Last week’s brilliant episode was always going to be a tough hour to follow and, while Episode 5 is hardly the show’s best episode ever, there are still some fantastic moments.
The story sees Abby and Connor sent on a mission to investigate a weird anomaly that appears and disappears. Upon arrival, however, things are not as they seem, with creepy locals and tales of a mythical worm living in the hills. Sensing that there might be a creature involved, the plucky pair are soon off exploring the countryside – and what a glorious countryside it is. With the series now being filmed in Ireland, It’s nice to see that that this allows the show to go outside its typical city landscapes as the scenery showcased in this episode is beautiful.
Soon Abby is left battling with the monstrous worm as she takes it on a drive in a camper van, while Connor finds himself face to face with a creepy mother and son, in a situation that he aptly describes as reminiscent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While the mother and son duo might give off a sinister smell, ultimately their addition to the episode seems rather pointless, as is the explanation for their dodgy fuel dumping.
Unfortunately, a lot of this episode’s writing seems a bit off. While we don’t want to see any of the team die, it starts to reek of lazy writing when the creature is always hungry for any evil characters but conveniently never seems to have any appetite for the Primeval gang.
Matt, meanwhile, is left to deal with the Ethan and Emily storyline. While it felt somewhat shoehorned in to last week’s episode and out of place, this week sees the story strand give us more Lester scenes – his quips about being the new Jess are a particular highlight. We’re also tantalisingly teased with more hints about future plot developments. Ethan’s conversation with Matt particularly suggests that there is much more to Ethan and the anomalies than meets the eye.
All in all, Episode 5 is a bit of a mixed bag. Despite some great action sequences, some nice Abby/Connor moments and raising some interesting questions for the rest of the series, the laziness of the writing holds it back from reaching the dizzying heights of last week’s instalment. A shame perhaps, but if the promo for next week’s ep is anything to go by, our slight disappointment will be short-lived.
Airs at 7pm on Saturday 22nd January 2011 on ITV1.