Primal 3×06 Review: “Cavern of Horrors”

Primal season 3 episode 6, titled ‘Cavern of Horrors’, was all about Mira leading a very dangerous rescue mission against a horde of giant entelodonts while Spear continued trying to be friends again with Fang.

With Spear having reunited with Mira, Fang, and Fang’s two kids in the previous episode, it was clear the team was going to reach the entelodont cave soon enough, regardless of Fang’s continued hesitation to be welcoming to Spear. Now, before I get to the action-packed rescue mission, I would like to talk about Fang and Spear’s current dynamic.

Frankly, I still don’t understand what Fang’s so upset about. I get that Spear’s a zombie and that he smells like death, but then again, Fang’s kids were okay with him around. Fang also saw Mira being friendly toward Spear. Not only that, but a bit more of Spear’s memory returned while trying to reconnect with Fang, allowing him to go and bring some water as well as grub for Fang because he remembered she liked those things. And yet, Fang refused to make Spear feel he was part of the team. She kept roaring in the poor guy’s face.

While the hesitation made sense in the previous episode because an undead Spear suddenly appeared in front of his family without warning, Fang still deciding to ignore Spear’s intentions to rekindle their relationship in ‘Cavern of Horrors’, came across as the creative team dragging the inevitable reunion between the two until some major emotional moment down the line. We are more than halfway through the 10-episode-long third season. I have my fingers crossed that Spear and Fang get to be friends again soon. I want to see the two willingly working together for a couple of episodes against some threat, because I highly doubt a zombie Spear is going to be allowed to stick around beyond the finale. Having Fang finally accept Spear into her life, just for him to leave her again in the same episode, would be unkind.

Heck! Spear played a beneficial role in Fang’s battle against the giant entelodont mother, and still, Fang was like, “Stay away from me!”

Ugh, Fang! Spear doesn’t have much time left!

Coming to Mira’s plan to rescue the kidnapped humans, I liked how she decided to scope out the cavern before charging in with Fang and Spear to attack their numerous enemies. After ordering Fang and her kids to stay back until required, Mira took Spear along to see the threats they would need to face inside the cave to reach the humans.

I do feel that the dread accompanying the existence of such a giant entelodont mother would have worked a lot better if we had seen said beast for the first time alongside Mira in this episode, instead of the creature being revealed in chapter 4. But, oh well, it is what it is.

Wanting to survive, the kidnapped humans had tried to climb out of the pit themselves, but there were entelodonts waiting to feast on human flesh the moment someone reached the top. I don’t know why they didn’t simply throw the person back into the ditch, considering the humans were there to be fed to the entelodon mother, but again, it is what it is.

Once inside the den, Mira did notice how the entelodonts didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings while feeding on their mother’s milk, making it the perfect time to rescue the humans. However, I do think some of the prisoners should have also been able to notice the same thing and tried to make a run for it during that particular window.

Having Mira’s plan become a bit more complicated due to Spear’s presence made sense. He was an asset, but the entelodonts quickly caught his peculiar stench. So, Mira had no choice but to ask Spear to stay behind with Fang and the kids while she tried to rescue Jabu from the pit alone.

Waiting for the entelodonts to throw more kidnapped humans into the ditch and the mother entelodont to eat again before feeding her brood took an emotional toll on Mira. It was a sacrifice she had to let happen because otherwise, she would have lost the chance to save even a single person.

The writers continued to do a good job of amping up the tension as Mira tried to pull Jabu out of the hole while the entelodonts fed. Mira could only save Jabu for now, but the rest of the humans didn’t care. It was natural for them to start climbing the vine Mira dropped down for Jabu, without realizing it wouldn’t be able to hold much weight. I felt for Mira and Jabu during that moment, but I also couldn’t blame the other people acting in such a manner. No one wanted to be the mother entelodont’s next meal. It wouldn’t be the first time humans panicked during a rescue operation and made things worse for others.

The failure of Mira’s plan led to Spear, Fang, and the kids having no choice but to rush into the cavern to help. I knew the mother entelodont was gigantic, but I wasn’t ready for Fang to be so tiny in front of such a dangerous foe. I was expecting the good guys to defeat the mother entelodont, but not without Fang getting gravely injured in the process. So, yay, to such a beast getting killed off without Fang having to suffer any serious damage.

However, Mira wasn’t as lucky. While she’s no doubt a tough fighter, she’s also a human, and a pregnant one at that. Seeing her being easily thrown away and injuring her leg didn’t feel nice. I know she will survive and give birth to her and Spear’s daughter, but still.

With the surviving humans rescued by our team, it looks like Spear and the rest will be taking Mira back to her village for medical attention. Even though he helped save a bunch of people, including Jabu, I doubt the villagers will be welcoming toward a scary zombie, especially if Mira’s not present to handle the situation.

I can see Spear being forced to leave the village until Mira recovers and brings him back. As for Fang, that stubborn dinosaur better cut Spear some slack. Like, what more does she want him to do to prove he isn’t a threat to her?

Did you watch Primal season 3 episode 6? 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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