Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Primeval

I recently started watching Primeval. I had never heard of it, but it's one that's available for instant viewing on Netflix, so I watched the first few minutes to see if I was interested. They hooked me right away and I've been speeding through episodes ever since.

The premise: After a report of a "monster," in a local British forest, three guys from the university, lead by Dr. Cutter, a professor of evolutionary zoology (a professor whose wife disappeared in that same forest after a similar report eight years earlier), go to investigate. On the way, they run into a gal from teh zoo who's in the forest for an unusual lizard. They find out that the monster is actually a dinosouar who's come through a bizarre magnetic field from its time to ours. From then on, the team goes around, catching creatures that come through these anomalies. There's also an over-arcing plot revolving around Dr. Cutter's wife.

Now I'd be the first to point out certain logical/logistical holes in the series. They're minor, and not vital to the overall story, but they're the nit-picky kinds of things that bother me sometimes. Also, there are times when they over-simplify things that would, in real life, be more complicated. However, I'm hooked on the Mrs. Cutter plotline, the characters are a lot of fun and the one thing that the show does really, really well, is mechanics. There's a definite horror element to the show - come on, it's all about people getting eaten by creatures - and they do a great job of building tension. It's not often that a show makes me jump, but this one does plenty.

I'm fascinated by the fact that it's not brilliant TV, but it's definitely got me hooked. The pacing/plotting is spot on and I love the fact that I'm not paying attention to the holes because I'm too busy paying attention to other things. That's good writing.

3 comments:

YA Sleuth said...

I liked this show too, despite the same problems you mention. Fascinating to figure out why some shows/books with holes keep you hooked, and others make you run for the hills.

Debbie said...

Hmmm. I've been wondering about it. There are so many supernatural type shows out there and not all of them work. Guess I'll have to check it out.

Ali said...

Oh it's so fun. Deb, you should definitely check it out.

I just watched the last episode of season three, which has probably their biggest cliffhanger yet, and now I'm ultra impatient for season four to get going.