Primeval 3.02

[purplecat]

James Moran wrote my favourite episode of the last Doctor Who season. I thought Fires of Pompeii was intelligent and fun and handled the characters well and the issues with maturity.

I have also frequently complained that Primeval's Monster of the Week plots are pedestrian and dull.

So I was pleased that he decided to approach this week's episode as a haunted house story rather than the more usual, "ooh! look! monster! hunt! kill!" type stuff. In fact for the first twenty minutes or so I thought we were in for a real winner. There was a nice atmosphere, some good character work, a fun set-up and monster and then... and then... I started getting a bit bored. Abby is left alone at the house "oh no!". Connor is left alone at the house "oh no!". Abby is left alone at the house "oh no!". Once again the direction was really not helping the script. After the first ten minutes they'd used up all the tricks of creepy sounds and billowing curtains and were forced to return to them again and again, there was no sense of the tension ratcheting up which this type of story-telling really needs.

That said, I liked Danny. I liked Becker more than last week. I thought the early scenes in the haunted house with Abby, Connor and Jenny were great. It's just a shame the episode seemed to lose momentum somewhere around the halfway mark.

In other news, I was sorry Cutter wasn't in more of it (looks like Douglas Henshall was already on short hours by this point).

Comments

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I was massively disappointed. It reminded me of a low-budget Scooby Doo rip-off *g*. If you're going to do the hoary old haunted house line, at least do it well. And leaving the soldiers back at the ARC just made me grind my teeth.

It felt to me like they were gradually writing DH out. And it struck me that Jenny, Abby and Connor aren't strong enough to carry an ep themselves.

The jury is still out on Danny *g*.

[purplecat]

I didn't mind them going off on their own, they had every reason to suppose there was no creature and no anomaly, they were just taking a peak at the lie of the land. The moment they had real reason to think there was something there, now, they called reinforcements. Mind you, they fluffed the explanation of the rationale but that's not quite the same thing. I objected far less to their absence than I did last week.

I won't pretend it didn't lose its way halfway through though and compound that with a number of the trivial errors to which Primeval is prone such as "how not to treat a serious head injury".

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

Generally, I liked the ep - although as you say, the reptition of certain plot points did start to get annoying after a while. But I'm pleased to see that Jenny, Connor and Abby had some good interection, since we're probably going to be seeing more of these three together in the coming weeks...

[purplecat]

Agreed.

They had too much time for what plot they had, something Primeval is often guilty of but usually covers better than this.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I hated Fires of Pompeii - mainly because I know far more about the Romans of that period than the writer did.

I hated this episode - I think it is probably the worst episode of Primeval yet made. Well, I can't think of a worse one. I hate all these bloody film references, and I really, really disliked the fact that no-one (with the honourable exception of Becker) acted with any sense at all.

[fredbassett]

I was complaining all the way through about the way the house was done as if it was in America. There was no way it fitted in teh surrounding as all, and as for Abby's comment that it must be worth millions, the girl clearly doesn't understand the words "property crash" and "recession", or rather the writers don't.

I really hate the way they constantly keep refusing to give the military a proper role, but at least Becker got to shoot someone.

It was a Scooby Doo rip off. Although I was amused by the Sid and Nancy crack.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

The house did bother me, I must admit, even when I saw it in trailers. It jsut wasn't English. Though to be fair about the property crash, not only is this meant to be 2007, it's also in a different world from ours.

Granting that they had little choice about Cutter's reduced role this ep, they still could have done a much better job.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

There are houses like that. One down the road in Woodford Bridge has a portico and pillars just like it was in the Old South. There is another, just around the corner, which I like very much, which is all done out with cast iron balconies. Both of those would sell here for over a million, even in the recession.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

It totally looked like an American house -- that was part of the reason why I was whining at the screen within the first few minutes. The whole thing felt like a bad American rip-off generally. It's lost that slightly shambolic charm it had in S1.

[purplecat]

House didn't bother me. There are houses like that.

For once I thought there was a reason not to have a big military presence - it was just recon with no evidence there as an anomaly there nor, initially, that there ever had been and it gave Becker a chance to really shine back at the lab which I appreciated.

[fredbassett]

The house bothered me a lot, but I've worked with property all my life and was brought up in an estate agents!

I felt that with Lester's strictures last week about not having another Stephen Hart that at least some bodyguarding for a predicted anomaly would have made sense, after all, they seem to have enough of the hanging around the ARC.

Becker was pretty reasonable though, and was at least capable of acting decisively.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

That's probably the reason he wasn't in the field, he needed to be there to shoot the Replica.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Yes, and that is the problem with this series so far - there is much pushing around with what Dave Langford calls the "giant authorial thumb" rather than characters acting according to their natures and driving the plot that way.

The name Ranald Graham on scriptwriter credits used to be a guarantor of this kind of bad writing.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

Yes, and that is the problem with this series so far - there is much pushing around with what Dave Langford calls the "giant authorial thumb" rather than characters acting according to their natures and driving the plot that way.

