Anomaly21
Left to Right, Top to Bottom; Helen Cutter(Juliet Aubrey), Captain Hilary Becker(Ben Mansfield), James Lester(Ben Miller), DI Daniel Quinn(Jason Flemyng), Mick Harper(Ramon Tikaram), Dr Sarah Page(Laila Rouass), Christine Johnson(Belinda Stewart-Wilson), Jack(Robert Lowe). Below; Abby Maitland(Hannah Spearitt), Connor Temple(Andrew Lee Potts), Jennifer Lewis(Lucy Brown), and Professor Nick Cutter(Douglas Henshall).
Primeval Season 3 Episode 1 Review
'Pristichampus'
Spoilers Ahead
Hey everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! This time we're revisiting Series 3 of Primeval- and an old cliche. You know when a show goes ''three days earlier'' or some nonsense? Well...
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8 Years Earlier
Saturday 28th March, 2009
One evening in a British household, a teenage girl wrests control of the TV remote from her family and begins an almost certainly fruitless search for something to watch. She sees ITV is making a strangely-named offering- Primeval. Is it an I'm A Celeb spin-off? A B-movie horror film? The girl presses the TV remote button... and 45 minutes later, vows to cancel all future Saturday night outings, at least until she gets On Demand. The very next episode she reluctantly misses due to a last-minute 'emergency' grocery errand; in revenge, she insists the guilty parent watch the next episode with her. Despite the not-allowed-to-specify-for-own-safety age gap, both enjoy the next episode, and those that follow.
The girl is delighted to find everyone from shop staff to kids to plumbers knows and likes the show- then disaster strikes. After a final cliffhanger that probably wasn't meant to make her laugh, it is announced that Primeval has been cancelled. Luckily it seems various fans and TV networks are similarly angered, and after a petition a deal is struck- a German broadcaster will offer funding, Ireland will host 2 series, and Canada will host a spin-off series. There will be no more action figures, no more novels, no Warner Bros movie, but at least Primeval is safe from extinction. Oh, and the show will now move to a channel the girl doesn't even have whilst BBC Worldwide begins fooling people into thinking it's their show.
In the meantime, the household orders Primeval Series One and Two on DVD, and is delighted to find them just as good, albeit with more of a dramatic than action-based slant. Access to Primeval's new broadcast channel and The Luck Of The Gods.tm later( finding an ENTIRE SET of Primeval action figures REDUCED IN A SHOP JUST DOWN THE ROAD), the household settles down for the premiere of Primeval Series 4... and the rest is prehistory. I won't say anything else as i haven't yet reviewed Series 4 and 5 or New World/6, except that i saw New World on Watch too.
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As for Episode 1 itself? In my opinion it's pretty good and sets things up nicely. The setting of The British Museum and London at dawn looks good and is more interesting than an unspecified locale, although some of the music has a slightly childish and fantastical feel to it. Our first new cast member is Dr Sarah Page( Laila Rouass, Footballers Wives), a nice and mischevious Egyptologist who finds a group of armed people breaking into the museum in the dead of night as her boss's dead body lies nearby. Her performance throughout, from running for her life only to tire out just as a crocodillian Pristichampus corners her to her and Connor helping each other decipher some hieroglyphs making reference to 'a glowing sun', is more than enough to earn her an interesting new position on the team mapping various myths and legends centered around possible creature and anomaly sightings. This doesn't distract from the suspiciously well-timed behavior of both the anomaly and Pristichampus though.
The general more scientific approach this episode, that even leads to a possible way to close anomalies, adds an intriuging 'dawn of discovery' feel alongside the daily missions. Another new cast member is Captain Hilary Becker(Ben Mansfield, various theatre), who is given approximately three lines but still manages to rival Ben Miller for sarcasm. His position is the same as Ryan's in Series 1, making a welcome return since Series 2 had no military leader due to Leek and The Cleaner's interference. Finally, we have a new story arc alongside the day-to-day stuff; a colleague of Lester's, Christine Johnson( Belinda Stewart-Wilson,The Inbetweeners), wants Lester's job, and has Captain Ross( Michael Wildman, Family Affairs) and his men looking for an anomaly-related piece of equipment codenamed 'The Artefact'. Yes that is the most logical explanation i could come up with, but regardless of the coming story-arc this episode's found footage of Ross and his men looking for the artefact and his and Christine's performances are fine.
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As for the main cast, the past year and the events of Series 2 have had a noticeable but not detrimental effect. Cutter is the most changed, more subdued but gentler( and brave as ever- his rescue of a civillian from the Pristichampus via a first-floor balcony is both heroic and hilarious, especially when the crowd Jenny is trying to fool spot him and she just goes 'Oh, Cutter' in despair). Jenny is a fraction gentler but still Jenny, despite the attempt to make her look like Claudia and confuse everyone, so well done to Lucy Brown for making her performance count. Connor is a bit less defensive and more relaxed, aiding his already-valuable humor whilst making him seem a bit less geeky-snobby( not a word, i know). Abby is pretty much the same, although later on she both reawakens and increases her angsty and bullying side first seen in Series 2( and in her pants again momentarily for the first time since Series 1...). Lester's increased-in-Series-2 role continues and is welcome as ever( ''A civillian witness? Well you know, have her shot and dispose of the body discreetly.'').
Finally, the episode ends with Helen's reappearance as she and her clones of The Cleaner last seen at the end of Series 2 plan to spy on both the ARC and the interfering Christine. The explanation for the clones is a good one thankfully, whilst it's interesting that the actor who played The Cleaner is still in the show but in a rather different capacity. Helen herself doesn't act like a wanted fugitive, and even more interestingly isn't dressed for anomaly travel; everything suggests she is here to stay and has some sort of agenda besides seeing Cutter and Stephen. And she's as sneaky as ever; after a Predator attack stops Ross and his men stealing the artefact, an uncaring Helen and a single clone simply pinch it and run... straight through an anomaly, as the camera zooms out to reveal the explanation for the clones, the Predators and the story arc first alluded to in Series 1- a sterile wasteland. Helen found the anomaly to the future she left for in Series 1, and it led to a time where Predators had evolved and human cloning was possible.
This explains her aiding Leek with his terrorism in Series 2; why not risk interfering with the anomalies when the future has already been screwed up and you can't make it much worse. It adds a more sympathetic and less insane side to Helen, is a good explanation for various aspects of the plot and makes for a great cliffhanger for the rest of the series. Yes, 'apocalyptic future' is a cliche and one i am fed up of, but this particular version of it has a good explanation that fits well with the anomalies and their consequences( such as the rumbling thunder being reminiscent of that heard when the Permian anomaly finally closed in Series 1); and it looks and sounds better than some big budget versions.
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Overall, 'Pristichampus' is a cohesive opening to Series 3, it's interesting new additions to the show making up for a slightly contrived and fantastical feel. The series is now entering it's 'Golden Era' of sorts, where the show's reputation and merchandising were peaking and the show sacrificed a little belivability for the sake of increased entertainment. Was it worth it? I'd say no, the show was already very entertaining, but it's no matter anyway as the show still kept it's attention to detail and advanced the development of both the characters and the anomalies, not to mention yet more varied if not 110 percent accurate creatures(no, i'm not an expert on dinosaurs or mythological beasts, but i reckon the entertainment factor is more important anyway.).
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Next time, an episode that turned out to be important for a number of reasons- and was written by James Moran, writer of Doctor Who episode 'The Fires Of Pompeii' and co-writer of ''Torchwood: Children Of Earth''...
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Primeval Season 3 Episodes 2 & 3 Review 'Gremlin' & 'Diilictodon' Spoilers Ahead
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Hey Everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! This time we're advancing the Series 3 review schedule with a surprise double-bill review; after all change is good, and winter is coming(sorry)...
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'Gremlin' starts with a neat unsolved mystery hook, as three 90's teenagers break into a later-derelict-and-creepy house; but only one comes out. The visuals and music this ep are paticularly naturalistic and directed using a nice balance between spectacle and normality, whilst a last use of some of the memorable and less-kiddy Series 1 and 2 tunes is welcome. As for the CGI for both of these episodes, it's another 'Sabretooth/Smilodon'- occasionally iffy lighting and colouring, thrilling and personality-packed behaviour and sound/special effects. The creature this ep is another new invention; the future-dwelling and nameless 'Camoflauge Beast', a wily and vicious cross betwenn a hairless cat and a chameleon, and an accomplished new threat despite a couple of moments taht seem to frame it as a Scooby-Doo monster, zoinks(sorry). Also in this category is an absurd sub-plot involving a spooky little girl who tries to control the creature- yes, really- whose only useful contribution is a no-one-is-safe scene where said beast seemingly rips into and eats the 8-year-old( since Series 1's toddler-and-snake we've had quite a few kids and even their pets threatened, just as you would expect in real life).
The 14-year plot thread of it killing the boys, being stranded when the anomaly it came through closes, and hiding deep in the mansion as the police fail to find it, the bodies of the boys or the now-gone anomaly they presumably went through and so with no evidence of a creature attack accuse the surviving boy of murdering the others is an interesting and well-told idea from Who and Torchwood writer James Moran. And the emotion of the ordeal is touchingly conveyed by this episode's guest stars; not-so-tough louts Patrick Quinn and Ryan Mason( could NOT find the other boy's name) played by Jack Bence and Joe Prospero, Patrick's volatile older brother Detective Constable Danny Quinn( Jason Flemying, Lock,Stock And Two Smoking Barrels) and the grown-up Ryan( Bertie Carvel, Doctor Foster). Danny in particular goes from resigned indifference to grudging kindness to shaken anger throughout to make a great addition, and a last line suggests we haven't seen the last of him.
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But how do our familiar faces fare in these episodes? Firstly, the new additions Dr Sarah Page Captain Becker- and oh,my. Yes the first episode had a lot of threads to tie up and introduce, but episode 2 and 3's contributions make it look shallow in comparision. Ben Mansfield's Becker gets his characterisation, and he already fits in; whether curious and sarcastic as he gets to know Cutter and Sarah, or concerned and ill-tempered as he protects the team. An early hint of this is in episode 2- Helen sends one of her clones of The Cleaner to spy on the ARC( getting in using an ID pass pickpocketed off an amusingly-unsuspecting Sarah, about the only person who doesn't know Helen yet!), and the ensuing sequence as Becker realises Dr Page apparently entered the ARC 10 minutes ago, tracks down the intruder and is forced to shoot The Cleaner dead with a blood spatter as he draws a gun on him and easily convinces us of his usefulness( even more so when he responds to Cutter's 'but he died' with a deadpan 'you killed his twin brother'. Oh, and we get a Series 2 flashback, awesome!).
As for Laila Rouass's Sarah Page, she's quickly becoming the show's new 'heart', so to speak; whilst the regulars have settled into routine eye-rolling, Sarah's innocence and intelligence in her new history-researching job give an interesting and belivable 'outsider' perspective. With Connor, Abby, Jenny and Lester there's less to say, but that's not a bad thing- they are simply their usual selves. Lester gets to do little except make a few remarks, but is obviously less abrasive than before and just watching him do paperwork and make stressed phone calls is fairly low on the agenda anyway. Jenny needs more time with Cutter to bring back their Series 2 emotional spark, but by herself is a trustworthy and amusing hero- with Cutter busy with the anomaly research and Helen, she actually makes a great and different substitute leader. Abby has pretty much no comedy, but her Series 2 hair-trigger temper is temporarily gone and both her familiar friendship with Cutter and developing girliness courtesy of Sarah and Jenny is sweet. And Connor is just Connor, funny and loyal as ever, less developed than the others but debatedly more reliable for it.
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In all, 'Gremlin' is an entertaining and well-rounded episode that perfectly continues the character's development whilst introducing another iconic threat in the Camoflauge Beast( like it introducing ITSELF to Abby by landing right in front of her, baring all it's teeth and claws at her with the screech from hell and causing her to yell in fright as she falls down the stairs- very nice!), despite saving Cutter and Helen for the next ep and having a few dumb and childish moments. Oh, and the continuing 'cliffhanger ending' tradition used since Series 2 Episode 5 does well piquing interest in the next episode without spoiling anything. But what about the next episode? I'll say one thing; having missed 'Gremlin' on original broadcast, Series 3 Episode 3 was only the second one i saw and the first my family did...
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'Diilictodon' starts off on a not-at-all foreboding note, as Helen trains the clones and then tests their loyalty by convincing one to jump off a building. The contrast between this and the team's fairly lighthearted mission is a slightly cartoonish and contrived idea, but the episode's direction and music avoid this nicely, particularly with the last 20 minutes's brilliant soundtrack. This episode sees return of the needed 'media' sub-plot, as journalist Mick Harper from Series 2 stalks the team both at home and on the job in order to obtain evidence of the creatures for his boss Katherine Kavanagh( Ruth Gemmell, Home Fires). His resourcefullness and determination as he tries and fails to obtain evidence is funny enough to almost make you feel sorry for him. As for the creature he tries to catch, it's another harmless one; a diilictodon, a 'ratty chipmunk beaver' thing according to the episode and cause of much amusement as a group of them scurry and sneak around a hospital( nice team reaction to an anomaly being located in one) and give Cutter, Mick and Becker the runaround to welcome comedic effect and their disgruntled reactions. Meanwhile, a cliched 'stuck with a pregnant woman' moment is made fairly unannoying thanks to Cutter's kindness and humor as Abby uses her experience delivering zoo-animal babies to help and reassure the woman. This also serves a a nice bit of variation, from 'danger and field research' in Episode 1 to 'investigation and office work' in Episode 2 to 'routine cleanup and sabotage' in Episode 3.
