Hell on Wheels (2011–2016): Season 4, Episode 12 - Thirteen Steps - full transcript
Ruth is determined that her fate is sealed. Her trial gives her two possible outs, both of which she dismissed. Cullen provides his accurate detail as police officer, detailing that she'd only protected him and the general population from the murdering swine she shot down. Even John Campbell suggests a stay, saying that she is not thinking clearly. Ruth remains steadfast in sealing her own fate, and even growing closer to Bohannan during an all night vigil in her jail cell does not shake her from her decision. The morning comes, and Campbell asks Cullen to read the death warrant. He stalks out, wanting no part of it. Ruth begs him to attend her hanging, to be with her in the end. 13 steps up to the noose. Ruth looks to the crowd, hoping that Cullen will he there. He arrives late, but too late to stop Ruth from her fate. She smiles a small smile of contentment, just before the hood is placed over her head.
You do swear by almighty God,
the searcher of all hearts,
that the evidence
you give shall be the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth,
as you shall answer to god
on the last great day?
In the matter of the United States
versus Ruth Cole,
the defendant stands
accused of unlawfully, feloniously,
and of malice aforethought
shooting into Sidney Snow
two mortal
wounds of which he died,
contrary to the law, peace,
and dignity
of the Wyoming territory.
Having heard these charges,
what say you?
Guilty.
Miss Cole...
In my hand,
a written statement
by head of railroad police,
Cullen Bohannon.
He says you aided and protected
an officer of the law
from an armed felon.
This would not
only prove you innocent,
but mean you saved a life,
if not several.
Now, this court
asks a second time.
What say you?
I say I am gum!!-
Ruth, don't do this.
- Ruth.
- Order, sir.
Miss Cole, it is unclear to me
whether you're of fit mind
to defend yourself.
L'ma move for a continuance
to afford Miss Cole time
to acquire proper counsel.
I murdered that man, Governor.
Not out of fear
nor aiding the law,
but for no purpose other than
to end the man's life
who took my son's.
I am guilty. I have pled so.
You, Ruth Elizabeth Cole,
are guilty of murder
and shall be hanged by the neck
until you are dead tomorrow.
May god have mercy on your soul.
Have the gallows constructed
in the town square.
A public execution?
Transparency, Judge.
Followed by a strict adherence
to the law.
A death warrant
should be drawn up.
Do it.
No mistakes.
You got nothing to gain by this.
I gave Miss Cole every
opportunity to acquit herself.
Her refusal to do so means that
justice must be served.
Hanging a grieving mother,
that don't serve nobody.
Neither does allowing a
confessed murderer to walk free.
No one is above the law,
not even a church lady.
Then pardon her.
You got that power as governor.
I do.
But a pardon must be
affirmatively accepted
by the guilty party to be recognized
by the courts.
And the woman in that courtroom
did not appear interested
in clemency.
I get her to accept
a pardon, you'll sign it?
With pleasure.
The law requires the noose
go on tomorrow.
All right,
keep your guilty plea.
Take your stand.
Then you'll accept a pardon
from the governor.
The governor hasn't pardoned me.
He'll give you one.
He told me so hisself.
I never asked for that.
"Hanged by the neck until dead."
Did you hear him in there?
Pardons are for cowards
like Sidney Snow.
Taking a pardon...
that ain't a coward's choice.
Dying is.
Either way, the choice is mine.
And my choice is no.
My father was a judge.
After a bad ruling...
well, he'd sneak out
and take my mother dancing.
Do you waltz?
I haven't come to dance, John.
Come on.
It's simple.
A waltz requires a man to lead.
I've never excelled
in that arena.
I've come for comment
on the kangaroo court
you authorized on your arrival
and your acquisition
of McGinnes' casino thereafter.
Ancient history, Miss Ellison.
I prefer to call it context.
This is the story I won't like?
It starts and ends with
a federally approved hanging.
I extended Miss Cole the pardon.
