1x02 River of Snakes

Instead of continuing the awesomeness at the end of the first episode, here they give us a bit of a subversion. We're not doing epic stuff, we're doing the normal stuff like hunting and a get to know you a bit of the characters. Which is fine if it's done well.

Instead, they have the caveman on the back foot the entire time, which i think is a mistake. They also have a lot of animosity between the t-rex and caveman, which i think is also a mistake. But it's ok, i can roll with subversion. If only they actually followed through on it. By that i mean the stone man killing the t-rex, that would have been a nice and logical subversion, given how much animosity was between the two. But they don't follow through on it.

Instead they give us "Here's a new enemy and circumstances for them both. They defeat it. Now they both like each more and things are fine now"

The abilities are also kinda not making much sense now, it's what the plot demands.

But i still enjoyed the episode and can still roll with the partial subversion. It makes sense in the end that they team up now to hunt.

[7.5/10] I like the elemental story that this one tells. There’s something brotherly (siblingly? I guess?) about the way Spear and Fang interact. They jockey for the same prey. They get mad at one another for snoring and other sleeping habits. There even seems to be a competition in the “going to the bathroom” department. The two were always going to be an uneasy partnership, but as competition for sustenance increases, their potential discord seems to come to a head.

That is, until they’re both in mortal danger. That’s what seems the most familial about this whole thing. They’re growing at one another, maybe even on the verge of a fight, until some external threat emerges and they close ranks, work together, and make it out alive. I’l admit, I didn’t love the animation in this one as much as I did in the series premiere, but it’s still cool to see how quickly things switch from “We’re about to throw down” to “We have to work together to survive.”

The ensuing, titular river of snakes and the plummet down the waterfall doesn’t make a ton of sense, but this was always an exaggerated universe so it works. The collaboration between our resident caveman and dinosaur, and the gesture of Fang returning Spear’s weapon, ends up being really sweet and heartening, especially when they’re hunting boars and stopping stakes as a well-matched team in the final frame.

Overall, this is a simple but effective and emotional bit of character storytelling, with action that’s a little less engrossing than before, but still good.