Primeval: New World, Episode 9 – Breakthrough
Who doesn’t love Triceratops? They’ve probably been my favorite dinosaur since I was a kid and I’ve been waiting for the day Primeval: New World brings one to the streets of Vancouver. I got my wish this week! And I wasn’t alone in my excitement. Seeing Dylan fangirl over this beautiful behemoth was fantastic. She refused to believe the dinosaur could be aggressive until she put herself into a dangerous position, but once she had him trapped in the tennis court she acted like a little girl with a new pet, bringing him food and drink; she was so in awe! Her final run to lure the Triceratops to the anomaly was a hilarious, pell-mell flight of panic to help the animal she’d developed affection for.
Photo courtesy of Primeval New World
Yet again, Niall Matter brings us a stellar performance. His moping around the office, missing Ange, was so subtly done. The fact that he was wearing the same sweater as when Brooke was killed just broke my heart a little bit more. While Dylan was reveling in the opportunity to observe the Triceratops, he can’t see any creature as anything but a threat, a reminder of the carnivore that killed his wife. And I think that’s a shame. Hopefully one day he’ll be able to appreciate them for the miracles they are and share in Dylan’s excitement. He even expressed regret over that feeling in the final scene of the episode. Sara Canning did an outstanding job in that scene. When she told the tale of her work keeping wolves out of her family farm, the devastation she felt when she saw the animals in distress, it really gave us a glimpse into her motivation.
The Ken Leeds mystery just got deeper this week. His assistant refusing to pass along phone messages from Toby was intriguing and makes me think Leeds isn’t in as much control as he’d either like or hope. He seemed convincing in his surprise at the team’s appearance at the anomaly site which suggests he’s not getting all the information from the higher-ups. Regardless of his character’s voracity, Geoff Gustafson plays Leeds with such a fantastic sense of comic timing that I always enjoy his scenes. But his telling his boss that they were “on the same team” was not convincing and I see doubt creeping in.
Photo courtesy of Primeval New World
Colin Ferguson was an amazing guest star. Having a mini Eureka reunion with Matter was great. But Ferguson also brought us an amazing character in Howard Kanan. He played the paranoid, obsessed scientist role to perfection. And his reaction when he finally saw the dinosaur, the excitement he exhibited, was hysterical! It also gave us a window into the world of Evan before dinosaurs, and that his success was not just because of his genius, but because he was given a lot of answers by technology from Mac’s alternate timeline. When Howard and Evan opened up in Howard’s kitchen about losing their wives (Howard’s line that if he could go after ovarian cancer with a rifle he would was devastating and so well delivered) I had hopes that they could start to work together. But Howard’s descent into something slightly south of sanity prevailed and it seemed like he planned all along to go through the anomaly. I feel we haven’t seen the last of him, though. He did have a perfected anomaly detector with him and if he can survive the worlds he’s thrust into, there’s always a chance he’ll crop up.
Toby and Mac’s awkward attempt at a hug was hilarious! I adore their relationship and chemistry and this week Toby took control of that by attempting to show Mac the logic behind the paradox of his other, frozen self. I particularly appreciated the line by Toby that she didn’t understand how Evan is alive if Mac wasn’t there to rescue him, it validated my own confusion with the whole time travel paradox! But she did a great job of getting Mac to see where Evan’s motivation was and hopefully that’s the catalyst to Mac’s eventual return.
Photo courtesy of Primeval New World
The episode answered a lot of questions while asking many more. Although the team isn’t completely back together yet (I don’t think it will be long until Mac returns to the fray and I’m still holding out hope that we’ll see Ange again) this was a great step forward and we saw a lot more character development. Now excuse me while I go to West Vancouver and try to find myself a pet Triceratops!
Primeval: New World airs on SPACE on Tuesdays at 10e/7p
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