Definitely agreed. They've dropped the ball here, badly :-(

[purplecat]

It was Becker's quick thinking that really sold me to him in a way I wasn't convinced about last week.

I think both last season's opener and the pterodactyl episode were worse than this (though I've not seen the pterodactyl one for a while and the memory does cheat). I think it had a nice set up and nice moments. Mostly I didn't think people acted that foolishly - they were all working on the assumption there was nothing in the house which was not entirely unreasonable. It's lack of pacing and general repetition is what let it down.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I definitely think this one was much worse than the pteranodon ep :-(

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I always liked the pterodactyl episode, despite The Birds references, which were reasonably fresh in the series at that point. The plot moved in a single direction and everyone was reasonably in character, except for Helen - and at that stage we were not at all sure what her character and motivation was.

I've rewatched last season's opener several times since I was originally disappointed in it. It has grown on me since then, for the action is fast and furious, and it makes reasonable sense on its own terms, while what seemed to be gaping plot holes have turned out to part of the arc. I think my initial disappointment was mainly because of lost opportunity.

The episodes I dislike from Seasons 1 and 2 are the dodo one and the mer-creature one, and those are because neither make much sense at all, even on their own terms, and a few funny moments in the dodo one do not make up for turning Abby into a damsel in distress, for the glowing eyes, or for slo-mo Connor. However, they are not as bad as this one...

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

In other news, I was sorry Cutter wasn't in more of it (looks like Douglas Henshall was already on short hours by this point).

Yes. But even that needn't have hobbled the ep so much if they'd thought a bit more about the plot. Cutter doing his thing back in the lab was fine, but letting the team go alone to a potential anomaly was not. At least not after they had some idea of there being activity there. They all know better.

Danny I could almost like if it weren't for the reasons he's there in the first place.

[fredbassett]

Cutter was doing bugger all. Dougie had obviously signed up for this series on the condition that he was in it as little as possible.

I liked Danny slightly more than I;d been expecting, but that was about it.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

Danny struck me as the cliched maverick cop with a chip on his shoulder. I need a lot more convincing to watch a show based on him, Abby and Connor!

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I may watch it solely to be able to write Cutter back into it as he should be. Though maybe things will improve in later eps (barring the obvious).

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

Maybe *g*. I shall stick with my Denial hat and also work out ways to bring Cutter back!

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I've got a lot of ideas already, but I need to see ep three first :-( And I do want to find out what happened to the future and all that as well. But it'll never be the same.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I'll stick with S3, but I feel really gloomy about it. The more I think about tonight's ep, the more ropey I think it was . . .

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

Yeah... individual bits weren't bad, but it just didn't work as it should. The whole haunted house thing wasn't really necessary, for a start.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

It was such a damn cliche! I was expecting more, as I'd enjoyed Moran's Dr Who Pompeii ep.

[purplecat]

It was a cool setup and idea but it didn't really seem to know how the mechanics of a haunted house story work and I appreciated the variety because the monster aspects of Primeval episodes tend to be very samey - one of the reasons I like the Dodo episode and Taylor's episode is they are doing something a bit different with the format than "let's have monster X in location Y".


Of the top of my head I don't know how the mechanics of a haunted house story work either but this episode clearly started treading water at the point Abby got knocked out with no idea where it was going next and I'm fairly sure that the haunted house genre requires you to keep upping the ante and the tension until the reveal and the resolution and that just didn't happen.

They also fluffed the costuming. Red clothes in Primeval nearly always signal imminent demise - that little girl should have been a gonna!

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

Exactly the reason I like Dodo and Taylor eps. And S3 is feeling like a radically different show. In fact, it felt vaguely like Torchwood at times. I think I'm not so enamoured of the legend-type creatures.

A decent haunted house story needs to be more claustrophobic and with people trapped in there, rather than running in and out like a bad French farce!

[purplecat]

I appreciated the contrast with Cutter. He's going to be a character who actively goes after the monsters rather than trying to save them - that could be a fun dynamic to watch the team play with - assuming they pursue that angle.

If you don't like cliched mavericks I'm afraid you've been watching the wrong show all along :-)

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

LOL, that's very true! But the ragged charm of S1 saved it. And they just about kept Cutter this side of cliche, although it was a close-run thing at times *g*.

[purplecat]

Mostly its in the performance and I think Jason Flemyng's (sp?) performance carried this for me since if I analyse the action there doesn't seem to be much there to point to.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I can usually take or leave Flemyng as an actor, as he gets cast too often in the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrel-type things. I thought he did OK with what he was given in this ep, but I just have concerns about what they'll do with the character.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I quite like Jason F - he was in the live remake of The Quatermass Experiment, and I saw him in Dr Finlay's Casebook years ago. It looks as if they're aiming for a much different kind of guy to Cutter, which I suppose is better than a pale imitation. Unfortunately, to accommodate him, they seem to be throwing away everything that the series has been about up to this point, and without any reason in the actual story to justify it.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I agree. Tonight felt like a totally different show. And if you're going to change direction with a clunking of gears, the audience do appreciate a glimpse of the road map *g*.

