Psalms: He's the Boss Now

[Skyfall]

Tagline suggestions are welcomed!

[Ohwell]

I love him!  He seems wise and nice and I always preferred him over his brother Elam.  And physically, I would have been more attracted to him than Elam.   

[nodorothyparker]

I love that he has to keep introducing himself to Durant over and over again and always manages to let you know exactly what he thinks about that without saying anything.  And that he has has a pretty wicked sense of humor about all the foolishness around him.

[Sidney]

If I wanted someone to have my back, Psalms would be the man! I just love him.

[Skyfall]

I love him!  He seems wise and nice and I always preferred him over his brother Elam.  And physically, I would have been more attracted to him than Elam.   

"brother" or brother? I don't think they are related...

[Ohwell]

I think they're supposed to be half-brothers.  If I remember correctly, Elam's father is white and Psalms' is black?

[maryis1]

I think they're supposed to be half-brothers.  If I remember correctly, Elam's father is white and Psalms' is black?

Glad to see that others are enjoying this show! Yes, in one of the early episodes it showed Elam reading surrepticiously and explained his paternity as being the son of the white plantation owner. Psalms and he have the same mother, who was a slave.

 

I like how Psalms is getting a lot more air time as well and being able to show his own savvy. Most of the other episodes dealt with his difficult relationship with Elam because of the circumstances of their births.

Edited August 24, 2014 by maryis1

[susan vance]

I like Psalms a lot too, but I don't remember him and Elam being established as biological brothers. I feel like we would have seen more conversations about their shared history (along the lines of Mickey and Sean) were that the case. Over the course of the show they refer to each other as brothers, but I saw that as an acknowledgement of their close relationship in the present rather than a description of their shared past. It's been a while since I saw the first two seasons though, maybe I'm forgetting something?

[RealityGal]

I like Psalms a lot too, but I don't remember him and Elam being established as biological brothers. I feel like we would have seen more conversations about their shared history (along the lines of Mickey and Sean) were that the case. Over the course of the show they refer to each other as brothers, but I saw that as an acknowledgement of their close relationship in the present rather than a description of their shared past. It's been a while since I saw the first two seasons though, maybe I'm forgetting something?

I remember it the way you do.  I saw brother as more of a sign of affection, or they were really brothers in a world that only sees black and white.  He is one of my favorite characters.  His attitude alone makes him preferable to Elam.  I think Psalms character has probably seen some of the worst parts of humanity, but still manages to smile.

[Ohwell]

I don't know.  Now I'm confused because, initially, I thought that he and Elam were "brothers," as in fellow Freedmen, but not related.  But I could have sworn that later on Elam referenced his mother and him and Psalms having two different fathers, one black and one white, and I remembered being surprised.  Or maybe it was just a dream?   

[Ailianna]

I think I remember the conversation we're talking about, and I think it wasn't entirely clear.  They did discuss that a significant difference between them was that Elam's father was white (their owner) and Psalms' father was black, but I wasn't sure that they meant they had the same mother.  Just that they were in the positions they were in because of their respective fathers.

[Ohwell]

Ok, then that makes sense.  That's probably what I heard Elam say.  I went on the HoW website and in the write up on Psalms, he refers to Elam as a friend.

[maraleia]

I loved the way that Psalms schooled Cullen's wartime friend during tonight's episode. Psalms is so fabulous.

[Ohwell]

I swear, if anything happens to Psalms I don't think I could watch this show anymore.  I would miss him much more than Elam.

 

One thing I've always wondered about in westerns, is that they might show a few black men (or in the case of HoW, quite a few) but you never see any black women.  We did exist back then, lol, but where were they?  I say that because, since Psalms certainly couldn't be paired with a white woman during that time, I would love to see him have a love interest.  Find Psalms a nice black woman!

[Ailianna]

Just as, realistically, there were very few white women in the early American westward expansion, there were few black women outside of the prior slavery areas.  It wasn't safe to being women and children, of whatever color.  And the railroad workers aren't likely to be the kind of men who have first a family, and second, if they do, the resources to bring people who can't work on the railroad along and feed and shelter then while constantly moving.  We've seen how hard it is even on the prostutites--most men with families wouldn't want to subject them to those conditions.

[Ohwell]

I'm talking about, in general, I'd like for Psalms to have a nice black wife when the time is right for him to settle down.  That goes for all the (nice) guys on the railroad.  Obviously, at some point men did settle down and get married and have children, so there must have been some women somewhere.