Hell on Wheels
AMC | Release Date: November 6, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
19
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzAug 14, 2012
Season 1 Review: Hell on Wheels didn't turn into a great drama, but it settled into a distinctive groove, growing more relaxed and confident by the week. Read full review
60
Zap2it (Inside the Box)David EcksteinNov 7, 2011
Season 1 Review: At the end of the day, Hell on Wheels is beautifully-filmed project that offers exceptional attention to detail on everything but the main character. Read full review
60
TimeJames PoniewozikNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: I found parts of this series I could get invested in. You might find even more. Just don't go in expecting more than heck on wheels. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: Still, for all the unlikely things the Gaytons make happen in order to get their characters into place, and the dogged refusal of a couple of those characters to become interesting at all, the show gathers steam as it goes on. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: In a way it's as paradoxical as its subject: a big, lusty but surprisingly timid look at the bold pioneers and profiteers who ravaged nature to build a nation. Read full review
60
SlateTroy PattersonNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: Not content to exploit their subject's inherent themes, the series' fraternal creators, Joe and Tony Gayton, have adhered them promiscuously, pasting neon Post-it indications of symbolic import in a way that obscures moments of straightforward drama. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: Hell's greatest sin? It's often laugh-out-loud funny. Read full review
58
HitfixAlan SepinwallNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's not quite good (other than The Swede), but it's also not especially bad (though it has occasional terrible moments. Read full review
50
People WeeklyTom GliattoAug 17, 2012
Season 2 Review: Mount needs to run this thing, and he can't if he's the caboose. [27 Aug 2012, p.44]
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzAug 9, 2012
Season 2 Review: Hell on Wheels seems to be puttering around a circular track, with no straightway in sight. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: Like Durant's ideal route, the five episodes I've seen of Hell on Wheels tend to meander a bit. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: The Gaytons have created declamatory cartoons. What they needed was a lot more John Ford and a lot less Cotton Mather. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: While the diverse mix of characters could work to the program's advantage over the long haul, jumping to and fro among them creates a diluted, herky-jerky ride in the early going. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: There's a nagging suspicion that Hell on Wheels, created by Tony and Joe Gayton, doesn't quite know what it wants to be, which may explain why after four hours it seems like a collection of ideas that haven't quite gelled. Read full review
50
USA TodayRobert BiancoNov 3, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's a sprawling story, and within that sprawl there are evocative scenes, sweeping vistas, and moments that grab you. Read full review
40
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanAug 10, 2012
Season 2 Review: The second season of this Western finds it marginally better paced and the characters moderated a bit from the broad archetypes seen in Season 1, but I still find little to compel me in the story of a robber baron and an ex-soldier teaming up to get a transcontinental railroad built. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushAug 10, 2012
Season 2 Review: Dramatically, the show feels as stalled as the trains, which have nowhere to go. Studiously gritty but rarely convincing in its clichéd characterizations and pretentious posturing, Wheels is hell on one's endurance. Read full review
40
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenNov 7, 2011
Season 1 Review: Hell on Wheels is not a bad show, but it's also not engrossing. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushNov 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: AMC's sprawling but heavy-handed attempt to revive and redefine the Western (a newly hot TV-development trend) is solemn business indeed, with precious little wit or originality. Read full review
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