Blu-ray Review: “Primal”: The Complete First Season Genndy Tartakovsky's award-winning series features ground-breaking storytelling

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal is an animated series for adults, balanced between primitive action and the bloody brutality of “kill or be killed”. The 10-episode season introduces us to a human man (Spear) and a blue female Tyrannosaurus (Fang) who are living through adventures together, after having bonded over similar tragedies — Spear’s wife and children were attacked and eaten by pack of red Tyrannosaurs, and while he is hunting them, Spear witnesses that same pack devour Fang’s young hatchlings.

The pair end up traveling together and encountering many different civilizations, both creature and humanoid, each saving the other from certain death more than a few times. In addition to the adventurous encounters with other beasts living in this world, there is no dialogue. Spear appears to be non-verbal at the beginning of the series, and doesn’t talk to Fang even when they are working and hunting together. The depth of story being told merely with visual cues, emotions and reactions on the characters faces as well as in their body language manages to get the main points of each episodes theme and plot across.

Not to give away too many spoilers, but Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger involving a new group of characters, including a woman, Mira, whom Spear and Fang have befriended.

Season 1 also won several Annie Awards, Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and was nominated for a Saturn Award.

This is definitely not a show marketed towards children, and its presence on Adult Swim is more than earned, as many of the episodes venture into bloody and gory violence, death and destruction. It could easily be classified as just a horror series, but it’s listed as a combination of science fiction, fantasy and horror. It doesn’t take any of those elements too seriously, and just uses elements to good storytelling effect.

This Blu-ray set collects all 10 episodes (Season 1 was initially split in half, with about a year in between Episode 5 and Episode 6. There is also a “Behind the Scenes” bonus feature, which is a fun and fascinating look at the music and the sound design, as well as the search for a French animation studio to do the necessary work on the show.

All 10 episodes are:

1. Spear and Fang
2. River of Snakes
3. A Cold Death
4. Terror Under the Blood Moon
5. Rage of the Ape-Men
6. Scent of Prey
7. Plague of Madness
8. Coven of the Damned
9. The Night Feeder
10. Slave of the Scorpion

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal Season 1 is available now on Digital, DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Bros and Adult Swim.

A caveman at the dawn of evolution and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction are bonded by tragedy. This unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.