Episode 12 (Primeval)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Episode 12”
Primeval episode

A mammoth wreaks havoc on the M25.
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 6
Written by Paul Cornell
Directed by Nick Murphy
Original airdate February 16, 2008
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"Episode 11" "Episode 13"
List of episodes

Episode Twelve of the ITV sci-fi drama Primeval was broadcast February 16, 2008.

This episode was written by Paul Cornell, a scriptwriter for Doctor Who. He described it as not "joining the opposition"[1], contrary to the belief that Primeval is a clone of Doctor Who and its spin-offs.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

A mammoth makes its way onto the M25 motorway, while a future predator sneaks into the ARC.[2]

[edit] Plot

The episode begins as people on the M25 motorway begin to abandon their cars and flee down the motorway as an unseen creature roars. A woman, Dina, and her son, Jake, watch in horror as cars go flying, before the creature- an aggressive Columbian mammoth- smashes their car, trapping them. A man, Ed, tries to free them a few moments later, but the mammoth kills him before he can.

At the ARC, Abby and Connor are discussing Caroline and her possible reasons for kidnapping Rex. Connor promises to retrieve Rex, but also convinces Abby not to inform Cutter. They are joined by Nick and Stephen, who discuss what they know so far about the possibility of a traitor in the team. Before Nick can describe how to discover the traitor, they are interrupted when the alarm goes off. In the main office, Lester is fuming over 'my worst nightmare in one sentence: mammoth on the M25!'. The team gather their equipment and leave, but Stephen goes to his car to acquire a bigger gun. When he closes the boot of his car, Helen Cutter appears. Stephen hides her as the rest of the team drives by, then asks her what she is doing. They discuss the conspiracy within the ARC, but Helen twists the information she has to make it sound as though Nick and Lester are involved.

At the motorway, the team desperately try to think of a way to contain the mammoth (Jenny having already closed off the motorway to prevent its escape and preventing anyone from using phones to pass on information) and get it back through the anomaly. However, Dina sees them and tries to get their attention. Unfortunately this makes the situation worse as the racket she is making only serves to make the already-frightened mammoth more distressed. Nick sends Connor to use the motorway signs to tell her to shut up, at the same time lamenting the abscence of Stephen.

Stephen, meanwhile, is still at the ARC with Helen. He suggest alerting the press to the anomaly operation. Though Helen claims Lester will kill them, Stephen retorts that they also need to give Cutter a chance to go along with it. When Helen replies she can't let Stephen tell Nick, he retorts 'I'm not going to: you are!'. She agrees, but tells him Cutter won't listen.

Back at the motorway, Nick gets Jake out of the car and leaves him in Abby and Connor's care. Abby leaves the scene in a Lotus Elise, for something to tempt the mammoth back through the anomaly. Nick tries to free Dina: however, her screams of pain attract the mammoth, which promptly tries to destroy the car. Before it can kill them, Coonor manages to distract it. Abby returns with a bottle of female elephant urine from a nearby safari park. They spray the ground with it to attract the mammoth, but the anomaly closes suddenly. With no other option, the team lure the mammoth into the back of a lorry and trap it inside for transportation back to the ARC.

In the aftermath of the incident, Jenny confronts Mick Harper, an over-eager journalist. He argues that the creature is too big to be an escaped elephant (the cover story Jenny put out). She mockingly tells him it was a mammoth, but he promises to find out what's going on. Stephen arrives- Nick is initially pleased to see him, but not when he discovers Helen is with him. Furious at Stephen, Nick fires him for being in contact with Helen without telling him. Nick ignore Stephen's claims Helen is there to help, saying that if Stephen believes that, then he 'is madder than she is'. Helen curtly says she knew 'Nick wouldn't listen'.

Back at the ARC, Abby is seeing to the mammoth. Lester jokingly suggests selling the tusks for ivory and the mammoth sneezes over him in retaliation. Stephen arrives and asks Abby what she thinks on the coverup. She believes it is right, saying that people would have no idea how to treat these creatures and that in the end, whatever Cutter decides, she is with him. Stephen confronts Nick in the lab. When Nick refuses to listen, Stephen accuses him of being arrogant and doing things no way but his own, finishing cruelly 'No wonder Helen turned to me'. Cutter angrily turns round and punches Stephen in the face.

