Terror Birds come through an anomaly near an interesting source of food… a cannabis factory.
When I was visiting the set of New World earlier this year (interviews and set report to follow nearer the time of the UK /US transmission), one of the questions I asked was how this show was going to be specifically Canadian, rather than just generic North American. Various comments about the use of Vancouver landmarks were made, but more than one person suggested watching this particular episode… When you get to the solution proposed (and Mac’s reaction to it), you’ll see what they meant.
Terror Birds have always been one of the races that have been difficult to get right on Primeval: feathers aren’t easy to create, for a start, and there’s the temptation that they can perhaps be a bit cute. The original series story with them, filmed in Dublin Jail, overcame that problem, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of this episode helps as well – I was a little dubious about the pre-credits sequence, but the scenes in the train and the yard work really well, and full kudos to Mark Savela and the team for making the birds react so well with Andy Mikita’s live-action sequences.
Other plotlines start to move forward, with Ken Leeds becoming more involved with the team, and Toby getting out of the Tank (although perhaps she may well decide to heed the old saying about being careful what you wish for). Some sharp dialogue courtesy of showrunner Gillian Horvath hints at more stresses to come between Evan and Ange…
Verdict: Maintaining the solid standard, another good episode. 7/10
Paul Simpson
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