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What sabotage? Helen's agenda- the strange behaviour exhibited since Series 2 is finally explained and it is NOT 'revenge' or 'world domination'. Remember how at the end of Series 1 Helen went off on her latest adventure to find the future anomaly the predator came from? Well it seems she found it and discovered the world's fate-and claims to have found evidence that the future wasteland we saw was caused by radiation and magnetism from an experiment on the anomalies. Everything she's done in Series 2 and 3- helping Leek sabotage the ARC, agreeing with Stephen's 'tell the public about the danger' idea, cloning some backup using future advancements, even turning up now just as Lester's colleague Christine is after his job- has been part of her attempts to discover how to STOP the 'apocalypse' and save life on earth from a premature extinction. And with the ARC and our heroes the only ones with the knowledge and resources to experiment on anomalies and predators, Helen believes them responsible, which means they have to die.
Special mention to Juliet Aubrey; she's gone from selfish wife to pioneering explorer to the jaded and damaged scientist we see here, and both this cliched 'apocalyptic future' idea and her potentially cliched 'vengeful villain' character have avoided cliche and had more impact thanks to her performance. Moments like her musing aloud as a clone of Cutter, once her husband and co-worker, stands dumbly nearby and then she notices it and says 'what am i talking to you for?', or the barely-there shakiness in her eyes and voice when Cutter asks if she cloned Stephen after his death( a way for him to return?) sell the story in a grounded way even as the 2009 setting itself becomes history.( So many stories are celebrated for their nostalgic settings, despite having actually been set in the then-present day; Primeval's heavy emphasis on the everyday good and bad without using too many quickly-dated memes and fads will hopefully be just as entertaining and interesting to watch in years to come as some old shows are today.)
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As for that 'entertainment value' quotient, no worries. From the team's capture as Becker and the various maintenence staff are ambushed by the clones, to Cutter trying to reason with his slightly-more-intelligent clone as Helen lets him live in exchange for his help figuring out future anomaly tech like the Artefact Christine's man Captain Ross lost; to the bit where a clone fights back by singlehandedly knocking out a choking Lester and violent Abby, then just picks up both Jenny and Sarah by the throats and throttles them! That's three main characters strangled to death onscreen if Connor hadn't carried out Sarah's idea of using on-record audio of Helen(from her Series 1 interrogation, another unobtrusive flashback/fanservice) over the PA system to distract and confuse the obiedient clones. Oh, and then Cutter's reasoning comes back to bite him as his clone is the only one smart enough to resist 'Helen''s voice. And talking of fanservice, does Becker in a tight t-shirt with his hair messed up singlehandedly fighting the clone about to stop Connor count( plus seeing Connor trying to help by whacking the clone with his laptop after it shuts it ON his fingers is funny)?
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And as if beating up the rest of the team wasn't enough, Cutter then 'dies'- or rather his clone, just resistant enough to give Cutter a few seconds to run away after Helen before he BLOWS UP THE ARC. Unfortunately for Helen, the team/'real villains' escape the burning ARC with nothing but bruises and smoke inhalation( VERY special mention to the effects here- the ARC reduced to a burning, sparking, smoky, rubble-strewn, clone-corpse strewn mess and the panic outside as the staff flee and emergency services are called is great). Obviously she hasn't heard that series finales and openers have the highest fatality rate, no TV in the Permian after all. However, the iffiness of some of the hospital comedy earlier is added to momentarily; first Cutter's insistence on checking the main corridor for Helen is met with NO argument or physical restraint from the team except one sentence from Jenny, then a good minute of the ARC deteriorating and Helen trying to take the safety off her gun is also met with no action from anyone, then a clueless discussion about the Macguffin Artefact wastes yet more time. Even Cutter says 'Oh for gods sake' with an eye roll at this point-
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BANG.
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In the smoke and confusion, Helen's gun goes off.
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Helen's eyes, surrounded by earlier tear-tracks, are wide.
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Jenny flinches, mouth open.
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Abby shakily looks toward Connor.
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Connor staggers, eyes dulled.
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Cutter knows nothing can be done.
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Becker's blood is visible.
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Sarah stares uncomprehendingly, her top red.
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And Lester looks down at the bullet hole.
Professor Nick Cutter, the show's main character, is shot dead by his wife Helen. One minute Cutter is dragging a dazed Helen out of the burning ARC(''You know what, Helen; you're not as smart as i thought you were.''); next, she pulls a gun on him and reminds him that she believes the ARC and it's associates guilty of genocide, and shoots him with shaking yet determined hand. And this is no trick; his clone was blown up and there is no anomaly-related timey-wimey rescue. We don't see him hit, like with Ryan, but we do see him die, unlike Stephen or Leek; giving more impact and finality. Connor races in after Cutter, but it's too late to try and drag him out and get help, so instead Connor agrees to stay with Cutter as he dies;
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Cutter:*stares at Connor sitting beside him* It's on you now.
Connor: *weakly* No, it can't be... it's always us!
Cutter:*weakly* No... *eyelids flutter shut* ...not this time. *slumps head on Connor's shoulder* Tell... *slurs* ...tell Claudia Brown... never mind... doesn't matter.
*Connor just stares into the distance. Then, slowly, he rests his head on Cutter's.*
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*Outside, Connor carries Cutter out of the smoke, all sound distant; then it comes flooding back as the others help him lay Cutter down.
Jenny: Nick..!
*Abby feels for a pulse but finds none*
Abby: W-What? *shakes head in confusion and denial, looking upset. Connor looks at her sadly, then straight to Jenny.*
Jenny:*looks from him to Cutter in horror and hurt* Oh God... there was something i wanted to tell him. *behind her, a blurred redhead in green staggers back- reminscent of Claudia in the Forest Of Dean*
*genuinely sad music swells as she looks at the still Cutter. Sarah just stares down at him, mute and uncomprehending. Abby starts crying as Becker looks worriedly to Connor, who stares down at Cutter sadly.*
Connor: I won't let you down, Professor.
Lester: *tries to glance at Cutter, upset, then looks away* Will somebody get this man in an ambulance NOW!
*one last look at Cutter's face, as though he will move or speak at any moment, as the camera zooms out to show the whole group standing over him as Abby hugs Connor and Jenny reaches for Cutter's hand; the music is all but gone as the view fades to black.*
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'Diilictodon' starts off as a nicely low key but often daft routine incident, then suddenly combines some excellent acting and action with satisfying plot twists and emotive presentation to deliver a finale-level event; only to end not with a resolution and cliffhanger ending for next time, but a sudden yet not cheap and quite final end to one of the most reliable and important characters. It turns out Cutter's more subdued attitude this series was not just due to depression and grief, but a deliberate move to try and get us used to proceedings without him. If there was ever a way to convince us the cliched 'main couple survive, villains are utterly defeated' path would not be followed, this was it; and with such a move opening up endless possibilities for casting and character arcs it was worth it. But that doesn't change the fact that Primeval's protaganist and leader is gone; Nick Cutter, the clumsy, brave, stubborn, ill-tempered, kind, old-fashioned, smart, grieving, funny, awestruck man who got the government to set up a research and rescue operation on the anomalies is dead and gone, leaving the rest of the Primeval world to carry on without him. And thank you so much to Douglas Henshall; without your casting and performance, neither Cutter nor Primeval would have seemed so genuine and exciting.
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Next time, can Jenny, Connor, Abby Lester, Sarah and Becker carry on chasing the anomalies and facing Helen and the general public?
Primeval Series 1-2 Fan Contributions
Spoilers Ahead
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Over it's 6-year run, Primeval gained a dedicated fanbase who have since done their best to keep the memory of the A.R.C. team alive through various fan projects such as music videos, fanfiction and fanart. Now that my series reviews are a ways along and any major spoilers already dealt with, i can recommend where to find Primeval in it's present form and learn about and enjoy the story in a whole new light. For now to avoid bringing up spoilerific results related to future episodes before the next reviews are out, i'm only going to list Series 1 and 2 fan works with the odd vague glimpse of Series 3. As the Primeval fanfiction archive is significantly bigger than the video archive, i will be publishing the video list first. The following fan videos are listed in roughly series-chronological order;
(Disclaimer; the following works are the property of the provided authors, not me or any associates of mine nor Wix or any of their associates nor Impossible Pictures or any of their associates. Only works listed on the sites Youtube and Fanfiction will be listed and any viruses or other damage received from visiting alternate sites is the responsibility of the searcher, Anomaly21 does NOT recommend using such sites or making illegal downloads.)
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Primeval: A Beautiful Lie - 4mins18secs - AleXXXa2007 - s1 Cutter/Claudia/Helen/Stephen
Stephen- From Yesterday - 3mins54secs - Emma Hiley - s1e2 Stephen/Cutter/Abby/Helen
Stephen ~ Immortals - 3mins13secs - Olivia Smith - s1 Stephen/Abby/Monsters
On Rope Swings & Avalanches || - 3mins34secs - xHybridBeautyx - s1 Stephen/Abby
See you soon // Nick & Claudia - 1min39secs - eirene - s1 Claudia/Cutter/Finale
Nick&Claudia(Primeval)- Made For You - 3mins2secs - Jackie1609f - s1 Cutter/Claudia
Primeval: Coldplay- Twisted Logic - 4mins25secs - FINALHEAD - s1 Cutter/Helen/Claudia
Primeval: Dreaming Wide Awake - 4mins20secs - Tonttu0 - s1/2 Cutter/Claudia/Jenny
Primeval - I'm Not So Tough N/C - 5mins1sec - Pandora576 - s1/2 Claudia/Cutter/Jenny
Nick and Claudia/Jenny- Then You Look At Me - 3mins43secs - eszterella - s1/2 Cutter/Claudia/Jenny
Primeval Tribute - 3mins24secs - Davidgb5 - s1/2 Action/Monsters
Primeval - Requiem for a dream - 4mins5secs - Dragonlunch - s1/2 Action/Monsters/Pairings
Primeval || Faded - 3mins36secs - Wikidwitch - s1/2 Claudia/Cutter/Jenny
Primeval: creeping in my soul - 3mins56secs - bboythekidstudios - s2e4 Action/Monsters( 424000vws)
Primeval- Stephen and Helen - 3mins58secs - chucky1607 - Helen/Stephen/Cutter
Primeval- I Said never again - 3mins25secs - Dragonlunch - s1/2 Connor/Abby/Action
Stephen Hart // Final Hour ((primeval)) - 2mins51secs - gonewiththetime - s1/2 Stephen/Action
Hardest Of Hearts - [Stephen & Connor] - 2mins38secs - 7key9 - s1-2/HD/Moments
Primeval Nick/Stephen/Helen - 3mins30secs - WinterSkyePhoenix - s2 take a wild guess
broken-a connor/stephen tribute - 3mins42secs - s1-2/Alternate/Sepia
Abby & Stephen- ''Valentine's Day'' - 3mins20secs - xoxobooba - s1/2 Stephen/Abby/Red
Primeval- Cutter and Stephen- Falling Apart - 2mins57secs - Emmie3303 - s1/2 Cutter/Stephen
Primeval Music Video- Fighter - 4mins5secs - Camron Jo - s2 Team/Action/Finale
Primeval tribute - 3mins33secs - MultiBattler - s1/2 Action/Monsters
Primeval: we are - 3mins57secs - kylie Goodison - s1/2 Characters/Pairings/Action
Stephen Hart -Sinking - 1min43secs - Twilightmadgirl - s1/2 Stephen/Moments
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Primeval Season 3 Episode 4 Review 'Giganotosaurus'
Spoilers Ahead( DON'T WATCH THESE OPENING CREDITS/PRE CREDITS TILL SEEN EPISODE 5!)
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Hey everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! I've been ill recently, so apologies for the delay. This time we're revisiting the Primeval team in the aftermath of last time's shock ending, and as i haven't seen this next episode/part of Primeval for a while i've decided to do a 'live' review of it, where i type out my commentary as i watch the episode. Anyway, on with the show...
The episode starts with a inside look at Christine and Captain Joseph Wilder's workplace.
Me: So far it's unclear exactly what Christine does, but her and Wilder( Alex Mcsweeney Eastenders, Hollyoaks), are both convincingly professional in their actions and mannerisms. Music is barely there, good. 'Harness the power of Predators'?! Oh c'mon, how many people are involved in the whole 'future' scenario they're hinting at? This is basically a rehash of Leek's 'amoral/ambitious colleague of Lester's wants control of the anomalies/anomaly operation/ARC' storyline. It's probably more convincing that Leek could've rented a warehouse and hired/paid off a couple of ARC soldiers/mercenaries though than a high-up(MI5) official could run an entire predator-capturing, anomaly-studying facility with tens of soldiers right under both the Minister/goverment and the ARC's nose.
And WHY does she want this anyway? Again it's a rehash of a storyline that only concluded the episode before Christine arrived, where the general idea is someone wants to access/control the future and it's technology/predators/knowledge etc. Back in Series 1 the only 'series arc' needed was the development of the team and the anomalies, but here there's a big focus on series arcs over plentiful entertaining episodes. Still, the predator CGI is better than ever. Oh, and 'anomaly cloaking device'? An interesting idea but it gets forgotten quickly... OH, WELL DONE! The opeing credits put Danny Quinn from episode 2 as team leader! Way to spoil his return! Sigh...
