Primal 3×04 and 3×05 Review: “Prey for the Wicked” and “The Dead Cast No Shadow”

Primal season 3 episode 4, ‘Prey for the Wicked’, and episode 5, ‘The Dead Cast No Shadow’, cemented the timeline for me and gave the fandom the much-anticipated reunion between Spear and Fang.

So, it turns out that I was wrong when it came to where season 3 of Primal was set, especially with how the season 2 finale included a timeskip featuring Mira and Spear’s young daughter, as well as older versions of Fang’s kids. Having watched the premiere, I really thought the narrative was building toward a zombie Spear finally getting to meet his daughter and trying to create a bond with her before inevitably dying for good. However, episode 4 chucked my theory out the window. And frankly, I don’t know how I feel about that.

‘Prey for the Wicked’ opened with Mira’s village performing a ceremonial burial for Spear. The entire thing was handled quite well, in my opinion, with Fang showcasing a lot of emotion after accepting that Spear was indeed dead. After that, the story jumped forward a couple of months with Fang and her kids continuing to live inside the village, and Mira’s pregnancy progressing without issue. I liked seeing the villagers accepting Fang and her brood, even though they still displayed some fear and nervousness; I mean, they were dealing with three ferocious dinos after all. The two young dinosaurs becoming friends with a young village boy was a nice touch, adding to how the younger generation looked at dinos differently.

However, knowing Primal, that particular friendship was going to be threatened. Unfortunately, Mira’s village was attacked by a pack of entelodonts, with the beasts not only killing a bunch of humans but also kidnapping a handful, including the young village boy. Who could have ever predicted that? Ha!

As expected, the animation team delivered on the gore and violence during the nighttime battle. I still don’t know why such a village wasn’t better prepared for animal attacks at night, but oh well. Anyway, the most disturbing part was how the entelodonts were shown to be offering the kidnapped humans to a giant female entelodont in exchange for her milk. I’m not sure, but the beats were giving major Okkoto and Nago vibes from the iconic Princess Mononoke.

Of course, a pregnant Mira volunteered to go rescue the kidnapped villagers. A bunch of other villagers joined her. Fang gave in to allowing her kids to accompany Mira because they wanted to rescue their young friend. More violence followed, with Mira’s group being thinned before the end of episode 4. Also, the group following the foe’s trail is where I got to learn about the timeline for season three, drastically changing my opinion about this animated series.

They witnessed the aftermath of the fight between the Shaman, Spear, and the Ape-Men from the first chapter. Turns out Spear had only been able to rest for a couple of months before being forcibly resurrected by the Shaman and ordered to fight. Even though Mira and the others weren’t aware that Spear had been reanimated, the reveal did make me side-eye the narrative.

Bringing Spear back to life before the birth of his daughter felt like a copout to me. It came across as the creative team not being able to let go of Spear and focusing on the future. Given how things stood after the events of episodes 4 and 5, season three (to me) felt like season 2.5 rather than a proper third chapter. And yes, I do think that having Spear return after the actual timeskip in season 2 would have worked much better and made the current installment feel like an organic (and I’m using the term quite loosely) continuation of Spear’s story.

With zombie Spear appearing in front of Mira, Fang, and the baby dinos at the end of episode 4, it looks like he will be put to rest as soon as he witnesses the birth of his daughter, allowing the narrative to connect with the timeskip that didn’t include him without messing things up.

And while I enjoyed having Mira trying to bond with zombie Spear during episode 5, much to Fang’s annoyance, I’m hoping that the creative team will find the strength to let Spear die (again) and remain dead. I understand milking IPs, but having zombie Spear around, at this point in the timeline, already feels like a drag to me. And we’re only halfway through the episode count.

Like, what even is Mira’s endgame here? I know zombie Spear will assist with rescuing the villagers from the entelodonts, but then what? Even though she’s glad to have reconnected with him and was trying to make him understand that she’s pregnant with their child, I think Mira (as a character) will switch her focus to finding a way for zombie Spear’s soul to pass on to the afterlife.

Mira did have a nightmare about a fire monster (Chieftain?) coming to get her child. So, I wonder if that will be another issue zombie Spear will need to deal with before saying goodbye.

Again, the whole point behind Mira and Spear having a baby in the first place was for Spear to continue “living” through his child-to-be. That’s why seeing their warrior daughter riding one of Fang’s grown-up children while armed with a spear held narrative weight. And summoning Spear from the dead in such a manner took away said emotional weight. Sigh!

Switching gears, the communication scene between Mira and zombie Spear, while hilarious, were accompained by sadness, with Mira trying to make zombie Spear remember his life. The animation team continued to showcase zombie Spear learning how to move better, this time having zombie Spear manage to sit on the ground.

The warthog hunt scene between Fang and zombie Spear harkened to their dynamic when they first began to trust each other. I wonder how much longer it will take for Fang to warm up to the undead Spear. I think, due to being an animal, Fang realizes that nature should have taken its course, and zombie Spear shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

Zombie Spear continuing to chase the prehistoric mandrills through the trees, even after a couple of falls, and forcing his muscle memory to kick in was another hilarious yet cool-looking sequence.

The animation and music departments are doing amazing in Primal. I’m just not so sure about the story being told.

Did you watch Primal season 3 episodes 4 and 5? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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