BY ROGER WATSON
Not for the fainthearted, American Primeval is, thankfully, only a Netflix mini-series. There is only so much ‘Sexual threat’ and ‘Injury detail’ that can be portrayed, if you consider rape – albeit off camera – and body parts flying everywhere (very much on camera) to be ‘threat’ and ‘detail’, respectively.
Frankly, this is a gripping and guiltily enjoyable portrayal of late 19th Century America focusing on the battles the Mormons fought to establish the state of Utah. When it comes to Mormons – who prefer to be called members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints – forget the smart, young, suited and booted Americans who call at the door offering salvation.
The Mormons in American Primeval are a violent mob spearheaded by the Mormon Militia (they did exist) who stop at little to drive other would-be settlers off the land of milk and honey. The first episode ends with said militia, masked to conceal their identities, slaughtering 200 settlers among whom were some Mormons (more your friendly Mormons). They are assisted in the slaughter by some ‘Injuns’ from a rogue tribe and the opening scene of the attack, where an arrow tip appears through the forehead of a woman as she speaks to her friends, may live with me forever. Thankfully, at my age, that won’t be too much longer.
As with many such series these days, there tends to be a lot going on. Several narratives are woven throughout, and these are introduced in the first episode. A woman is travelling across America with her young son to join her husband. She arrives at Fort Bridger where her guide is shot leaving her seeking help, with the offer of good money, to have someone else guide her.
Fort Bridger is not military but under the ownership of a shady character who sells pigs, liquor and weapons. It is a rough place and there is always someone hanging from the end of a rope pour décourager les autres. It transpires the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, want to purchase the fort. Naturally, that involves some hard bargaining.
The lady finds a reluctant guide, a violent backwoodsman who was raised by the Shoshone Indians. The Shoshone are in reasonable standing with the white settlers and come across the aftermath of the slaughter from which only one man has survived. The women are found tied to wagons from where they were to be transported for unimaginable purposes.
The head of the Shoshone warriors has all their throats cut except one. And she happens to be the husband of the man who survived. They are a devout Mormon couple. The woman is taken off by the Shoshone, unbeknownst to her husband who sets out in search of her. Remarkably, despite his bloodthirsty treatment of her Mormon sisters, the surviving woman takes a bit of shine to the warrior and his tribe and begins to learn their ways. Stockholm syndrome with feathers and tomahawks.
For the remainder of the series the paths of the main protagonists weave their way across Utah and nearby states to the accompaniment of much bloodshed, multiple captures and daring and bloodthirsty escapes. Roving bands of bounty hunters, Mormon Militia and US Army detachments are decimated as the series progresses.
While I was brought up on a TV diet of Robin Hood and Cowboys and First Nation People of North America, they never impressed on me as much as did American Primeval just how deadly and terrifying a weapon the bow and arrow is. Arrows kill silently making it all but impossible to identify their source and cause panic and confusion among those on whom they are raining down. That and a lot of whooping and hollering by those who wield them.
There are some unlikely twists to the plot and many a moment when it was obvious that something was a trap…into which someone fell. But that detracts neither from the action nor the enjoyment. The storylines are resolved in the final episode, but the narratives do not converge, and this necessitates a great deal of scene swapping to keep the viewer engaged. It works quite well but you need either a good memory or a notebook to keep up at times.
The mayhem and killing are sustained to the end and it cannot be claimed that the outcome of any thread is entirely favourable for the protagonists. It is most unlikely, as hardly anyone is left alive, that there will be a second series.
Roger Watson is a Registered Nurse and Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.