Movie (& TV Show) Characters I Will Always Miss

Hi, everyone! Another week has passed and I've been busy with many things in my life (good things). One of those things was setting up a brand new blog for Connect 180 youth group in St. George. Be sure to check it out here: Connect 180. Now it's time for...

Days till:
It is: 10 days till Labor Day
It is: 26 days till the first day of Fall
It is: 89 days till The Good Dinosaur's theatrical release

In the Spotlight:
Nothing to report on this week. Sorry guys.

Topic of the Week by Christian Ryan
There are plenty characters from certain movies who had untimely disappearances from the series...otherwise known as “deaths”. I personally have a lot of characters I loved from movies and television shows – many of which are some of my favorites – that I kind of miss after their death. So instead of doing an article on dinosaurs or some other “sciency” topic, I want to look at some of my most missed characters from films and TV shows. This should be pretty obvious, but just in case anyone somehow hasn't gotten the hint, this article is a HUGE SPOILER ALERT for loads of movies and TV shows. So read with caution!

Bruton (Dinosaur)

Bruton is an Altirhinus from Disney's Dinosaur

You didn't really think I was never going to mention dinosaurs in this whole blog post? What can I say, I'm a dinosaur enthusiast. In any case, the first most missed character on my list is Bruton from Disney's 2000 movie Dinosaur (a personal favorite of mine). For those, of you who don't know, this film is about a young Iguanodon named Aladar who finds himself stolen from his nest as an egg and ends up on an island inhabited by lemurs, who adopt him as their own. After he grows up among the primates, an asteroid impact destroys the island and the surrounding landscape, forcing the lemurs and Aladar to find a new home. On their journey, they come across a multi-species herd of dinosaurs (from the gigantic Brachiosaurus to the diminutive Microceratus) also on the same quest. The herd is led by the cruel, stubborn Iguanodon named Kron.

Bruton is an Altirhinus (a close relative of Iguanodon) and is Kron's second-in-command. Usually, he is responsible for giving out Kron's orders and is much like Kron in behavior – they're both ruthless, uncaring, cranky, and want only the strongest members of the herd to survive, abandoning those unable to keep up. But after being fatally wounded by a predatory Carnotaurus (think T. rex with bull-like horns, even tinier arms, a mouth full of teeth and a really bad attitude!), Aladar's determination to assist him and Plio's kindness allows him to have a change of heart. Aladar, his lemur family and a few other dinosaurs from the herd and himself find themselves trapped in a cave endangered by a pair of Carnotaurus and Bruton risks his own life to save the others, dying in the process as the cave roof collapses. (John 15:13, anyone?)

Bruton's last minute change of heart makes me want to add him to this list. We don't get to see much of his “kinder” side. Later in the list, we'll see characters meet their untimely demise after we've gotten far more associated with them!

John Roxton (The Lost World)

Lord John Roxton certainly cares more for his traveling companions than he does for himself; this is exhibited when he offers to sacrifice his own life for theirs. (PHOTO CREDITS)

Lord John Roxton is a renowned sportsman (and responsible for helping abolish Brazilian slavery) who makes an appearance in Sherlock Holmes creator, Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, The Lost World (1912). In the novel, he joins an eccentric scientist named Professor Challenger and as they and other members of his team journey to a remote region of South America to find a plateau where, allegedly, dinosaurs have survived the extinction of their kin.

However, as Roxton gets back home to London safe and sound in the novel, I'm not listing him to talk about his character in the novel, but rather his character that appears in the BBC adaptation miniseries of the same name as Doyle's novel. Here, Roxton and the other explorers find residence on the plateau with a tribe of natives. Roxton eventually receives the attention of the chief's daughter and they marry. The tribesfolk and Challenger's team live together in perfect harmony until a pair of allosaurs (presumably Allosaurus or Epanterias, which might actually be a large Allosaurus) attack the village, destroying buildings and killing several natives in the process. Both allosaurs are eventually shot down, but the natives blame the Europeans for this event and chase them into a cave (they superstitiously believe Challenger is the “devil”). Roxton attempts to take his (willing) wife with him through the cave, but a hostile ape once kept captive in the village (upon Challenger's urging) wounds Roxton before he and his wife can escape with the others. As Roxton tries to keep the angry natives away from the cave to allow Challenger's team an escape, he succumbs to his wounds and begins a slow, agonizing death. Upon which, the chief's son (who's father, the original chief, died via an allosaur) has a change of heart, but it seems too late. Though not evidenced in the miniseries, I'm sure London mourned this man's loss when Challenger told them of his death.

