Review

Helen Cutter contacts Stephen to arrange a meeting with Nick Cutter, Lester, and team. Unfortunately for the local zoo a future predator has arrived via an anomaly leading to the Permian and has made the facility its preferred hunting ground. Helen warns the creature is highly evolved, intelligent, and infinitely deadly. Not to be deterred Prof Cutter and team are soon hunting the future predator but quickly discover they are out matched this time. Connor designs a tracking device, and is in harm's way with Abby coming to his rescue.

Nick is finally able to get the best of the creature only to discover it was guarding a number of off-spring. The decision is made to take the juvenile creatures back through to the Permian, discover the anomaly to the future, send the young creatures through, and create an Outpost to guard against further incursions. Naturally things don't go to plan as we discover the future predator had a mate that is now not a happy camper. A change will be made to the timeline in the Permian that will reverberate in the present in an unexpected fashion. Can Primeval round out season one on a high note and leave us sweating on the release of season two?

I guess every great speculative show has to have the nemesis that defines the protagonists to some extent, and with the future predator I believe Primeval have arrived at that defining moment. It's like the first time the Doctor faced the Daleks or the Winchester Bros ran up against the yellow eyed demon. You simply know the antagonist is going to be a repeat offender and the heroes have finally run into something that won't be so easily dispatched into that long dark night. I just got to say the future pred is also one awesome design, there's almost an arachnid element to the creature, with the lack of eyes being pretty chilly. I did also note this gave plenty of scope for the Producers to incorporate some creature POV in almost Predator style that amped things up quite a bit.

Unfortunately the episode did put a spanner in our exploration of prehistoric life forms, but no doubt with season two we'll get plenty of chances to explore more exotic creatures in a modern day settings. Fingers crossed someone in the writing team of Primeval get their T-Rex or Raptor on for us, both species well overdue for an episode or three.

Considering the season has only ran for six episodes, got to love that from an episode guide point or view, it still has had a major impact on the ScaryMinds bunker, with the next season already circulating onto the review desk. Overall I've had a high old time with season one, the final episode being the icing on the cake with a number of ideas being flagged. Loved the return to the past aspect as Cutter discovers just whose camp it was they previous found in the Permian, there's also the whole Helen Cutter thing, just what exactly is her game? One character may not be returning next season, judging from the final scenes of this episode, if so he/she will be missed, hopefully there's a cool plot device waiting to be sprung there. Not quite sure where they can take the series from here, the monster of the week device will eventually run out of steam, but it's going to be intriguing to see if the Writers can twist something from the basic premise season one has presented.

Guess I should ramble on a bit about this episode really prior to tackling another of the major attacks being launched at the show. Director Jamie Payne nails it, the relationship between Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown, Abby and Connor simply being there for each other, and the full on action attack the episode throws into our path. I was rocking out to one of the best monster hours I've seen in a television format this year, and two thumbs up for the creature effects, awesome immediately springs to mind. While for sure I'm dialling in for my dino fix, I'm also going to be rocking out to some well past decent explorations of more exotic fauna. Now there's something I didn't think I would ever write. Payne doesn't take the peddle from the metal at any stage of this episode with the pace rocking on through to the climactic moment that had me immediately checking if season two hadn't already arrive on my desk.

For mine the weakest of the first season episodes, though I can't give an overriding reason as to why that is the case

The acting has been of high standard throughout the season and for sure the final episode doesn't let us down in this regards. Which is just as well as the production values are top rate with some of the best integration of CGI I've run across making Primeval top notch television viewing. They can keep this stuff coming at me and I'll be lapping it up till the end of the world.

Strangely one of the criticisms levelled at Primeval is due to Cutter's pronouncing that the past exists in a tangible form. Well hello the past did exist, but remains a concept rather than a fixed reality, which is what Cutter is alluding to. For the past to exist in a tangible form it means all bets are off and the entire reality matrix has just been reshuffled. Naturally this concept has proven a bit elusive to some and I would suggest they stick to more readily understandable viewing such as Twilight.

Okay so have to say one of the best episodes of the season to finish things off on, leave us with a cliff hanger of an ending, and ensure the audience are rearing to go when season two arrives. We have a solid enemy for our crew to face in subsequent episodes, the promise of more blasts from the past, and of course the mystery of why the anomalies are appearing. There's plenty of scope for future episodes to amaze and keep us rocking on. If you haven't dialled into Primeval yet then this could be the episode to kick start your appreciation of all things prehistoric.