As the fourth episode of American Primeval begins, a newspaper mentions the murders of Joseph Smith and Brother Hyrum. The governor seeks Mormon extermination, but Brigham Young (Kim Coates) fights back. Wild Bill Hickman (Alex Breaux) and the others are told not to move any more pigs until Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham) arrives. Winkie (Richard Anthony Greywolf) tells Jim he didn’t have a choice because the Mormons paid him five times what he offered. Cottrell (Nick Hargrove) listens from nearby as Jim argues with Bill Hickman. Jim stabs his shovel through Bill’s foot. Then, he begins taking his pigs back. Army Captain Edmund Dellinger (Lucas Neff) goes on a rant about the lands possessing forces that the civilized cannot defend against. Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) hangs out with Indians near Red Feather (Derek Hinkey).
In the morning, Winter Bird (Irene Bedard) tells Abish she told Red Feather they’d take her to her people. Abish isn’t sure what people she has left. Winter Bird asks why her people have so much hunger to kill. Abish believes it is fear of what they do not understand. Winter Bird talks about how hunger, war, and sickness changed their world. Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan), Frank Cook (Dominic Bogart), and the others make it to the blind woman. Jacob asks Frank what he did. Virgil Cutter (Jai Courtney) learns that a man rode through there with two women and a boy some days ago. Lucas questions why Virgil shot the woman who gave him the information. Virgil reminds him that Sara Holloway is the piece of gold they’ve been looking for. Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) continues leading Sara (Betty Gilpin) and the others. Devin Rowell (Preston Mota) has to call for help when his horse stops cooperating. Isaac decides they’re going to rest for the night.
They start digging so they can keep warm. Devin asks Isaac if killing bad men is okay. He reveals he and Sara killed a man. Isaac already suspects Sara did it to protect her son. Red Feather and his men capture Grey Fox (Jeremiah Bitsui) after he is caught hiding near the camp. Red Feather wants to use him to lead them to the white soldiers. Winter Bird reminds Grey Fox she has no war with his white leader. Winter Bird warns Red Feather he will bring more hate and death if he takes the war to the captain. Red Father believes Young Elk would rather die fighting his enemy than begging for food on his knees. Red Feather claims he’s the creator’s warrior and slays demons. He will give them what they know. Winter Bird claims he’s going to give them what they want. Red Feather and his men begin howling. In the middle of the night, a man wakes up Sara and tells her it’s time to go home. She wakes up from the nightmare. Isaac sits down next to her and joins her.
She asks him what the Shoshone meant when they called him “Kinii Da-Dawon”. He says it means “Spotted Hawk”. Isaac says he was a young boy with freckles when the Shoshone traded for him. Sara says they were so kind, but she’s always been told the Indians were savages. Isaac says they are. Sara has never felt so safe. She questions why Isaac would leave that. He tells her she needs to rest. Sara pleads with him to stay. Abish asks Red Feather if he prays that the white soldiers won’t kill his son after they kill him. Grey Fox tells her to be careful with her words. They argue about their gods. Abish warns him that his god will lose. She argues with Red Feather. Isaac tries to tend to the horse’s hoof. Jacob Pratt and the others continue searching for Sara. Tilly (Kyle Davis) harasses Jacob and talks about Abish. Jacob eventually gets upset and fights with Tilly. Before long, Jacob and Cook to the water together.
Cook says this bunch is no good. He isn’t sure they’ll ever find Jacob’s wife. Cook says they’re just after a bounty and they need to get out of there. Jacob hits him in the head with a rock multiple times. Then, he holds his head under the water and kills him. Lucas finds out what has happened. Virgil asks about the watch. He suggests Cook was part of the bunch that attacked the camp. Virgil tells Jacob it’s time they part ways. He leaves him some food, clothes, and a mule. Red Feather and Winter Bird talk about using Abish to tell the white soldiers who attacked her people. If they believe her words, they may not be a war. Isaac and the others have to rest the horses. After a hop and a skip, Red Feather’s men are already at Dellinger’s camp. Abish tells them that Red Feather has come to speak to the captain. Abish tells them what she knows. She says it was white men in hoods and a few from the Paiute tribe.
Abish insists she can walk them through every detail of what happened that night. She learns that her husband survived and he’s been searching for her. Dellinger offers to take her to him. Red Feather tells Abish to stay before giving her something. Dellinger tells Abish that he doubts his superiors will agree to Red Feather’s terms because he has a lot of blood on his hands. Jacob sits alone with the pocket watch. Isaac tells Sara that they haven’t seen the worst of it yet. They’ll rest at a hunting cabin ahead. Sara tells him about the man she killed in Philadelphia. He choked her until she fainted. Every morning she woke up alive was a curse. When he did it to Devin, Sara killed him and she’d do it again. Dellinger visits Bill Hickman who says Jacob is still searching for his wife. James Wolsey (Joe Tippett) asks Dellinger if he’s still looking for Indian killers. James and Bill suggest that Abish can stay with them. Dellinger says she’ll come back with them.
Abish tells Dellinger that it was them. Back at the camp, Dellinger asks a man to deliver a letter to Fort Bridger. The man says he’ll go to Gilbert and hand it to Colonel Johnson himself. Abish believes Dellinger used her and took her there to see if she’d recognize them. He insists they’ll be brought to justice. The man delivers the letter to Hickman and tells him that Abish recognized some of his men. Hickman says Sister Pratt just started a war. Dellinger learns that Abish has fled on a horse. Devin’s horse throws him to the ground and kicks him around. Isaac kills the horse. They take Devin into the cabin. Isaac gives him medicine. Then, he tries to find a way to set his broken leg.
American Primeval Review
American Primeval is getting sillier as it goes. Lots of viewers are complaining about the violence, but the series really isn’t all that violent in the big scheme of things. It is gimmicky in terms of trying to create squeamish or shocking moments though. It overuses jump scares because it has very little else going for it. For instance, the series tried so hard with Devin’s broken leg. It really paled in comparison to Rome’s unforgettable squeamish scene when Titus Pullo had surgery on his skull.
The violence here is subdued because it’s so pointless. One case in point is that of Bill Hickman’s foot being possibly severed in half. That happened at the beginning of the episode. His magical Mormon powers must’ve enabled his body to heal at a rapid pace considering he didn’t even have a limp at the end of the episode.
Isaac’s group feels like it’s not going anywhere and it probably won’t go anywhere when all is said and done. If you knew you were being followed, it probably would not be a good idea to take shelter in the only cabin standing clearly in your path. The story is becoming predictable so we know what is going to happen to Sara who will need to be saved in the end.
We can also see that Abish has magically fallen for Red Feather. Despite being described as being overly violent, the series doesn’t do a good job of accurately portraying the real threats back then, the dangers of each group, or Brigham Young’s deeds. Where’s the threat of illness, starvation, or even running out of ammunition?
It’s humorous that Isaac, Sara, and Jacob can’t seem to get anywhere, but Red Feather’s whole group and Bill Hickman can teleport to different locations on a whim. Oregon Trail is sadly more accurate in terms of the harshness of the land and the dangers involved. The series really could’ve ended a few episodes ago and nothing would’ve been missed considering the outcome is already given.
The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of American Primeval can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