And if she should refuse,
that would be her decision.
Mr. Snow's appointment
to marshal...
I suppose that
was her decision as well
and his subsequent burning
of her church.
We are all complicit, John.
Men with power
and money are guilty,
while a woman with no currency
except her own convictions
is set to hang.
Burn this city down...
you'll have no friends left
but the ashes.
Exactly as much as Ruth Cole.
You'll cast her as some saint?
I'm still deciding on the devil.
Come on,
ain't got time to waste.
Train leaves in five minutes.
Train?
New York.
Mary, my first wife,
still got folks in the city.
I sent them a telegram.
They said
you could stay with them
till you get back on your feet.
- I'm not going to New York.
- Yes, you are.
Putting you on that train.
You're putting this behind you.
I won't be a fugitive
from the law.
No one will come after you.
Can disappear.
That'll be that.
You can start fresh.
The only life I have is here.
Yeah, I thought that once
in Mississippi.
Train ride changed all that.
I intend to stay and accept
the consequences for what I've done.
You'll stay, and you'll die.
For what... teach everybody some
lesson about right and wrong?
It's not your responsibility
to save me, Mr. Bohannon.
You're getting on that train.
- I've made my decision.
- Yeah?
Well, I just unmade it.
What? No, no.
Let me go.
- Come on, you're leaving.
- No.
No!
I was ready to leave!
After Sean died,
I was ready to go back to
Omaha with Ezra.
You asked me to stay.
And I stayed for you.
This time, I stay for me.
Bohannon!
Bohannon.
Delaney is quite capable
of putting the final pieces
in place if you need to
be somewhere else.
I'm right where I need to be.
Son of a bitch.
When we lost my only son
to cholera,
I was away working.
Do you know where I was
and what I was doing?
No.
Neither do I.
There ain't nothing
I can do for Ruth.
The thing to do is be with her.
Church lady's not gonna hang.
The casino you can keep.
But if you think you can prevent
me from enforcing the law
through intimidation, you
haven't been paying attention.
If Ruth Cole sees
an early grave...
you best be digging too.
She refused my pardon offer.
There's nothing else I can do.
You'll find a way.
I'm sure of it.
Step aside.
Why don't you go
get a drink, Dutch?
I couldn't sleep.
Me neither.
Would you do anything
different...
if you could go back?
I would be a better husband...
better father.
I would be more patient
with Ezra.
They don't get
more patient than you.
Boy didn't make it
easy on you...
Setting fires...
Rustling horses...
Kicking frogs.
What I would give
for a church full of frogs.
I'd let the both of you
go to Omaha.
I don't blame you.
I would kill Sidney Snow.
So would I.
After the war...
I found myself
walking the streets of D.C.
What were you doing in D.C.?
There was this crowd
outside a federal building...
political rally, I thought.
Some senator speaking
on national unity.
Come to realize
it wasn't a rally.
It was a execution.
They march
this poor bastard out and...
read him his rights.
I swear, it felt
no different than...
you and me talking right now...
Civilized, even.
But his...
His neck didn't
snap right, and...
we spent...
ten minutes...
just watching him choke.
I know what you're doing.
Piss run down his leg at five minutes in.
The shit come at eight.
The worst part was
the popping sound his neck made.
It was... like a firecracker
on the fourth of July.
And there I am,
in the nation's capital,
watching this...
savage...
act.
They call it civilized.
There wasn't no civility to it.
You won't scare me out of this.
There ain't no worse
way to leave this world, Ruth.
Burning alive is worse.
I hated the sight of you...
when you came back to Cheyenne.
The three of you.
I got myself wound up
so tight that day.
I stormed out of the church
and trudged through
the mud and the rain.
And I saw your tent,
and I was ready to say it all.
But what you don't see
when the anger grabs
hold over you are puddles...
Giant ones in the street.
One wrong step, my feet slipped,
and I fell hard into the mud.
What I thought was mud,
but then I smelled it.