Why didn't I put this terrible death further down the list? Because he didn't really die! It is revealed just after the credits roll that Roxton has recovered from his injury and now lives happily married to his wife on the plateau.

Captain Nemo (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)

Captain Nemo was an amazing genius.

Captain Nemo, son of an Indian Raja, was a scientific genius who patrolled the ocean depths aboard his submarine called the Nautilus. He was created by Jules Verne for his 1870 French science fiction novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. But as with Lord Roxton, I'm not putting him on this list to talk about his character in the book (he survives in the first book; I can't speak for the other books as I've yet to read them). I'm going to talk about his character in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea the movie, which was released in 1954 and the only science fiction film to be produced by Walt Disney himself.

In the film, as in the novel, Captain Nemo is in charge of his submarine, the Nautilus, which patrols the world's oceans in the search of scientific discoveries, virtually unknown to the rest of the scientific world. However, this is only one of his vessel's purposes – the other is to destroy cargo ships that provided supplies for wars and warships. He loathed the concept of war, particularly after his wife and son were tortured to death by a “hated nation” when he had not revealed secrets of his work to them. After sinking a ship carrying Professor Aronnax, his assistant Conseil and master harpooner Ned Land, Captain Nemo allows them to board the Nautilus and they take part in the captain's many adventures through the oceans. In order to shield all of his knowledge hidden in his hideout in the island of Vulcania from surrounding warships, he decides to destroy the hideout with a bomb. In the process, Nemo is shot by one of the soldiers trying to scope out his soon-to-be-destroyed base and after navigating the Nautilus away from the island, he confirms that he wants everyone on board to join him in death; having hit a reef, the Nautilus will soon flood and kill everyone inside. Ned, Professor Aronnax and Conseil don't approve of this and make a bold escape as the Nautilus begins to sink. In what seems to be Nemo's last moments of life, he looks out at the ocean through a viewing window.

Though bearing a corrupt opinion on how to treat humanity, Captain Nemo has been a favorite character of mine and I was saddened by his death. However, as with Lord Roxton, Nemo doesn't actually suffer death. Somehow, he must have managed to survive his dreadful wound and the sinking of his beloved submarine, because he reappears in the film Mysterious Island (1961), inspired by Jules Verne's book of the same name. In this film, Nemo tries a different approach to rid the world of wars – on a remote, tropical island, he has successfully created mutant oversized animals that he hopes will enlarge the world's recourse of food, a common war stimulator. However, before he can accomplish his plan, he “dies” when the island's volcano explodes. Given that Nemo survived his first brush with death, I have little doubt that he might have found a way to survive even this once again. Though no sequels were made of Mysterious Island, we can always hope that our incredible, ocean explorer extraordinaire still roams the sea.

Dr. Laura Sorkin (Jurassic Park: The Game)

Dr. Laura Sorkin allowed her passion to get the best of her...and the creature she was trying to free consumed her.

Technically, this list is for movie and TV show characters, but I couldn't leave out one of my favorite anti-protagonists, Dr. Laura Sorkin from Jurassic Park: The Game, which is considered in the same canon as the Jurassic Park films.

Dr. Sorkin was a geneticist and even though she'd been arrested several times in the past for animal rights-protesting, she still received the job of chief geneticist at InGen. Even though the later-chief geneticist Dr. Henry Wu often gets the credit for figuring out how to recreate the dinosaurs, it was Dr. Sorkin who actually laid the foundations for the plot. She reached a barrier however; in order to create the dinosaurs, she needed a complete genome, but the DNA found in the amber-encased mosquitoes they were using had holes in the genetic code. While Dr. Sorkin wanted to use more research and time to find a way to use dinosaur genes to fill the genome gaps, InGen's Board of Directors wanted a cheaper and quicker method, a method Henry Wu came up with. His plan was to use frog DNA to fill in the genome gaps. As Dr. Sorkin wouldn't comply, Dr. Wu got promoted to her previous position and Dr. Sorkin devoted her time to studying the dinosaurs they were cloning.

Over the course of the game, she is of great help to the other main characters. However, when she learns that Isla Nublar was going to be destroyed via bombing from the US military, she believed the dinosaurs should have the right to live on. So she not only held the rest of her group hostage, but threatened to free the park's Tylosaurus. Unfortunately for her, when Dr. Sorkin fell into the water, the Tylosaurus grabbed and presumably consumed her.

