WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for American Primeval.
Netflix’s gritty Western seriesAmerican Primevalhandled the potential romance between Abish and Red Feather perfectly. Throughout the 6-part Peter Berg series, Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan) searches for his missing wife Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) after a brutal ambush that became known as theMountain Meadows Massacre. Both Mormons and members of the Church of the Latter-day Saints underBrigham Young, Abish and Jacob are thrust into separate survival stories, trying to find a way back to each other.
While both Abish and Jacob’s stories inAmerican Primevalare gruesome, Jacob faces the greatest atrocities after nearly getting killed during episode 1.Abish forms a connection with an Indigenous character named Red Feather, a Shoshone warrior and member of the Wolf Clan. While Abish is held captive in the early episodes ofAmerican Primeval, she begins to appreciate the cultural traditions and lifestyles of the Shoshone tribe, which inspires a suggested romantic interest in Red Feather.
Abish & Red Feather Have One Of American Primeval’s Best Storylines
They Offer A Rare Glimpse Of Connection In An Otherwise Brutish Landscape
Despite the tragic circumstances that brought their characters together in American Primeval, Abish and Red Feather developed one of the most compelling shared storylines of the first season. It was their connection and Abish’s interest in assimilating to the Shoshone traditions, abolishing her devout Mormon faith in the process, that created Abish and Jacob’s devastating scenes in theAmerican Primevalfinale.Abish and Red Feather represented a rare flicker of compassionin the otherwise horrific and violent landscape.
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Red Feather represents the might and legacy of his Shoshone tribe inAmerican Primevalwho defends his lands and traditions. Underneath his war paint is a wise and resourceful human being who is forced into violence mostly as a form of self-protection. Once Abish realizes that the Mormons were actually behind the Mountain Meadows Massacre, she finds solace within the Shoshone tribe and understands their fight.Red Feather initially spared Abish’s lifebecause he likely saw a warrior’s spirit within her, a hunch that turned out to be correct in theAmerican Primevalfinale.
Was A Romance Considered For Abish & Red Feather?
In an interview withDecider, Lightfoot-Leon explains why a romance between Abish and Red Feather wouldn’t have felt right inAmerican Primeval.
“Their intimacy doesn’t need to exist in a romantic sense. It’s a deeper level here and I think they both have huge respect for each other and that’s what you see.”
Much of the intimacy between Abish and Red Feather is implicit and kept at a distance. Abish believed that Jacob had died during the massacre and was still mourning him throughoutthe series. This makes the spiritual connection between Abish and Red Feather more profound than a romantic one and a better creative choice for their characters inAmerican Primeval.
