Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete First Seasonby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 10 A caveman and a female carnivorous dinosaur bond through their similar tragedies. This bond becomes friendship and even family as they live each day trying to survive the violent, primordial world.This show is amazing! It won't be for everyone -- it is violent and gory and LOUD -- but it is magnificent. It is most definitely NOT for kids. This is animation creator for adult viewers. In some respects it is pulpy and definitely fits with barbarian stories like Conan, which was an inspiration for Tartakovsky, but it is a genuine emotional story. Like Samurai Jack (also by Tartakovsky), this animation pushes boundaries in visual storytelling and brings us something NEW. It also delves into scenarios that are way more fantasy than reality, but they work quite well in the epicness of the whole thing. Also like Samurai Jack, this series makes great use of slower scenes and quiet moments as well as the shockingly violent action scenes. And each episode explores a different "space" visually and even culturally. This show has absolutely no dialogue until the last episode. Well, that's not quite right. There are clearly various types of communication going on, and it's fascinating to follow. The body language helps a ton, and by the time we meet different groups of creatures, it's fairly easy to pick up on their "language" and "dialogue". Aaron LaPlante is the voice of Spear, the caveman, and he does a fantastic job with all the screaming and yelling and grunting. The dinosaur, Fang, becomes a little bit caricature-ish as the season goes on, but she does remain more in "animal-mind" with how she tackles different challenges. And, to be fair, the story gets exponentially more fantastical in comparison, so it works. I particularly love the scene when she discovers butterflies. I also like how she becomes jealous when they find a humanoid female that Spear becomes enamored with ... and that Fang grows to accept her as a part of their family unit! Let's take a look at the episodes. The first episode is very difficult to watch. This is where the tragedies (deaths of family members at the hands of large carnivorous dinosaurs) happen. It's important though, so give it a chance to show you where it's going with this. It is brutal, but there are some tender moments worked in, too. I like that it's the dinosaur's decision to team up with the caveman; while some might see her behavior as "dog-like", it does fit with bird behavior. The second episode is still an awkward stage for the new couple as they compete with each other over hunting food. It's humorous, but a bit strained ... until the climactic end, which is wonderfully and hilariously used in a later episode to show us how traumatized the dinosaur is by this. The third episode has the duo taking down an old Wooly Mammoth, and us the tusks to make a sled to haul meat and fur. The other Mammoths, upon realizing what happened and that the tusks are gone, hunt the duo down and attack. Like everything else here, this is brutal. It's almost surprising, until we see what the Mammoths do upon getting the tusks back. The fourth episode has giant bat-creatures working with a giant spider. The bats have a very vampiric look and feel to them, especially given their red coloring. Spear is captured by bats to feed the spider, and Fang comes to his rescue. Seeing how she figures out getting up to the cave at the top of a mountain spire is some excellent corvid-like puzzle solving. Episode five is where things really start to push the believability envelope. The Ape-Men create an enhancement serum that effectively Jekyl-and-Hyde's them into giant hulking monsters much larger than the dinosaurs who normally towered over them. Fang is forced to fight and is severely injured. Spear comes to her rescue by downing the entirety of the remaining serum. Yeah, you can guess how bloody and gory it got from there. I found it all a bit off-putting in how extremely different this episode was from the previous ones. That said, the story won me back over with the sixth episode, which is entirely how Spear works hard and smart create a sling to drag Fang out of there ... and past the ever-growing pack of hungry scavenger wild dogs. Episode seven, "Plague of Madness", is actual nightmare fuel. You will not sleep well after watching this episode. It's effectively zombie dinosaurs that are fast, strong, and driven to kill. And disgusting. The dinosaur zombie plague spreads until it gets into a super-sized dino, and that's when our duo enter the scene ... and barely escape. And then they enter a lava field .... As I said, nightmare fuel. Episode eight goes way out there with ... witches. Yes, witches. They are short, ugly, heavy-browed, and almost more animalic than human. This coven tortures a caveman to death and magically transforms his essence into that of an infant female for one of them to raise as their own. There's a whole lot wrong there, but let's keep going. Spear is (obviously) captured, and Fang is magically controlled, but their bond is so evident one witch looks into their pasts and sees the tragedies that brought them together ... and she identifies with them. This episodes has a fitting outcome and a rare happy, if bittersweet, ending. The magic is green in color, which gives a different visual look and feel to this episode. The ninth episode has a mysterious and fear-inducing night predator. It causes massive carnage (especially given its size). Spear wants to investigate but Fang stops him, until the predator catches up with them, forcing them to outwit it or die. It's a spooky episode with a clever strategty. The tenth and final episode of this season introduces Mira (voiced by Laetitia Eido-Mollon.), a cavewoman in slave-shackles and marked by a tattoo of a scorpion on her head. She is tall and thin, but also fit and well skilled in archery ... and cooking. She also pray to the moon, which is presently rather wholesomely, and is a welcome touch after the witch episode. All these things set her apart from every other group we've met so far. She also speaks in what is clearly full sentences. In fact, she's speaking an actual language -- Arabic with a Lebanese accent! This is quite surprising, and it begins to turn the plot of this series into a new direction, just in time for the cliffhanger. This Blu-ray also has a behind-the-scenes of the making-of Primal. It is almost as satisfying to watch as the show itself. I especially liked learning about the French animation studio behind its creation, as well as Tartakovsky's own thoughts and direction for the show. I, for one, cannot wait for the next season! Written: August 20, 2021
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