Volume Two of the British TV SF/fantasy series Primeval sees a
major sea change in the storyline when Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall), the
leader of the ARC team realizes that the dinosaurs whom they’ve been encountering
via the anomalies--portals in time that mysteriously appear and disappear without
warning--not only crash the present day timeline, but they also appear in the
past, as well. The dinosaurs and other assorted prehistoric creatures have
inadvertently inspired the great legends of history, such as the dragon-myth,
Loch Ness and the Yeti. To this end, Nick has recruited Sara Page (Lalia Rouass)
a history and mythology expert whose career at the local museum has been going
less then stellar until it gets invaded by a prehistoric crocodile--the same
that was once worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.
Cutter is also working on a theory that the anomalies are all connected, and is
in the process of building a map which will predict where and when they will
occur. It turns out that not only do the anomalies bring dinosaurs from the past
to the present, but that the present is also invaded by creatures from a
devastated future, which sees humanity wiped out--something that Helen Cutter
(Juliet Aubrey) will stop at nothing to prevent. While the grand ideas presented
here hint at an epic storyline that’s extremely exciting and fun to contemplate, the second volume
(actually the third season) of Primeval sadly never really gets off the ground,
much less meets the expectations that they’ve set up for themselves in the first
half of the season.
There are several good episodes here, particularly a very creepy, horror-themed
episode dealing with a reputedly haunted house, and the usual dino chases through
modern day England are fun to watch, as always. But the third season is hampered
by the departure of not one, but two of the major characters. And these
departures, along with the ham-handed attempt to create a new leading character
for the team, appears to have thrown the writers for a loop. The new leader is
an outsider with no scientific expertise who really has no business taking over
the team. But by making him "a man of action" the writers seem to feel that
he’ll fit right in, when in fact he sticks out like a sore thumb, especially
when so much of what the ARC team dealt with is heady scientific stuff.
Another problem is the overall tone of the show has now changed. Primeval prided
itself on being smart, as well as a lot of fun, but the intelligence--as well as
the sharp, sophisticated wit that the series once enjoyed--is all but drained
out of the show in favor of dumb, slapstick humor and dull, predictable writing
which has the main characters acting stupidly just to serve the dim-witted plot.
This volume ends on a major cliffhanger, and since it was such a huge
disappointment overall, I was actually more than willing to just leave it as it
was. In other words, good riddance! But I’ve recently heard that a fourth season
will be produced, and so I still hold out hope that this once engaging and fun
series will somehow manage to find its voice once more.
--SF
Main Review Page | TV Reviews |Buy Primeval, Vol. 2 on DVD here!