John Hammond (Jurassic Park & The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

"Spared no expense." - John P. Hammond

John Parker Hammond was the founder and creator of Jurassic Park in the movie and novel by the same name. And he was portrayed by a wonderful actor: Sir Richard Attenborough (brother of one of my favorite nature presenters: David Attenborough). He had a dream to bring dinosaurs back to life so that people everywhere could see these amazing animals live again in his wonderful theme park. Unfortunately, as we all know, it didn't quite turn out that way.

He had Jurassic Park built on an island off the coast of Costa Rica called Isla Nublar. But in 1993, a year before the park was due to open, some of the park's more aggressive attractions caused several incidents, resulting in the park's investor's concerned. To ensure everyone that the park was safe, Hammond invited paleontologist Alan Grant, paleobotonist Ellie Sattler, chaoticianist Ian Malcolm and his investor's lawyer, Donald Gennaro to inspect it. But this investigation didn't go as planned either – the dinosaurs escaped and some (mostly the Velociraptors) killed several people. Jurassic Park became indefinitely closed to the public...until the 21st century that is! (But we'll get to that in a minute).

The last time Hammond appears in a Jurassic Park film is in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and we see him suffering from some physical ailments. However, despite this, Hammond decides to forehead the movement to protect the dinosaurs his company recreated on the island where they were cloned – Isla Sorna – and turn it into a nature preserve. (Spared no expense, of course) According to the Masrani Global Corporation website, Hammond died in 1997, as InGen began to face an inevitable Chapter 11. But, before his death, he passed over the company to Simon Masrani of Masrani Global. He took the baton from Hammond to continue his work.

John Hammond has always been one of my favorite characters from the franchise. Though we never saw it onscreen, his death was probably inevitable, as Richard Attenborough died on September 24, 2014. Jurassic Park fans everywhere mourned his loss. Even before he died however, he was pretty ill, that explains why the creators of Jurassic World had him die. I will always miss John Hammond/Richard Attenborough, as will many – the dreamer, the scientist, the man who spared no expense.

Stephen Hart (Primeval)

Stephen Hart risked his life to save the world from an invasion of predators from different eras in history and the future.

Stephen Hart was from the BBC series Primeval, seasons one and two. For those of you who are unaware, Primeval was about a group of people (scientists, government workers and some amateurs) all working together to research strange natural occurrences called anomalies. Anomalies can best be described as rips in the timeline that allow animals from the past and future to infiltrate the present. This team of people is trying to prevent creature incursions and solve the mysteries surrounding the anomalies. It was a popular show, running from 2007 until 2011. Stephen Hart was a main character of the show during season one and two and served as the right-hand man and lab technician to the show's main protagonist Professor Nick Cutter. He was also good friends with several other characters in the show, including Connor Temple and Abby Maitland (who had a brief crush on him at one point.)

Stephen Hart knew Nick from the beginning; they were close friends. However, this is when extinct animals begin to enter the present time through anomalies. The events that follow begin to make their relationship very convoluted. Stephen can be a cold, aloof person, but he's also brave and loyal to his friends, whether he's defending his friends from a dangerous gorgonopsid or taking down a Silurian scorpion single-handed. It is also revealed that he has a complicated relationship with Nick's ex-wife Helen Cutter; they seem to have been romantically involved in the past.

Though he had his character flaws, Stephen's loyalty toward his friends extended even to the end as he sacrificed himself to make sure ancient and futuristic creatures from a creature prison didn't escape into the outside world and threaten the rest of humanity.

Simon Masrani (Jurassic World)

Simon Masrani quickly picked up the baton, right where Hammond left it.

Just before Hammond died, he passed the reigns of his company, InGen, to Simon Masrani, CEO of Masrani Global Corporation (which was passed down to him by his father). Simon Masrani appears in the recently released Jurassic World.

After obtaining InGen, Simon Masrani made it his goal to bring John Hammond's dream of creating a dinosaur theme park a reality. In 2005, he did! The Jurassic world opened and it ran successfully for ten years. By this time, lack of public interest in the park made the company want to create a new attraction – not just any dinosaur, but the park's first genetically-modified hybrid. Masrani assigned Henry Wu to create the hybrid, which was later called Indominus rex. Unfortunately, this proved to be the park's downfall – I. rex escaped and many people died in the mayhem, including Masrani himself.

While trying to subdue the Indominus rex from the air, Simon Masrani piloted a helicopter with two military men inside ready to shoot her down. But the hybrid crashed into the park's Aviary, freeing dozens of Pteranodons into the air. They attacked the chopper and caused it to fall to the ground in a great heap of flames. Because Jurassic Park fans got to know Simon Masrani via the company's website and other sources, I'm sure many of us are sad that Masrani died. As with John Hammond, he will be missed.

