American Primeval Review: Must-Watch Western Saga

Netflix’s limited series American Primeval is a must-watch Western saga that plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy in its depiction of westward expansion.

Its plots are grim, riddled with grit, blood, violence, and carnage, but they also have tendencies to play out in beautiful literary ways reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedies that, at times, take your breath away; other times, they enrage you, intrigue you, and even humble you. American Primeval is, hands down, a must-watch in its depiction of the ugly side of the American frontier.

Set in 1857 Utah, and based on events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, American Primeval follows fugitive mother Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin, of Mrs. Davis) and her young son Devin (Preston Mota, of Asteroid City) as they arrive at a trading post in search of a guide to safely navigate them across the Western frontier to a town called Crooks Springs, where her husband is. She meets and hires a man named Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch, of Friday Night Lights), who is everything opposite her. He’s rough, tough, raw, and blunt. He lives in isolation and despair and is a man who sees the truth and speaks it, regardless of whom it might offend. He is, in essence, the epitome of an effect of westward expansion. 

The world they must navigate is relentlessly brutal and filled with horrors like rape, murder, suicide, and mayhem. The only things worse than the deadly frontier are the men who occupy it: greedy bounty hunters, ruthless Indigenous tribes, and conniving Mormon settlers … even savage gypsies.

Warning: Minor spoilers ahead

When the entire traveling party sets out, it isn’t long before their safety is compromised when a band of Mormon soldiers disguised as Native Americans attack and slaughter nearly every single person they find, except for Sara, Devin, and their stowaway, whom Isaac managed to get to safety. Unbeknownst to any of them, the young, mute, Indigenous girl, Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier, of Dark Winds), hid in their wagon the night before they left after killing her father for repeatedly raping her and experiencing her mother’s blame. 

But they aren’t the only ones who survive the attack. So, too, do Brother Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan, of Oppenheimer), who was mostly scalped and left for dead, and his wife, Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon, of The Agency). She, along with other Mormon sisters, is taken and held captive, then almost killed when a group of Crow warriors of the Shoshone tribe ambush the Mormons. She is instead kidnapped after their leader, Red Feather (Derek Hinkey, of Horizon: American Saga – Chapter 1), sees her absence of fear of death, and it resonates with him. 

While Isaac navigates Sara, Devin, and Two Moons across the frontier, through the plains and up into the snowy mountains, they face their fair share of danger, carnage, violence, accidents, and fear. It’s only because Isaac is so in tune with his primeval nature that any of them survive at all. 

Jacob eventually wakes and is recovered by the Mormons, but he is severely damaged. I mean, most of his scalp was cut away and left hanging, so he begins to suffer some severe psychosis as a result of this physical, mental, and emotional trauma. His story is a sad one, as he is both almost killed and then saved by his own people, the very people who form a search party to help him locate the wife they stripped from him in the first place, then lost to the Natives.

I won’t tell you how Jacob and Abish’s story plays out because it’s best experienced, not heard. What I will tell you is that their story is amongst the most epic of Shakespearean tragedies, and it will leave you rooted in so many emotions, you’ll need a minute to catch your breath and take it all in. American Primeval carries the theme of searching for redemption in an unforgiving world. We see this in Isaac, who is broken because of his past and chooses to live alone in isolation and despair. In searching for redemption, he crosses paths with Sara and Devin, and the connection that develops between each of them individually and as a whole works to guide them all towards hope. Similarly, the relationship that develops between Sara and Two Moons, and subsequently Two Moons and Devin, is transformative, and despite the limited series’ ending, there is a moment of collective movement towards hope.

In my opinion, this might be Taylor Kitsch’s best role in a long time. Isaac is quite the badass, skilled in the ways of medicine, navigation, and survival. Where he is most skilled, though, is in his primal nature to fight when necessary. It’s evident he trained hard and well for this role, and it shows in his relentless axe-throwing and desperate moments to protect those he grows to love. 

What I liked about American Primeval

I was initially drawn into the story of a fugitive mother on the run, willing to do anything to protect her son. Then, of course, there’s Taylor Kitsch as her guide. In her move westward and the experience it bestowed upon her and her son, she found her primal nature and didn’t just connect with it; she slipped into it. She became it.

I loved the story of Abish Pratt and what she goes through both with her husband and with the Shoshone tribe, as well as with herself. She, too, discovers and becomes her primal self while Jacob’s primal nature is inflicted upon him, so it’s interesting to see their play out. That entire subplot is utterly encapsulating. 

I also loved the raw depictions of fear, violence, and danger at every turn … the carnage and destruction, total mayhem. This is what life on the American Frontier was like: brutal, harrowing, hard. 

What I didn’t like about American Primeval

I didn’t like the absence of depth of backstories. I wanted more. I wanted to know more about why Sara did what she did in Philadelphia. What led to that? Why was her husband in Crooks Springs, and how long had he been there? I wanted to know more about Abish and Jacob’s history. And I craved to know more about Isaac Reed. I wanted to know everything that shaped him into the epitome of the nature-inspired traumatized specimen we are introduced to and with whom we ultimately fall in love. 

There are so many interesting characters in American Primeval that you can’t help but crave more information about their lives. It depicts real-life characters, like Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham, of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), who was a pioneer caught between warring factions after transforming Fort Bridger into a small city on the frontier, and Brigham Young (Kim Coates, of Sons of Anarchy), the leader of the Mormon Church at the time.  

Who else stars in the series

In addition to Kitsch, Gilpin, Whigham, Coates, DeHaan, Hinkey, and Lightfoot-Leon, Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad) stars as ruthless bounty hunter Virgil Cutter, and Joe Tippett (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) stars as James Wolsey, a Mormon who leads a militia of men possessing no moral code and is responsible for the attack that began the entire story. 

As one of the best gritty Westerns I’ve ever seen, American Primeval is a binge-straight-through series that will keep you on the edge of your seat for all six episodes. Mad props are given to the props and special effects departments, the fight choreographers, the cinematography, and the overall story. Hands down, American Primeval is America at its least romantic and its most brutal, and it’s one of the best gritty Westerns out there. You shouldn’t wait one minute longer to see it.

American Primeval is now available to stream globally on Netflix.