The ARC team are busy fixing the damage done by the bomb, but not everything can be mended.
Me: Nice music here, sad and subtle. What a downer to open on though, everyone is muted in a shocked, strained sort of way, and the lack of music and sounds/sights of repair work add to the setting. And leaving Becker offscreen for now helps as his reaction would be a contrast seeing as he didn't know Cutter well. Ha, even Lester is uncomfortable- wait, Jenny's the team leader for now? Nice!
As female leads in ensemble casts go, this change from three series of a seemingly-will-always-be-there male lead is interesting and Jenny has a good balance of dedication and humor. Ah, nice ironic reflection of the s2e4 scene where a black-clad tired Jenny is watching the ARC from the ramp railing. And between the anomaly locking device Connor is working on and Sarah's historical expertise, hopefully the damage dealt to Series 3's story potential can be fixed? Sarah's budding friendship with Jenny adds more to their characters too.
The team- followed by journalist Mick Harper- head to the anomaly alert unhidden by Christine's cloaking device, only for her and her men to turn them away at the door. They return to their cars to discover Mick has stolen Jenny's anomaly detector from her car.
Me: Ha, nice team shot there as they turn to the opening elevator. How does Becker and Wilder recognising each other affect anything, another forgotten/not enough episodes for it storyline, appparently Wilder got the first name 'Joseph' too. Good surprise shot/sound of a mysterious figure watching Mick flee with the detector. Ha Jenny and Christine's authority-off! Good reaction from Lester, angry and concerned. 'Jack'? Love this, three or four plot threads running already and then out of absolutely NOWHERE a random phone call posits a threat to our new main potential couple. Best of all, you never get floods of exposition/technobabble- the characters don't seem to know much more than the audience does, enhancing immersion.
A big anomaly opens at a aircraft hangar, sending both the team and Mick and his colleagues including boss Katherine Kavanagh with their stolen detector on their way, whilst Abby and 'Jack' are nowhere to be seen...
Me: Aww, Connor keeping Jenny informed and her patting his shoulder is sweet, seems giving them more screentime together can work well. Darn, Mick's managed to convince his boss he's telling the truth, although i almost felt sorry for his failed attempts before. Jenny doesn't know who Jack is either, huh... oh,no, don't go near the anomaly journos..! Wha- they've contacted Nigel Marven? LOL! A celebrity cameo is one way to add to the authenticity. And another plot thread with the mysterious biker, hopefully... this anomaly locking device Connor's tried to make should be interesting. Nigel's expenses, lol! Omigod they just ran Mick over LOL! Serve him right! 'Creature'? Uh oh... although that 'it's really frightening' line sounded fake. He does look worried though, as do Connor and Jenny bless- ahaha he locked them in! That grinning jerk, 'thanks for the scoop Jenny'! Lol! And Connor's impressed- ahaha! Jenny calling Becker and in the background Connor justs barrels into the door ineffectively and falls over, comedy music too! This must've been a fun role for Nigel Marven...
A MASSIVE G-Rex comes through the anomaly and attacks the journos and camera crew, whilst the biker turns out to be a job-hunting Danny Quinn who frees Jenny and Connor.
Me: Cool, a big anomaly as opposed to last time's smaller one. ANOTHER plot thread as a journo possibly with a camera witnesses the g-rex and anomaly then drives off? God this show needed more episodes... Nigel Marven just got eaten! LOL! Ha, glad they chose entertainment over but-Nigel-Marven-is-alive there, good oppurtunity. But can't we see ANY violence? I know this went out at 6.45, but just glimpses of people running and yelling with not so much as a ketchup packet is ridiculous. However, the hiding in the car and still filming, only to be flipped over with additional POV of Katherine and Mick inside and then trapped and hearing everyone else get eaten is nasty, although the music merely suggests 'exciting' sadly.
Danny's serious but excited attitude is a good reminder he's new to all this and the recent events, and allows him to provide humor and excitement whilst the others carry on the story arc. Nice lone smoking flipped car shot. Being trapped with a corpse has finally given the journos a reality check huh, acting from Mick/Katherine and Jenny's reaction helps. Honestly they're doing well throwing so much in to distract from Cutter's absence.
Whilst all this was happening, a relative( one who dislikes the new TARDIS team and Doctor to the point of only agreeing to watch one episode under the pretense Bradley is the new Doc a'la previous entertainer Mccoy/Tate-style appointments) entered and was eager to watch.
Relative: Uh oh, ****, that thing is defintely going to pinch you Nigel! What's the matter with him? 'Keep filming' she's(Katherine) mad! Bet they(Connor/Jenny) are glad they're safe locked up. I can't remember what's next... hmm, Danny. He did just save them. Sigh... ha, yeah, now he's(Mick)asking for help! Ha(Lester 'doesn't care if Christine's been struck by lightning')! She's(Katherine) mad! Danny can help(Danny refuses to leave, to Jenny's frustration)!
The G-Rex now outside the hangar chasing a couple of lone staff, Becker arrests Mick and Katherine whilst Lester calls Christine.
Me: Ha, the journos are totally serious about 'you can't cover this up from the world', exactly. Finally Becker, enough getting left out so you don't end the ep by shooting the creature.
Relative: oh ***k, the creature's back! How will skinny Katherine bash the locked door? CONNOR( he got sparked by his anomaly locker, good pain acting)! Funny, those pilots don't expect to see anything at eye level. AHAHAHA! Great lines in this. Oh, (Jenny's)car always floods when you don't want them too... IT WON'T START! Trouble is it's gonna knock the car on her. DANNY QUINN( He's had flying lessons so steals a chopper)! Meanwhile*tuts and laughs at Mick and Katherine bargaining for the story profits, as do i!*, that's his incentive to get out!
Me: Nice s1 happy music when Connor's anomaly locker works on the big anomaly, this is a cool moment! Becker works well with the shotgun, awesome, almost Resident Evil style. And vs a G-Rex!
Relative: (as creature)*What's that? Looks tasty!* Oh god! As Connor distracts it they can get the staff away. Oh bummer(it leans over Connor), it must smell the blood. Me: GREAT music here, creepy and it's footseps reverberate nicely! And Connor actually hit it with a vehicle and knocked it over, some action for him! And it's knocking over the attached trailer is a 'oh crap' moment, lol. Relative: HAHAHAHHAHA(Connor has to sit on a protesting Becker's lap in Abby's mini, LOL!)! Oh no locking the anomaly is a bad thing now! Look Mick bashed the door open and she(Katherine) just ran off and left him! Just run men! She's(Katherine) really staying with the camera? Good for Mick(saying he quits)! Wait for Danny, he'll come back( he distracted g-rex by flying a helicopter into anomaly). Oh thank god Danny's ok, what did he do winding up a charging dinosaur!
Me: NO Mick got eaten along with Katherine! Pity, he was entertaining... lovely original peaceful music here, really touching and the team are just about coping. What the- Lol! That Jack is in Abby's flat in a towel? That'll scare the Connor/Abby hopefuls( he's actually just her brother looking for somewhere to stay, casting is good as they could be siblings.
Relative: HAHA Danny's taken off again to avoid arrest by Becker! Ha yes Lester the civil service is bad! Stupid woman Christine, where does she think an anomaly will lead her? A better job? Noteriety? That was good, i liked that episode.
Me: Glad you think so, now my hands have fallen off from speed-typing yours and my own thoughts without pausing the dvd once...
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Primeval's first episode without it's leading man is a pivotal moment where the show has to rely on the strength of it's ensemble cast as opposed to many one-man or double-act focused shows, and it suceeds at this. That said, Jenny and Connor carry the episode along with Mick; Jenny's mix of determination and nervousness and Connor's kindness and unusually strained manner work both together and apart. Sarah's few but supportive and muted lines work alongside both, but Becker only gets a couple of lines as he protects the others . And Abby is unusually sidelined, given no material except a vaguely sad demeanour and interaction strictly limited to Connor and very briefly Jack.
As for the conclusion of the journalism and media threat, Ruth Gemmell's short appearence as Katherine fits and the staging and escalation of the storyline is amusing and engaging. Finally, thanks to Ramon Tikram for his part as Mick Harper; contributing both a comedic and understandable performance to what could've been an insignificant and illogical role. It's either a pity or an oppertunity that we don't actually see Mick's demise- where Cutter saw Stephen die and Lester saw Leek die, only one scream and brief shock from the team indicate the anomaly didn't hide the g-rex eating the pair and it's possible only one of them got crunched. This episode's setting and cgi beast are simple and effective and the various plot threads and characters juggled with mostly success, resulting in an interesting transitionary episode.
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Next time, the new team settles into their roles; but not the ones they expected...
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Primeval Series 2-3 Fan Contributions
Spoilers Ahead (from s1 to first half of s3)
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Primeval- Pictures of You - 3mins11secs - Fire-Dragon - s1-3 Characters/Action/Pairings
Nick/Claudia- Miles From Where You Are - 3mins04secs - lolalolalola101 - s1-2 Claudia/Cutter/Jenny
Nick & Jenny/Claudia- Real World - 3mins55secs - jackie1609f - s2-3 Jenny/Cutter/Claudia
Claudia and Nick- One Day Too Late - 3mins34secs - thinktwice1997 - s1-3 Cutter/Claudia/ARC
Primeval- what about now - 4mins11secs - Amfran - s1-2 Connor/Abby/Cutter
Cutter| Turning Tables - 1min38secs - lizzylozzi - s1-3 Cutter/Characters
The Other Side- A Tribute To Nick Cutter - 3mins48secs - purzelundhasi76 - s1-3 Cutter
Connor & Abby- Down(primeval) - 3mins54secs - primevalismydrug - s2 Connor/Abby/Cutter
Primeval Cutter and Connor Hurt - 4mins05secs - weirdgirl5685 - s2-3 Connor/Cutter
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Primeval Season 3 Episode 5 Review 'Fungus'
Spoilers Ahead( STILL don't watch the opening credits, pre-title sequence is fine)
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Hey everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! Winter is coming, both for us and the Primeval team...
The episode opens with a businessman's assistant admiring his art collection; including one with a great light effect...
Me: Nice opening sequence; amusing, intriuging and to the point. The various 'art' sculptures are a laugh, i honestly wouldn't be surprised to see one of those in a gallery... and this particular anomaly looks great, although it does close convieniently quickly. I like hiw you can immediately tell it leads to the future by certain motifs- the stormy sky, the misty and dusty air, the strange and deadly life- and 'futuristic tropical jungle' is a cool idea. The switch from a modern, techno track to a curious sound is nice too, and a fungus/pollution/spore/epidemic is a good new threat. Marks down for STILL not adding Becker/Ben Mansfield to the credits yet, though...
'I know some of the creatures can be frightening, but surely this many pairs of underpants is overdoing it'Lol! Connor is lucky he doesn't get fired for sleeping at the ARC though, especially with the diilictons trying to escape. Nice to see Jenny leading the team against any intruders. 'Helen- shoot on sight'? Haha, about time! 'You've really got to do something about your security'- DANNY! Nice how Connor and sometimes the others smile at the situation themselves, much less intrusive than the whole 'laughter track/comedy music' idea. Neat fungus effect, and transition from normal to feverish behaviour by Sir Richard. That bit with the plant lab door opening was weird, wher'd the lab tech go?
Seeing the team doing the less glamorous jobs like cleaning up finds and caring for exotic plants and creatures adds to the authenticity- this version of the ARC/anomaly operation is by far the most comprehensive, covering anomaly mapping(Cutter,Connor), temporal flora and fauana(Abby), artefacts and technology (Sarah/Connor), military and firepower(Becker), the creature menagerie and database (Abby/Connor), translations and languages(Sarah), security and media/press handling(Jenny/Lester), and management/connections(Lester/Cutter,Jenny).
'Why are you keeping animals in the ARC?'Lol! Yes, fix it now Becker! OH, Christine's volunteering Wilder for team leader position?
Could be an interesting plot line having a double-agent lead, especially as Wilder gets on with Becker and seems fairly reasonable. Between Jenny's leadership and Connor's knowledge though, no need. So the race is on to deal with the anomaly despite Christine's interference- OH CRAP! Nice mood whiplash there- 'action' music, a brief sad note as Jenny is about to leave Cutter's lab and head out when she finds THE PHOTO OF CLAUDIA BROWN! 'When was that taken?' ha, bless Sarah and Becker's newbie naivety and curiosity. And Jenny doesn't even have time to process the revelation, sounds like she could cry...
Continuity error as that isn't the same photo Cutter tore up, and no mention of a second. Why would he even have a second? It might be meant to be different though, there's no sign of Cutter or anyone else whereas the first had Cutter's arm round her and a different outfit. Cutter had no family? Ok, mentioned/seen family members rundown; Cutter an only child with dead parents, Helen has an aunt, Connor has a mum, Abby has a brother and dead/absent parents(word of god-troubled childhood), Claudia's an only child, Jenny has family mentioned later, Ryan ?, Lester's married with kids, Sarah ?, Danny had a brother and parents, Becker ?, any others could be mentioned later(or in the various novels).
