WD WEEKLY REVIEWS: AMERICAN PRIMEVAL
- aj biggs
- Jan 20
- 5 min read
American Primeval is an American Wild West story, set in the Utah war of 1857, following the path of a mother, her son, and those who help and harm them along the way. Written by Mark L. and Directed by Peter Berg, American Primeval paints a harsh, unsettling, and barbaric portrait on the beginnings of the American west, while also highlighting the spirit and goodness of the people within it. Netflix released their limited series on January 9th of 2025, which quickly topped Netflix’s TV show charts, unseating Squid Games 2. Today Watchers Delight will give our opinions on the newest Netflix hit, as well as what we know about a possible second season.
SPOILER WARNING!!!! PLEASE WATCH ALL OF AMERICAN PRIMEVAL BEFORE READING!!!!BLOG IS NOT CHRONOLOGICAL WITH THE SHOW!!!
Sara and Devin
American Primeval uses Sara and Devin as the viewers guide through the series. As they find out the rules of the West, so do we. Sara portrays the good in people, just wanting what’s best for her child, but in this time, being good isn’t always rewarded. Throughout the series, Sara’s dynamic with Isaac represents Sara’s dynamic with the west. Sara showed the heart in Isaac, just as she did the heart of the west. For example, her arrival to Fort Bridger. While Jim Bridger was always a decent person, after Sara’s request for a guide to a room Springs, Bridger realized he lived in a world where a woman and a child couldn’t travel without serious danger. Whenever Sara and Isaac feel the danger of the west they become closer together. Starting from the nightmare Sara has and shown in full when Lucas, enraged by the murder of his brother, comes to claim the bounty on Sara. Isaac comes crashing back and fights with Lucas, where they both kill each other. Sara and Isaac have their last moments and it’s the peak of the relationship. However, as Isaac is buried, Sara moves past both their relationship and her relationship with the west.
Which brings me to Devin. Devin shows us that in the American west, no one avoids the evils from within. A good young man who has seen a lot, starts the journey with others calling him a cripple, and by way of the west ends up a man. Devin had two scenes that stuck out to me as pillars in this transition. When Devin gets his leg broken by the limp horse, Isaac keeps repeating, “it’s only pain.” Over the course of the painful and traumatic experience of trying to heal his leg, Devin says, ”it’s only pain” back to Isaac before they burn the wound shut. The second scene that stuck out to me was when Two Moons and Devin were attacked by wolves in the Cabin. After Two Moons missed her shots on the wolves, she gets attacked. Devin is still healing from his broken leg but manages to get up and shoot the Wolves, saving Two Moons and himself. I think this moment stapled Devin for himself that he is now a man. Especially with the time setting we’re in, where the mark of a man was his ability to protect. Devin proved to himself he was a protector and a man. Which is why it’s so important when, at the end, Devin responds “we’re ready” to his mom, before they go into Crook Springs.
Abish and Jacob Pratt
Throughout the film the dynamic between Abish and Jacob is that Jacob is far more in love with Abish than she is with him. Abbish feels a sense of imposter syndrome in her marriage with Jacob, since her sister was supposed to marry him before she died. The way Abish talks about her desire to become her own woman early in the film really helps build her character and why she would be so bad-ass after her camp was invaded. She always wanted the chance to stand for herself and not bend to what other people wanted her to do. Her desire to never back down shows in full when she takes her amulet off of Red Feather’s neck.
Jacob, on the other hand, shows what happens to the mind when it’s not ready for the horrors of the west. Jacob, blinded by adrenaline, revenge, fear, and rage, set out on a mission to find Abish since he woke up from the attack, losing his mind in the process. Dane DeHaan did an amazing job at portraying a man losing his mind all alone, with no one to really help. Even though he did get a huge assist from the blood in his eye, making him look even more insane. Jacob was truly alone after he lost Abish, and Abish felt more herself than ever without Jacob. Even though Abish never speaks of Jacob after the attacks, in the last episode we see multiple instances that she still cares for him a lot. Including their ending. Which I will get more into later. Abish and Jacob start together but have two totally different paths, brought back together by fate before they unfortunately die together.
The Ending
I think the ending is going to be taken well by some and hated by others. My biggest problem with the ending is the Abbish and Jacob ending. I think Jacob killing Abbish is just for the jaw drop but has no real story element and just seems too coincidental. The odds Jacob would kill Abbish and know it’s her broke my immersion, but was brought back once Jacob made his way to Abbish, making me wish Jacob just saw Abbish lying dead then the rest could stay the same.
An ending I think a lot of people will be upset with is the Fort Bridge ending. Jim Bridger taking the money and leaving while the members of the camp burn is a hard image to morally wrap your head around. Which makes a lot of sense for this series. The west was a morally difficult place to live. We see this when Devin asks Isaac if he feels bad for killing people. With the Fort Bridge people, trying to find a new camp just wasn’t possible with the camp restrictions from the Mormons in the show. This is the kind of emotional and moral dilemma that I want from a story about the American Wild West.
Season 2
After a huge success in the first month of release, fans are wondering if American Primeval will have a second season. It is not yet confirmed yet, but directors and producers of the show have been doing interviews answering some questions. One thing I saw is that they probably don’t want to cover the same characters. I love this idea. If American Primeval was a Black Mirror for western stories, that would be top tier television every couple of years. I would love to see ideas for where a second season could be set if the story was completely new. However, there are some other rumors that a second season could be a prequel, following one character’s childhood and up to the first season. This brings another interesting idea and in which case, I would hope they do a prequel of Isaac or someone random like the two brothers, Virgil and Lucas Cutter.
Let me know what you guys thought about American Primeval and what your wish-list is for a second season! Please subscribe and like if you like our weekly blog or share with a friend! Thank you for reading!
Comments