Primal 3×01 Review: “Vengeance of Death”

The action-heavy animated series Primal is back on TV screens after an almost 4-year hiatus, with ‘Vengeance of Death’ being the season 3 premiere.

I have been looking forward to the return of Primal by Genndy Tartakovsky ever since the project was announced back in 2023. With how the second season finale featured Spear’s death and a flashforward showcasing an older version of his daughter with Mira, I thought the third chapter would focus more on the daughter or at least have her play a supporting role in a different narrative. However, as the project continued to be developed, it was revealed that Tartakovsky was bringing Spear back from the dead.

I mean… Sigh!

But also… okay? I’m kind of intrigued?

The promotional material had a zombie Spear slowly walking around the savage lands while trying to reconnect with the memories from his living past. Powerful magic existed in Primal lore. So, resurrecting Spear made sense with the lore. However, truth be told, I would have preferred Spear finally getting to rest while his daughter continued his legacy. But that wasn’t to be. So, I tuned in to watch the premiere of Primal season 3 for what it was.

And having taken it for what it was, I have to say that the approximately half-hour-long first episode was quite enjoyable. It made me sad seeing Spear being brought back from the dead as a mere vicious tool by a Shaman seeking revenge against the Ape-Men. It made me sad when the Shaman’s control was broken and leaving Spear as a zombie with no direction. He spent most of the episode dragging himself across the unforgiving terrain while following a certain sound or light source that would catch his attention.

Things began to change for the better when Spear instinctively saved a leper from drowning and was led to a Leper colony. Spear’s memories continued to slowly return to him. So, it will be interesting to see how long it will take for him to regain consciousness and how he will accept being stuck in his current zombie form.

There might be a magical way to cure a zombified Spear. However, frankly, I would like Primal season 3 to serve as a proper goodbye to Spear after he reconnected with his daughter, Mira, Fang, and Fang’s dino kids. Let that man rest, Tartakovsky!

But if Spear does turn human or something close enough down the line, I would like for the potential fourth season to finally move away from Spear as the focus.

‘Vengeance of Death’ continued to showcase the creative team’s impressive talent with visual storytelling. Sticking to the show’s core style, the premiere episode didn’t have any dialogue, and yet you could still easily understand what was happening to Spear as well as the events that occurred around him. I liked how the animation team made zombie Spear walk, with his motor skills returning as he continued to use more of his body.

The action scenes continued to be well-choreographed, well-lit, and bloody, with Spear being even more dangerous than before because due to being a zombie, stabbing him with sharp weapons wasn’t enough to keep him down. I wonder if Spear would be able to reattach a limb if someone’s able to chop it off. Also, with zombies usually needing their brains damaged to be defeated, I wonder if the same would be true for Spear, considering he was resurrected by magic and not your run-of-the-mill zombie virus.

All in all, the debut of Primal season 3 was a fun return to the deadly world created by Tartakovsky. I’m still rooting for Spear, and I can’t wait for him to reunite with his family. Also, I hope we get to see Mira and her daughter soon because I want to know how the battle unfolded in Mira’s village for the Shaman to do what he did.

Did you watch Primal season 3 episode one, ‘Vengeance of Death’? What did you think of it?

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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