Primeval

Series 3 Episode 10

Season 3, Episode 10, Aired 6/6/09

Episode Summary

Helen attempts to stop the destruction of the Earth by traveling back in time to prevent humans from evolving. The team decides to chase Helen but must split up when another anomaly appears.

8.9

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Cast & Crew

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Ben Mansfield

Captain Becker
Ben Miller

James Lester
Andrew Lee Potts

Connor Temple

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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Shows going down the drain, please bring Cutter, Claudia and Steven back into play as they are the very heart of Primeval.

1.5

"Abysmal"

By ican1jzgte, Jun 20, 2011 Report Abuse

I don't understand why they killed off three of the best actors in the show. They had a winning team who were much better than the new actors and to replace Cutter with that pathetic acting x-cop is just an insult. I was happy to pay $75.00 a series to watch the program but I'll buy no more if the new actors are permanent. Please bring Cutter, Steven and Claudia back and advertise their return well and I'll start buying the series again. Is there a fan club in England fighting for the return of the original actors? if there is could you please let me know their address. Cheersmoreless

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3 7
Paradox? "Helen attempts to stop the destruction of the Earth by traveling back in time to prevent humans from evolving."

9.5

"Superb"

By ulic1234, Jan 24, 2011 Report Abuse

I'm not sure how they'll address it, or even if they will, but won't this create a paradox? After all, if Helen travels back in time to prevent humans from evolving, won't that prevent her from being born? And if it prevents her from existing, won't that by definition stop her from trying to achieve her goal? Which then ALLOW for the existence of humans?

Something to ponder... :)

I've been really enjoying this show, though I am disappointed at the apparent (and I say apparent, because in a sci-fi time travel show, nothing is EVER certain) death of Professor Cutter. He's such a great character. I really hope they bring him back.moreless

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4 2
Time for adventure, as we reach the third series finale. And despite a good sequence or two, it is a largely disappinting affair that could have been something really special. May contain spoilers. Review Length: 1201 wordsmoreless

5.5

"Mediocre"

