In the episode, on the run for his crimes, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) robs trains with a group of ex-Confederate soldiers, while Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott) and Thomas Durant (Colm Meaney) continue the Union Pacific Railroad's westward progress.
Cullen insists they save their money to start a Confederate colony in Mexico, but Hawkins thinks the men should celebrate their victory and rob more trains.
The train robbers later drink at a trading post, where a pair of former Union soldiers provoke Cullen into a fight after their comments about Southerners.
The Swede offers to help restore order in the town, but Durant thinks he should continue his new jobs as undertaker and custodian, having been tarred and feathered by the citizens of Hell on Wheels when he was in charge of security.
Nell (April Telek) finds one of the prostitutes murdered in bed, and a crowd watches silently as the Swede loads the body onto his wagon.
Standing at the edge of a river, Lily tells Durant that the Sioux tribe considers the land on the other side sacred and her husband Robert wanted to avoid it.
Club's Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode a B− grade, which was "somewhat provisional, my way of splitting the difference between all the problems of last season and the potential I still think the show has.
"[3] TV Fanatic's Sean McKenna rated the episode with 4 out of 5 stars, saying, "Maybe it wasn't a jaw dropping premiere or switched things up in a wild way, but it was engaging nonetheless and started with plenty of promise, potential and pure Western fun.