SPOILER ALERT
I just finished binging American Primeval, all six episodes dropped on Netflix at the beginning of the year. I tried to find it streaming for free elsewhere, but no luck so far.
I’m drawn to historical stories, and this one nailed it. It’s set during the Utah War of 1857, when the U.S. government dispatched troops to occupy Utah Territory and strip Brigham Young of power. It leads up to the horrific Mountain Meadows Massacre, where a Mormon militia and Paiute (Native Americans) allies slaughtered a wagon train of emigrants. The show calls it “The Meadows Massacre” and uses it as its emotional anchor.
Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) is a haunted mountain man with loyalty both to his childhood Shoshone tribe and his tragic past. He’s survival incarnate, which is why I call him the John Wick of the 1850’s.
Sara (Betty Gilpin) and her son Devin are on the run: Sara’s desperation to reach her husband while fleeing her own dark past. She deeply annoyed me at the beginning, with her line of thinking, until she FAFO.
Abish (Saura Lightfoot‑Leon) had a heartbreaking arc. She is torn between the Mormon faith and her growing bond with Native cultures. Her grief hits hard.
Red Feather, silent and fierce, may speak little, but he carries the weight of his people—the Shoshone—and becomes a powerful moral compass merely through his presence.
Other Western frontier saga movies/shows I recommend:
1883 & 1923 – Yellowstone spinoff (I’ve never watched Yellowstone, BTW)
The English – Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer were both phenomenal in this.
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