American Primeval May Be The Grisliest Western Ever Made
The Wild West is shown, warts and all, in this Netflix series.
When you think “western,” what do you think? White hats and black hats, facing off at midday? Clint Eastwood and John Wayne? Perhaps you’re more of a gamer, and the Wild West is more the domain of Oregon Trail and Red Dead Redemption. Regardless, it’s obvious none of these works actually portray what happened on the frontier in the 19th century — at least not accurately.
Now, we know much more about the true story of the Wild West, and an acclaimed TV director is giving the western a more historically accurate makeover — one far more unflinching and brutal than anything you’d see in a spaghetti western. The result, now streaming on Netflix, is a fascinating look at an often whitewashed part of history, propelled by an excellent story.
American Primeval is directed by Peter Berg, known for his work on Friday Night Lights, and created and written by Mark L. Smith, the screenwriter behind Twisters. But while both of those projects contained their fair share of cowboy hats and Southern charm, American Primeval is completely different. The series stars Betty Gilpin as Sara, a steadfast mother trying to get west with her young son even though she hides a dark secret, and Taylor Kitsch as Isaac, the mysterious man who agrees to help them out.
But that’s just one facet of the story. The series boasts an impressive ensemble cast including Jai Courtney, Shea Wigham, and Dane DeHaan, and the storyline jumps from character to character, all on their own journey in the Utah Territory in 1857. Included in one of those storylines is Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the first governor of the Utah Territory.
Saying Mormons have a complicated history in pop culture would be an understatement, as the relatively young religion has been the topic of trashy reality shows, Broadway musicals, and prestige dramas all within the past few years. The Mormons shown in this series, however, are unflinchingly villainous. The real historic event at the center of the series, the Mountain Meadow Massacre, was a devastating mass murder of over 100 traveling pioneers by a group of Mormons assisted by Paiute Native Americans.
With its no-holds-barred action, American Primeval earns its TV-MA rating.
All of this is shown in bloody, grisly detail. Throughout the entire show, characters will just be talking, and then one of them will get impaled with an arrow right between the eyes. We see shootings, stabbings, civilians’ throats cut while screaming, and even scalping (but to be fair, the scalp is re-attached, and we see that too.) At one point, I was relieved the show cut away from a leg amputation scene to a scene where someone merely has a finger shot off.
But as gory as this series is, it never loses sight of what’s important: showing a different side of the Pioneer Era. Sara is powerful in a way that doesn’t feel overcompensating or “girlboss-y,” Isaac is just the right amount of conflicted, and the multiple Native American characters are portrayed in a way that’s sympathetic without feeling pandering.
If you’ve got a strong stomach, this series would make the perfect weekend binge. But even for the squeamish, this series is well worth the watch, even if it has to be parceled out. American Primeval feels like it’s really what the West was like, with equal amounts of guts and glory.
