Full spoilers follow for Primal Season 3, Episode 1, “Vengeance of Death,” which debuts on Adult Swim on January 11 and on HBO Max on January 12.
Genndy Tartakovsky established his reputation as a singular talent in the realm of television animation long ago thanks to the likes of shows such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: Clone Wars, but his caveman-and-dinosaur epic Primal, which debuted in 2019, has in many ways been his finest hour, a culmination of his vision for how serialized animation could work that he had been striving towards for years. And now Primal is back for a third season, which is part relaunch/part follow-up – and, based on Episode 1 at least, as visually striking and intriguing as ever.
Yes, the Neanderthal hero of the first two seasons known only as Spear (voiced by Aaron LaPlante) has returned, and this despite his having been killed at the end of Season 2 in definitive fashion. That episode was both devastating and uplifting, as Spear died a hero so that his extended family – his faithful dino companion Fang, human friend Mira, and their offspring, both dinosaur and human (including a daughter Spear would never meet!) – could live. It was tragic and amazing, and seemed like the perfect end to his story.
But as Tartakovsky has discussed, his plans for a third season, which would be an anthology version of Primal, never quite seemed to work, and eventually he was inspired by the idea of returning to the world of Spear… albeit a now zombified version of our favorite caveman who is about as far from the living Spear as can be. For now, anyway.
“Vengeance of Death” opens in the aftermath of a slaughter of a village, but one old man has survived – and he’s ready for the vengeance of the title. Wordlessly – this is Primal after all – using his arcane magic, which includes potions, an eyeball, and the blood and heart of one of his dead attackers, the old man resurrects Spear, whose decomposing body has been wrapped up and resting peacefully for who knows how long. And so this new Spear – lumbering, mindless, naked, and more dangerous than ever – is born.
Soon enough, Spear is tearing the old man’s enemies to shreds, and he’s got a leg up on his living form as well – he can take spears to the chest and various other injuries with no problem. This fight (the first of several action scenes in the 22-minute episode), which has the old man controlling Spear as he gets his revenge, is pure Primal, beginning as the seemingly subhuman enemy chomp away on raw flesh around a campfire (are they cannibals, eating the old man’s friends and family?). Bathed in a red light which foreshadows the bloodletting that is about to happen, they all perk up at a sound from the jungle. Silently, they stare at the treeline before the hazy image of Spear appears, a silhouette masked by a green fog. Cue the subhumans’ hooting and hollering, which breaks the silence, and then their efficient destruction at the hands of our new favorite zombie.
What is the plan for this zombie Spear? There’s no denying it was a pretty ballsy move to bring him back after the perfect ending of Season 2.
Amid this gratifying action, typically handsome design work, and effective soundscape, there’s also a touch of humor as one of the subhumans manages to slice off a piece of Spear’s skull – and some brain along with it. Having suddenly been immobilized because the old man died in the battle, our undead hero just stares slack-jawed, not responding at all to his lost bit of cranium. The subhuman does a double take at his opponent and the skull cap on the ground, and then decides to hightail it out of there.
A POV shot for Spear sets up what follows, as he looks on mindlessly at the carnage he has wrought. And then… nothing. With the old man no longer controlling him, he just stands there and… exists. Time passes, and Tartakovsky lets the beat play as night eventually turns to day. But as the sun rises and shines on Spear, well, something finally happens… He stands upright and moans. And starts walking.
Where is he going? What is the plan for this zombie Spear? There’s no denying it was a pretty ballsy move to bring him back after the perfect ending of Season 2, and it’s an even ballsier move to turn a beloved hero into a zombified mess. But clearly there’s more to the story here, with those flashes of his past hitting Spear and inspiring him. The world of Primal has never been about actual prehistoric times, of course, and it’s full of magic and all kinds of crazy stuff, so the idea that Spear could be restored to his human self and perhaps even reunited with Fang and his daughter is not out of the question. Wherever this goes, I’m confident Genndy Tartakovsky has something cool – and beautiful – planned.
Zombie Spear is heading… somewhere.
Questions and Notes From Anachronistic History
- After giving us a bit of dialogue in Season 2, we’re back to dialogue-free (so far anyway) in Season 3.
- The cave drawing of Spear at his former final resting place shows him surrounded by fire, a callback to his final battle in Season 2.
- Nice Frankenstein-esque touch of having the zombie Spear be taken in by that afflicted tribe. But those situations never can last, can they?
- Tartakovsky and his team really sell the undead-ness of Spear, from the crunchy sound effects when his body moves to the fly buzzing and landing on his unblinking eye to the way he just lands on the ground with so much dead weight when he sits down.
- I’ll try to come back and review Primal each week if you guys want it. Let me know!
