen asks about the Swede, and Hatch says "he's long gone."

Campbell visits Sidney Snow in jail. He tells Sidney he needs someone with Sidney's "skills," but wonders "whether you can put them to use for someone other than yourself." When Sidney agrees not to run afoul of the law, Campbell has Sidney sworn in as Cheyenne's new marshal, and allows him to deputize the other prisoners. Sidney's first order: Arrest all of Cheyenne's bail-jumpers and fugitives, as well as all indentured freedmen whose bond Durant hasn't paid.

Eva introduces Charlotte to Maggie Palmer, who promises to find Charlotte a job at the hotel. Charlotte weeps with gratitude.

Cullen watches Naomi gossiping with her sisters. Hatch asks Cullen to stay, promising that the community will welcome him. He also tells Cullen that the Swede has gone to Utah with Brigham Young.

Naomi tells Cullen she doesn't want to return to Cheyenne. When he tells her they won't always live there, she responds that Cheyenne isn't the issue, noting she "washed off the blood, from a man you killed, that you loved. I ain't forgetting that. That was you. Who you are."

At the Cheyenne train station, Mickey disembarks from a train and sees a wanted poster of himself, for Jessup's murder.

Sidney and his deputies round up most of the men working on Cullen's project, declaring them wanted for various crimes. When Virgil defends the men, claiming they're all legitimate employees of the Union Pacific, Sidney says Virgil is also wanted and arrests him too. When Sidney calls Psalms' name, Psalms asks why Sidney isn't arresting Durant for failing to pay his bond. "It might come to that," Sidney responds.

Louise and Durant watch as Sidney and his men progress through town.

As Ruth guides Ezra through his lessons, Mickey bursts into the church. He asks Ruth to hide him, but she's hesitant. Mickey follows Ezra into the church's back room as Sidney knocks on the front door. Ruth insists that only her and Ezra are in the church, but Sidney pushes his way inside and heads into the back. Ezra sits silently on the bed as Sidney searches the room and finds nothing. Hidden underneath the floorboards, Mickey holds a loaded pistol. When Sidney leaves, Ezra stomps twice on the floor, and Mickey emerges with a relieved grin. Ezra smiles as well.

That night, in a bedroom at the fort, Cullen sits in a chair, holding William. Naomi awakens, kisses Cullen, and brings William back to bed with her.

In the morning, Cullen leaves the fort alone. "I'm coming back for you and the baby," he promises. "I'll see it when you do," Naomi responds.

Cullen arrives back in Cheyenne to find the train works are deserted.

Charlotte, wearing an expensive dress given to her by Maggie, visits Eva in the casino. She thanks Eva for all of her help, and tells her she believes it was Eva that Elam was thinking of and looking for.

Cullen storms into Durant's office. Durant explains that Campbell has arrested most of the workforce, and offers to make Cullen chief of railroad police so Cullen will have the authority to reclaim the men. Cullen refuses. "Dammit Bohannon, I need you," Durant bellows. "And your gun. I see you aren't even wearing one anymore." "Lost my taste for it," Cullen replies. Sidney enters and arrests Durant for Heckard's murder.

Out on the prairie, Brigham Young asks the Swede who he really is. The Swede responds that his name is Anderson, and that he discovered the Dutson family murdered. Young calls the Swede on his lie and tells him to "begin again." From his knees, the Swede admits that he found the Dutsons alive, but insists that God sent him to "take their earthly lives and drape myself in Dutson's name and person." The Swede then gives thanks that "my path has led me to the sacred privilege of aiding in your work." Young says, "I do believe in your remorse, and that you seek forgiveness," then asks the Swede what his real name is. The Swede answers, "I am Thor Gunderson, of Norway." Brigham Young helps the Swede to his feet and invites him to "go forward with me and begin life again."

Campbell flirts with Louise over dinner at the Palmer Hotel. Cullen walks in as Louise asks Campbell how "a man who shoots up a store and kills a young boy ends up wearing a marshal's badge." Campbell points out that he's already lost two marshals and says, "I don't need to lose more to know I'm a long way from being able to use peaceful means to bring law and order." When Cullen demands that the prisoners be released, pointing out that the railroad can't be built with all of the workers in jail, Campbell responds that the railroad will just have to wait until he brings the town "to heel." "You remember, I asked you as a gentleman first," Cullen says, and walks out.

Cullen returns to his tent and straps on his gun.