By Anomalistic_One, Jan 24, 2011 Report Abuse

The Futureworld has been a bit of a let down in terms of a Series Arc. First introduced rather suprisingly in the opening episode of the series, it gained more prominence in the eighth episode. This would have been all very well and good if this had indeed been a 3-part conclusion, but deep down it isn't. The previous episode wedged in the daft prehistoric rhino story (Embolatherium, for all you budding Paleontologists out there!) that like the episode before it, and of course this episode, showed true potential. This potential was not exploited.
The premise of the episode was an interesting one. Helen Cutter has become a fugitive, and the ARC Team must go back and forth through time to track her down and stop her diabolical plans which we are initially unaware of. This episode has a lot to answer for from the off- what is the '333' we saw written in Eve's diary in the previous episode, how has Helen attained the face-cloak technology of the previous episode, how did Christine harness the anomaly at her facility? This is the tip of the iceberg if you also consider all the other unanswered questions of the previous three series. Realitically, we will not get answers to everything, but surely something? Apparently not. This episode is too busy cramming in so much that it doesnt lend itself to answer-time very well.
This brings us to the Time Travelling premise of the episode. All in all, we visit four time zones in this episode.... the present day, The Futureworld, the Jurassic period and the Pliocene. Naturally, the candidates for time travel do not include the only military figure on the team, nor the Egyptologist who has had very little to do for the series. Instead they are paired off (not in romantic terms, but I'll get to that soon) to be irrelevant together, and do very little apart from a nice little chase scene which to be honest, we have seen all before.
Of the Time Travelling, our first stop is in the Futureworld. This city street from our future is undoubtedly impressive, and a good plot device to bring back Primeval's iconic Future Predator, as well as the newer Future Insect. However, what we have here is no more than a chase scene that is less than remarkable compared to the Futureworld scenes of just two episodes ago. This location delivers very little when it could have been the thread to some very interesting stories. The build up to The Futureworld from the opening episode of the series only leads to disappointment, seeing as it is all revealed two episodes ago, and no greater more shocking premise has come onto the horizon. We also see more of that future technology here as we encounter Helen in a future version of the ARC. This is again, a good premise, let down by the fact it is ultimately abandoned in pursuit of something else. The future technology does not really need explaining, that is fair enough, but there were missed oppertunities when Helen held the ARC Team at gun point. There could have been some big revelation concerning Nick Cutter, or maybe something about Danny's brother....something that was a bit less sentimental and a bit more revealing would have been nice. Nonetheless, various plot elements from the series come together nicely here to allow the ARC Team passage to Helen as she continues her journey through time.
Our next stop is the Jurassic where we encounter some raptors. We again get a feeling of repetitiveness here, and there are more missed oppertunities. The uninhabited landscape could surely have lent itself to more interesting and unseen creatures- the Jurassic was a period teaming with life afterall. It is here, where we leave Abby and Connor in a tree. Untill 2011 at least, for they do not go on with Danny who travels through time once more for a final showdown with Helen.
And that brings us to the hillside in Pliocene Africa, where Helen plans to kill the first humans to stop evolution in our tracks. The Australopithecus (Ape Men) are well imagined and despite one or two cartoon-esque CGI effects, work remarkably well and are an interesting addition to the Primeval creature roster. Perhaps they are the strongest element of this episode- the writers even maaged to tie in their demise with a real fossil find in Africa.
Helen's demise comes at the hands (or claws)of a raptor that followed her and Danny from the Jurassic. Although quite an iconic creature to kill off this main character, it seems quite unlikely her end could come so easily when she has supposedly been traipsing prehistory for a decade. What's more, her death is quite meaningless. All the characters that were linked to her were gone at this point, and we are left with Danny who barely had one scene with the antagonist since his arrival. Put simply, it is unfortunately very hard to care about this demise when it should in fact be a big thing- especially seeing as we are in a finale here.
As romance goes, the episode delivers perhaps the worst progression you could imagine. Sarah is given the slightest character development by possibly showing signs of her love for Danny. Where this has come from is quite unclear, and is news to anybody who watches the show regularly. Worse still, is Abby and Connor. Those two have shared various levels of interest since the very start, and it was both hoped and assumed they were headed somewhere this series, what with 'that kiss' in Episode 8. But here, the writers have made a relatively large deal out of the fact that they are moving back in together..... they were living with eachother in Series 1, so in terms of continuity and plot progression, this does fall a little flat.
Episode 3.10 is certainly ambitious. It's major flaw is that it wants to accomplish too much at once. It would have benefited the series to scrap the daft rhino story from last week and make this more of a 2 part event that also ties nicely with Episode 8 which introduced the Futureworld fully. This is a set up that perhaps fans of Doctor Who will recognise, but it works. We needed more answers but we got more questions, not to mention a cliffhanger that will take a total of 2 years to reach a resolution. Will viewers still care then? Do they still care, or is Primeval just not offering enough in the way of absolutes? Series 3 took a few gambles. It killed off protagonist Nick Cutter and managed to continue rather well, it saw off Jenny Lewis not quite so well but still stumbled on. Here,we reach the first point where those characters were truly needed. If Primeval is to dwell on one old character and a series-long plot line, it cannot kill off and remove the other characters along the way. Maybe the Series 4 opening will give us revelations or reveal repercussions from the third series, maybe there IS something bigger going on, but as a series finale, Episode 3.10 is all over the place and it somewhat falls flatter than Helen Cutter in terms of resolution. Generally disappointing.moreless

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5 2
It's season finale time so the team go jumping through anomolies to try and stop Helen Cutter once and for all.

