American Primeval takes Netflix watchers back in time to 1857 Utah Territory, where tensions between the Indigenous peoples, white settlers, and Mormon true believers were routinely erupting in bloodshed. The six-part series mainly follows Betty Gilpin‘s Sara Rowell as she and her young son Devin (Preston Mota) try to survive this unforgiving landscape. Aiding them in their quest to get to California? Rugged guide Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) and resourceful Pawnee girl Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier).
Throughout American Primevalwe see time and time again this intrepid quartet cheat death. Do our heroes and heroines survive? What happens to the spirited Mormon woman Abish Pratt (Saura Lightfood-Leon)? Will these characters stories continue in a potential American Primeval Season 2 on Netflix?
**Spoilers for all six episodes of American Primevalnow streaming on Netflix**
If you’ve watched any of Netflix’s American Primevalyou’ll know that the western series is not for the faint of heart. The first episode alone features a public execution, a cold-blooded murder, a killing in self-defense, scalpings, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The fact that any of these characters could possibly survive seems like something of a miracle. Indeed — SPOILER ALERT — most of the characters in American Primeval do not survive all six episodes! Not even Fort Bridger, the final bastion of “civilization” before the naked terror of the frontier, makes it to American Primeval Episode 6’s end credits. (The Mormons raze it to the ground, but leave Shea Whigham’s Jim Bridger alive, per historical record.)
Given all that, is American Primeval intended to be a limited series? Could it be an anthology following new groups of pioneers as they attempt to survive the elements and each other? Here’s what American Primeval director and executive producer Peter Berg had to say on the topic of a potential second season of the Netflix show…
Will There Be An American Primeval Season 2 on Netflix?
We don’t know yet! Netflix has yet to announce plans for a second season of American Primevalbut director and EP Peter Berg told Decider, he’s game — with a couple of caveats.
“You know, after we wrapped and I looked at all the actors — the ones that were still alive — I felt such affection for them,” Berg said. “And I do think there are many ways that we could go.”
“I’ve still got to thaw out from my time spent up on those mountains in the winter, but maybe if they got to lower ground, that wasn’t quite as cold, we could. We could go back.”
-“If [Indigenous Consultant] Julie [O’Keefe] will come back, I’d be up for discussing it,” Berg teased.
“As long as I don’t have to have ice cleats again, I definitely will come back,” O’Keefe said.
So is that doable? Well, first, lets look at the actors playing characters who are still alive. Besides Mormon bigwig Brigham Young (Kim Coates) and real life frontiersman Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham), that would basically just include Betty Gilpin’s Sara, Preston Mota’s Devin, and Shawnee Pourier’s Two Moons. Poor Isaac dies saving the trio from the bounty hunters after Sara, ensuring the three of them are able to continue on to meet Devin’s father.
However, American Primeval ends with Sara, Devin, and Two Moons deciding to press forward to California. If they arrive there in early 1858, they’ll have missed the heyday of the California gold rush, but there the Bald Hills War will be about to start between the U.S. government’s forces and local militias against many native tribes. So, you know, that could be a thing.
When Will American Primeval Season 2 Come Out on Netflix?
If Netflix decides to move forward with a second season of American Primevalfans will likely have to be patient to learn what happens next. The first season was ordered in December 2022 and then filming was halted by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. That means it probably takes 18 months to two years to make a season of American Primeval.
The earliest fans might expect American Primeval Season 2 would likely be late 2026 or even early 2027.