It was...
Well...
- horse...
- Shit?
It's not funny.
What'd you do?
What else could I do?
I walked back through town.
Covered in...
No walk has felt
so long in my life.
When I got back, Ezra was there.
You know what he said to me?
"You smell like shit."
Well...
What did you tell him?
I told him, "Don't say 'shit,"'
and went and washed myself off.
That was God...
answering my prayers.
He was telling me I already had
a family of my own...
Ezra and me.
Still, I don't know...
why it took you
so long to come see me.
I didn't want you to explain.
I just wanted to see you.
I never thought
you'd show up
at the church that night.
I'll always show up, Ruth.
Come on out here...
Just to the window.
Come look.
This town needs their preacher.
I'm nobody's preacher anymore.
The hammering stopped.
They finished.
Yeah.
It's almost dawn.
Yeah.
Do you love me?
Of course I do.
But do you love me?
I can't lose you, Ruth.
I love you.
I was a coward.
I should've told you how I felt.
I should've taken you
and made you mine.
The three of us
could've been a family.
Do you love her?
It's all right. You can say.
I don't know.
You always know.
Deep down.
I think I might.
Go to her.
Tell Naomi.
I don't know if she'd have me.
The brave choice
is always family.
Come on, get up.
Cullen.
Cullen.
Mr. Bohannon,
please step out of the cell.
Just...
Just give us a minute.
The law requires
the death warrant
be read aloud
the morning of the execution...
By the officer on duty.
You asked for this role,
Mr. Bohannon.
I didn't ask for this.
Badge on your chest
says different.
Miss Cole
will accept her pardon now.
Is that right, Miss Cole?
No, Mr. Campbell.
I won't be party to this.
Cullen.
Cullen!
Say you'll be there.
Please.
13 coils.
Hemp, from St. Louis...
It's the only kind I trust.
Your hair, ma'am.
It's the oil.
Sees the knot don't catch.
March you out
five minutes before,
exactly five minutes before.
There will be a crowd.
You don't got to worry.
I'll be there.
13 steps up to the platform
where I'll tie your hands
and your feet first.
Noose comes next.
The hood is last.
Will it hurt?
Daddy never hung nobody before
who come back
to have it done over.
You don't got to worry.
I'll be there.
There's $50 in an account
in the Cheyenne bank
and a pile of
clothes at the laundry.
See that they're donated to
the Council Bluffs Mission.
Wallace comes in
to talk on Tuesdays.
Someone should look in on him.
Tomorrow's Tuesday.
A pittance and some laundry.
You're forgetting
about a city full of people
who you've touched.
You have my word
they won't forget you.
You're writing an article
about me?
Don't.
It won't be
remembered, and neither will we.
It's time.
Is there anything... you need?
Anything at all?
Have you seen Mr. Bohannon?
I haven't.
- But I can find him.
- No.
Thank you.
And forgive those who
trespass against us...
Looser, please.
No, ma'am.
Wait!
Any last words?
All aboard!
Train to Council Bluffs
and all points east!
All aboard!
Final call!
We're ready to escort
Miss Cole's body
to the Council Bluffs Mission.
Buried her this morning.
She's with her son.
God hasn't given up
on this place yet!
This wasn't God's doing.
"The railroad may be America's dream,
"but what's left behind
in Governor Campbell's Cheyenne...
is a nightmare."
This is how you see Cheyenne?
I told you you
weren't going to like it.
I thought we shared a vision
for what this city could be.
The only vision that
I have is a...
poor girl swinging from a rope.
What befell
Miss Cole was a tragedy,
but printing this won't
bring her back.
The governor
controls a great many things.
The press is not one of them.
I'm not asking you as governor.
I've always been
a terrible dance partner.
By this time next week,
you'll be back covering
America's dream,
having authored
nothing substantial
but the end of a relationship.
This is
far more important, John.
In your nightmare...
I'm a monster?
Enjoy your ashes.