Yep, nice views of London and it's landmarks throughout this series, always good to see reconisable locations, and with some actual people in the background too. Lester isn't giving Christine any ground, being married in real life probably helped there! She's got people and cameras inside the ARC though, damn one slip up and she'll have his job. Danny's prior qualifications help here, and this is an oppurtunity for him to help and 'audition' so to speak whilst they check out his background.
That moment where the body bag gets up behind Connor and Danny is classic. Lucky Sarah sees and warns them.
As for the creature itself- i admit when it ripped out of the bag with a 'rarr' i really laughed, but in a good 'b-movie' way. It's clearly CGI, but better looking than the Sabretooth, pilot episode Gorgonopsid, or some Diilictodon shots, and the whole 'contagious fungus infects/animates body' idea works well. And the sudden contrast with the subtle, creepy moment where Sir Richard walks into a shadow and comes out no longer human is brilliant.
More lovely lighting in the Underground tunnels here, vast improvement from Series 1's tunnels. AHAHA LOL! The Fungui creature explodes from too much heating and Danny, Connor, Lester, Sarah and the soldiers all shriek and duck from behind the glass! And more great lines from Lester- shouting 'the management accepts no responsibilty for personal loss or injury' at a rogue Danny lol! And can we call the creature 'Fungus the Bogeyman'? Flamethrowers YES, Becker and Danny are gonna grill it lol! Contrast with Abby looking great with a flamethrower yet pointing out that creature used to be a person too.
But the explosion actually spreads it, they need to freeze it instead. Ha, an actually justified technology fail as no mobile signal in the tunnels. Smart Connor opening the fridges to repel it, good freezing acting too. Shutting down and thermostat-freezing the ARC looks good. 'How about 30 seconds' lol! Now wielding carbon dioxide cannisters, nice. Wait, what's this?
*Jenny and Abby grab a couple of cannisters, then as they're leaving the main Hub Danny calls.*
Danny: The creature's in the ARC, it should be near the main operations room now.
Jenny: ...But i'm still in here.
Danny: Get out of there now!
*As Jenny hangs up, behind her the creature enters the room, stopping Abby from re-entering. Slowly Jenny turns round, looking cold and terrified, then slowly lifts the cannister as the creature sees her.*
Abby:*behind the glass*Jenny!
*Jenny runs for the door, but the creature advances. She undoes the cannister and angrily blasts the creature with freezing carbon dioxide as the temperature drops even further and Abby runs back in.*
Jenny: Abby, stay there, it's too dangerous!
Connor: What's going on?*He, Danny, Sarah, Becker and Lester join Abby behind the glass.*
*The creature roars and advances against the blasts, both it and Jenny staggering as the cold numbs them. The others cannot enter due to the fungus and freezing carbon dioxide filling the room.*
Danny: It's Jen's body heat, it's drawing it towards her.
*Behind the glass, the others all yell as Jenny hyperventilates and collapses from the cold, dropping the cannister. She fumbles weakly for it as the weakening creature reaches out for her.*
Lester: Turn off the cold air.
Sarah: But the creature's not dead yet!
Connor: It's going to kill her!
*The creature distracted, Danny tries to run in and grab Jenny but has to fend the creature off with his own cannister. As the fungus starts to feed off Jenny's body, the creature freezes and crumbles apart. The team then rush over to Jenny, but can't touch her due to the fungus spreading across her face and body. Danny tries to grab her anyway, but Connor holds him back. Then, the fungus freezes and starts to slide off her.*
Connor: Ok, she's clean!
*The team carry her out and cover her with a blanket as Abby gets the resuscitator.*
Sarah: There's still a chance we can bring her back, keep warming her!
*They continue to pump the resuscitator, but Jenny is white and there's no response.*
Connor: Not again, please...
Abby:*looks up, distraught*...There's no pulse.
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The episode ends with another team member lost. Although Jenny is resuscitated, technically dying combined with the stress of Lester/Christine/Danny and the resurrected stress of Cutter and Claudia is too much for her and she resigns. The final scenes and lines, from her whispering 'Nick?' dazedly when she wakes and Abby's bittersweet 'He's gone', to Lester's awkward support and her handing the team over to Danny with a firm handshake and a 'Good luck', to the sad yet peaceful music as she exits the main doors for the last time are pitched perfectly. As for the episode itself, it's a bit more low-key and works well as such, yet still includes some humorous moments and up-and-down action scenes to make a great all-round episode and crossover point into the newer storylines. The show has successfully entered a new era- but it wouldn't have been the same without Lucy Brown's time on the Primeval team, and the dedication and humor she lent whilst portraying both Claudia Brown and Jennifer Lewis distinctly alongside working with Cutter, Connor, Abby, Lester, Stephen, Helen, Becker and Sarah.
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Next time, Danny and the team face absolute terror...
Primeval Series 1-3.5 Fan Contributions (Spoilers Ahead)
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The Faces of a Woman ~ Helen Cutter(Primeval) - 3mins42secs - SunsetDawn20 - s1-3.5/Helen/Events
Primeval - Claudia/Nick/Jenny (Evanescence) - 3mins53secs - Jaime R - s1-3.5 gee i wonder
Jenny Lewis - Stand In The Rain - 3mins08secs - thinktwice1997 - s2-3.5/Jenny/Moments
Jenny and Lester - You Think - 3mins29secs - thinktwice1997 - s2-3.5/Lester/Jenny
Primeval--Bend and Break(Claudia Brown/Nick Cutter/Jenny Lewis) - 4mins06secs - talea100 - s1-3.5
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Primeval Season 3 Episode 6 Review 'The Birds'
Spoilers Ahead
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Happy Christmas everyone, and welcome to Anomaly Reviews! As the holiday season approaches, our group of friends both old and new get all dressed up, bring out the old photographs and stories, avoid some unwelcome guests and attempt to cook an oversized turkey...
Me: Nice intriuging opening here, period music and costumes too- have the team ended up in the 1940's? Using the 'start with a flash forward' trick works well in this case as we get to guess where and when they are. So there's a cabin in the woods, no Becker or Lester to be sarcastically reassuring, and the murderous 'they' are after the team? Maybe this doubles as a Halloween episode. Ooh, and the credits arrive with a distinctive new creature ambushing Danny! As CGI goes it's got better colouring than the Sabretooth or Diilictons but a similar 'sometimes looks fake' style. Seems to be agile and have very personality-laden animation and vocals like them as well though, probably destined to be another fan favourite. Ooh, changed credits again! Ok...AHA, Becker finally gets full billing-name and picture- and takes Jenny's place! So Danny, Connor, Abby, Sarah, Becker, Helen and Lester, no Christine at all though?
8 hours earlier, and now Danny's gone from James Bond tuxedo to Mission Impossible spy breaking into the ARC? Lucky sod. And best way of testing security ever too! PHAHA, did Becker just actually finger-gun him with a 'BANG!' and then check his fingernails? And he has this funny side whilst still being serious too. Good subtle electronic soundtrack too. And we get a stab at the 'house-based sitcom' too with Lester letting Connor stay in his spare room? Nods to different genres, awesome, and Lester staying professional whilst the diilictons shred his classified papers is a funny recipe for disaster! Oh, and some family building with Abby and Jack too, thank god the casting ensures you can actually believe they're related!
More office work as Sarah and Connor clean up and decipher the Artefact, at least it's useful for that purpose. Nice CCTV-viewpoint letting us know Christine and her men planted cameras in the ARC too to spy on their rivals. Ha Connor-and-Abby fans better watch out, Sarah seems to have a nice camadarie with Connor that makes up for her lost gang with Abby and Jenny. Oh, WOW! The artefact finally responded to their work- and produced a holographic version of Cutter's anomaly map! And a beautiful moment; the sudden music chord, the actually-not-bad-looking and pretty hologram, Sarah and Connor's sweet reactions and the realisation that Cutter's legacy lives on. Explains how he built such a good map too. But Christine saw that too, and Captain Ross is looking forward to today's work lol.'Excellent, a new definition of security. You let him ABSEIL DOWN THE VENTILATION SHAFT!' ha lol poor Becker trying to face Lester whilst Danny just smirks behind him. 'Smile boys, we're on TV'- and Danny's observation skills come in useful spotting Christine's hidden cameras.
Ugh, this. I can buy Christine claiming to have spotted her stolen Artefact at the ARC whilst on her official visit last ep and thus dropping Lester in it, but immediately invading the ARC and threatening it's staff with trained soldiers? Nah. At least it sets up the 'fugitive team' thread and lets Becker and Ross have a cool standoff. Their framing of Christine as this buttoned-up, stuck-up finger-snapping mistress is really not helping-'you've been a bad boy'? Sounds more like an iffy fanfiction, poor actress. Sarah enjoying Danny's crazy driving, complaining about losing her new phone contract and finding the dresses is so girl-next-door bless, preferable to your utterly cliched 'shallow teenage girl' any day. And now Christine's flattering pretty Becker, more fuel for romance fans! Ah, it's actually 'teenage boy' as Jack and his mates have a poker party, more nice development although the foreshadowing to Rex is too obvious.
REALLY nice soundtrack and setting here, subtly intruiging and gentle and creepy all at once, well done. The direction and lighting and dialogue is really natural here too! And more development, Danny and Abby finding alcohol and plotting traps for intruders lol. Hints here that the government discovered an anomaly here decades ago and had a meteorlogical team research it before it closed? Ooh, 1930's-1950's spinoff with the team in the photo would be cool, attract period drama fans like my family too! S'good though, more plausible than 'no official discovery of anomalies whatsoever until 2006-2007'. Oh god, poor Connor's disgust at Prof John Morton's skeleton falling on him. Nice to see Abby being light and happy again too. Aww, Becker's worry at a badly-timed anomaly. Lol hitting the Terror Bird with 1'000-quid-a-bottle corked Chateau Lafite.
Connor gets to drive dangerously and uses the braking trick he learnt in ep 4. Great action music and great direction-OH GOD! Just when there's a fictional danger chasing them and then a car crash just spears them on a fallen log! Very nicely done fakeout, although the music gives away that they're ok damnit! Lol, white/silver jeep for the good guys and black jeep for Captain Ross. Ha their suits and dresses getting all ripped/bloodied/muddied etc. I just realised, this team work so well together i've actually temporarily forgotten everyone else, nice! Ominous cornfield cliche, check! No music just scared breathing cliche, check! Abandoned minefield cliche, check! Silly making them cross it though.
Bits of bird everywhere lol! Oh ew nice windshield reflection of that soldier getting eaten complete with the Terror Bird actually visible and ripping sounds. Oh, Captain Ross's jeep just got landmined, that was brief but nice exit with burning bits of car decapitating a bird! Bless tough guy Danny looks scared and disgusted.
Abby predicting creature behaviour, good. Creepy lighting on scared faces cliche, check. Oh, AWESOME screaming and fighting the enemy as they batter down the doors/walls complete with screeching music then creepy silence and scared faces listening at the door/wall CHECK! And instead of this kids get to have nightmares from actual horror films, ffs. Helps the CGI too with only glimpses of it, looks good. Now tough guy Danny is begging for help... lol Connor waving his jacket like a matador 'i'm tastier than him'-OH GOD! Is Connor getting eaten by the pack? His weakening screaming is too convincing, Abby's helpless fear, Danny covering his face then having to run unable to help, and the briefly lower music all says so. Oh god now Sarah's cornered, she just looks about to cry in fear.
Connor got away and saved Sarah! Luring the Terror Birds away with the record player, nice. Come to think some of this new music sounds s1-esque. Er, the team and Lester lined up like naughty schoolkids and tricking the bullying Christine is a bit rushed. Oh gawd Sarah embraced Becker, that's how rumors start. Oh, gorgeous ending with the well-chosen song and the team cheering, just finalizes thing-yep Jack gambled Rex and lost. Lol, this should be good!
Overall, 'The Birds' is just one of the show's best episodes. Ignore the slightly childish invasion setup, and you have an episode that completely and seamlessly makes you forget about all the previous characters for 45 minutes and is one of the better episodes with exciting direction, an authentic-looking setting, varied and evocative music and characters and a cool new creature. It's time to relax and enjoy this era of the show, but can it continue?
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Next time, another delve into history's encounters with the anomalies...
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(for reference, my prior recommended episodes; s1e1, s1e5, s1e6, s2e3, s2e5, s2e6, s3e2, s3e3.)
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Primeval Season 3 Episode 7 Review 'Dracorex'
Spoilers Ahead
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Hey Everyone, welcome back to Anomaly Reviews and hope you're enjoying the new year! This time Tony Curran guests as a tortured travelling redhead from a sociable village hundreds of years ago with a touchy vocation and a double-barreled surname, who attempts to encounter a feared and intimidating yet well-meaning motorbike-sized creature from another world which gets stabbed with the redhead's tool. He is then approached by some 21st-century dressed time travellers who sympathize with the creature, whilst an attractive female with a distinct nationality and something in common with the redhead gets closer to him and undergoes character development.
