{"id":258139,"date":"2026-01-26T09:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258139\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T09:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:46:07","slug":"primal-season-3-episode-3-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258139\/","title":{"rendered":"Primal Season 3, Episode 3 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full spoilers follow for Primal<\/a> Season 3, Episode 3, \u201cFeast of Flesh,\u201d which is available on Adult Swim now and debuts on HBO Max on January 26.<\/p>\n

The thing about Primal Season 3 so far is that it\u2019s doing a slow burn, really taking its time getting zombie Spear to where he\u2019s almost certainly going \u2013 to find his family, or at the very least to find out what happened to his family. So if you\u2019re down with a contemplative eight or nine minutes featuring a thinking zombie playing with a flying cricket-esque bug, then you\u2019re in luck. But if that\u2019s not your cup of tea, well\u2026 don\u2019t worry, because the slow burns have also been sure to include plenty of goopy, head-smashing violence as well, and you get that in the last 10 minutes of \u201cFeast of Flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on Primal:<\/p>\n

But come on, the extended opening sequence this week which finds Spear happening upon a beautiful turquoise and violet cricket is something to behold. For the most part, Primal has left behind the dinosaurs so far this season, but creator Genndy Tartakovsky and his team have given us plenty of more \u201cmodern,\u201d I suppose, animal life, like the lions, antelope type critters and birds from last week. And here the gentle animation of this little insect just munching out on a leaf while Spear watches it in amazement is, well, amazing.<\/p>\n

Of course, Spear keeps getting those flashes to his past, which have become clear at this point to be of Fang, his old dino friend. But what is it in this cricket that has him so fascinated? Is it the bug\u2019s color scheme, which partially matches Fang\u2019s? Is it the memory of a wild beast fending for itself in the forest? Or does he feel an aching, a longing for the friendship he once had with such a creature?<\/p>\n

The score by Tyler Bates and Joanne Higginbottom this week highlights the more whimsical nature of Spear\u2019s frolicking with the cricket, whether he\u2019s chasing it through the brush, finding that it\u2019s landed on his arm and is staring directly at him, or realizing that it\u2019s crawling onto his head (brain). By the time he saves the bug from being eaten by a reptile, we\u2019re fully invested in this thing \u2013 and its connection to Spear. It\u2019s a cute little guy, as is the entire segment, and it all serves to create a bond between the two\u2026 or at least we the viewer form a bond between Spear and the cricket in our minds. And certainly Spear feels it as well\u2026 Does the cricket, though? It\u2019s hard to say.<\/p>\n

The extended opening sequence this week which finds Spear happening upon a beautiful turquoise and violet cricket is something to behold.\u201c<\/p>\n

As mentioned, the second half of \u201cFeat of Flesh\u201d does become more of an action-palooza, as Spear finds himself captured by \u2013 let\u2019s face it \u2013 some hateful little flesh-eating monsters. They\u2019re small, but there\u2019s a ton of them, and by the time Spear awakens after being knocked unconscious (which apparently is a thing that can happen to a zombie of his variety), he\u2019s been strung up upside down and had all the flesh eaten off of his right hand and half his arm. He\u2019s also surrounded by the dangling skeletons of these creatures\u2019 past victims.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, his savior arrives in the form of his cricket friend. It\u2019s funny how the insect first shows up unseen, doing its chirping thing; anyone who\u2019s had a cricket get into their house knows how the flesh-eaters must feel in that moment. But soon enough the cricket takes to annoying the little mutants as it buzzes around them, giving Spear the chance to escape from his trap.<\/p>\n

At this point, Primal could have gone one of two ways. Spear and the cricket defeat the mutants together and escape the cave, or the cricket gets smooshed and Spear takes his revenge. I gasped when the latter happened, even if I should\u2019ve known it was inevitable. The look on Spear\u2019s face when he sees his dead friend, and the animation of the thing in its death throes as its little legs twitch for their final time, is heartbreaking. Dammit, Primal made me fall in love with a bug.<\/p>\n

\"null\"<\/a>Rage against the machine.<\/p>\n

The carnage that follows is gratifying, though also interesting in how it\u2019s depicted as Spear seems to slip into a sort of dissociative state as he punctures each and every last one of those things\u2019 skulls.<\/p>\n

And then he buries his little friend.<\/p>\n

So what did this experience mean for Spear\u2019s larger journey? For one thing, he seems to be thinking more and more clearly now. This time, unlike last week, he actually takes that spear with him at episode\u2019s end. He\u2019s also put on some clothes \u2013 not that he had a choice \u2013 and he\u2019s obviously feeling strong emotions again. Don\u2019t tell me having a funeral for a bug doesn\u2019t mean the guy feels emotion!<\/p>\n

And as for the cricket itself\u2026 was that the same one Spear had spent all that time hanging out with, or just one of the many of its type that he stumbles upon at episode\u2019s end? I suppose the answer is\u2026 it doesn\u2019t matter, because that bug\u2019s sacrifice strengthened Spear\u2019s resolve to find Fang more than ever.<\/p>\n

\"null\"<\/a>Zombie Spear is slowly becoming more… human.<\/p>\n

Questions and Notes From Anachronistic History<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny when Spear falls into the underground cave and is looking around, knowing something bad is up, only to suddenly realize one of those little buggers is already munching away on his leg!Regarding those little flesh-eaters in this episode: I hesitate to call any of the creatures in Primal monsters without giving them their fair due \u2013 these guys need to eat and survive like anyone else, after all \u2013 but I can\u2019t help it. I hate them and they got what they deserved.So Spear now has his spear again as well as a second weapon \u2013 the sharp claws of his bony hand.Spear\u2019s a freaking mess with the arm and the exposed brain and the liver (kidney?) falling out and all. This guy needs to get un-zombified stat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Full spoilers follow for Primal Season 3, Episode 3, \u201cFeast of Flesh,\u201d which is available on Adult Swim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-258139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}