05x03 - White Justice

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: Previously on AMC's Hell on Wheels.

(Horse neigh)

Strobridge: It's gonna take a magician to get her up there, Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan: Any damn one of y'all understand a word I'm saying?

Cullen Bohannan: Hey! Need him.

Strobridge: What for?

Cullen Bohannan: Translator.

Strobridge: Hell.

Cullen Bohannan: Brake that sled!

(Wood break)

(Horse neigh)

(Yell)

Fong/Mei: My house, gone.

Family, all gone.

Cullen Bohannan: I'm just gonna redo these dressings.

Fong/Mei: Please, don't say about this, they k*ll me.

Cullen Bohannan: Your son saved my life today.

(Woman screaming)

(Overlapping yelling in cantonese)

(g*ns f*ring)

(Horse whinnying)

(Glass shattering)

(Yelling continues)

(Glass shatters)

(g*ns f*ring)

(Screams)

(Indistinct yelling)

James: John! John, straight!

Man: Move it along.

John. John, straight.

Move it.

(Indistinct chatter in Cantonese)

(Conversing in Cantonese)

(Theme music playing)

(Speaking cantonese)

James: Let's go now! (Speaks Cantonese)

Cullen: Let's go!

Time and tide wait for no man.

(Indistinct chatter in Cantonese)

Ready for work.

Sick list.

Keep loading 'em.

Fong good. No sick.

All better.

Sick list.

James: Keep it moving.

(Yells in cantonese)

Tao: Boss man.

Let's go, Tao. Get on that train.

The Swede: Ah, Mr. Bohannon.

I'm obliged for the hard service you have laid down for me.

It is what I expect, what is ordained from on high that you should put suffering in my path.

Hmm. Best get to shoveling then.

I was right to put you down in that well, just as now it is right that you set me to shoveling snow, far away, in the wilderness, where my brethren freeze and starve.

We pay you enough to keep 'em fed.

It is what I have said, that to be tested by you is the making of my soul.

You are God's instrument.

I come to remind you, is all.

You remember, got you in my line of sight.

Mr. Jake.

Mr. Gundersen.

Yeah. Please, sir?

I hope nothing is wrong with your order.

No, no.

One box of rice, as requested.

(Shakes coins)

Our agreed-upon sum.

Sir, very good.

Very good indeed.

Hmm.

In fact, I would like to treble the order.

Three times the order?

Three crates instead of one?

Yes.

In that case...

Is there a problem?

No, no. No.

(Chuckles)

But you have purchased so much from me by now.

Allow me to ask, what is the purpose for so much rice?

Oh, well, I do not see where that is your concern, Mr. Chang.

Only that, if someone were to become aware of the business we do together, if there was any trouble...

That will not happen.

But if you wish, I'm sure I can acquire another source of supply in the future.

I will do so. Good day, Mr. Chang.

It's not necessary, Mr. Gundersen.

Perhaps, it was just my curiosity.

Three crates, the 10th of next month.

Although I must ask for another $20 per crate, due to costs and risks.

$10.

(Laughs)

$10.

(Clicks tongue)

(Cracks reins)

Tao: All is ready.

Cullen: All right. Matches.

Tao.

Say your piece.

You forbid Mei to work.

No women on the railroad, plain and simple.

The men will ask questions.

I'll keep a tight lip, but that's as far as I go with this.

Now light the damn fuse.

She does good work. She works like a man.

Nope.

She is better than two men...

No, I said.

If Mei does not work, the men wonder why.

Not safe for her.

You let her work or I take her away from here.

(Scoffs)

And go where?

We have left everything behind already.

Much more than this.

Jenkins: Bohannon! What's the hold-up?

Calm the hell down.

sh*t. (SIGHS)

I need you on the railroad.

One week sick list, no more.

Or we both go.

(Sighs)

(Lights match)

Cullen: Take us up.

(Indistinct chatter in Cantonese)

Spectacular! Three inches before lunch.

(Chuckles)

That is what I call an improvement.

We'll be makin' four foot a week.

If it holds up. (SIGHS)

Oh, Mr. Bohannon, you are like Hercules, triumphant after his seven labors.

I believe in this colossus of yours.

If you blow any more smoke up his ass, you're liable to start a fire, Mr Huntington.

The Minotaur speaks. The sour, disputatious back-looking voice of a beast locked away in a labyrinth of the past.

The word is progress, Mr. Strobridge.

That steam engine machine is also gonna save me $5 a day.

Times three.

The men that turned that wheel, Colossus, put 'em out of work.

Cullen: Plenty work to go around.

Reassign them to the tunnel.