The redhead initially and repeatedly rejects the travellers heroic and clumsy efforts to help and focuses on his own personal trauma, only to be shown the records of his life and success/redemption in the 21st century and recover from his full-on wailing breakdown. He returns back to his time with the creature no longer a threat, feeling optimistic and thanking the travellers; but lies about the success of the events and his death remains recorded in the 21st century, whilst the female traveller muses on him and is reassured by the male leader. But if you don't feel like watching Doctor Who, why not try this earlier take on it by Primeval? ;p
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Me: Oh, NICE medieval setting here; varied and naturally-acting characters, detailed and not unworkably grimy/dark nor unbelievably clean/organised, vaguely holy and mood-adjusting new music, and some more period latin speaking and signs of religion; and later we get more of the castle/church as well as this forest. There always has to be an attractive female though doesn't there? And great creature too, both dragony and dinosaur-like and just distinctive and nice-looking enough to join the 'friendlier/pet creatures' list. Talking of which, lol- hiding under the duvet isn't gonna save you from Abby now you sold her rare pet, Jack...
And now you, yes YOU random workman at a scrapyard, can find a magnetic anomaly messing with the scrap and fight off a dragon with your grabber claw! Again, the boring yet familiar everyday setting are THE BEST, and little touches like the guy's chain being magnetised, piles of cars knocked over, and between-the-cars and car wing-mirror shots get you involved. Lol Connor trying to hide Rex being on Ebay from Sarah and Abby, damn those auctions can get out of hand sometimes... and the music changes from danger to hope as they scare the Dracorex back through the anomaly, the end-*medieval knight on silver steed leaps through anoamly*- oh.
Sarah the researcher speaks Latin fine, but Danny the cop? HMM. And the competition continues- last ep Danny rescued Sarah from the car crash and car explosion/bird, then she embraced Becker instead, now Danny's touching her hair and trying to protect her from a medieval knight. And a costume festival stops the unusually big amount of extras/Londoners questioning the guy in armor and seeing Danny and Connor chase him past shops and bars whilst back on the outskirts a windswept Abby sees the Dracorex though the car windows is more awesomeness. And more eye candy too- last ep ripped tuxedos and dresses, this ep Sarah changing through various medieval dresses in a changing room. Lines like 'Dragon, knight- damsel in distress?', 'He'll stick out like a sore-*sees festival*-...thumb.' and 'No splitting up, have you not seen any horror films?' amuse amongst the more straightforward dialogue too.
Nice seamless switch from modern day pub to medieval inn-Sarah gets to see the history she researches in person, aw! Meanwhile, Danny and Connor get into a pub brawl with the knight-Sir William De Mornay-and a biker wearing 'Satan's mark! The biker grabs a broken bottle but ends up hiding under the snooker table, Danny tries to kick the knight's armor-plated crotch and the knight is just shakes his head, then only Connor is left and he grabs some darts from a dartboard with a grin bless and the knight's just like 'really?' LOL! Just hope that scarf'll hide Sarah from any hostile towards her color, and emptied chamber pots too...and Becker learns more about helping the non-hostile creatures at the 'Dinosaur Transportation Field Hospital' lol.
Ugh, creature surgery- though it looks/sounds good and shots like a hesitant Becker reassuring Abby's reflection and Abby 'oh i'm a demon alright' kicking the knight in the face and protecting the Dracorex are great. Ha, one of the kids at the church is like 'Are you a witch from the Holy Land?' to Sarah and she's like 'No, and a bot further than that' and bribes him with 'muddy' chocolate! And in contrast- Sir William tries to return to the church and it's just a ruin full of old graves INCLUDING HIS OWN... no wonder he thinks he is dead and gone to Hell. And the music going from the s1 reassurance, to normal silence as Danny and Connor answer their mobiles, to an unholy cresending echo...
Actually the knight/his outfit/his gear is authentically dirty/bloody/rusty, good. And a final fight between Danny and Sir William 'with God on his side' as the classic music cresends... awesome! And as Sarah drives there, the knight's like 'You are an imp!' and Danny's like 'You sound just like my mother' lol. And the direction, field and dusky sky and cars in the distance behind the swordfight! At least Sarah can point out to Sir William that he is in the 'world to come', but they can't kill him or his date of death and descendants will not exist- and then he just picks Sarah up and carries her off and she's like 'Danny, help!' indignantly!
Nice, Abby visibly going from confusion to fear to anger as Sir William advances chanting a prayer and throws Sarah and Connor aside, then she just kicks him in the face and he's like 'You show strange courage for a demon', no wonder with her short-haired trouser-clothed contrast to Sarah. Becker and Danny mustn't kill him, but she tries to comfort him. Then Sir William returns to his own home and lies that the beast has been vanquished rather than rescued by strangers, and the lovely s1 Permian music plays... then switches to a comedic vaguely 'mexican standoff' riff, as Connor faces Jack's gambling buddy and gets Rex back with a little help from a t-shirted, sunglasses-wearing, gum-chewing Becker and his men in what is not the most dramatic or moving but certainly the funniest episode ending ever, lol!
In all, 'Dracorex' is just an all-round great episode, another addition to the list of top episodes and a great one for newcomers as it requires little to no prior knowledge or emotional investment. The direction and settings in particular deserve singling out, whilst EVERY cast member bar Lester and Christine is given at least a couple of scenes. There are only a few 'human history/incidents' eps in Primeval's run- Helen's disappearance in s1e1/2/3, the various Predator attacks in s1e6, the timeline change/ARC and it's staff/Claudia and Ryan in s1e6/s2e1/2 and 7, the Egyptian history and gods in s3e1, the missing boys/Danny arc in s3e2, and now this( and more to come!). At least for now the past is safe...
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Next time, is the future threatened- or the threat?
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Primeval Series 3 Fan Contributions
Spoilers Ahead (from s1 to s3.7)
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Primeval-Make Me Wanna Die - 3mins46secs - thinktwice1997 - s1-3.3 Pairings/Helen/Lester
Jenny And Nick-She Will Be Loved - 4mins15secs - thinktwice1997 - s2-3.5 Chronological/Jenny/Nick
Like A Knife Nick/Claudia/Jenny - 4mins26secs - BattlestarChick - s1-3.5 Events/Chronological
Tribute To Jenny Lewis-Pick Me Up - 3mins22secs - Null - s2-3.5 Chronological/Cutter
ARC Team Is Go-Primeval - 3mins20secs - MusicPrincess1997 - s1-3.6 Characters/Action/Leek
Primeval-That Don't Impress Me Much - 4mins24secs - FlamingButterfly - s1-3.6 Pairings/Helen/Ryan
Abby Supergirl - 3mins2secs - Angel Song - s1-3.7 Abby/Moments
Connor Temple(All The Right Moves-OneRepublic) - 3mins22secs - G. - s1-3.7 Connor/Moments
Naturally-Connor/Sarah - 3mins27secs - RandomPandaGirl - s1-3.7 Sarah/Connor/Moments
Primeval:Connor&Sarah(Running Up That Hill) - 4mins19secs - Sally Lee - s1-3.7 Dark/Moments
​
Primeval Season 3 Episode 8 Review''Megopteran'
Spoilers Ahead
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Me:Hey Everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! This time it's Primeval taking a leaf out of Doctor Who's journal and trying the 'hold a competition for a fan to design something for the show' tric-wait, did i put in a Top Gear dvd by mistake..?
*an awesome tune plays as two shiny racing cars zoom by, then ends as Danny's jeep screeches to a halt. Protesting as they are jolted out of their seats, the team exits the vehicle.*
Sarah:*sweeping hair aside and glaring at Danny's back*Was that really necessary?
Danny: My car, my rules.
Connor:*mutters*I hate it when you pull rank...
Becker: Yeah well i hate sitting in the back!
Connor: You sat in the front last time!
Becker:*indignant*Who keeps count?!
Abby:*smirks*Connor does.
*behind them a gate/barrier operator bangs on his hut window and makes shooing gestures and muffled shouts at them. Danny offhandedly glances and raises a hand, then turns away as Connor waves at the man.*
Connor: Friendly here aren't they?
Me: Ha, Danny tests the darkened open lorry by tossing a coin inside only for the creature to come down from on top instead. Oh my-lucky i don't have a bug phobia, 'cause that is a GIANT hairy clicking wasp with long sharp pincers/legs and a sting and wings too and honeycomb-eye POV and tough guy Danny's just running and yelling-oh. EWWW but also LOL it just got splatted by the racing car and covered Danny in splatted bug. Still the kids'll laugh at him getting slimed, and nice touch how the windscreen wiper just wipes the goo off the racing car's windshield! Yep, that's a definite contender for Best Episode Opening...
Oh bless Sarah really doesn't like insects, whilst Abby's preparing to do an autopsy on it...'Yknow in
most fights with an ant i'd fancy my chances' lol bad luck Danny, and no Connor i bet there's nothing like it in the fossil records. Aw Connor and Sarah work well together, him disbelieving that she can work the anomaly locker just as well as him and then seriousness at her not wanting any more of those bugs, but his comforting her involves pointing out he's afraid of zombies! To be fair they could discover some sort of mind-messing plague. Abby don't act so suspicious when Jack asks about your 'detector satnav' that'll just encourage him-Ooh new home visit! So that's where Lester's work flat is huh?
*Lester stands in front of an exotic mirror, adjusting a bow tie(hey, before the Doctor made it cool!) and reciting in Mandarin. Connor walks past, then does a double take and steps back to face him.* Connor:*reads book title*Bluff Your Way In Mandarin?
Lester: I'm going to a private reception for the Chinese Ambassador.
Connor: Cool. Can i be you plus one? *Lester just silently turns to face him* I'll take that as a no. I wouldn't know what to eat anyway! Not unless the numbers were down the side of the menu.
*Connor starts to walk away again, then notices a torn piece of paper on the floor and picks it up; it's Lester's glossy invite to the Chinese Embassy, WITH BITE MARKS ON IT.*
Lester:*looks around*Where's my invite? It was here a minute ago...
Connor:Huh?*hides invite behind back*
Lester: I said have you seen my invitation? It was just here.
Connor:*frozen by doorway*Maybe it's in your jacket?
*Lester pops into the other room. Connor turns to hide the invite, then notices something in the doorway he's standing in. He grabs at something dark and whispers 'Nancy!' as his pet Diilicton growls, then quickly turns back and blocks the doorway as Lester reappears.*
Lester:*looking bewildered*I can't find my jacket now-*hears growling*-what's that noise?
Connor:*shakes head, looking worried*I didn't hear anything.
Lester:*sees movement behind Connor, looks cross*Connor!
*Lester moves Connor aside and grabs hold of his torn dinner jacket. The Diilicton growls and tugs at it, and Lester's shiny shoes slide across the floor. He successfully yanks it away from Nancy, stamps his foot at her so she runs away, then growls angrily at a scared-looking Connor...*
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Me: We need a sitcom of this, lol! Both actors still around and less costly, why not? Hang on, why did those anomaly guards/mechanics A.not have ANY weapons in case of an incursion or Helen/Clone attack and B.Just stare at the Megopteran and not even look terrified? Oh Jack's advertising Xbox, did Connor advertise Playstation in Series 1? And who advertises Nintendo?
Lol Rex chirping at Jack for stealing Abby's detector and him realising Rex is connected to Abby's 'zoo' work and jokingly questioning him. Ha Connor showing off his new 'laser refractor' and it's more boring than impressive,but briefly serious as he mentions carrying on Cutter's work-then Danny and Sarah just wander off boredly. Even a random inconsequential scene does something. More new music as it's Jack's turn to wind up the gate operator whilst following Abby's detector. Oh, biology lesson time, nice to see more lab work even if 'Uses an ovipositor to lay eggs inside a host such as humans' is disgusting. Ah, and it registered high levels of Selenium- the chemical found on the artefact from the FUTURE...
*Jack walks into the racing garage, the anomaly hidden in the back. He happily goes to get in the racing car, only for one of the guards's dropped mobile to ring as Connor calls to let them know Danny and Becker are coming there.*
Jack:*sees caller id*Connor?
Connor:*looks suspicious*Jack? Ok now i'm confused-*Abby takes the phone*What are you doing on this phone?
Jack:Look, i know you don't work at the zoo. You work in motor racing. Abby you could have told me, i am your brother!
Abby:You stole my detector.
Jack:Well it serves you right for lying to me?*notices smell coming from underneath lorry and crouches to look*What's that? Hold on...omigod they're dead!*scrabbles to his feet in fear, dropping the phone. It continues to warble 'Dead? Who's dead? Jack, calm down and tell me what's happening' from Abby as the Megopteran crawls away from it's baby and the unrecognisable body of the guard. Abby looks at Connor helplessly as the sound of the Megopteran sticking it's head through the window of the racing car Jack is hiding in reach them. Jack dodges it and veers the car round to shake the giant bug off-only for the car to run over the anomaly locker and open the anomaly in front of the car! A startled Jack tries to swerve but drives through as we get a 1st-
person POV of driving through the anomaly- which turns out to be the one leading to the ruined city we saw Helen at in Episode 1...
Me:Wow. Well, welcome to the future Jack...and it looks AWESOME. The yellowy sky, the breeze and faint thunder, the hazy/misty air and dirt/smoke, the crumbling fire-damaged buildings and fallen statues and signs- and the crevices and sinkholes that Jack just fell into! That pose doesn't look natural... lol Becker in the background carrying everyone's equipment. Nice Sarah trying to reassure Abby and help fix the locking mechanism so Connor can help Abby. Oh, wow... the team 's reactions and trying to work out when they are is cool, and i've seen worse sets/cgi/landscapes in actual films...
