"The Primal Theory" is the fifth episode of second season the American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

action-drama The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

'' Primal'', which aired on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

on August 12, 2022. Written by Darrick Bachman and

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...

and directed by the latter, in a "detour" from the story of Spear and Fang, the episode pivots to follow

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

( Jacob Dudman) and C. D. Darlington (

Jeremy Crutchley Jeremy Crutchley is a South African actor. He played roles in the television series '' Salem'', '' Black Sails'', '' Leonardo'', '' Constantine'' and ''Hannibal'' and several theatre and cinema works in a career spanning for more than four decad ...

) as their discussion of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

is interrupted by an escaped inmate (

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore ( , , born June 13, 1967) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk, Volstagg, and Beast in various Marvel media and ...

). Aaron LaPlante, who voices Spear in the rest of the series, cameos as a

police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an police officer, officer within a police ser ...

. The first episode of the series not to feature Spear or Fang, it received critical acclaim, and was followed by "Vidarr", returning to the duo's storyline, releasing to

home media Home media refers to media used for recording, copying, delivery, and playback of various types of entertainment and information in the home. Forms of home media include: * Home audio * Home video * Magnetic tape * Phonograph record * Home comput ...

on April 25, 2023. In September 2022, Tartakovsky revealed that ''Primal'' would become an

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

from its third season onward, inspired by "The Primal Theory".

Plot

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

( Jacob Dudman) unsuccessfully tries to defend his theory on

to his fellow scientists C. D. Darlington (

), Blakely ( Giles Matthey), Bertie (Crutchley), and Giroud (

). Charles surmises that, in the right situation, any person would regress back to their primitive roots in order to survive, which Darlington dismisses as lunacy. The evening is cut short when an escaped inmate (Tatasciore) from a nearby

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

— who heavily resembles Spear in silhouette — breaks into the house, kills the butler Stevens (Dudman), and proceeds to prey on every person inside; including Giroud and Bertie. As the night progresses, the three survivors take on weapons in Darlington's collection; such as guns, swords, and arrows. In the ensuing fight, Blakely is eventually knocked out by the inmate before Charles and Darlington gain the upper hand. They pursue the inmate to the greenhouse, but he overpowers them and attempts to cannibalize Charles. In a fit of primal rage, Darlington attacks and kills the inmate with a massive bone and a spear; seemingly mimicking Spear with his own actions. Coming back to his senses, he looks at an injured and winded Charles, who is pleased with being vindicated on his "primal theory".

Reception

"The Primal Theory" received a universally positive critical reception.

Future

After the '' Primal'' second-season finale " Echoes of Eternity" aired on September 16, 2022,

confirmed that while Spear and Fang's story was officially concluded, he was formulating a third season for the series with a focus on new characters, intending for ''Primal'' to become an

, inspired by "The Primal Theory".

References

External links

*
"The Primal Theory"
at

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primal Theory 2022 American television episodes Boxing in fiction Cultural depictions of Charles Darwin Fiction set in 1890 Primal (TV series) Television episodes set in London