Uh-uh. Making me money with one hand and taking it back with the other doesn't win a race.

Neither does a short-handed crew. Mr. Strobridge.

Jake's work, Jake's wages.

That's a dollar a day. These men are seeing five now.

Either that or fire them. I'm getting cold, gentlemen.

He ain't wrong on the numbers.

If you think like a boss.

That's the difference, then, ain't it?

All right.

Wait.

They're my guys.

James: What I done, boys, is set you up nicer than an umbrella salesman in a hurricane.

You and your crew stay out of the sun.

You don't lift a finger but to point John Chinaman toward a pile of rock.

I'm paying you to babysit, is what I'm doing.

Paying us a dollar a day?

That's what the hole pays.

Pete: What it pays John Chinaman.

Matt: We got families to feed, Stro.

How can we do that on a dollar a day?

I promise you, I will get you out of that hole as soon as I can.

One tin g*dd*mn dollar?

James: Is better than eating leather, ain't it?

Pete: But it ain't enough to live on.

Not to live like a white man, anyway.

Matt: We gave you sweat and blood, and you cut us to nothin' and send us back down that sh*thole of a tunnel.

I worked that tunnel myself.

Oh.

Says the stake-holder.

Well, pay us in stock, we'll go down whatever hole you want.

You don't want to work, pack your gear.

You got it wrong...

Cullen: That's enough.

You told these men what we got for 'em.

They don't want it, train leaves in the morning for Sacramento.

(Mumbles)

Oh!

You wanted to see me?

Yeah. Hmm.

Is something wrong?

I believe not. It is only that, there are some figures here I cannot seem to reconcile.

You are the accountant.

And yet there is something, uh, perhaps I'm not looking at it correctly, or there's an error I've made. If you would just have a look?

(Sighs)

You see these entries, under receivables?

These here?

Yeah, precisely.

Now, if you set aside the interest and carry these figures over...

Brother Gundersen, I'm sure it's fine.

But it is not fine!

I am thinking it is a discrepancy in how the sums were entered but if not...

(Gasping) Well then, you see, perhaps something is wrong on the other end.

There would seem to be a shortfall, going back several months.

In the funds we receive?

In, uh, Salt Lake City.

Are we being cheated?

I can only think it is my mistake.

Forgive me for even mentioning it, Brother.

It is your job to mention it.

I said it before, I'll say it again, race comes down to one thing, water.

We dispatch a crew to Reno today, have them start digging wells, we'll have all the water we need to survive the Nevada desert.

And Bohannon signed off on this?

I need Bohannon's signature now?

It... It doesn't impugn us. I thought Bohannon's pn for water was sound.

I know three good men hauled rock for me since Sacramento, they can lead a crew.

Three good men?

Them plus some Jakes, yeah.

Next time you want a favor, spare me the song and dance, Mr. Strobridge.

(Bangs table) They're capable.

They are dead weight. Expensive dead weight, at a time when I need all of my resources focused on breaking through that tunnel.

And Jim, Charlie Crocker found you five years ago.

You were digging ditches in San Jose for pennies a day, and you make $125 a month as construction manager for the greatest enterprise in the history of America.

All I'm saying is, $15 a day means a whole lot more to those men than it does to this enterprise.

Back in Sacramento, during the rush of '49, every jackanape with a dollar and a dream wanted to turn up his fortune in gold.

Now, the thing about gold is, it's buried in the ground.

If you wanna get it out, you gotta dig it up.

In order to dig it up, you need one thing.

At that time, a shovel cost $15.

A plot of land, $75.

I had $90 to my name, exactly $90.

Just enough to buy a plot of land and a shovel.

Or enough to buy six shovels.

The first six sold by Huntington Hardware Incorporated.

And Jim, uh, you can be a man with a shovel in your hand or you can be the man that sells the shovel to the man with a shovel in his hand.

That'll be $15, Mr. Strobridge, if you're interested.

Matt Keane, Pete Jones, Dan Cates. They're good men.

They're good men with families.

Good men with families get fired every day.

Don't be one of 'em.

Good day, Mr. Strobridge.

Yeah.

(Indistinct chatter in cantonese)

"By three methods we may learn wisdom. First, by reflection, second, by imitation..."

"And third, by experience."

"Which is the bitterest."

Hmm.

Wisdom gained through experience is the reason young men must respect their elders.

You are right, Ah-Tao, forgive me.

Lili! (Speaks Cantonese)

Lili is one of our most experienced girls.

Imagine the wisdom she could provide.

A free night for you, out of respect.

