Primeval series 4 eps 1 and 2.

[silver_sun]

Just watched the first 2 episodes of series 4 of Primeval. And despite all the changes that have happened since the show began it still has the same feel as it alway did.

It seems closer in tone to the first 2 series, rather than the 3rd which was, I felt, more aimed at the Saturday teatime audience, it's later time of 7.30 seems to suit it better. 




Episode one.

Episode worked well, introduced the new characters and gave the existing one plenty to do. Like the fact that everything that had gone before wasn't forgotten.

Abby and Connor stuck in the Cretateous, and surviving for a year. I think that it was good at the end of the episode that just because they'd got back to their own time that having to live how they had had actually effected them and would continue to do so.

Danny. Where are you? Still stuck in the Pliocene I guess. Nice to see than none of the old team have forgotten you. Still hoping that you'll put in an appearance before the end of series 4.

Poor Becker, feeling so responsible for all the people that have died/got stuck in time when it was his job to keep them alive. (although there wasn't actually anything he could have done - not with Cutter, or with Connor, Abby and Danny.)

New lead guy Matt. Not sure what to think about him. Nice Irish accent. Like the fact that they (the show writers) aren't telling us he's great and we must think so to. His sneaking off to have mysterious conversation with strange potplant man (gideon?) is rather intriguing - definitely seems like Matt has got some other agenda for working at the ARC other than just keeping people from being eaten by dinosaurs. Get the feeling that he knows more about anomalies that he's letting on too.

Lester - you still have hideous ties, questionable braces, and wonderful line in snark. Some things don't change and it's nice to see that Lester is one of them.

Jess. Not sure what I think about Jess. She's smart, organised,and won't be pushed around (standing up to Lester who asked her to hack into Philip Burton's files). She's got a crush on Becker, that Becker doesn't seem to notice - or at least if he does he's not letting on at all. There's just something though that telling me there's got to be more to her than meets the eye. I'm hoping that she's not just left as quirky, pretty girl with crush on oblivious man.

Philip Burton. (Alexander Siddig)
Okay he's definitely got his own agenda, and he's bank-rolling a lot of the ARC now. He's also probably going to try to use Connor for something to do with the anomaly control device. Again there's something about him that although he could easily end up being a villan type character he equally could be the one that ends up saving a lot of people. (I might be rather biased in this as I've liked Alexander Siddig since he played Dr Bashir in TS: DS9)




Episode 2

Nice to see Duncan back (he appeared in a series one episode and went to university with Connor) and that everything that happened with Tom and the dodos wasn't forgotten about. There has been in the past in Primeval the tendency to create plot points and then completely ignore there existence (Stephen, Helen and clone storyline anybody?)

Plot-wise I think that the authories would have at least looked into the fact that people who were sleeping rough in that building were being eaten. After all if Duncan heard about it surely somebody must have reported it somewhere.

The episode felt like it was more about getting Abby and Connor back on the team and showing a bit mroe about the dynamics within the new team than an episode that was focused on the creature.

Matt and his odd conversations with the mysterious Gideon (at least I think that's his name can't really keep calling him strange potplant man) are definitely about something significant that is going on - or is going to go on (don't you love time travel ;) )

Jess's conversation with Becker, the whole "Do you have a wife, girlfriend, boyfriend?" and Becker knowing smile and silence on the subject, plus the fact that unlike all the other male characters that have always been shown to be dating or trying to date women, Becker hasn't ever been shown to have any interest. That maybe down to the fact that Becker got very little background information about him, he still hasn't had his first name used on screen although it's been mentioned elsewhere it's Hilary.

It would be interesting to see if they do decide to go down the route of giving Becker a boyfriend/male love interest, as while they've had the Cutter/Helen, Stephen/Helen, Cutter/Claudia, Cutter/Jenny and Abby/Connor, they've all been m/f.