Primal’s third seasons receives an undead makeover that pushes Tartakovsky’s already-ambitious action epic even further out of its comfort zone.
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal is why people watch television in the first place. It’s a sprawling, ultra-violent, survival tale between neanderthal and dinosaur that plays out almost entirely without dialogue. Primal taps into something ancient and, well, primal – in order to engage with storytelling in its purest form. Primal is something truly special; it’s an anomaly that works in spite of itself, barreling ahead and fueled purely on confidence, ambition, and passion. There is literally nothing else like it on television, and every single episode is a blessing. Not only is it a true joy to get more installments of this story, but season three is such a success that it solidifies Primal as Genndy Tartakovsky’s magnum opus.
Primal’s second season concludes with Spear sacrificing himself in a very resolute manner. Tartakovky’s plan seemed to be to transform the title into an anthology series, with season two’s “The Primal Theory“ almost operating as a backdoor pilot proof of concept in this regard. Spear’s story was finished, but his daughter’s introduction looked like another perfect avenue to go forward if the plan wasn’t to shift Primal’s time period to different ages in history in order to better demonstrate the series’ cyclical themes.
Curiously, Tartakovsky has opted for a continuation of Spear’s story after all, yet in a manner that doesn’t at all feel like a regressive retreat to safety. Primal’s third season adopts more of a supernatural angle that becomes such a natural extension of the first two seasons. It’s such a perfect next chapter in this story that it’s actually hard to imagine anything else happening instead. Season three resurrects Spear into an undead automaton who may be Spear in body, but he struggles to connect with the scraps of his past memories. Nevertheless, as Spear’s living corpse slouches further towards Bethlehem, he’s confronted by vestiges of his past life, as if some things are unavoidable.
Spear’s journey was already remarkable, but the places he’s taken in this new season lift him up even higher and turn him into a prolific totem who is designed to serve a larger purpose. This season’s structure plays out like Dante’s Inferno meets Shadow of the Colossus and Heavy Metal. Primal evolves into something bigger – and arguably – even better. This season requires some trust on the audience’s part, only for it to become the purest execution of Primal’s core concept.
Primal wasn’t averse to horror in its first two seasons, and it even established a precedent for zombies in this universe. That being said, these new episodes don’t just further embrace the genre but also use horror as the season’s foundational backbone. Primal reaches a point where it wouldn’t feel out of place if Cenobites were to casually appear out of primordial black goo. Spear’s undead transformation this season isn’t taken for granted. In fact, it’s honestly one of the best zombie stories I’ve ever seen. It engages in a methodical conversation on what it truly means to be alive or dead with respect to humanity’s cyclical violence.
This is easily Primal’s most emotional season, and much of these ten episodes are a bleak meditation about shambling around the Earth, searching for purpose. There’s such a palpable sadness for what Spear has lost, even if he doesn’t fully comprehend it, that reflects a deeper message of nature versus nurture. There are forces in play here that are far bigger than Spear or any dinosaur.
These new episodes cultivate acts of brutality that are even more ridiculous and would have been impossible back when Spear was human. It’s such a satisfying way to heighten a series that had reached a point where it felt like it had done everything. Primal has never felt like it’s sanitized its carnage. It’s always been a deeply vicious series. However, I was genuinely shocked at the severity of some of season three’s carnage and the context behind certain massacres. A very clear demarcation line halfway through the season also pushes the narrative in a fascinating direction.
There’s a creative, kinetic choreography to everything that’s done in Primal, whether it’s battles, chases, or exploration through treacherous new terrains. Stunning art direction complements the visual storytelling, and there are particular sequences that look like Frank Frazetta paintings. Primal’s third season feels like the synthesis of Tartakovsky’s entire career. One disturbing setpiece even pulls from some of the uncomfortable tricks exhibited in his crass neuter-comedy, Fixed.
Primal is a distillation of mankind’s duality – rage and selfless love – as Spear’s rebirth pushes him to the edges of these extremes. He fights tooth and nail for his humanity to prove that he deserves it and that he’s not just some blunt tool of destruction. This season covers a lot of ground, but it’s ultimately about understanding and the corresponding pain and frustration when someone feels like they don’t have a voice and can’t be heard. Primal tackles this idea from many unique perspectives, only to build to a powerful catharsis by the season’s end.
It took a little over three years for Primal’s third season to arrive, and it’s proven to be well worth the wait. Primal gives fans a truly satisfying collection of episodes that build to an even better finish than before. The final episode is nothing short of perfect. It’s not just the strongest entry that Primal has ever produced, but also quite possibly the best thing that Tartakovsky has made, period. Primal’s third season sets a staggering new standard for adult animation.
Primal season three premieres January 11th at 11:30pm on Adult Swim, with next day airing on HBO Max.
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