Action time! Becker and Danny don't know that using a shotgun will attract the hyper-hearing of every Future Predator for miles- oh wow Connor looks out and the land is just divided into loads of ridges and islands as far as you can see like a meteorite hit! Oh Abby looking to Connor as Danny tells Becker she needs to find her brother dead or alive like he tried to find his; but despite his temper Becker is right, they're surrounded and barely armed. Jack might be already dead from the megopteran or hiding and fine so sparing a minute to step back through would be wise missing brothers or no.
EWW Danny just crushed that baby Predator in the car door, it did nearly take his head off though ouch. Abby don't just leave him and run off-what is wrong with you? 'Connor would be happy if Jack was out of the way and dead'?! Then she just shoves him and Becker aside and Danny just runs off after her to help? Ok i know Abby acted oddly and aggresively whenever Connor/Caroline was mentioned in Series 2, plus the putting down of Connor ever since Series 1; then Danny was introduced as threatening to attack the team/break into the ARC and follow the team/always drive recklessly with the team in the car/always answer back this series...yeah. But seriously, they both need to step back and stop causing trouble or any threat to them/emotional weight will no longer matter to the audience!
Connor, no! And Becker! This isn't like any warzone he's been to, and Connor hasn't even been to one- and Abby just leaves them to fight the Predator? And Danny leaves them too-he's the LEADER? So what if Jack's the only family she's got, he's been away and caused trouble and her friends have helped and saved herfor months and years! They are in character, but that's the problem... lol 'it stinks. Who are you all?' at least Jack's damaged leg/arm/ribs or fear/confusion haven't kept him down. Ah lucky Becker came prepared or Jack'd be stuck-BECKER! Oh he's drawn away the predators they attracted, gone from determined to terrified to 'good luck.'...
No Jack, Danny's not being a coward abandoning you- he's grabbing one of Becker's flares! And more wow, that explosion and the slo-mo and the muted sound-just great! Meanwhile, oh no lol frantic Sarah protecting her pizza from the baby Megopteran with a rolled-up newspaper! 'I was terrified. Where are we? Who's Becker? So? I'm sorry..."huh well Jack seems to have coped with his 'anomaly initiation'. Wait Abby-'Becker's dead, can we go home?' oh c'mon A.you didn't see or hear him get injured even, B.he was actually armed and trained, C. you can't insist he 'sacrificed himself' then abandon his body that HIS family will want in this hellscape and D.you attracted the predators away from him and towards you making that explosion to scare off the wasp just now! Oh nice-Connor wipes the window only to see a predator look in...
Jeez those Predators and this place are bleak. Oh Predator vs Megopteran, brilliant CGI and cool for creature fans! Oh hey Captain Wilder, who's ya girlfriend? Either Wilder's up to something or Christine is still after Lester's job, nice we're still getting new developments! Even the baby Megopteran is trouble, knocking the anomaly locker closed and almost smashing the protective glass Sarah was behind with one bash? Yup Becker's fine and not even out of ammo, and yep he will have to kill Jack now he knows about the anomalies!
And they're back, nice shot of them all falling back through the anomaly! 'Does that hurt hahaha' Danny don't kick Becker when he's literally down! 'That's the last time i go on work experience with you, living with you is dangerous' lol yes but if you move out that means no more Connor driving Lester crazy! Drat...ah medic helping Becker, good to show they need that. Wait Jack told Abby about Connor helping and the Rex incident? Good, bless Connor ready to defend himself'whatever it is i'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for it' lol! And OH CRAP-Abby finally gave in and kissed Connor? After 2-3 years of nagging, shouting, crying, punching him in the nose without so much as a glance, accusing him of wanting her brother dead, kicking him out of her massive 2-floor loft because 'no room' and smiling/hugging/giving dating advice/kissing his cheek/letting him or asking him to go into various dangerous situations/otherwise flirting then ignoring him/sniping at him CONSTANTLY for one kiss?! Not.Worth.It.
No Danny don't shout and beckon fans and Connor have been waiting actual years for th-too late, and they both just left without a word to Connor. Oh god now to tell Lester what happens to the world and the presence of Wilder and the woman there, at this rate he'll just GIVE the job to Christine poor sod! I suppose he'll have to tell the government so they can prepare, or best not to? Or he might just have to resign if Danny does more 'freelancing' instead of going through 'official channels', good lowkey lack of music to make the scene more serious. And nice subtle build-up of music as Wilder gives his boss the captive woman's journal-AH SHE LOOKED STRAIGHT AT US! SHE BROKE THE FOURTH WALL! WE'RE DOOOOOMED!
Overall, this episode does A LOT and does it well. The fan-designed creature is both brilliant and brilliantly realised, in fact this particular episode's cgi/effects/sets in general deserve singling out; all the creatures, make-up and injuries, lighting and sound and that future! Personally i'm not a fan of 'apocalypse/life under siege' stories, but at least this one is simple and worryingly effective. Lots of characterisation work too as we go from day to night to day again both at work and home, the detail and sitcom/relationship elements giving the danger/sci-fi elements more contrast and impact than a single 'once, there was peace' flashback or episode would. However, some of Abby/Danny/Jack/the extras's characterisation does come across as stupid/reckless/selfish.
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Next time, the lines between those in control and those being controlled begin to blur...
Primeval Season 3 Episode 9 Review 'Embolotherium'
Spoilers Ahead
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Hey everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! As we draw ever closer to Valentine's Day, our team encounters damsels in distress, clashes between horny males, secret diaries and unusual dressing up, and awkward misunderstandings all round...
Me: Ok, so another herbivore creature and a not-so-obvious prehistoric creature in the form of a still-dangerously-strong prehistoric rhino? And a good lots of victims/lots of hiding places locale in the wooded campsite too, although does the music have to be so over the top? Meanwhile, Danny's not fooling Lester with his 'secret' vigilante mission to see the future woman staying with Christine; nice direction so far with shots like not showing us the deadly creature, the underside-of-the-van pov and Lester's place in daytime too.
PHAHAHA Lester's stick-it notes everywhere! 'Do Not Answer The Door' as Connor opens it, 'Do Not Sit Here, Or Here' as Abby tosses the note aside and sits down, and 'Do Not Ask Me Why"! Ok, so Abby's made the excuse of bringing Rex round to the already-Diilicton infested flat in order to have a non-ARC CCTV private chat with Connor.. and they're just gonna go straight back to the 3 years of pretending nothing is happening between them. Great...ooh, Danny's phone dates things- ooh, so the woman is a survivor of the Predator war that wiped out most humans? But that wouldn't explain the trashed land/earthquakes/messed up storm weather etc, hmmm...
Oh great, now the pranked groom at the stag campsite is trapped with the baby rhino-thing. Oh music go away, this is serious the future woman just asked about the Anomaly Research Centre-oh thanks show, make me wrong by promptly playing the classic 'buildup/mission' music why don't you! And no Danny to lead them, although they do have Becker's shotgun! Ah clever Captain Wilder noticing the movement in the ventilation shaft. Ominous still-running crashed quad bike check, awesome buildup music and reveal of the-thanks Connor, 'Embolotherium'-horde check, escaped Danny and future woman Eve check...
Lololol Abby's worried head-tilt when she sees the herd leader bull, then Sarah cottons on immediately and they both start fluttring their eyelashes and smiling at Connor so he'll be the bait whilst Bceker goes and evacuates the campsite, then as soon as he's not looking they just smirk at each other whilst Connor screams 'Abby!' pathetically and runs off with the bull in pursuit! And nice contrast between Sarah getting knocked over and crawling away with an embaressed dirt-stained hand-wave and Connor tripping over a glassy-eyed twist-necked body with a horrified gasp. And Connor gets to be in a high-speed quad bike chase...
Aww Sarah screaming for Abby and trying to calm the mother Embolotherium as it crushes the tent Abby and the groom are in, then straight to her and Becker teasing Abby about her hiding in the tent with the tousled groom lol. Finally Danny, nearly everything's been fixed without ya! And he's left the strange woman alone with the equipment. And there's too many people to evacuate from the stranded well-CGI'd herd...
Oh wow, nice direction/music there as Eve OPENS an anomaly, not closes one, to send the Embolotherium away. Danny-the leader-just stood there actually cowering and not giving Becker permission to at least trip up/slow down the stampeding herd with a couple of shots and Abby also stopped Becker doing so though, really? Another classic s1 tune, nice! Good Danny slipping Sarah the coded journal to translate- ah, not so good letting Eve walk off and steal a gun! And taking her straight into the main ARC room where all the valuable equipment is, why not the back door at least?
Haha Lester doesn't even bother being polite to Christine when she and Wilder arrive to collect the woman, and yes Lester Danny did hide Eve just behind Christine, and Lester just avoids panic and stretches iwth a 'nice. subtle.'.lol. Oh great now Danny's getting arrested for breaking and entering, kidnapping and assualt, good there are consequences for anyone and everyone though. Ooh weird distortion effect just then- plot twist Eve is a partial Cyberman and that's humanity's future! Ok not really-ooh info, so the journal mentions 333, well at least it's not 666- OHH
CRAP...
*Connor, Becker and Sarah follow Danny, Abby and Eve to the ARC.*
Sarah:*urgent*Guys, look at this.
*Connor looks at the journal, and suddenly looks worried.*
Connor: 'Claudia Brown'?
Sarah: Of all the names that could've been in Eve's notebook, why that one?
Connor: Coincedence?
Sarah: I don't believe in coincedence anymore-
Becker:*looks confused*Who's Claudia Brown?
Connor: Hang on.*looks at Sarah*There's only two people in the world who knew about Claudia apart from us.*Becker raises an eyebrow, Sarah looks at Connor-suddenly worried.*One of them was Cutter and the other was...
Sarah: Come on.*they run into the ARC.*
*Meanwhile, Christine approaches Eve-'My, you have been busy'- as Abby questions the woman and the others burst in.*
Eve:*smiles coldly and suddenly puts the stolen revolver to Christine's head*People change. Thanks for bringing me here, Danny.*behind Danny, a worried looking Wilder trains his gun on Eve*I really don't know how i would have done it without you.*Lester approaches Eve and a dignified but tense Christine as Eve suddenly lowers her voice.*You know i'm not bluffing...
*the chain around Eve's neck sparks and her eyelids suddenly flutter-before pixellating, to be replaced by the face and voice of Helen Cutter.*
Helen: ...Now give me the artefact, or she dies.
Abby:*looks disbelieving*Helen?
Helen:*innocent but mad-eyed look vanishes as Danny passes Wilder and Becker*That's close enough.*gun flinches*BACK OFF!*Danny backs away as Becker motions. Connor looks at Lester and Abby as he retrieves the artefact.*
Lester: There's no way out, Helen. I have absolutely no intention of letting you walk out of here.
Helen:*strokes gun against a stoic Christine's neck*I killed Nick. You know i'm not bluffing. You're playing games with her life, James...
Lester: Oh, go ahead, shoot her, perfectly fine with me.
Christine:*looks the same but sounds slightly different*That is not funny.
Lester:*looks worried*...Lower your weapons. Connor, hand her the artefact.
Connor:*looks angry*No.
Lester: Do it. Can't let her kill Christine. Contravenes Health and Safety. In any case, she won't get far.
*Connor hesitatates as he hands Helen the artefact in her free hand, looks upset but resolute*Just...tell me, how could you kill your own husband.
Helen:*stares him out, shaking*I had to. I loved him, Connor- but he was part of all this.*twitches* This is the beginning of the chaos. It all starts here.
Lester: What ARE you talking about?
Helen:*looks to him sadly*You know, i thought killing Nick would be enough to stop it, but it wasn't. So now i have to finish it once and for all.*starts to move Christine towards the ARC door.*You follow, she's dead!*Wilder looks to Danny*
Christine:*is shoved into a vehicle*You really think i'm scared of you?
Helen:*doesn't even look at her*I really couldn't care one way or the other.*gets in*
Christine:*looks concerned*Just take the artefact and leave, i'll make sure no one follows you.
Helen:*smiles at her curiously*Is that the best you can do?*chuckles and pulls away as the team come running out.
*Helen drives to Christine's workplace, glancing in the rear-view mirror as the classic 'urgency' music plays.*
Christine: They have snipers all over this building, you don't stand a chance, they'll shoot you on sight*Helen presses gun against her 'I don't think so'*Listen Helen, we're on the same side side, we have the same goals, we can share all this.*voice getting higher*We have control of the artefact, the anomalies, think of the power we-*
Helen:*Suddenly moves the gun to her forehead*If you think this is abou power, then you're wrong.*fragile half-smirk*
Christine:*looks sceptical*Then what is this all about?
Helen:It's about you.*breathing*You started this. One ambitious little civil servant who ends the world. I've seen the future, and it's your fault...*breathes out, shrugs*Never mind. None of it's going to happen anyway.None of it.*politely gestures for her to start walking.*
*they walk through the building to the future anomaly, staff and soldiers backing off at the jerk of Helen's gun and Christine's worried orders. Meanwhile, the ARC team arrive and follow.*
Christine:*stumbles to a halt in front of the anomaly*What are you going to do? You got what you wanted, just go.
Helen:Didn't i tell you? You're coming too.
Christine:*the light of the anomaly illuminates the look on her face*No. Not through there.
Helen: What are you frightened of, Christine? After all, it's a world you made.
*Christine's yelp echoes as Helen lifts her foot and boots her straight through the anomaly. She smiles and turns as Danny and Connor run up and grins at them as she steps through the closing anomaly and it vanishes. The team look at each other in the empty room, worried and out of breath.*
Danny: It's too late. She's gone.
