Primeval 5.04
Jul. 6th, 2011 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecatIn which we learn that creatures without backbones are undeserving of sympathy and that you are more likely to be condemned for doing the right thing, than for doing the wrong thing.
I actually rather enjoyed this episode, it has to be said. I always like it when Primeval cuts itself a little loose from the "Raptor in a Shopping Centre" model of story, and this was a far, far better take on the idea of a lockdown within the ARC than season 4's lamentable attempt. I even liked the preposterously invincible bugs, but I quite enjoy not-too-scary horror movies and the bugs were right out of one of those. No one, of course, suggested that the bugs should be safely corralled and returned to their own time but B tells me its a sad fact that all conservationists are well aware of: you need a back bone to elicit much sympathy.
The addition of Emily to the field team produced a startlingly unexpected new dynamic which I hadn't anticipated. The scene where Becker, Abby and Emily were taking Jess down to the infirmary was almost shocking in the way it naturally involved an action team which was predominantly female. I've become more aware of this kind of thing over the years but I'm going to give Primeval well deserved brownie points for a cast where this kind of grouping can arise naturally even if I'm going to spend much of the next few reviews complaining about how they still keep falling back on the trope of some man riding to the rescue at the last minute. It is a sign of our household's opinion of Primeval's ability to research stuff that, despite knowing very little about allergies we were watching Jess's plight and asking "do allergies really work like that?" Unsurprisingly, I've since been told the answer is "no".
The less said about "we have hardly any chance of reaching the bunker on time! However, if by some miracle, we should make it I will promptly leave, bimble around for ten minutes looking for my girlfriend and then still make it back on time" the better.
I wasn't even too irritated by the whole business with Connor and Burton. Obviously there are huge gaps of logic in both their behaviour which is more than a little frustrating. A better programme would have done something with the fact that ultimately Burton is condemned, in Connor's eyes, because he takes the right decisions. I have a feeling that the moral universe Primeval inhabits (admittedly together with a lot of genre programming) is one in which the personal always takes precedence over wider, more abstract concerns. A person who will not endanger the world in order to save their friend is almost always a blackguard of some description (or totally bonkers - Hi there! Helen!) and the scales are finally seen to fall from Connor's eyes when he learns that Philip would not endanger London in order to save Connor and his friends. Matt's journey has been shown to be one of stepping back from an obsession with his mission to save humanity in order to develop and nuture bonds with those around him. Even Abby's foolhardy decision in the episode to go looking for Rex fits into this paradigm. There's actually some really meaty stuff there which Primeval not only fails to address (but it is tea-time monster-of-the-week drama so possibly fair enough) but of which it seems woefully unaware. However on some level, even though I suspect it was entirely unintentional, I liked the fact that Philip's hold on Connor was broken precisely because Philip can so easily take the long view and is so ruthlessly prepared to prioritise. Obviously Philip continues to have non-existent management skills and a shocking lack of appreciation of the very obvious risks involved in having anomalies open all over the place but I would love to have seen these portrayed as character flaws rather than Signs Of Villainy. I do think it a shame though that Connor's revelation is not that Burton is dangerously arrogant and personally manipulative but that he doesn't care about Connor enough. In Louise-world however, Connor's realises both that Philip hasn't paid enough thought to the possible outcomes of his research, and that any attempt to reason with him is likely to result in Matt's quiet removal from the anomaly project, not any re-evaluation of the research direction, because in the light of that understanding Connor's subsequent actions appear much more like those of an adult than a child throwing a tantrum because he doesn't feel loved.
Sadly the show seems to concur with the view that Not Loving Connor is a Manifestation of Evil for which further explanation isn't required. While I know many in sympathy with that viewpoint I suspect even they would have appreciated a little more polishing of dialogue and performance. My intuition is that with relatively few tweaks, the actions of Connor and Burton could be made to seem much more nuanced and adult without any substantial damage being done to the overall plotline. As is often the case with Primeval (particularly when I pretend season 3 didn't happen), it shows signs of having put some careful thought into its characterisation only to apparently lose courage at the last minute and fall back on more simplistic cariacatures.
