Primeval: New World -- Ep. 1
First of all, my screen caps are terrible, but certain people who shall remain nameless, who might be my father, happened to have decided to tape something on a different connected player at the same time and the quality is terrible because it's all wobbly and awful and I tried and tried and it's just awful.
Next, I'm going to divide this into two kinds of information. The first is general impressions that don't really have anything to do with plotty stuff, things like, "Connor was very cute." Which doesn't give anything away, and you all knew that, so I'm not calling it a spoiler. There are some other impressions I have about the sort of program it is, some of the, "I really thought of this other show," sorts of things that someone might call a spoiler, but I'm not sure. After that will be the terrible screen caps and some snide comments to go with them.
Finally, if anyone's really really desperate for the DVD because they can't stand the wait, I will abduct it and throw it in the mail for them and pay my father back the twenty cents I owe him for the loss of the disc. Just sayin'.
First I will reiterate that Connor is all Connor-y and fun and nervous and also is being weird and cryptic. I half expected him to say at one point, "Let's just say I'm a friend . . . I didn't say I was yours." So, anyone who's never seen the original Primeval will probably think he's an evil British guy sent to destroy them all, just sayin'. Also, there wasn't enough Connor. but then, others may feel differently. If someone tracks down reviews by people who have yet to see the original and are watching this without knowing any of the background, they may have a very interesting read on this first episode.
In other first impressions, Evan Cross is really being set up to be this show's Cutter, with the whole obsession thing. They have no Lester. Their government contact is exactly what you'd think Connor would have turned into if he'd joined some section of the Home Office and then wandered into the X-Files wing, never to return. Ken Leeds has a rotary phone in his office, people. A rotary phone, and it's olive green. Ange Finch is definitely their answer to Claudia and/or Jenny, if I'm going to drag out drawing parallels, and they seem to have no one to fill any of the soldierly or shooty roles. That is, Mac Rendell, their token Brit, seems to have no particular purpose, but he can shoot. As can Dylan Weir and Evan Cross. There is no Stephen-type, no Ryan-type and no Becker-type. Toby Nancy is their geek, but I would say the closest I can come to an equivalent to her is Abby from NCIS. While not a goth, the odd science geek with bubbly enthusiasm thing is very there.
The show, while maintaining that wonderful character of, "We hire for the ARC by hauling random people off the street," does have a rather distinct stylistic flavour that's one half SG-1 and one half Supernatural. This is to be expected given the sourcing, of course, but it's a little disconcerting to go from the stylings of the original to this. I feel a tad confused while watching, a little like when you watch the Star Trek reboot movie.
The quality of the animation is very different, the animals look different and I get the feeling there's a lot more detail in the renderings, but I could be wrong.
Have a pic or two that's a) not too awful and b) I don't think spoils anything.
So . . . I give you Connor pics.
Also gratuitous Misha Collins, because there was a brief interview during the commercial break.
And now, below, some snark and some bloody awful screen caps.
There's a monster watching, which just goes to show, if you go skydiving off a building, you will get eaten. It's a law of the universe. Like the couple making out in a disaster flick always dies first.
Connor is creeping around creepily, specifically so that the three people watching this who have not seen the original Primeval will think he is evil. We all know better, he's waiting for Evan to give the signal it's safe now to have a quickie in the bushes.
Drake is kind of a bit of a liar here, well aware as he is that it was a dinosaur. Or something. Maybe a predatory prehistoric alpaca. Either way, he does that not exactly lying thing to Dylan Weir.
The first decent pic of Evan Cross I got, right next to Ange Finch, who mostly is like Jenny or Claudia or something, with Evan, and with Mac in the background, right after Evan has brought him into the inner circle . . . for no apparent reason, other than that seeing Mac on a motorcycle in leather makes him hot. Or so I presume. Maybe he's hoping to get Ange laid to get her off his back about being a responsible CEO in charge of hundreds of jobs who can't fund his obsession if he doesn't maintain his business. Cute British guy in leather? It's a good bet, right?
Here is Toby, setting up a detection network to find anomalies, and here's Mac, staring at her butt and pretending that makes him useful.
Meanwhile, back on the starship Enterprise, they were using photons to get out of the spatial anomaly . . . sorry, wrong program. Connor's sneaking about and making the three people who don't know there's a Primeval: Old World, still think he's evil. Cute, but evil. Why else would he be breaking into Evan's top secret hideout? Could it be the whipped cream in the kitchen?
While Mac explains that he has no idea what's going on and Evan hired him for a job he has no apparent qualifications for beyond being British and wearing lots of leather (is that a valid reason? The people want to know), Connor continues to sneak around looking for something. Very suspicious.
Then he's all awkward and Connor and adorable and adorkable and you just want to snuggle him for being cute. Then you probably want to peel that nice tight grey shirt off and do unspeakable things. Or make him do those things with Evan. Or maybe Mac. I bet Ange let him go because she was thinking about him whispering sweet nothings in her ear while he did things.
I have a one track mind, apparently.
Evan and Dylan then see a utahraptor, and that's the best cap I got of it. There is panic and tackling and falling through the space time continuum.
As Cleolinda Jones said in one of her delightful movies in 15 minutes, "I fall on you in the defensive missionary position!" 'Cause she kinda does. Although I don't think any of us blame her.
The team is coming together. One rich guy with a dangerous obsession, one girl geek who has no idea what she's gettiing into, one guy who has no idea what's going on, and one animal expert who's trying to figure out why she's not calling the police. Also, Jurassic Park called and it wants its raptor shot back.
Evan's friend Drake died because he's never watched a horror flick and went walking alone into a dark hallway with no backup after he heard someone screaming. Also, there is Connor, giving vague and vaguely threatening advice to Evan. Or something. It's kind of a midway point between, "You can take the red pill or the blue pill," and, "Three turns should do it, Miss Granger," and, "I'm a friend . . . I didn't say I was yours."
Evan and Mac are unimpressed by this. Also, if Connor wants to stride off like that, he should invest in a leather duster like Angel or something. Ange is unimpressed by Ken Leeds, who's kind of how I think Connor would have wound up if he'd been recruited by the Home Office for something unrelated to dinosaurs. Offering the assistance of Project Magnet to help kick alien dinosaur ass.
Avengers assemble! Then rescue the only ten-year-old who can't recognise a pteranodon on sight.
Hi! I'm Evan Cross. My girlfriend was killed by an albertasaur several years ago, and I keep the dead body of the person who saved me in a creepy creepy cryostasis pod, where I can look at them and see that Connor has the same badge on his arm as the dead person, identity unknown! It says CAR, or maybe ARC. Or maybe RCA. If it goes the other way, it says CRA. So, it has something to do with cars. Or the Canadian tax authorities. Or Indiana Jones. At least, the three people watching who don't know about Primeval: Dublin's Really London, No Really! might wonder. Or it might be Connor in there, in which case we at Denial will probably never be seen in the real world again.
On to Episode 2
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