(Speaks cantonese)

(Door closes)

Now I told you not to fool with that. Give me here.

(Sighs)

Run along, go wash up for dinner, Janie.

I just didn't want her to prick her finger, is all.

Listen.

(Sighing)

(Hanna chuckles)

Whatever it is, you'll find a way through.

You always do, James.

Mr. Bohannon.

Aren't you going to ask your boss to sit down?

Hanna: Perhaps I'll fix you two some dinner, it's nearly time.

I was gonna take Jim away from here, get us a drink.

(James sighs)

I'm used to you running your mouth.

You might not like what I gotta say.

(Sighs) Damn it.

You cut me down today with my men.

Clean gelded me.

Implies you had a pair to begin with.

I had it under control.

Hell you did.

It was moving in the right direction.

(Clinks glass)

Hell it was.

Ask nice, Johnny Reb.

I ain't asking.

Tread light, son.

You got this?

(Scoffs)

(Indistinct chatter in cantonese)

(Mic playing)

They're takin' money from our pockets, food from our bellies and roofs from over our heads.

They come over here and do they even bother to learn our language? No.

Do they live like normal people should? No.

They don't contribute a g*dd*mn thing.

They just take.

They can afford to work for nothing, sure, when they're willing to eat rats and worms.

Listen to me now, boys.

I have no love for the Chinaman, but they work hard.

We've all seen it. You only gotta show 'em a thing but once, and they do it as good as any white man.

They keep to themselves and they don't complain.

Belly-achin' ain't gonna send the yellow man back to China.

Them slant eyes need to be taught a lesson's what they need.

That's enough.

I gave you a chance. I said I'd look out for you.

It's more than I gave any one of them Jakes.

Now I'm goin' home to my family.

I think you should turn in, too.

Think about this fresh tomorrow.

Pete: We ain't working for you no more, Stro.

You don't tell us what to do.

No, no, no, boys. He's right.

There's no good we can do.

We'll finish up our drinks and then...

I wanna talk about this once and put it behind for good. All right?

(Mei sighs)

If I no work...

You're in danger. I get it.

When rebel burn our village, Taiping w*r, they take all women.

Rebel leader, he choose me for... For his bride.

Rebel leader, he Sze Yup Company now.

Many workers here Sze Yup Company.

Chang, is he Sze Yup?

Chang work for rebel leader in San Francisco.

(Sighs)

If Sze Yup find me, make me Daughter of Sun and Moon.

(Sighs)

I belong to them.

That's why I hide.

This is America. Ain't nobody belongs to nobody.

We fought a w*r over it.

(Scoffs)

But we still Chinese.

(Sighs)

Tomorrow morning.

Eight o'clock sharp.

I need all the good men I can get.

Fong included.

(Sighs)

(Chuckles)

Chen: Welcome. Can I help you gentlemen?

Matt: Yeah, we want what you got, China Jake.

Chen: Oh, you like fine ladies? You want honey girls?

Matt: "Fine ladies"? (Scoffs)

Pete: "Fine ladies..."

Matt: Filthy whores, is more like it.

(All chattering)

Is this Chang's place?

What kind of a slut shop is this anyway?

(Overlapping chatter)

Gentlemen. Gentlemen.

Is there a problem? Surely we have something to soothe you.

(Chuckles mockingly)

We got a fancy one here, boys.

This yellow monkey's speakin' the king's English.

Perhaps one of our pleasure-ladies?

I wouldn't put my finger in 'em.

A pipe of dreams, then? There will be no charge.

No, we don't want your charity.

Hmm. Then there is no way we can help you.

Sorry to say.

Go ahead then. Throw us out.

See how that goes for you, Jake.

My name is Chang.

Hey!

(Grunts)

(Screams)

Now march, Jake.

Chop, chop. You think you're better than us?

Yeah, he does, you know. We'll show him who's better.

Move!

(Screaming)

(Woman screaming)

(Men chuckling)

Where's them fancy English words now, Chinaman?

Get them ropes.

(Indistinct chatter in cantonese)

Do it!

That'll do.

What's that you're sayin'?

I said it would be best for you to k*ll me. Now that you've begun.

(Grunts)

Pray you do not live long enough to change places with him.

(Laughs)

Get back to your tents! Go on, get back!

Go on, get out of it!

Pull him up!

(Grunting)

Come on.

(Pete laughs)

Come on, let's go. Move.

Trouble! Chang!

(Gasping)

(Speaks cantonese)

(Grunts)

(Gasping)

(Coughing)

(Panting)

(Playing harmonica)

Oh, I was right, then.

You have found some grievous error of mine.

I found an error, all right.

