TV: Primeval - Season 2, Episode 2

If you've never seen Primeval then you need to know that it is essentially a "Monster of the Week" style show. And this week the monsters are... giant worms. Not as in Dune-style massive, mind; more dog-sized. As monsters go, they sound almost as weak as the first season's Dodo episode, though at least that had a killer virus to help liven things up.

Now, to be fair, the worms aren't as weak as they sound. Hidden in mist, their sudden attacks are almost surprising enough to make the viewer jump (but not quite), and there's some degree of eeriness as they potential skulk around nearby. But they seem to spit mud, for some reason, which I at first thought was perhaps mud-a-like poison, but it doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever. And when one of them got Connor's head in its mouth, for a good 30 seconds it seemed, he came out just a bit gooey when Cutter finally got round to killing it. So not that threatening at all, really. In fact, the worms were at their worst when they did, spraying baby worms all over our heroes which then tried to burrow into their skin, in what seemed to be a desperate attempt at dragging things out by about 90 seconds.

I'm probably being too harsh on Primeval again. As I believe I said before, it manages the whole action/adventure thing moderately well. Sometimes. Other times it's just a bit dragging and repetitive. It also seems to be fighting a losing battle against its on-going plot threads, either like it really really wants to remain a Monster of the Week show but those pesky story arcs won't go away, or like the writers really really want to turn it into a conspiracy-based serial but don't quite have the nerve to lose those monsters.

As far as I'm concerned, the mysteries hinted at are more interesting: what does Helen want (as she turns up, briefly and for no good reason, this week)? How will the whole Jenny/Claudia thing play out? What was all that about with the undead security guard / soldier thing? And just what is the point of the anomalies / where do they come from / etc? That last question is an especially interesting one; one that the show keeps asking but I'm afraid will never answer. It seems to be central to the whole purpose of this little group and their ARC -- finding out what the anomalies are, where they come from, how to stop them -- yet they're just stuck fighting the latest things to come through it each week. This would be fine if the anomalies had been somehow explained, if they were just an occurrence and it was their effects that needed halting; but the whole mystery of what they are is constantly repeated, central to the point of the team, and yet they never get a chance to look into it because they're always having to shoot raptors or behead worms.

I'm not saying I want Primeval to switch from monster-killing action to a group of men in a room debating time travel phenomena. But it would be nice if there was some progression, or some hint that they'll eventually find answers. They've made the existence and point of the anomalies into a mystery rather than a simple fact, so now they need to pay it off and explain it at some point... I just don't believe they'll ever bother. Maybe I'm underestimating them, but on the evidence so far I'm not sure.

In the meantime, next week's sabretooth cat looks like it could be fun...