Before Star Trek, Anson Mount Starred In A Western Series Streaming For Free

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has brought fans many things, including what just might be the greatest iteration of doomed "Star Trek" captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount).  The show's willingness to indulge in whimsy and have fun with things like the meme about Captain Pike's voluminous hair has not gone unnoticed by fans, and the role has raised Mount's small screen star to unprecedented heights. That's not to say the actor was a newcomer when he took the part, though. On the contrary, Mount is a veteran of many movies and TV shows, which certainly doesn't hurt the nuance he brings to the table as Pike.

In fact, there's a pretty major Anson Mount Western series ardent "Star Trek" fans need to watch to fully understand where he's coming from, but they may not have known that it exists until now. Said show is called "Hell on Wheels," and it features Mount as a Confederate military man who starts a new (but no less dangerous) life building America's early railroad system. If that premise — or simply a chance to binge more Mount shows between seasons of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" — sounds like your jam, it's your lucky day. "Hell on Wheels" is currently streaming in its five-season entirety on Tubi, so you can watch the whole thing for free.

Mount gives a capable performance as Cullen Bohannon, a man who's out to hunt down his family's murderers only to find a new purpose as a foreman for the "Hell on Wheels" group building the First Transcontinental Railroad. However, he's not the only attraction here. The show — which was created by Joe and Tony Gayton for AMC — has a stacked cast that, as it happens, reads like a who's who of actors who have made their mark on various genre shows and movies. 

Apart from Bohannon, the show's most prominent character is rising railroad mogul Doc Durant, who's played by none other than Colm Meaney of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" fame. If watching tense dialogue between Christopher Pike and Miles O'Brien in a Western series isn't enough to impress the viewer, "Hell on Wheels" also features Dominique McElligott (who plays Queen Maeve on Prime Video's "The Boys") as wannabe railroad worker Lily Bell. In addition, the show's ensemble includes Common ("Silo"), Tom Noonan ("RoboCop 2," Syfy's "12 Monkeys" show), Eddie Spears ("Z Nation"), Christopher Heyerdahl ("Peacemaker," "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters"), and many others. 

With a cast like this and the simple fact that "Hell on Wheels" is an enjoyable show that focuses on an aspect of Old West history that's relatively under-represented in fiction, it's definitely a series that should make its way on more viewing lists than it already has. Now that it's available for free, perhaps it will get that attention.  

"Hell on Wheels" is available for viewing on Tubi.