DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: If you saw the 2015 movie "The Revenant," cowritten by Mark L. Smith, you have some strong hints about what he's up to in his new Netflix miniseries," American Primeval." Both stories are set in the 19th century in isolated and rugged lands full of promise and danger. Both stories are about characters who face formidable obstacles and either fight back from the edge of death or just die, sometimes both. Smith wrote all six episodes of "American Primeval," and Peter Berg directed them all. This gives the drama an even, cohesive feel and flow.
Smith uses a few actual events and characters from the 1850s, including Brigham Young of the Mormons, as the launching point for his largely fictional narrative. Berg, of both the movie and TV versions of "Friday Night Lights," has a gift for making characters both credible and relatable, whether he's acting or directing, and he does it again here. "American Primeval" begins by following two sets of travelers making their way west. There's Sara Rowell, played by Betty Gilpin from "Glow," who's trying to arrange safe passage for her and her young son, Devin, to meet her husband in a town even farther west. And there's a newlywed couple, Jacob and Abish, part of a wagon train of pioneers hoping to settle in a nearby territory.
Along the way, there's hostile weather and even more hostile people, from the various Native tribes fighting to maintain their land to the pioneers, the American Army and even the armed Mormon militia, all claiming their rights to the same land. And in the middle of both the land and its conflicts is Jim Bridger, an early settler who built his own trading post and now finds himself surrounded by warring factions, and occasionally, visited by such travelers as Betty Gilpin's Sara, who barges into Bridger's office horrified by the violence she's just witnessed inside his fort. Bridger is played by Shea Whigham from "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Joker," who's a scene-stealing charmer here. With a full beard, twinkly eyes and a playful way with words, Bridger is fun to spend time with, as in this early scene when he's not thrown at all by Sara's attitude and demands.
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BETTY GILPIN: (As Sara Rowell) Quite an establishment you have here. I expected things to improve once we came across more people.
SHEA WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) Civilization and civilized are two different words entirely, Ms. Rowell. I might suggest you head back to Boston, where you'll find more of each.
GILPIN: (As Sara Rowell) My husband is waiting for us at Crook Springs.
WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) I suggest maybe you wait a little longer till early spring. Weather will have eased by then, and any luck, the tribes and Mormons will stop their ravaging.
GILPIN: (As Sara Rowell) I'm afraid waiting is not an option, Mr. Bridger.
WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) I can't seem to make clear what you're asking for, Ms. Rowell.
GILPIN: (As Sara Rowell) I'm asking for a guide to Crook Springs.
BIANCULLI: Sara and her son end up hitching a ride in a wagon with a newlywed couple heading west. But it's not long before the pioneers are stopped in transit by James Wolsey, a leader of Brigham Young's Mormon militia. He's played by Joe Tippett. And in this scene, flanked by his men, Wolsey questions the man in charge of the travelers, who happens to be played by Peter Berg himself.
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JOE TIPPETT: (As James Wolsey) You possess a permit to be on these lands?
PETER BERG: (As Fancher) Permit?
TIPPETT: (As James Wolsey) By proclamation of Governor Brigham Young, no person shall be allowed to pass through this territory without a permit provided by a proper officer. If you don't have a permit, you and your party need to turn your wagons back east before nightfall. You're not going to keep on through here.
BERG: (As Fancher) Friends, you can assure Governor Young that we're going to be out of here first light. He'll never knew we were here.
TIPPETT: (As James Wolsey) I'm afraid it don't work like that.
DOMINIC BOGART: (As Frank Cook) Governor Young has declared martial law to protect his people due to you and your kind driving us out of our homes, killing our loved ones, telling us to find our own place to be.
TIPPETT: (As James Wolsey) Well, we found that place, and mister, you're standing on it.
BERG: (As Fancher) As I understand it, I'm standing on land owned by the United States government. I do not need permission.
BOGART: (As Frank Cook) A proclamation of Governor Brigham Young. No man shall be...
BERG: (As Fancher) You keep talking about your proclamation. I do hear you. I'm not deaf. Only problem is that we have our own proclamation, and that proclamation says that we take orders from no man.
BIANCULLI: After this point, the wagon train is targeted in what was a real-life event called the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which killed 120 westbound pioneers. There were few survivors, but those survivors in this TV miniseries are crucial to the rest of the story "American Primeval" has to tell. It's at this point when some of them team up with a frontiersman named Isaac Reed, played by Taylor Kitsch, who played the star football player in "Friday Night Lights" on Berg's TV version. Kitch and Betty Gilpin as Sara have the most chemistry and screen time here. But I also keep going back to savor scenes with Shea Whigham as Jim Bridger. He keeps resisting all offers to sell his fort, even when Governor Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons, eventually pays a personal visit. Kim Coates, from another excellent Netflix Western, "Godless," plays Brigham Young.
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KIM COATES: (As Brigham Young) Word was relayed to me that your earlier negotiations with Brother Hickman had unfortunately become strained.
WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) Your boy Bill carries a tone that I'm not entirely fond of, makes it seem as if your people are ready to take what's not offered.
COATES: (As Brigham Young) Oh, I apologize. If that's the impression you took away, Mr. Bridger, I can assure you that is not my intent.
WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) What is your intent, Governor?
COATES: (As Brigham Young) I want your fort.
WHIGHAM: (As Jim Bridger) Oh, I'm sure you do. And if the Army gets their hands on it, it's the end of you Mormons.
BIANCULLI: "American Primeval" is as gritty as HBO's "Deadwood" and as full of heart and of endearing characters as CBS' classic "Lonesome Dove." Be forewarned, some of the violence in "American Primeval" is as sudden, chaotic and disturbing as the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan." This new Netflix Western is not an easy watch, but the road west back then was not an easy path. You'll be rewarded for your efforts if you make it through with some sites and performances you'll not soon forget.
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
David Bianculli is a professor of television studies at Rowan University. He reviewed the new Netflix series, "American Primeval." If you'd like to catch up on our interviews or those that you missed, like our conversation with comedian Roy Wood Jr. or Pico Iyer, check out our podcast. You'll find lots of FRESH AIR interviews. And to find out what's happening behind the scenes of our show and get our producers' recommendations on what to watch, read and listen to, subscribe to our free newsletter at whyy.org/freshair.
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MOSLEY: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Anne Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Thea Chaloner directed today's show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE HUNTER'S "ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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