I am going to go back and view the complete first season of Primeval. My memory most obviously fails me, because I remember a truly entertaining series from start to finish. The second season, just concluded this weekend? Not so much.
After three good episodes to recover from a frightful start, Primeval tottered on the tip of turning into an overall pleasurable experience going into the last episode. And they couldn't help themselves. Budget restrictions, shot on some hit-and-miss special effects, didn't permit lots of soldiers. I mean, the one lot of them, was the same guy from umpteen parallel worlds. But that's NEXT season's kickoff.
What we got for MOST of the episode was a glorified video game. It was ALL puerile. Nothing of redeeming value. Lots of stupid behaviour. The tricked-out complex depended on power to run the laser 'bars' that held the nasty menagerie confined. Just as quick as you can say deus ex machina, the power goes off. And the door to safety (and reconfinement) just HAD to malfunction to the point where somebody HAD to sacrifice themselves by closing it from WITHIN the nasties' enclosure. Say, weren't there a few OTHER doors into the place earlier in the episode? And what about the upper level?
Helen, the uber-bitchy ex-wife, proves duplicitous. Now, THERE's a big surprise. And, she apparently knows Claudia aka Jenny. Which means she's parallel-world hopping. But despite knowing he's not crazy, Nick rips up a picture of Claudia at the end. Hmmm, new-found hope of getting back with gentle, in love with him Claudia, or sticking it out with Jenny, who we find surprisingly single AND good with a machine gun. Obvious choice to me. Apparently not to the Primeval writers.
Like I said, everything is in stupid black and white and the whole episode looks like something out of Castle Wolfenstein circa 1998. It truly was an Arrrrrgggh! episode.
Let's hope a summer of writing (new team, please) comes up with something better to kick off season three.
No comments:
Post a Comment