Mmm.

But it wasn't yours.

Salt Lake City?

My father.

No. No, it can't be.

My father, The Lion of the Lord, Brother Brigham... (The Swede exclaims) the Prophet, the deliverer of his people, a liar, a thief, a cheat.

Boy, you must not utter such blasphemy.

He has cheated me since the moment that we got here!

Is that not what those books of yours say?

Uh, I... Is it or isn't it?

Yes.

But I'm sure there is a viable explanation.

Damn you, man.

I want justice.

(Coughing)

It's not easy to know what that means.

And frankly, Mr. Chang, I... I'm not sure what's possible.

What's possible?

(Chang coughing)

A 20-year-old Chinaman gets on a boat in Guangdong, China.

He sets sail with a Sze Yup Company flyer and a ticket for passage.

He arrives in San Francisco, where a team of men herd him and a hundred others into freight cars that transport them to Cisco.

In Cisco, another team loads the men into wagons.

Then three days later, after traversing the Sierra Summit, they deliver those Chinamen to the railroad.

Now neither you, you or you has the capability to reproduce that impossible feat once, let alone 15,000 times.

So when I ask for justice, I mean justice.

The kind reserved for civilized men, free from the danger of a rope.

Well, Mr. Chang, I'll tell you.

Now, what justice means in America is, we have a trial.

You want justice, that's it.

Collis: We don't go hanging people in this country without a trial.

What we are, as you have pointed out, a civilized nation after all.

A trial, then.

(Door closes)

He's no ordinary Chinaman. He's our one and only provider of Chinese workers.

And we must be perceived to do right by him.

I count on you two to keep control of these things.

I mean, need I remind you, there's 12,000 Chinese sleeping, not 100 yards from here.

Well, if they see us walking a man after they strung up one of their own?

A judge and jury's never gonna convict those men.

We promised him a trial.

You need to telegram Stanford.

My son-of-a-bitch partner?

I'd rather feed my scrotum to a grinder monkey.

He's a lawyer. He can serve as a judge. Impanel a jury.

God damn it, you're right. (Sighs)

You come with me.

Where are we goin'?

To arrest them men.

Arrest them?

It's for their own good.

They ain't safe walkin' around.

Whose side are you on, anyway?

(Cullen grunts)

(Spits)

You get that outta your system?

(Sighs)

Same side as you. The railroad's.

Now let's go.

Stand up. You're under arrest.

Arrest? For what?

m*rder. Stand up.

Stro, come on.

Stand up.

Matt: They were Chinamen.

James: Yeah.

The wrong Chinamen.

Up.

(Groaning)

When you read this, Father, you'll say, "Phineas is whining and complaining again."

You'll say that you should have sent one of my brothers.

You've never trusted me and now you have set me an impossible task, in wild and miserable country, and have cheated me of the money I need to succeed.

You've made sure that I'd fail, always.

But this time, I have the proof.

Stop, stop.

You must not do this. You must not.

To address the Lord's servant in this way, His sainted presence on earth...

By "whom," you mean my cruel, unjust father?

Please, Brother.

Who has ignored me my whole life?

Who has undermined my every effort?

Control yourself.

For your own good.

Let me have that, and go.

One of my brothers.

You don't understand.

Shh.

Have you asked yourself what... What will be the consequence of...

Of this letter?

I have...

You have said what is in your heart, and what is true.

But truth... Truth does not always serve us.

When it is...

When it is so naked and hot, it will not allow us to...

To enact God's will.

You must learn this.

Then you must teach me, Brother.

You must tell me what to do.

Uh, now that we have the evidence...

But no.

No, you will see for yourself, when anger no longer clouds your eyes.

No.

You must show me.

I have no one to trust but you.

All right, my son.

All right.

(James speaking cantonese)

Spoken like a native.

Native of Vermont. Come on!

All right.

All right what?

All right, the railroad comes first.

It's all we got. You and me.

Actually, boss, I have a wife.

Five sons, a daughter, two dogs, eight hens, a couple of cats, and a canary.

I liked you better quiet.

Fong ready for work.

Get to it then.

Mmm.

Mr. Bohannon, from Stanford.

All right.

I'll talk to him.

There won't be a trial. That'd be a waste of time.

And they wouldn't be convicted, 'cause the only witnesses is you and Tao.

And Chinamen ain't allowed to testify against white men under California law.

So this is America.

(Abacus bead clacking)

It may be the law, Mr. Bohannon, but it is not justice.

No, it ain't.

Them men will leave Truckee, and you're gonna let 'em.

Do we understand each another?

I think we understand each other very well.