I did see Jason F in a film -- forgotten the title -- where he played a gay ballet dancer. He was very good in that.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I agree. Tonight felt like a totally different show. And if you're going to change direction with a clunking of gears, the audience do appreciate a glimpse of the road map *g*.


A very apt description! :-) Obviously, with Dougie's unwillingness to give them more time, they were labouring under some difficulty, but even so... they shouldn't make it so obvious. His removal from the show should come as a bolt from heaven, and shatter everything, they shouldn't telegraph it from the first moment. That way it will seem like the tragedy it is and should be.

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I don't think TFWIC do subtlety *g*.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

No, unfortunately I fear they don't have a clue.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

Cutter was doing bugger all. Dougie had obviously signed up for this series on the condition that he was in it as little as possible.

Sadly, I think that seems to be the case :-(

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I was prepared to like Danny, Unfortunately, he was exactly the sort of character I dislike at any time (whiney, self-centred, stupid) and did not even have the redeeming virtue of being pretty.

[purplecat]

It wasn't a imminently potential anomaly, it was an anomaly in the next few years. I had no problem with sending a small team to check out the lie of the land. I think they could have explained it better though and they really didn't have any idea there was current activity until, OK well until Abby got knocked out so Connor was a bit of an idiot but mostly events overtook them at that point. It wasn't slickly explained but it wasn't idiotic.

I'm not prepared to hold not being Cutter against Danny. It's not his fault.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I'm not prepared to hold not being Cutter against Danny. It's not his fault.

Not, I suppose it's not, but I still don't think I'm going to like him for a good while. Certainly not if they accept him without a qualm after You Know What.

[purplecat]

If you're correct that he doesn't get integrated until episode five or six then I hope they use the intervening time to show the team floundering somewhat without clear leadership and then clearly bring Danny in to rectify that - though I will frankly be amazed if they can manage that without metaphorically pissing all over Becker's character, but we'll see.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

If you're correct that he doesn't get integrated until episode five or six then I hope they use the intervening time to show the team floundering somewhat without clear leadership and then clearly bring Danny in to rectify that

Yes, that at least would make sense. They would be in a mess without Cutter, they should be in a mess without him, and if they aren't, it just throws away two years of development.

though I will frankly be amazed if they can manage that without metaphorically pissing all over Becker's character, but we'll see.

Yes, they've got to make Becker's role makes sense too. He'd stick to the team like glue after what happens, surely. Unless there's some other agenda going on.

[madscribbles.livejournal.com]

though I will frankly be amazed if they can manage that without metaphorically pissing all over Becker's character, but we'll see.

They've pissed all over Becker already, AFAIC. He let Cutter & Abby run around by themselves for most of 3x01. From what you guys have said about this week, he left everyone on their own while standing around and looking pretty.

So far, it looks like the only thing that's saved him from epic failure is that no one's gotten killed and, well, it's only a matter of time!

*kicks TFWIC*

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

They've pissed all over Becker already, AFAIC. He let Cutter & Abby run around by themselves for most of 3x01. From what you guys have said about this week, he left everyone on their own while standing around and looking pretty.

To be fair, no one actually needed back-up when they first went out - it was just a recon mission with no likely danger. And then they failed utterly to call for back-up when they should have.

So far, it looks like the only thing that's saved him from epic failure is that no one's gotten killed and, well, it's only a matter of time!

Yes, like next week:-( For which he'd better atone somewhere done the line, or I am going to be miffed, extremely.

[madscribbles.livejournal.com]

Yes, like next week:-( For which he'd better atone somewhere done the line, or I am going to be miffed, extremely.

Well, I'll just have to see how TFWIC handle it. I don't see Becker even being able to stop Cutter from going off to rescue Helen! so...

But I'll be ticked if they don't at least have Becker having a serious crisis over it happening. Because, even if it's not anything he could have controlled, it was still his mission to make sure no one died and he failed. I'll be seriously pissed if they have him brush it off.

And don't get me started about what I'll do if he's a bad guy LOL.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll just have to see how TFWIC handle it. I don't see Becker even being able to stop Cutter from going off to rescue Helen! so...


True, even Stephen might have had trouble there.

But I'll be ticked if they don't at least have Becker having a serious crisis over it happening. Because, even if it's not anything he could have controlled, it was still his mission to make sure no one died and he failed. I'll be seriously pissed if they have him brush it off.


Yes, me too. And Lester should tear him a new one as well, since it was him who brought him on board specifically to protect the team, and particularly Cutter.

And don't get me started about what I'll do if he's a bad guy LOL.

I have bad vibes about that, but we'll see...

[fififolle]

Totally agree, if I wasn't a 'fan' I would have turned it off it was going so slowly.
But! Oh! Danny! ♥ :D