Summary
SPOILER WARNING FORGENNDY TARTATOVSKY’S PRIMAL
Genndy Tartatovsky’sPrimaloriginally premiered onAdult Swimback in 2019.Primaltells the story of two beings: a caveman named Spear and a T-rex named Fang. When the two are unexpectedly bound together by a shared tragedy, both man and beast must harness their collective instinct for compassion and savagery to survive in the unforgiving, primordial world they call home.
The showis a visceral, brutally gorgeous, and virtually wordless animated odyssey. Across two ten-episode seasons,Primaldelivers a plethora of soaring cathartic highs and devastating emotional lows. A third season of the critically acclaimed series was officially announced last summer during the2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Foranimation lovers, the confirmation of a third chapter in the Adult Swim pre-historical animated saga, from the creator of beloved shows such asSamurai Jack,Dexter’s Laboratory,and, most recently,Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, was incredibly exciting news. Unfortunately, even as of today, the forthcoming third season ofPrimal, still has no confirmed release date.
Will Season 3 Continue Spear and Fang’s Story?
The climacticseason two finale, “Echoes of Eternity”, concludes dramatically with Spear dying at the hands of the vengeful spirit of the Viking Chieftan whose village he and Fang slaughtered in the standout season two episode “The Red Mist”. The finale also features an epilogue, which jumps forward in several years time, to show Mira and Fang alive and well, with Spear’s daughter riding triumphantly beside them on the back of one of Fang’s two now full-grown children. While this ending could easily be viewed as Tartatovsky leaving the door open for the possibility ofSpear and Fang’sconnective narrative to carry over into subsequent seasons, it could also simply be a moving denouement for the series, symbolizing the closing of the arc of the show’s first two seasons.
Some fans have pointed to season 2, episode 5, “The Primal Theory”, as being a possible blueprint for the future seasons of the show. “The Primal Theory” is the only standalone episode ofPrimal, and the only story that takes place in a (comparatively) modern setting. The creative freedom that this episode allowed Tartatovsky and co to showcase, led fans to theorize about the potential of the show electing to take an anthology approach to its storytelling in season three. By telling self-contained, one-off stories that occur in different primal locales from across human history, Tartatovsky could continue to explorePrimal’s central themes of humanity and its feral origins from a broader perspective.
Other fans seem to favor the idea of Tartatovsky following the multiple narrative threads left open from the first two seasons of the show. The most notable moment from the brief teaser trailer forPrimalseason 3, comes when the stark white font of the show’s traditional opening titles is suddenly overtaken by a sickly, electric green color. Fans have speculated that this new visual is emblematic of more than a just a simple aesthetic change. It has been theorized that the green font represents a foreboding callback to the coven of Witches that first appeared in Season 1, episode 8, “Coven of the Damned”. The words, “Something has entered the blood, like a whisper of unnamed evil.” which open the trailer, are accompanied by a chilling piece of musical score, all of which sets an undeniably ominous tone for the coming season.
The Future of Primal
Season 3 ofPrimalis now officially in production. Tartatovsky appears to be at the absolute peak of his powers, operating with as much financial support and creative freedom as he ever has. With two stellar seasons that established a mysterious and vibrantly defined sense of lore, as well as an unmistakably vivid visual style, the possibilities forPrimal season 3 feel endless. But with no real details about the show’s larger plans for the future, the debate around what Tartatovsky will ultimately do with the property is purely speculative.
In the end, the question of; “Where shouldGenndy Tartatovsky’sPrimalshould go now?”, comes down to matters of opinion: What is the best story to tell in thePrimaluniverse? What characters and settings would be the most interesting to see rendered in Tartatovsky’s singular style of2D animation? With a virtual blank slate in front of them, should Tartatovsky and his team continue in telling the next chapter of the story they crafted so beautifully through seasons 1 and 2, or should they endeavor to reinvent thePrimalformula, by broadening the show’s horizons and using the vast tapestry of human history to paint the story of humankind’s primal origins from a bird’s eye view?
Alas, all fans can do for now, besides endlessly debate season 3 and all the directions that it may go in, is re-watch the first two fantastic seasons ofGenndy Tartatvosky’s Primal, which are currently available to stream onMax.