I actually rather enjoyed this episode, it has to be said. I always like it when Primeval cuts itself a little loose from the "Raptor in a Shopping Centre" model of story, and this was a far, far better take on the idea of a lockdown within the ARC than season 4's lamentable attempt. I even liked the preposterously invincible bugs, but I quite enjoy not-too-scary horror movies and the bugs were right out of one of those. No one, of course, suggested that the bugs should be safely corralled and returned to their own time but B tells me its a sad fact that all conservationists are well aware of: you need a back bone to elicit much sympathy.
The addition of Emily to the field team produced a startlingly unexpected new dynamic which I hadn't anticipated. The scene where Becker, Abby and Emily were taking Jess down to the infirmary was almost shocking in the way it naturally involved an action team which was predominantly female. I've become more aware of this kind of thing over the years but I'm going to give Primeval well deserved brownie points for a cast where this kind of grouping can arise naturally even if I'm going to spend much of the next few reviews complaining about how they still keep falling back on the trope of some man riding to the rescue at the last minute. It is a sign of our household's opinion of Primeval's ability to research stuff that, despite knowing very little about allergies we were watching Jess's plight and asking "do allergies really work like that?" Unsurprisingly, I've since been told the answer is "no".
The less said about "we have hardly any chance of reaching the bunker on time! However, if by some miracle, we should make it I will promptly leave, bimble around for ten minutes looking for my girlfriend and then still make it back on time" the better.
I wasn't even too irritated by the whole business with Connor and Burton. Obviously there are huge gaps of logic in both their behaviour which is more than a little frustrating. A better programme would have done something with the fact that ultimately Burton is condemned, in Connor's eyes, because he takes the right decisions. I have a feeling that the moral universe Primeval inhabits (admittedly together with a lot of genre programming) is one in which the personal always takes precedence over wider, more abstract concerns. A person who will not endanger the world in order to save their friend is almost always a blackguard of some description (or totally bonkers - Hi there! Helen!) and the scales are finally seen to fall from Connor's eyes when he learns that Philip would not endanger London in order to save Connor and his friends. Matt's journey has been shown to be one of stepping back from an obsession with his mission to save humanity in order to develop and nuture bonds with those around him. Even Abby's foolhardy decision in the episode to go looking for Rex fits into this paradigm. There's actually some really meaty stuff there which Primeval not only fails to address (but it is tea-time monster-of-the-week drama so possibly fair enough) but of which it seems woefully unaware. However on some level, even though I suspect it was entirely unintentional, I liked the fact that Philip's hold on Connor was broken precisely because Philip can so easily take the long view and is so ruthlessly prepared to prioritise. Obviously Philip continues to have non-existent management skills and a shocking lack of appreciation of the very obvious risks involved in having anomalies open all over the place but I would love to have seen these portrayed as character flaws rather than Signs Of Villainy. I do think it a shame though that Connor's revelation is not that Burton is dangerously arrogant and personally manipulative but that he doesn't care about Connor enough. In Louise-world however, Connor's realises both that Philip hasn't paid enough thought to the possible outcomes of his research, and that any attempt to reason with him is likely to result in Matt's quiet removal from the anomaly project, not any re-evaluation of the research direction, because in the light of that understanding Connor's subsequent actions appear much more like those of an adult than a child throwing a tantrum because he doesn't feel loved.
Sadly the show seems to concur with the view that Not Loving Connor is a Manifestation of Evil for which further explanation isn't required. While I know many in sympathy with that viewpoint I suspect even they would have appreciated a little more polishing of dialogue and performance. My intuition is that with relatively few tweaks, the actions of Connor and Burton could be made to seem much more nuanced and adult without any substantial damage being done to the overall plotline. As is often the case with Primeval (particularly when I pretend season 3 didn't happen), it shows signs of having put some careful thought into its characterisation only to apparently lose courage at the last minute and fall back on more simplistic cariacatures.