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Primeval: New World 1.05 “Undone” REVIEW
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Episode: 1.05
Writer: Sarah Dodd
Director: Mike Rohl
THE ONE WHERE It’s Freshers’ Week on campus and there’s plenty of hot young bodies to eat; Sam really wants to be part of the SPG team.
VERDICT Worryingly this episode starts with a monster-of-the-week scene that’s little more than a whole load of clichés: immature Freshers’ Week students play capture the flag in their pajamas as a shy but pretty blonde sorority girl finds herself all alone, stalked not just by drunken students leaping out of the shrubs, but something scalier as well. This could be the worst Freshers’ Week prank ever.
The opening credits roll and we now come to a steamy shower scene between Mac and Sam. And this won’t be the last shower scene with Mac this episode, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s obvious the romance is blooming between the two, but the pair still won’t declare their love for one-another. Instead, Mac has a key and he playfully taunts Sam with it. What is this key for? Is it a key to his apartment? Is it a metaphorical key to his heart? Either way it totally makes him appear needy.
Back to the university where the team tranquilises the creature. They then call Sam for help to transport the Lycaenops to headquarters until they can get it back through the anomaly. This is Sam’s chance to get on the team. Although Mac is hesitant to put his girlfriend in harm’s way, she’s really eager to impress boss Evan and takes the creature back to the Cross Photonics’ loading bay as asked. This is where the episode takes a better, albeit depressing, turn. Because although the first 30 minutes was mostly by-the-numbers stuff, the final few minutes of the episode are what make it worth watching.
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The plan to make Cross Photonics a temporary creature anomaly zoo falls apart when the tranq fails to keep the Lycaenops asleep because of its super high metabolism, and good guy Bill Pearson gets eaten. Whoops. And then in a huge shocker Sam gets killed by the creature when she fails to tase it. WOAH! Who saw that coming?! With Sam’s death we see a sudden and understandable shift in Mac’s feelings towards the creatures, now seeking vengeance rather than wanting to help the poor wayward Lycaenops. He shoots both creatures without hesitation and exits a broken-hearted man. Will he remain on the SPG team? Now that Sam is out of the picture maybe he’ll shift his focus on winning the affections of Toby, who he has clearly showed an interest in pre-Sam.
The end of the episode is incredibly emotional, and we get a really good story arc. Sam’s death ups the angst in our two leading men, and we also wonder if any of the leading characters are safe from being killed of the show. The final moments of the episode is beautifully shot and acted, with music to set the depressing mood and the believable tears from Evan as he goes to his close friend and CFO Ange for comfort. Ange has obviously been there for emotional support before when Evan’s wife, Brooke, was killed six years ago. But is there more of a romantic relationship to be explored here? We’ll just have to wait and see…
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CREATURE OF THE WEEK The pair of Lycaenops. Kinda looks like a dog, but not as cuddly.
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TRIVIA The Lycaenops is a much smaller descendant of the Gorgonopsid, a creature that appeared in episode 1.1 in the original Primeval series.
IT’S WOSSERNAME! You may recognise the snobbish student played by actress Christie Laing, from the new series Arrow where she plays the very sweet waitress Carly Diggle.
GROSS! Mac gets covered in Lycaenops urine. Back in the shower he goes.
iTUNES The song playing at the end of the episode is called “Hiding Place” and is performed by Miranda Frigon, who plays Ange Finch on the show.
BEST LINES
Toby: “One snowball could turn into an avalanche. Don’t you get it? If we kill one stegosaurus, then its great, great grand stegosaurus won’t be there to eat a bug, that could have eaten a snake, that could have eaten a fish, that could have evolved into a mammal, and then guess what? We are all lizard people.”
Mac: “Did you just say that a bug ate a snake?”
Kell Harker
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Primeval: New World airs in the UK on Watch, Tuesdays, 9pm