Everybody back out of the way!
The pressure's too high.
All right. All right.
All right,
y'all quit your yapping
and get back to work!
Heard the man! Back to work!
I'm afraid
the champagne and cigars
will have to wait until we've
taken the summit.
Send for 300 workers
from Omaha to lay track
and two trainloads of lumber
from Chicago.
And...
throw up a wire
to General Grant.
Tell him we'll summit
before month's end.
Well, what is it, Bohannon?
I quit.
the searcher of all hearts,
that the evidence
you give shall be the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth,
as you shall answer to god
on the last great day?
In the matter of the United States
versus Ruth Cole,
the defendant stands
accused of unlawfully, feloniously,
and of malice aforethought
shooting into Sidney Snow
two mortal
wounds of which he died,
contrary to the law, peace,
and dignity
of the Wyoming territory.
Having heard these charges,
what say you?
Guilty.
Miss Cole...
In my hand,
a written statement
by head of railroad police,
Cullen Bohannon.
He says you aided and protected
an officer of the law
from an armed felon.
This would not
only prove you innocent,
but mean you saved a life,
if not several.
Now, this court
asks a second time.
What say you?
I say I am gum!!-
Ruth, don't do this.
- Ruth.
- Order, sir.
Miss Cole, it is unclear to me
whether you're of fit mind
to defend yourself.
L'ma move for a continuance
to afford Miss Cole time
to acquire proper counsel.
I murdered that man, Governor.
Not out of fear
nor aiding the law,
but for no purpose other than
to end the man's life
who took my son's.
I am guilty. I have pled so.
You, Ruth Elizabeth Cole,
are guilty of murder
and shall be hanged by the neck
until you are dead tomorrow.
May god have mercy on your soul.
Have the gallows constructed
in the town square.
A public execution?
Transparency, Judge.
Followed by a strict adherence
to the law.
A death warrant
should be drawn up.
Do it.
No mistakes.
You got nothing to gain by this.
I gave Miss Cole every
opportunity to acquit herself.
Her refusal to do so means that
justice must be served.
Hanging a grieving mother,
that don't serve nobody.
Neither does allowing a
confessed murderer to walk free.
No one is above the law,
not even a church lady.
Then pardon her.
You got that power as governor.
I do.
But a pardon must be
affirmatively accepted
by the guilty party to be recognized
by the courts.
And the woman in that courtroom
did not appear interested
in clemency.
I get her to accept
a pardon, you'll sign it?
With pleasure.
The law requires the noose
go on tomorrow.
All right,
keep your guilty plea.
Take your stand.
Then you'll accept a pardon
from the governor.
The governor hasn't pardoned me.
He'll give you one.
He told me so hisself.
I never asked for that.
"Hanged by the neck until dead."
Did you hear him in there?
Pardons are for cowards
like Sidney Snow.
Taking a pardon...
that ain't a coward's choice.
Dying is.
Either way, the choice is mine.
And my choice is no.
My father was a judge.
After a bad ruling...
well, he'd sneak out
and take my mother dancing.
Do you waltz?
I haven't come to dance, John.
Come on.
It's simple.
A waltz requires a man to lead.
I've never excelled
in that arena.
I've come for comment
on the kangaroo court
you authorized on your arrival
and your acquisition
of McGinnes' casino thereafter.
Ancient history, Miss Ellison.
I prefer to call it context.
This is the story I won't like?
It starts and ends with
a federally approved hanging.
I extended Miss Cole the pardon.
And if she should refuse,
that would be her decision.
Mr. Snow's appointment
to marshal...
I suppose that
was her decision as well
and his subsequent burning
of her church.
We are all complicit, John.
Men with power
and money are guilty,
while a woman with no currency
except her own convictions
is set to hang.
Burn this city down...
you'll have no friends left
but the ashes.
Exactly as much as Ruth Cole.
You'll cast her as some saint?
I'm still deciding on the devil.
Come on,
ain't got time to waste.
