Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal Season 3 Episode 3 Review: Feast of Flesh
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal Season 3 Episode 3, “Feast of Flesh,” is simultaneously one of the most grotesque, heartbreaking, and hopeful episodes yet.
Spear continues his journey to find Fang and now finds himself in a vibrant, dense jungle. His quest is sidetracked when he grows attached to a cricket he finds.
The episode, like the previous two, has some slower pacing. However, “Feast of Flesh” marks a major turning point for Spear.
Spear forms a bond with the cricket influenced by his memories of Fang. This initial sequence of Spear following the cricket around and saving it from a lizard is genuinely endearing.
It’s bittersweet to see some of Spear’s personality return to him. This episode is huge for the development of zombie Spear as he appears to be returning to his old self.
It’s also nice to see that he’s still capable of forming these types of bonds, as this season thus far feels distinctly lonely.
The monsters he’s had to fend off this season are brutal. The cave-dwelling creatures mark a sharp turn in the episode’s tone, going from a colorful jungle to a cave filled with corpses that the dwellers collect.
The visuals on display are both gorgeous and vile. Primal excels in its presentation of its setting, balancing the beauty and brutality of its world.
Additionally, Primal’s ability to tell its story without words is on full display here. Spear’s bond with the cricket is clearly meant to be a parallel to his bond with Fang.
The cave-dwellers kill the cricket, and after Spear avenges it, he finds a necklace with a dinosaur tooth on one of the corpses, indicating that Fang may be dead. But the show reignites hope by showing that there are hundreds of crickets in the jungle.
The cricket that died may not have been Spear’s Cricket. At the same time, the tooth on the necklace might not have been Fang’s.
The episode concludes on that hopeful note with a version of Spear that’s more recognizable. Besides aspects of his personality returning, we also see him clothe himself and actually hold onto a weapon.
However, as Spear becomes more like his old self, he’s simultaneously sustaining a lot of damage. His brain is exposed, he’s covered in scratches, and now one of his hands is nothing but bones.
It’s good to see that while he’s capable, he’s not invincible. The stakes feel very real to the viewer, even if Spear isn’t aware of it yet.
This episode establishes the fact that Spear is still himself, but he’s also falling apart. Spear’s ability to survive is a major theme of the show, and hopefully, it’ll come back enough for him to find out what happened to Fang.
What did you think of this episode of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
Critic Rating:
Audience Rating:
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal airs Sundays at 11:30 P.M. ET on Adult Swim.
Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Olivia Thomas
Olivia Thomas is a passionate creative writer with a love of TV and movies, spanning from animation, comedy, and even horror. She is a graduate of Sacramento State University with a degree in English and a certificate in screenwriting. She has a year of prior experience writing for CBR.