Netflix’s “American Primeval” promises to show “America like never before.” But as fans of frontier stories know, there’s really nothing new under the Western sun.

After sitting on top of the Netflix top 10 list for a while, American Primeval, the limited series starring Taylor Kitsch, is now down to #2 thanks to the arrival of Monday Night

In the latest LDS news, we sample critical reviews of "American Primeval" and explore the Netflix series from a historical perspective.

Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin led the gritty miniseries about a family's trek across the American West in 1857.

Jim Bridger, played by Shea Whigham, was a real life pioneer who built the town of Fort Bridger, which features in the series and was a real town. Brigham Young, played by Kim Coates, was also a real life figure. He was the head of the Mormon church at the time and had his own army known as the Nauvoo Legion.

American Primeval features a huge twist for Sara and Devin in its ending, but the reveal was actually set up in the show's first minutes.

Westerns – thanks to shows like Yellowstone – have come back in a huge way. And what’s more: American Primeval tackles a fascinating subject, which is America’s only indigenous religion: Mormonism and it’s (literal) war for legitimacy.

American Primeval” revolves mostly around a woman and her young son making their way west in the hopes of reaching a faraway settlement where, the woman assumes, her husband will be waiting for her. She and her boy go as far as they can on the still-unbuilt railroad.