7.0

"Good"

By Cunningham1471, Aug 09, 2009 Report Abuse

This final episode of the season pretty sums up the season and the general direction of the series. It's all over the place leaping about not knowing what is going on.
Last season's finale worked so much better than this years because it was kept quite basic. You did feel that this was strying to change itself into the UK's version of Stargate SG-1.
Picking up where the last episode finished our heroes are chasing after Helen Cutter trying to stop her plan, whatever that is.
In this episode we find out and it's a bit mad. Her idea is to wipe out humans at the dawn of their existance so the world will be a better place.
This opens the door to the whole altering time scenario which again is something hat has been done to death.
So off our heroes go jumping through anomolies in quite a ridiculous fashion as the viewers intelligeance gets insulted again.
In the future our team manage to power up a machine the size of a small cupboard from a battery of a mobile phone....cobblers!
That one concept shows how out of control this series has got. Despite the fact that it is an fantasy series they have always played it straight and as if it was real. This season and this episode in particular they threw all that away in the objective of being exciting.
When the inevitable showdown happened it was always going to be between Helen and the new "Golden Boy" Danny Quinn. Why?
With all the history that Connor and Abby has with her couldn't one of them faced off against her. The ideal candidate would have been Connor as he saw Nick Cutter as a mentor as well as a friend. But no, the Golden Boy had to be the hero again. how ironic is it that he gets stuck with a load of ape-men when he is almost one himself?
As for Connor and Abby? They got wrapped up in the silly action again. How can Abby fight off a creature by herself when totally unarmed. Connor is out for the count yet she manages to get his comotose body up into a tree and balanced perfectly on a branch. Do me a favour!
This series has lost it's way so much that IMO it's good that there wasn't a fourth season. Gawd knows what stupidity that would have led on too.
It's a shame that the series degenerated so much and so quickly as it had so much promise and so much more to give.moreless

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1 0
The team is determined to stop Helen at whatever she is doing. Danny, Abby, and Conner go thru the future anomaly after her while Becker and Sarah go to Johnson's facility.moreless

7.5

"Good"

By jyarter, Jul 30, 2009 Report Abuse

An interesting conclusion for the third series of Primeval. We are left with a number of questions and we finally get a few definitive answers.

Ding, Dong the Helen's dead. Killed finally by a raptor that didn't belong in the era she was in. Sort of poetic that her fooling around with the time lines finally did her in as none of the team or her husband could stop her.

It was extremely brave of the three members of the team that went after her. I like Quinn more and more and of course Abby and Conner are all that is really left of Primeval in the strictest sense. We are left with a feeling they are trapped in whatever times they are in unless Sarah's idea can bring them back. At least Abby and Conner are together as they have always meant to be.

A very promising third series of this show started out so promising and sort of sputtered its way through the second half. I'm not sure if there should be a fourth series. Of course I will watch it if it happens but I miss Nick, Claudia, and Stephen a great deal. Thanks for reading...moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- Animal Appearances: Future Creature, species unknown but suspected Hymenoptera, a carnivorous insect. Future Predator, species unknown but suspected Microchiroptera, a carnivorous mammal. Deinonychus, a carnivorous therapod. Abrosaurus,a herbivorous sauropod. Pteranodon, a flying reptile Australopithecus Afarensis, an omnivorous hominid. Edit
- This episode marks the final appearance of Helen Cutter, played by Juliet Aubrey. Edit
Quotes
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- Connor: Becker is really not gonna be happy with you. Danny: Why? Connor: That was his favourite gun! Danny: We've gotta get him a girlfriend! Edit
- Abby: What hurts? Connor: Pretty much everything. Abby: Close your eyes. Connor: Eh? Abby: Close your eyes. Imagine a happy place, you're on a beautiful beach, and the sun is shining. Connor: Are you there too? Abby: Yeah, if you like. Connor: Are you wearing a bikini? Abby: Yes, if you like. Connor: Water's really warm, it's lovely. Abby: Yeah. Edit
- Helen: Humanity is a stain upon the face of the planet, and when we're gone, other species will be able to develop in peace. There'll be no war, no pollution, no predators. Edit
Allusions
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- The end of this episode, with a velocoraptor saving the human race from being destroyed before its existence, is an allusion to the character Dinobot in Beast Wars, where, in the episode "Code Of Hero", Dinobot fights Megatron and all the Predacons to save the human race before it even starts. Like Dinobot, the raptor dies saving the human race from an enemy, using time travel to change the shape of the future. Edit