Susan Granger’s review of “American Primeval” (Netflix)
Set in the Utah Territory circa 1857, Netflix’s “American Primeval” rectifies any mistaken impression that the pioneers settling in the Old American West – a.k.a. Manifest Destiny – had embarked on a romantic adventure.
“There is only brutality here,” an Army captain (Lucas Neff) cautions as Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) and her young son Devin (Preston Mota) arrive at Fort Bridger en route to join up with her husband in Crooks Springs.
Created by Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham), the Fort, a trading outpost, is a central to the future of Zion-seeking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – a.k.a Mormons – along with Native Shoshone, Southern Paiute and Ute tribes under the protection of the U.S. Army.
Determined to proceed westward, Sara and Devin join a small wagon train of Mormons led by devout Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan) and his doubtful new wife, Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) – only to bear witness to what came to be known as the ‘Mountain Meadows Massacre,’ subjecting them to the wrath of outwardly pious Brigham Young (Kim Coates).
After that, the desperate Rowells are pursued not only by a posse of vengeance-seeking Mormons but also avaricious bounty hunters, since Sara’s drawn face appears on ‘Wanted’ posters for a robbery/murder she previously committed back in Philadelphia.
The Rowells’ only allies are Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch), a cantankerous mountain man, and Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier), a mute, runaway Shoshone girl.
Scripted by Mark L. Smith “The Revenant”) and directed by Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”), this ‘authentic’ limited series is largely fiction but draws on many verified violent Utah ‘origin’ stories, joining other ‘realistic’ historical releases like “The English,” “Meek’s Cutoff,” “The Power of the Dog” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “American Primeval” is a grungy, gory, savage 7 – with all six episodes streaming on Netflix.