Train leaves in five minutes.
Train?
New York.
Mary, my first wife,
still got folks in the city.
I sent them a telegram.
They said
you could stay with them
till you get back on your feet.
- I'm not going to New York.
- Yes, you are.
Putting you on that train.
You're putting this behind you.
I won't be a fugitive
from the law.
No one will come after you.
Can disappear.
That'll be that.
You can start fresh.
The only life I have is here.
Yeah, I thought that once
in Mississippi.
Train ride changed all that.
I intend to stay and accept
the consequences for what I've done.
You'll stay, and you'll die.
For what... teach everybody some
lesson about right and wrong?
It's not your responsibility
to save me, Mr. Bohannon.
You're getting on that train.
- I've made my decision.
- Yeah?
Well, I just unmade it.
What? No, no.
Let me go.
- Come on, you're leaving.
- No.
No!
I was ready to leave!
After Sean died,
I was ready to go back to
Omaha with Ezra.
You asked me to stay.
And I stayed for you.
This time, I stay for me.
Bohannon!
Bohannon.
Delaney is quite capable
of putting the final pieces
in place if you need to
be somewhere else.
I'm right where I need to be.
Son of a bitch.
When we lost my only son
to cholera,
I was away working.
Do you know where I was
and what I was doing?
No.
Neither do I.
There ain't nothing
I can do for Ruth.
The thing to do is be with her.
Church lady's not gonna hang.
The casino you can keep.
But if you think you can prevent
me from enforcing the law
through intimidation, you
haven't been paying attention.
If Ruth Cole sees
an early grave...
you best be digging too.
She refused my pardon offer.
There's nothing else I can do.
You'll find a way.
I'm sure of it.
Step aside.
Why don't you go
get a drink, Dutch?
I couldn't sleep.
Me neither.
Would you do anything
different...
if you could go back?
I would be a better husband...
better father.
I would be more patient
with Ezra.
They don't get
more patient than you.
Boy didn't make it
easy on you...
Setting fires...
Rustling horses...
Kicking frogs.
What I would give
for a church full of frogs.
I'd let the both of you
go to Omaha.
I don't blame you.
I would kill Sidney Snow.
So would I.
After the war...
I found myself
walking the streets of D.C.
What were you doing in D.C.?
There was this crowd
outside a federal building...
political rally, I thought.
Some senator speaking
on national unity.
Come to realize
it wasn't a rally.
It was a execution.
They march
this poor bastard out and...
read him his rights.
I swear, it felt
no different than...
you and me talking right now...
Civilized, even.
But his...
His neck didn't
snap right, and...
we spent...
ten minutes...
just watching him choke.
I know what you're doing.
Piss run down his leg at five minutes in.
The shit come at eight.
The worst part was
the popping sound his neck made.
It was... like a firecracker
on the fourth of July.
And there I am,
in the nation's capital,
watching this...
savage...
act.
They call it civilized.
There wasn't no civility to it.
You won't scare me out of this.
There ain't no worse
way to leave this world, Ruth.
Burning alive is worse.
I hated the sight of you...
when you came back to Cheyenne.
The three of you.
I got myself wound up
so tight that day.
I stormed out of the church
and trudged through
the mud and the rain.
And I saw your tent,
and I was ready to say it all.
But what you don't see
when the anger grabs
hold over you are puddles...
Giant ones in the street.
One wrong step, my feet slipped,
and I fell hard into the mud.
What I thought was mud,
but then I smelled it.
It was...
Well...
- horse...
- Shit?
It's not funny.
What'd you do?
What else could I do?
I walked back through town.
Covered in...
No walk has felt
so long in my life.
When I got back, Ezra was there.
You know what he said to me?
"You smell like shit."
Well...
What did you tell him?
I told him, "Don't say 'shit,"'
and went and washed myself off.
That was God...
answering my prayers.
He was telling me I already had
a family of my own...
Ezra and me.