Cutter and Connor implant a virus into the anomaly detector, allowing them to track down whoever is hacking into the system, hopefully unveiling the traitor. At Stephen's flat, Helen laughs at Nick's reaction, stating that after all his lectures on not caring, he is still jealous about her. She promises Stephen their project will achieve more than he and Nick could possibly imagine, and then the pair kiss passionately. Back at the ARC, a white van arrives, which Oliver Leek signs for. Inside is a Future predator, a strange red device attached to its skull.

Connor, Cutter and Abby wait in a church, having sent a false alarm over an anomaly to unmask the traitor. Jenny and a large number of soldiers arrive. Suspecting she is the traitor, Nick confronts her and puts a gun to her head, but she protests, saying that Leek sent her to check out the anomaly warning. At the same time, Leek is in a meeting with Caroline. She gives him the captive Rex and asks him what he is actually doing with all these creatures. He offers to show her.

Back at the ARC, Lester leaves his office, only to discover the place is empty. Suddenly, Leek's face appears on the detector's monitors, telling Lester he is alone- that everyone else has left on 'Cutter's wild goose chase' or is dead- and that now he knows how it feels 'to be on the end of your grand disdain'. Leek cuts power to the ARC and send the future predator after Lester. Lester manages to restore power, but the predator manages to injure him with a slash to the chest. It chases him into the gym, where loud music from a stereo interferes with its echolocation. Lester makes use of the distraction to get to the armoury and arm himself with a machine gun. Lester and the predator fight it out in the armoury, with Lester injuring the creature. He runs back to the main hall with the future predator in pursuit. He angrily tells Leek that he won't beg for his life, so Leek might as well end it. After having the last word, calling Leek 'a tiresome little man', Lester closes his eyes and waits for death. The predator climbs to the roof and leaps at Lester, but before it deals a fatal blow, the Columbian mammoth-which Lester had released moments before- impales the future predator on its tusks. Lester proudly responds 'Good boy. Good mammoth'.

The rest of the team arrive. Cutter states that Leek's use of a future predator to kill Lester suggests he has another motive than a petty grudge. Lester also offers to keep the mammoth as a pet for his kids if the team can't find a home for it. Nick and Jenny forgive each other for the accusations of treachery, while Connor tries to get into Leek's personal file, which is encrypted with a password. Cutter suggest the correct password- 'Anomaly'- but its use activates a bomb attached to the van. The ARC staff flee except Connor and Cutter, who defuse the bomb in the nick of time: unable to cut the correct wire, Nick removes the van's battery, removing the bomb's power source. His cover blown, Leek contacts Helen, who furiously berates him for the bomb,threatening to walk away from his plan, and that without her, she is nothing. Stephen hears her conversation as she hangs up: however, she pretends it is simply a journalist friend of hers she has arranged to meet. She quickly flees, leaving behind a confused Stephen.

At the ARC, the team investigate the device Leek used to control the future predator- a 'neural clamp' fastened to the predator's central nervous system and controlled by radio signals.Connor tracks down Leek's location through the signals: however, at that point, Lester takes over, stating that he and the military will handle it. After they are gone, Connor uses the same method to track down Caroline in the hope of finding Rex. Lester's search leads him and his men to an office block. However, they find they have been tricked: there is a diverted signal, and a note from Leek saying 'Bad Luck'.

Connor, Cutter, Abby and Jenny track Caroline to an abandonded Ministry of Defence bunker. They are captured by Leek's men and Cutter is knocked out. He awakes in a room lit by strange red light. His team are there, as are Leek, and to Cutter's horror, Helen. As he deduces that Leek and Helen are working together, the lights return to normal. The group look around at their surroundings and Helen smiles evilly at Nick as he takes in where they are: an immense chamber, where laser-barred cages contain an number of prehistoric creatures they have faced, including Coelurosauravus, Scutosaurus, Arthropleura, Future Predators, Raptors, Smilodon, Mer Creatures and Silurian Scorpions.

[edit] Cast


  • Columbian Mammoth: Captured By Cutter's Team
  • Coelurosauravus: 1 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Scutosaurus: 2 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Arthropleura: 1 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Future Predators: 40 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Raptors: 2 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Smilodon: 2 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Mer Creatures: 2 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker
  • Silurian Scorpions: 3 Locked Up In Leek's Bunker

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'Paul Cornell's House of Awkwardness: Primeval.
  2. ^ 'Primeval' Episode 12.
v • d • e
Primeval
Main pages
Main characters
Creatures
Primeval lists
Other
Impossible Pictures  · Adrian Hodges  · Tim Haines