Mini-series - 6 episodes
Watch American Primeval on Netflix
Created by: Mark L. Smith
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Jai Courtney, Kim Coates, Shea Whigham, Preston Mota
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
Religion and culture violently clash for control of the new world, fighting to gain control of the American West.
Verdict
While it's a brutal and unforgiving tale of the West, it's an engrossing collection of characters living in Utah. There are bounty hunters, the military, religious leaders, traders, Native Americans, and plenty of killers. Every episode reinforces how difficult it is to survive. If the terrain and weather don't get you, animals or people will. With so many concurrent story lines, it helps cover how some plot points can be predictable. The season centers on an attack against settlers. The question is who did it, and that's thread the extends through the season. This does end well, with the conclusion fitting this story.
Watch It.
Review
This is from the same writer as The Revenant, with a similar setting and theme.
From the very beginning we see the unruliness and lawlessness of the west. Sara (Betty Gilpin) is traveling west with her son Devin (Preston Mota) to meet her husband. She's annoyed at the delays but finally makes it to Fort Bridger where her guide has already left due to her tardiness. While Sara was already uneasy at the shady characters at the fort, when she sees a man killed just a few paces away from her, she knows she has to leave this fort and continue her journey. Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) is recommended, but refuses to accompany her. Sara finally gets a ride with Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan).
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| Betty Gilpin, Taylor Kitsch play Sara, Isaac Reed |
Sara, Jacob, and the rest of the group make camp where they're soon attacked. This is the bloody and violent west. This attack is based on the real-life Mountain Meadows Massacre. This attack is the catalyst for the season. The military search for the attackers, Sara and Devin manages to escape while still seeking passage west, Jacob though injured searches for his wife, and the Mormons led by Brigham Young (Kim Coates) seek their promised land. With so many characters and arcs, this is never boring.
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| Fort Bridger |
Reed just happened to be hunting nearby when the attack occurred which is very convenient for Sara and the plot. Reed didn't want to be involved, but he's in the middle of it now. Sara gets Reed almost killed numerous times, and that can be frustrating. We get initially she doesn't trust him, but at a certain point she has no choice and apparently everyone but her realizes that if you want to survive in the wild he's the guy. Bounty hunters are chasing Sara down which means they never get a chance to rest the entire story arc. Reed tried to avoid getting involved, but he's gone great lengths at this point. Why is he doing this? I guessed he'd have some big redemption arc at the end, and I was close.
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| Taylor Kitsch plays Isaac Reed |
Characters in these settings often talk about how savage Native Americans are, but here the most savage people we've seen are white people, none more than Young's LDS church. While Young puts on a congenial facade, he's behind a scheme to take the land he claims is promised to them by force if necessary.
I was hoping this show would portray how difficult it is to survive in the wild. This world is brutal, braving the elements and people. This is rough around the edges, notably Sara creating so much trouble. Also, a lot of shot framing is at a slight angle which can be distracting, as well as the de-saturated color palette.
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| Betty Gilpin plays Sara |
We know early who attacked the camp, and part of the plot is those responsible trying to track down any witnesses. Everyone is out to get everyone else. Towards the end, it doesn't look like anyone will make it out of this. It gets increasingly graphic as characters encounter injuries and hurdles. Jacob searches for his wife and ends up with a group of people that know more about the initial attack than they're willing to say. Jacob discovers this, stuck with murderers but outnumbered and thus unable to confront them.
This provides a view into the origins of Utah, and that involved a lot of death. Being a mini-series this ends well. You figure this will end with a lot of death, and it doesn't disappoint in that regard. The final sequence is a poignant Brigham Young sermon to his flock about the persecution they've faced, accusing everyone else of doing to him exactly what he's been doing through out the series
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