by Conan Simmons – January 24, 2021 – 9:58 am
Spear and Fang find a moment of solace amid a bright, colorful lake. Taking comfort in the lack of danger they occupy themselves with the flora and fauna of the serene area. Fang takes to chasing butterflies as Spear checks out the shoreline. At one point a worm emerges from the soil scaring Fang who thinks it a snake. Her fear of snakes is well-founded as detailed in a previous episode, ‘River of Snakes’.
The waterfall pool has a very heavy Hayao Miyazaki influence which serves to show just how tranquil these moments are compared to the usual brutality of ‘Primal’. The use of camera focus is emphasized greatly during this portion of the show, especially as Fang discovers the butterflies.
As Spear comes up from his swim he discovers Fang is gone. He also notices strange figures jostling off into the brush. He follows to find Fang has been taken captive by some ape-men. Spear attempts to free his companion to no avail and soon they are both taken to the home of the ape-men inside a dormant volcano.
There they find the ape-men preparing for a sort of primitive fight club. High above the crater’s bottom the leader of the tribe carries out a ceremony imparting a liquid steroid to the chosen champion. Fang, being the biggest, is chosen as the first sacrificial victim of the now Hulked-out ape-man.
Spear manages to find a way to even the odds against the enhanced ape-man and a savage fight ensues as all the ape-men join in the combat.
The effect of the steroid makes the Hulked-out characters look very much like the original grey (sometimes with a greenish tinge) Incredible Hulk, a reminiscence of sorts to a combination of art styles by original Hulk artists Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Marie Severin.
The lighting effects of this episode are very well done and it often looks like the lines on the characters are thicker than usual.
‘Rage of the Ape-Men’ is definitely the most brutal episode of the series, which is saying a lot given how brutal ‘Primal’ often is. This episode in particular is practically a gore-hound’s cartoon.
This episode ends with a direct cliffhanger leading into the next episode, ‘Scent of Prey’, the sixth of the series.