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American Primeval

american primeval

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Bret Eckelberry

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Episode Reviews

TV Series Review

The American West in the 1850s could be an unforgiving place. The frontier was rugged and rife with lawlessness. Bloody conflicts became commonplace as pioneers pushed westward into lands populated by native peoples and even their fellow settlers. If you lived in this time, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this wild country would remain forever untamed.

Civilization and civilized are two different words entirely.”

That’s how Jim Bridger, proprietor of the Fort Bridger settlement in Wyoming, sums up the American West. The frontier is no place for civilized people. Certainly not for a mother and her young son from back East.

And yet …

Go West, On the Lam

Despite Bridger’s warnings, Sara Rowell is determined to continue West with her son. She says she wants to get her boy to his father, but there’s more to it than that.

Something happened back East. Something bad. So Sara’s got to stay one step ahead of the bounty hunters who are looking for her and her son. To do so, she must find a way through rough terrain and harsh weather, avoiding native tribes and Mormon militias who don’t take kindly to those they consider trespassers.

She’ll need a guide, especially after the first one she hired was shot in cold blood. Problem is, there aren’t many reputable options available—she’s informed that most men would rather “rob you and leave you for dead” than help chart a safe passage.

But surely someone will guide them. Maybe Isaac Reed, a loner raised by Shoshone Indians. Or maybe with the caravan of Mormons heading for Brigham Young’s “Zion” in the Utah territory.

Sara must find a way. Turning back is not an option.

Wild, Vile West

American Primeval, from Netflix and director Peter Berg, is fully committed to showing the blood and barbarity found in the developing American West—with little respite. Though Sara and a few other characters try to appeal to the kindness of others, there’s little charity to be found here. Most people are scraping by in this hardscrabble reality, concerned only with how they can use their fellow human beings for money, power or pleasure. And that leads to us as viewers bearing the brunt of a lot of grim stuff.

There are a few rays of light that shine through the clouds. Sara cares for her son and seeks to protect him at all costs. A man is devoted to his wife. A young native woman is given refuge when she has nowhere else to go.

But these brief moments of goodness are buried under a myriad of content concerns. Men, women and children are shot, hacked and bludgeoned in bloody fashion. Sexual violence is strongly implied, and we see an attempted rape. People drink to excess. And foul language, while sparser than I expected, is no less harsh when it is used.

The American frontier was often a grim, lawless place. Pretending that it wasn’t or overly romanticizing the era can come with its own set of problems. But American Primeval seems to revel in showing us the worst of the West.

As any good cowboy knows, there’s a difference between acknowledging a hog wallow and rolling around in one.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

Episode Reviews

Jan. 9, 2025 – S1, E1: “Episode One”

Sara Rowell and her son, Devin, travel West to find the boy’s father. Despite warnings about the dangers on the frontier, Sara seeks a guide to take them through hostile territory. We also learn that Sara is wanted by the law and is on the run.

The frontier is menaced by many violent forces, including a Mormon militia and some Native American tribes. A cohort of both attack a wagon train, massacring the settlers with arrows and hatchets. A settler is partially scalped, blood matting his face. One raider accidentally kills a child. A bounty hunter is stabbed to death. Another man is shot and killed by a drunkard. The drunken man is beaten then hanged at the entrance of Fort Bridger—his dangling body is left there like a ghoulish ornament and we see it a handful of times throughout the episode. Animals are bled and butchered. Coyotes feast on corpses.

A man tries to rape a young woman, and it’s implied it has happened before. The young woman fights back, fatally stabbing the man in the neck before fleeing. Another man absently strips naked in front of a woman. She turns away in shock, but we see his backside.

Brigham Young is likened to Moses, as leader of the Mormon exodus out West. A shopkeeper asks Jacob, a Mormon settler, how they “divvy up the women,” referring to the practice of polygamy. We learn that Jacob was originally intended to marry his wife’s sister before she died.

We hear one f-word and seven abuses of God’s name, often paired with “d–n.” “H—” and “son of a b–ch” are also used.

Jan. 9, 2025 – S1, E2: “Episode Two”

Jacob regains consciousness and stumbles through the carnage of the wagon train massacre, realizing that his wife, Abish, has been taken by the attackers. Back at Fort Bridger, his head wound is sewn by a doctor—we see the bloody flesh as Jacob squirms in pain. He connects with members of the Mormon militia, who agree to help him search for his wife. (Unbeknownst to him, they were among those who attacked the caravan.) When someone talks about women and children being murdered, a man replies, “It happens a lot in these parts.”

Sara and her son travel with Isaac, who rescued them from the attack on the wagon train. Isaac is attacked by hostile natives, while Sara is pursued by men hoping to collect the bounty on her head. A few men are bludgeoned with rocks. Another is killed with a hatchet. We see flashes of the previous episode’s massacre. A shootout occurs between Isaac and some bear hunters. Isaac kills them all but is shot—later, we see his bloody wound.

Women, including Abish, are held captive by a group of Native Americans, given as spoils for their help in an attack. A group led by Red Feather, a rogue Shoshone, surprises and kills the captors before executing all the women but Abish in an especially grim scene. Abish, now a prisoner of Red Feather, is treated roughly.

Brigham Young proselytizes that “entire American continent will [become] Zion.” A member of the Mormon militia quotes from Joseph Smith’s work Doctrines and Covenants. He tells another man that they’re “all with God together” in their war against outsiders. A Native American shaman helps a man recover from his injuries. A tribe takes in those in need and show them kindness.

There’s one use each of “g-dd–n” and “h—.” We also hear someone use the term “Red” as a possible reference to the natives.

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Bret Eckelberry

Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.

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