Sarah: What about Johnson?
*Suddenly, high-pitched screams begin to echo around the room. The anomaly is reopened and a bloodied and terrified Christine begins to crawl out as growls and snarls echo and the team grab her arms.*
Christine:*pleading voice*Help me!
Danny: I got you. You're safe.
*Christine smiles gratefully-then suddenly looks distracted and starts to scream horribly as a Predator appears and snarls angrily at the team. Shouts and grunts ensue as the team all fall over each other pulling at the screaming Christine's arms, but more force pulls at her and yanks her back into the anomaly as it suddenly starts to close again. Sarah shouts and Becker breathlessly aims his shotgun at the ongoing screams as the others fall over in a tangle but the anomaly closes, leaving sudden silence bar the team's heavy breathing.*
Danny:*looks to Sarah*We've got to stop her, before anyone else gets killed.
Abby: We don't know where she's gone!
Danny: I think we do...*they remember seeing Eve in the future*the same place as your brother, the future.*they remember running for their lives from the creatures as urgent music begins to play and the team walk out of Christine's building*
Connor: The anomaly must've led to the same place as the one at the racetrack.
Abby: What are we going to do?
Danny: Follow Helen wherever she goes, to the end of time if necessary.
​
'Embolotherium' starts off as a usual day at the ARC with no satisfactory resolution to either the Abby-Connor arc or Danny-obeying orders arc in sight- then the Christine-Lester arc comes to a abrupt and shocking end as the confusion is taken advantage of by a returning and decided Helen. The episode is a good one then but requires knowledge of the ongoing story arcs as far back as Episode 3, with a slight overabundance of newer, lighter music countered by the occasionally annoying characterisation turning out to have been a deliberate catalyst. Finally, we say good bye and thank you to Belinda Stewart Wilson as Christine Johnson; this is her best episode, allowing her to show various aspects of her character's feelings and motivations despite the reuse of the 'ambitious enemy colleague of Lester's tries to get control of the anomaly operation but gets killed when Helen interferes' storyline.
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Next time- or never again?
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Primeval Series 3 Fan Contributions
Spoilers Ahead (from s1 to s3.9)
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Primeval Capt Becker (Most Intense Tribute) - 1min58secs - Sally Lee - s3 Becker/Slo-Mo/Voices
Connor/Abby Anything You Like - 3mins09secs - limabetaed - s1-3.8 Chronological/Changes
Primeval-Abby/Connor-My Life Would Suck Without You - 4mins06secs - DoomKittyFilms - s1-3.8
Connor Temple 'I Will Try To Fix You' - 4mins46secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s1-3.8 Cutter/Abby/Moments
Primeval: Abby/Connor-You - 4mins12secs - RayOfFlight1984 - s1-3.8 Monochrome/Moments
Abby and Connor She Will Be Loved - 4mins16secs - thinktwice1997 - s1-3.8 Abby/Connor
Everywhere-Connor and Abby - 3mins31secs - shaunalease - s1.3.8 Abby/Connor
Connor/Abby: Brown Eyes - 4mins15secs - RomyFan872 - s1-3.8 Moments/Connor/Abby
Primeval: Move Along - 3mins55secs - thinktwice1997 - s1-3.8 Action/Characters/Moments
Primeval Lester Bad Day - 3mins52secs - weirdgirl5685 - s1-3.9 Lester/Momets/Action
Primeval-Cops And Robbers - 3mins57secs - Alice Markley - s1-3.9 Action/Creatures/Characters
Sarah Page That Girl's A Genius - 1min49secs - xSillyMare Lilyx - s3 Moments/Sarah/Voices
Abby Maitland Goodbye - 3mins50secs - xSillyMare Lilyx - s1-3.9 Abby/Moments/Action
Danny Quinn/I'm A Troublemaker - 1min05secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s3 Danny/Action
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Primeval Season 3 Episode 10 Review 'Tenth Of Never'
SPOILERS AHEAD
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Hello everyone, welcome back to Anomaly Reviews! As a new season approaches, the world of Primeval heads towards it's own fourth season- so out with the old, in with the new...
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The episode opens with a 'Previously' clip touching on Helen's interference and escape- the first time the show has done such a thing since Series 1's 'Previously' opening clip each episode. It's a pity we didn't have these for Series 2 and 3, but it could've got tedious- whereas this return only serves the emphasise the stakes and a little nostalgia. However, the clip only touches on the events of Episode 9, which for a new viewer would be confusing- couldn't a more general 'we investigate anomalies and creatures, now Helen's gone bad' a'la Series 1's 'brief summary then the last cliffhanger' clips?
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Meanwhile, the team(no mention of Lester this ep, probably answering questions regarding Christine) are chatting about preparing to investigate exactly what Helen found in the future via the racetrack anomaly from Episode 8- but then they are distracted by Christine's anomaly reopening? 1. Helen doesn't want the team following and arresting her so why leave the racetrack anomaly alone? She knows about it as she used it in Episode 1, and she has access to anomaly-controlling tech. 2. Why either let the Christine anomaly reopen or open it herself? Best guess is she wants to put the team in danger and possibly get them out of the way by way of multiple anomaly alerts, but why risk them successfully reaching her in the first place? They wouldn't be able to do a thing if she'd just stolen an anomaly locker and locked the couple of anomalies to the future city! Or if she couldn't manage that and the Christine one was due to reopen just close it as soon as it did( we see later she has a device to do this easily)!
Anyway, Becker helpfully suggests stun grenades to deal with the hyper-sensitive Predators, and Danny sends him and Sarah to Christine's anomaly whilst he, Connor and Abby head to the future. They have no soldier/medic backup whatsoever because...maybe they haven't got official permission? But surely there are a couple of off-duty soldiers at least? And if not, why send the most combat-orienatated team member and the only person capable of translating/investigating Helen's coded diary and any other clues to the less important/possibly false alarm? They say goodbye-Sarah's concern and Becker's gentle professionalism are welcome here- and Danny, Connor and Abby step into the future...
So far the music although boringly low-key has not stopped for ONE SECOND, even when the trio are trying to listen out for a suspicious noise(which turns out to just be a flock of birds lol). The future looks as creepily natural as ever, and the creature CGI convincing, although the direction offers almost no interesting shots compared to usually. The trio almost gets killed immediately when they narrowly avoid some Megopterans by directing them into a very convienient anoamly- which they then realise must be Christine's and thus lead to Becker and Sarah! But for some reason the trio barely react to this let alone try to warn their ill-prepared colleagues of the not so empty building and simply continue to wander around.
Meanwhile, Becker and Sarah are wandering round Christine's when they find the Megopterans and the corpses of the two unfortunate unwarned guards, and the still-unending music is helped by a series of AWESOME action scenes; first a Megopteran actually pounces on Becker and he wrestles it off, then he and Sarah escape by jumping with scared squeaks off a balcony onto some packaging materials, then they sprint away and Sarah slams the car door on one of the Megopterans(, then she lures the remaining Megopterans onto a metal grate THEY CAN CHEW THROUGH so Becker can electrocute them with some wiring! And their breathless acting throughout is great, particularly Becker's scared determination and Sarah's fear of bugs contrasting with her truimphant bravery and then turning to terrified anger and exhaustion.
Back to the future, where the trio wander indoors and talk noisily whilst Danny picks up and kicks various objects so that the Predators will hear them and come break Becker's awesome shotgun;
Connor: Becker is going to kill you- that was his favourite gun.
Danny:*scared, relieved laugh* We've got to get him a girlfriend.
Abby:Guys?*motions to the door they just barred behind them, or rather the logo on it...*
Danny: We're in the ARC!
Connor: This must be some future version of it...
Abby: Helen said the ARC was where it all 'started', this must be what she meant.
*Danny continues to pick up and drop things noisily and comes across a handheld device nearby, like a cross between an anomaly detector and a smartphone.*
Danny: That's what Helen used to control the anomalies.
Connor:*looks at it*Looks like it's been dead a while...
Abby: How do you think it works?
*they hear faint noise like a machine being used- and see Helen busy with her back to them. She hears them but Danny grabs the gun from her hand and aims it at her head!*
Helen:*whispers creepily*Danny...*looking utterly CRAZED, she steps forward so the gun barrel is right against her forehead. Danny is shaking and looks scared and doesn't fire- remember he's a both mentally and physically scarred ex-DI and creature fighter with a reckless temper-then looks down to see Helen's taser electrocute him, dropping him paralysed to the floor as she snatches the gun calmly.*
Following this awesomeness, Helen too succumbs to the Plotague.tm and randomly points her gun into the darkness whilst using her psychic powers to accertain that both Connor and Abby are there but not Becker or Sarah or anyone else despite having only seen and heard Danny when he lunged at her after the others had hidden, then puts the gun aside (no attempt by the two fit young people, juts a foot away, one bigger than Helen and the other a kickboxer, to grab it even as their trained colleague gets up and Helen looks away to use the computer- she even turns her back to them for a few seconds!)shows them how her anomaly computer works and tell them what she's been up to 'every day since Cutter died' and that she is going off through the anomalies to save the world but not them or humanity. She does at least interrupt this 'explain/boast about plans' cliche to smash the Macguffin-sorry, The Artefact- awesomely before closing an anomaly behind her and leaving the trio alive and well with all of her stolen technology and no creatures in sight to stop them(i'd say she simply didn't want to have to kill them, Cutter and Christine was enough, but the way she dispatched the scared Cutter and Christine and the fact they wouldn't survive anyway if she succeeds... and they could still come after her!).
The trio go through the supplies Becker gave them and amongst the grenades and medical kit manage to turn Helen's computer on again using some batteries(she only smashed the external hard drive-sorry, The Over 9000 Shards Of Glass And Metal Formerly Known As The Artefact- but not the actual computer or the portable version?)- and it's at this point that Helen goes from 'villain' to ''Top Craziest Villains Ever'. Life on earth is going to be almost wiped out by an electromagnetic earthquake and escaped predatory creatures, and Helen's efforts to track down and murder whoever is responsible keep failing. Solution? MURDER THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE BY KILLING THEIR HOMINID ANCESTORS SO THAT WHOEVER IS RESPONSIBLE NEVER EVEN EXISTS. In her own words 'There'll be no war, no pollution, no hunting-the planet and life will not be destroyed and be able to develop and thrive in peace'. And as a bonus, we've already seen that timeline changes don't affect those directly nearby/responsible as with Cutter and his photo of Claudia, so Helen herself should be fine. It's one of the most ruthless and final plans seen in anything outside of Doctor Who or Star Trek, and a fitting finale-level event even if the episode execution is unusually mundane.
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Connor figures this out and that the '333' Sarah found in Helen's diary referred to 'Site 333' i.e the Rift Valley in Africa, where in 1975 a group of 13 Hominid skeletons nicknamed 'the First Family' were found and appeared to have all mysteriously died at roughly the same time( this is actually a real thing, just look up site 333.). The trio manage to use the computer and the codes on the side of The Artefact to reopen the anomaly Helen vanished through and find themselves in the Cretaceous, where they spot Helen heading for another anomaly(as with Cutter's anomaly model the idea is that all anomalies are located in particular times/places, so Helen couldn't just open one straight to the Rift Valley- she had to find one that led there using The Artefact's anomaly map). We also get one last bit of humor(events slightly paraphrased/shortened, this a LONG 45 minutes);
*The trio are doing more wandering round looking for Helen, when they hear noises nearby. Danny peers round a tree and sees his first Raptors, albeit smaller ones*
Danny:*relieved smile*Aww, they don't look too bad.
Connor:*just looks at Danny like 'Really?'
*The Raptors turn around- revealing that their meal was one of their own! Meanwhile, we see Helen quickly and quietly making her way to the next anomaly, which is located near a Pterandon nest. She checks her anomaly opener, backpack and stylish new spotless jumpsuit at the ready- and then flattens herself against a tree as she hears a noise in the distance. She crouches down, binoculars in hand... and the noise is Danny, up a tree and lobbing stun grenades down at a small Raptor that is bouncing up and down and yapping like an excitable dog whilst Abby dangles from a tree branch and Connor falls out of the tree with his fingers in his ears and sends dirt flying straight into the face of the other Raptor. Unmoved by this spectacle, Helen slips away from the just-as-sneaky third Raptor... only to get divebombed by the Pterandon straight into it's eggs, dropping her precious anomaly opener in the process!*
So Helen makes it to the Rift Valley circa hominids and Connor is knocked cold from the fall, leaving Abby to guard him whilst Danny makes his way after Helen(paraphrasing again, this takes several minutes of debating and then banter once Connor wakes). The music and direction improves here, from the nice visual/sound effect of Danny and Abby being concussed by the grenade blast to the fleeting shots of Helen dropping the device and Danny unknowingly running right by it to the new primitively echoing tune used for the Rift Valley. The Rift Valley locale itself is gorgeous and well filmed, whilst the Hominid CGI is decent but up close cannot compete with the Predators or Raptors. But we're not here for the CGI...
*Helen vanishes through the anomaly, her anomaly opener lying nearby. Abby and Danny see Connor's ankle is injured, but there's still a pulse.*
Abby:*reluctantly*Go.
Danny: I can't leave you here, you've got to get somewhere safe-
Abby: FINISH IT!*almost crying. Danny looks to Connor, blood on his unresponsive face, then at Abby's tired and desperate face.*
Danny: Abby...
