Review
Stephen: "Buffy as Bond"
This is Buffy The Vampire Slayer writ large, with Buffy as Bond and Adam as Blofeld. The stunt work, fight sequences, and scripting all fuse together for an all-action spectacular. Finally, season four feels like a finely tuned engine firing on all cylinders in top gear.
Surprisingly, that also raises small problems. Primeval is almost too busy. The amount of plot to resolve means it moves too fast. For example, if Adam’s lab is so secret, why is the entrance unlocked and hidden behind a shelf in Initiative HQ?
The main satisfaction lies in seeing the Scooby Gang bridge the rift that has increasingly divided them through this season. Hopefully harmony has been restored for season five (no pun intended).
James: "Corking"
Corking, all-action, out-and-out adventure piece, with lots of explosions and hugs. Everyone joins together in a really satisfying way, and the pace hardly lets up. It's great television - a big ripping yarn, with pay-off after pay-off, as the season's big themes (maturity, separation and dislocation) are all sorted out one after the other.
And, as if that wasn't enough, we finally get a good Adam moment when he announces "I've been upgrading." I was very happy about that. I was even happier that he's gone forever. Hurrah. Back to big snakes, please.