Still, I don't know...
why it took you
so long to come see me.
I didn't want you to explain.
I just wanted to see you.
I never thought
you'd show up
at the church that night.
I'll always show up, Ruth.
Come on out here...
Just to the window.
Come look.
This town needs their preacher.
I'm nobody's preacher anymore.
The hammering stopped.
They finished.
Yeah.
It's almost dawn.
Yeah.
Do you love me?
Of course I do.
But do you love me?
I can't lose you, Ruth.
I love you.
I was a coward.
I should've told you how I felt.
I should've taken you
and made you mine.
The three of us
could've been a family.
Do you love her?
It's all right. You can say.
I don't know.
You always know.
Deep down.
I think I might.
Go to her.
Tell Naomi.
I don't know if she'd have me.
The brave choice
is always family.
Come on, get up.
Cullen.
Cullen.
Mr. Bohannon,
please step out of the cell.
Just...
Just give us a minute.
The law requires
the death warrant
be read aloud
the morning of the execution...
By the officer on duty.
You asked for this role,
Mr. Bohannon.
I didn't ask for this.
Badge on your chest
says different.
Miss Cole
will accept her pardon now.
Is that right, Miss Cole?
No, Mr. Campbell.
I won't be party to this.
Cullen.
Cullen!
Say you'll be there.
Please.
13 coils.
Hemp, from St. Louis...
It's the only kind I trust.
Your hair, ma'am.
It's the oil.
Sees the knot don't catch.
March you out
five minutes before,
exactly five minutes before.
There will be a crowd.
You don't got to worry.
I'll be there.
13 steps up to the platform
where I'll tie your hands
and your feet first.
Noose comes next.
The hood is last.
Will it hurt?
Daddy never hung nobody before
who come back
to have it done over.
You don't got to worry.
I'll be there.
There's $50 in an account
in the Cheyenne bank
and a pile of
clothes at the laundry.
See that they're donated to
the Council Bluffs Mission.
Wallace comes in
to talk on Tuesdays.
Someone should look in on him.
Tomorrow's Tuesday.
A pittance and some laundry.
You're forgetting
about a city full of people
who you've touched.
You have my word
they won't forget you.
You're writing an article
about me?
Don't.
It won't be
remembered, and neither will we.
It's time.
Is there anything... you need?
Anything at all?
Have you seen Mr. Bohannon?
I haven't.
- But I can find him.
- No.
Thank you.
And forgive those who
trespass against us...
Looser, please.
No, ma'am.
Wait!
Any last words?
All aboard!
Train to Council Bluffs
and all points east!
All aboard!
Final call!
We're ready to escort
Miss Cole's body
to the Council Bluffs Mission.
Buried her this morning.
She's with her son.
God hasn't given up
on this place yet!
This wasn't God's doing.
"The railroad may be America's dream,
"but what's left behind
in Governor Campbell's Cheyenne...
is a nightmare."
This is how you see Cheyenne?
I told you you
weren't going to like it.
I thought we shared a vision
for what this city could be.
The only vision that
I have is a...
poor girl swinging from a rope.
What befell
Miss Cole was a tragedy,
but printing this won't
bring her back.
The governor
controls a great many things.
The press is not one of them.
I'm not asking you as governor.
I've always been
a terrible dance partner.
By this time next week,
you'll be back covering
America's dream,
having authored
nothing substantial
but the end of a relationship.
This is
far more important, John.
In your nightmare...
I'm a monster?
Enjoy your ashes.
Everybody back out of the way!
The pressure's too high.
All right. All right.
All right,
y'all quit your yapping
and get back to work!
Heard the man! Back to work!
I'm afraid
the champagne and cigars
will have to wait until we've
taken the summit.
Send for 300 workers
from Omaha to lay track
and two trainloads of lumber
from Chicago.
And...
throw up a wire
to General Grant.
Tell him we'll summit
before month's end.
Well, what is it, Bohannon?
I quit.