1x06 Plague of Madness

[7.7/10] I hate escort missions in video games, but for some reason I like watching them? I can’t explain it either. But there’s something really heartwarming about watching all the effort that Spear goes to in order to save and protect Fang. It’s funny, I wouldn’t necessarily draw a straight line between the works of Genndy Tartakovsky and something like Breaking Bad but they share a common ethos -- namely taking the time to depict the tactile work of our heroes and villains.

Just like we might see Walter White or Mike Ehrmantraut painstakingly construct or pick apart some device, we get to see Spear here going to great (and detailed) effort to create a makeshift gurney for Fang, a set of reins to make it easier to pull her, a stack of rocks to hold enemies at bay, and an array of fires to ward of the scavengers.

The looming threat of those scavengers is one of the smartest choices in this episode. It creates a sense of ominous urgency to everything that Spear does here, lending each event the sense that if Spear slips up, even just a little, the vultures or the hyenas or the spiky bugs will descend upon his friend’s tender flesh and remove the dino’s last chance at recovery.

That makes it meaningful to see Spear go to all that trouble to save his friend. We see how hard the work is. We see the tenderness with which Spear spoons handfuls of water into Fang’s mouth. We see the physical strain it imposes on our favorite caveman to haul a massive beast across the landscape. There is rampant effort highlighted here, which not only informs Spear as a character, but vindicates the bond he and Fang have formed out of their mutual tragedies.

So it’s super cool when we get to the fighting and witness the level of danger and exhaustion and strain that Spear puts into keeping the baddies away (replete with spike-beetle brass knuckles). That makes it really satisfying when Fang recovers from her injuries and returns the favor, chomping down and crushing the villainous hyenas. All of Spear’s good works are being rewarded, and the two are a team again! A great recovery and journey back from the cliffhanger at the end of the first five episode batch.