*Danny runs to the anomaly, glances back, then leaps through, his foot almost hitting the anomaly opener as he runs past. He lands on the other side in bright sunlight, surrounded by cliffs, no sign of Helen. And as he heads off amongst the rocks, the third Raptor emerges through the anomaly, whose glow seems fainter in the sun...
Meanwhile, Helen stops as a flock of birds scatter at her presence, then follows the muddiest soil to a river- where a ways off, a whole group of hominids bathe and chatter. She crouches down and pulls out a bottle marked with a chemical warning, opens it and pours it into the river. The current takes the white poison away, across the water and towards the Hominids- then Helen just blinks, the emotion present when she shot Cutter quite absent.
Under the same blue sky, Danny clambers on and peers round a corner- to see multiple Hominid bodies all along the river's edge. He checks to see if any are still moving, but they stop even as he approaches. Danny sits down amongst the bodies of his ancestors, himself somehow untouched, and holds back a tear. Then he gets to his feet and starts to walk.
Helen:*echoing*You're too late, Danny...
*rocks skitter in the distance, and Danny looks round but sees nothing- then up and sees Helen up above him, unreachable.*
Helen: ...but thank you for letting me get this far.
Danny: You killed them!
Helen:*sounds tired*Humanity is a stain upon the face of the planet, and when we're gone other species will be able to develop in peace.
Danny:*surreptitiously grabs a rock*So if you wipe us all out, then how come i'm still here?
Helen:*shakes head*You're really not very bright, are you Danny?
*Danny angrily throws the rock, but Helen easily dodges it with a laugh as it lands behind her.*
Helen: I'm not done yet, there's more to kill.*wipes mouth* But you'd be surprised how few Hominids started the human race...*blinks, pauses*...it won't take long.
Danny: Then you'll kill yourself too.
Helen:*thoughtful*I don't care.*she looks round, at the dislodged rocks and the breeze, then back at Danny.*
Danny: Whatever you do, humanity will find a way to evolve.*defiant*You can't fight nature!
Helen: You sound like Nick, and you know what? You're both wrong.
Goodbye, Danny.
*Helen turns away and begins to prepare her backpack. Danny is fuming- and neither see the third adult Raptor approach till it leaps into view with a screech. Danny scrambles away and grabs a stick and Helen drops her bag and faces it with a 'Oh Crap' stare on her face- then screams as the Raptor pounces and sends them both over the edge. Danny barely gets out of the way. And then there is silence. Danny warily puts down the stick and gently pushes Helen as he did Connor- and her head limply flops to the side, face still. Danny touches the Raptor's body.
Danny:Good boy.*subdued sigh*
​
And that's it; the Rift Valley anomaly closes, leaving Danny trapped with the remaining Hominids, Connor and Abby bantering to fill the silence in the Cretaceous, and Sarah and Becker back home trying to figure out how to rescue their friends. This was actually the original end of Primeval; ITV were having money problems and cancelled some popular shows including Primeval, leading to a petition and various broadcasters getting the show reinstated. 'Tenth Of Never' is itself a flawed episode and finale compared to previous.
As for the changes this meant for the show- in casting, in locations, in presentation- many things were still saved and unchanged. But one thing that wasn't was the ending- Helen Cutter, first main character we ever saw and evolver from scientist to wife to ghost to lover to fugitive to murderer- finally fell to the anomalies 10 years after her discovery of them. She outlived all those best at dealing with her- Cutter, Ryan, Stephen, Claudia- and only fell to an 'anomaly' of a Raptor in the wrong time period. And none of this would have worked out without Juliet Aubrey bringing all of the attitude, vulnerability, style, strength and cunning required to bring the show's original 'anomaly' to life, so thank you to Juliet Aubrey- for everything!
Next time and place, leaving the unreachable behind...
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Primeval Season 4 Episode 0 Review 'A New Dawn'
SPOILERS AHEAD (ALSO FOR PART 2 I.E EPISODE 1)
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Hey everyone, welcome to Anomaly Reviews! Last time saw one last trip through the anomalies to say goodbye to the original Cutters's story arc; which was actually the original end of Primeval, as budget cuts and cancellations at ITV put an end to the show. But thanks to the efforts of many petitioning fans and investing broadcasters, the door to the old ARC was opened one last time to give all previous cast members a chance to return. Many months, arrangements and advertising campaigns later, a mini-series of webisodes was released and followed by a fourth series of Primeval- returned from extinction. As for exactly what this new series entailed? Well, there's only one way to find out...
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Our first glimpse of a returning member is James Lester, being interrogated as to the whereabouts of Connor, Abby and Danny following their disappearance with Helen. Just as in real life, it's been months since the fate of the ARC was put into jeopardy and the operation has now been moved to a new location. But it's not just Lester knocking around the new ARC- also rehired is Captain Becker, the first member to make a second year since the original team and looking tired and alone but ok. He details the attempts made by the ARC to fix things and his and Sarah's efforts to keep going as flashbacks of their following through the future anomaly with Helen's diary as guide are interspersed with soldiers and predators. Their contrasting reactions are interesting- Lester adamant and weary, Becker depressed and admitting to almost quitting.
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But life and the anomalies still carry on regardless, and new alerts at the Houses of Parliament and a beauty school provide convincing proof for disbelieving interviewees- the first of which is Jess Parker(Ruth Kearney, Flaked, The Following), a pretty young secretarial type going for the position of field coordinator. Skilled at using computers, dealing with officials and press and giving information and directions via comms, Jess comes across as innocent but organised and the addition of another office-based non-combatant team member adds welcome variety. The only downside is her appearence- lacking any other particularly feminine cast members, over the coming episodes Jess makes up for this by running around in endless fitted and brightly-coloured minidresses, perfect hairstyles and never-wobbly high heels!
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Finding someone who doesn't react badly to the idea of working with dangerous creatures seems unlikely then- until the interviewer is out-stoiced by Irish ex-soldier and rare plants/animals collector Matt Anderson(Ciaran Mcmenamin, The Last Confession Of Alexander Pearce, David Copperfield), a likable and responsible new colleague for Becker held back only by the decision to make his character as blank and inexpressive as possible. Not wanting to repeat the various 'maverick/untrusting behaviour' storylines is good, but the coming episodes could have definetly benifitted from allowing the actor more emotional moments.
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And the new ARC doesn't help this- a dingy box of blue/black/grey metal tables and futuristic lights/sounds filmed almost entirely around the ADD. A better decision is the one to have Becker's tour of the new ARC and new staff be our introduction- seeing a familiar but not original and experienced cast member be 'audience surrogate' helps the transition;
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*Changed out of his civvie leather jacket, Becker gets a sense of deja vu as he once again puts on a new uniform and steps into the metallic main room of a new workplace. He glances around the empty room and checks his watch-
Jess: Captain Becker! Welcome back to the ARC.*steps toward a surprised Becker* Well, the new ARC. You've no idea how good it is to finally have some company here.
Becker:*blinks and stares* I'm supposed to report to 'Parker'..?
Jess: Jess Parker, at your service.*holds out hand to Becker*
Becker:*shakes the hand attached to a mustard coloured blouse, splotchy miniskirt, bare legs and pink high heels and earrings* You're the... field coordinator?
Jess:*smiles* Sorry, not normally this crazy but i've been here for weeks working on the mission reports, just me and the creatures.
Becker: Fun...
Jess: Oh it's alright, the best part is i already feel like i know you and the others...*hesitates* anyway, come this way and i'll get you set up.
Becker:*looks from her to the room and nods, looking a little sad*
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We learn that the ARC has been given funding by a Phillip Burton of Prospero Industries, see Lester and the other staff in the new ARC as Matt points out to Jess and Becker that the 'missing, presumed dead' status of the rest of the team through the anomalies could be wrong- and find out that Matt already knew about the anomalies...
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*under some trees, Matt hurries out of the ARC and calls a number;*
Matt:Gideon, it's me, hang on*checks his comms are switched off* Sorry i missed the call time, dinosaur at a beauty school.*grins* Most fun i've had in a long time.
*On the other end, an older bespectacled suited man in a garden looks impatient and worried.*
Gideon: Sounds messy. Look, you've been preparing for this for years, you're ready- in fact it's possible your CV sounds a little too perfect.
Matt:*looks sceptical*Yeah, i noticed.'Climbing Everest', really?
Gideon: The ARC has military staff Matthew. What did you make of them? Are they carrying on Professor Cutter's work?
Matt:*shrugs*Captain Becker, he likes guns.
Gideon: What, that's all you've picked up about him?
Matt: He REALLY likes guns. James Lester though, he's hard to read.
Gideon: What about the field coordinator?
Matt:*remembers Jess called him fit* She seems young, but i've heard she can be formidable at her job. And Becker's good at what he does-
Gideon:*frustrated* Good to hear, but we're running out of time!
Matt:*worried* Complete the mission, walk away, i know.
Gideon: Forgive me but sometimes i think this is impossible.*looks serious* Whatever you do- don't mess it up.*hangs up*
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And this isn't the last we see of Gideon(Anton Lesser, Game Of Thrones, Endeavour, Wolf Hall) or his interest in the team. This first pilot is less than half the length of a normal episode and sets things up nicely, although the 'what happened after the last episode' footage is annoyingly little. The direction is fine, the music is new and a little more electronic but still works, and the new cast members are all understandable and distinctive. The main downside is the decision to bridge the gap with a webisode in fact; not on the dvd, you can watch this by Youtubing 'Primeval Series 4 Prequel Webisode'.
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Next time, can the missing team members survive new threats and creatures?
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Primeval Series 3-4 Fan Contributions
SPOILERS AHEAD (from S1 to S4.1)
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Run Faster (Primeval) - 2mins - SunsetDawn20 - s1-2.6 Ryan/Stephen/Keira Knightly
Sabretooth Trailer(Primeval Style) - 1min17secs - BrontoSmilodon1 - s2.3 Cutter/Stephen/Jenny
PRIMEVAL NUEVO - 4mins52secs - sukrolfccs - s2 Stephen/Cutter/Action
Your Love Will Kill Me~Helen/Becker - SunsetDawn20 - s2.2-3.3 Becker/Helen/Cutter
Primeval-Stars Will Fall - 4mins52secs -- Tonttu0 - s2-3.3 Connor/Cutter/Abby
The Angel, The One-Becker-Jenny - 2mins21secs - Sally Lee - s3 Becker/Jenny/Moments
Primeval-Jenny/Nick/Danny(Nobody's Home) - 3mins05secs - Sally Lee - s1-3.5 Jenny/Cutter/Guys
Danny&Jenny|Falling In Love - 1min24secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s2-3.6 Danny/Jenny/Reactions
Danny/Jenny|I'll Look After You - 2mins26secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s3-3.5 Danny/Jenny/Moments
James Lester-This Night - 2mins52secs -ThinkTwice1997 - s1-3.6 Lester/Moments/Others
Primeval Time Travellers Wife - 2mins26secs - Xtool0 - s1-3.8 Abby/Connor/Time Travel
Abby/Connor|Flowers For A Ghost - 4mins - xSillyMareLilyx - s2-3.8 Abby/Connor/Moments
James Lester-Vindicated - 3mins09secs - ThinkTwice1997 - s1-3.8 Lester/Moments/Cutter
Mambo No.5-Danny Quinn Tribute - 3mins35secs - DocWhoAndPrimeval - s3 Danny/Connor/Jenny
James Lester-Boogie Wonderman - 1min20secs - DWMad94 - s2-3.8 Lester/Moments
Thanks For The Memories-Primeval - 3mins12secs - Aquatics64 - s1-3.10 Action/Characters/Creatures
Primeval-Don't Slow Down - 2mins55secs - LadyRavensKnot - s3.4-3.10 Characters/Action
Primeval Trailer(Fan Made) - 1min50secs - BMS - s1-3.10 Action/Characters/Creatures
Captain Becker-Let It Rock - 3mins05secs - AsYouXLikeIt - s3 Becker/Moments/Action
Primeval-See The World Through The Faintest Glow-3mins33secs-xSillyMareLilyx-s1-3.10 Characters
Primeval Cast-Great Escape - 3mins20secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s3 Characters/Action/Creatures
Danny/Jenny/Anywhere But Here - 1min27secs - xSillyMareLilyx - s2-3.10 Danny/Jenny/Moments
Sarah Page 22 - 3mins20secs - xSilllyMareLilyx - s3 Sarah/Moments/Action
Becker/Sarah;Too Late To Start - 1min09secs - DoubleTreble1518 - s3.1-4.0 Sarah/Becker/Moments
Primeval-Secrets - 3mins29secs - SarhLou1717 - s1-4.1 Connor/Moments/Abby
Primeval's Everyday Superhero's - 3mins37secs - ThePrimeEvil1 - s1-4.1 Connor/Becker/Moments
Primeval-Alive-Abby/Becker/Connor - 3mins54secs - s3-4.1 gee not a clue
Lullaby(Primeval) - 2mins35secs - Abby Harris - s1-4.2 Cutter/Connor/Abby/Stephen/Jenny
Primeval-Becker/Connor/Abby-We Are Young! - 2mins15secs Isabella Nikita - s1-4.2 i dunno...
Primeval-How Far We've Come - 3mins22secs - Limabetaed - s1-4.2 Characters/Events/Chronological
''The ARC?!'' ''Not that one.''