Stoick the Vast (How to Train Your Dragon, Dragons: Riders of Berk, Dragons: Defenders of Berk & How to Train Your Dragon 2)

Stoic the Vast appeared throughout the first film and the TV series, which makes it even sadder and unexpected when he dies in the second film, saving his son.

What happened to this character was completely unexpected if you ask me! Stoick the Vast helms straight from the Scottish island of Berk, an island inhabited by vikings in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Stoick is the village's chief, and a mighty, brave warrier.

Stoick had a wife, Valka, and a son named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Valka was abducted by a dragon when Hiccup was just a baby and presumed dead. Hiccup meanwhile grew up to be his father's disappointment until his mid-teens. In fact, Stoick and Hiccup had a rather strained relationship, with Hiccup feeling largely misunderstood by his father and Stoick not feeling Hiccup was a proper viking. This all changed when Hiccup downed a nightfury dragon he later named Toothless. Eventually, Hiccup's love of dragons transformed the entire village, including Stoick and they became closer. In the second film, Stoick's opinion of Hiccup has increased, so much so that he's decided to promote Hiccup to the status of chief of the entire village so he can retire! Hiccup, however, in unconvinced he can do the job properly. Later on, Hiccup and Stoick find that Valka did not die as everyone thought, but had instead been living among dragons for over 20 years, to study their behavior and anatomy. But before the three of them can return home as a big, happy family, Drago Bludvist, a crazed man wishing to take over the world, and his army of men and mind-controlled dragons attack Valka's dragon sanctuary. During the great fight that ensues, Drago mind-controls Toothless via his enslaved Bewilderbeast and just before Toothless fires a deadly blast at Hiccup, Stoick shoves his son out of the way, getting hit by the blast himself. Saddened by his death, Valka, Gobber the Belch (longtime friend of Stoick), Hiccup and his friends conduct a ceremony, honoring the death of this great viking, before going off to defeat Drago once and for all.

I was extremely surprised by Stoick's death, which is why he's so far down on this list! I mean, Stoick was in the first film and two seasons of the How to Train Your Dragon TV series, so I wasn't expecting his death to come in the third. I mean, it's almost as if Mufasa from The Lion King died in, not the first movie, but in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. (In fact, it was me watching Stoick's death on the second film that made me want to do this blog post!) Of course, fans of the series, such as myself, grieve Stoick the Vast's loss, but with Hiccup now filling his father's shoes, it looks like Berk is in good hands.

Professor Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown (Primeval)

Nick Cutter was the head of the anomaly research in Primeval.

 Yes, my most missed now-deceased character in the movies/TV shows I've seen isn't actually one character, but two: Professor Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown from BBC's Primeval. The two may have started out as work partners, but their relationship deepened until the tragic events at the end of the first season took place.

Claudia Brown was a government worker at the Home Office.

Claudia Brown was a Home Office official sent to the Forest of Dean to investigate strange creature sightings. She teamed up with Nick when she realized he was going to the same destination for the same reason. After discovering a living Scutosaurus in the forest at night, along with Connor Temple, Stephen Hart and Abby Maitland, they all teamed up with the Home Office to investigate these strange creatures and the anomalies that allowed them access to the present world. Claudia and Nick were in a love/hate relationship from the start, as their personalities often conflicted. This all changed when a flock of bloodthirsty Anurognathus attacked the hotel the couple were hiding in and after defending her from these pterosaurs, the two of them shared a kiss. The two of them were in love. Aside from Connor and Abby's relationship, my favorite romantic relationship in the Primeval series was the one between Claudia and Nick. But their relationship didn't last – in the final episode of season 1, Nick, his ex-wife Helen and some other team members prepared to enter an anomaly in order to try and find an anomaly leading to the future. Claudia warned him not to go, feeling something was wrong. But Nick assured her everything would be fine. Regardless, the two kissed again just before Nick entered the anomaly. Upon coming back to the present, things had changed. The most notable change: Claudia appeared to have literally been vanished from the time line! Something (still not revealed in the series) had changed in the past, causing the present to alter as well. Claudia had been replaced by her doppleganger, the public relations manager Jenny Lewis. It was almost as if Nick had a second chance at Claudia (he even accidentally called Jenny “Claudia” several times, much to her annoyance), but that's not what fate had in store. Nick's eccentric ex-wife, Helen, seemed convinced that the aggressive Future Predators' existence was Nick's fault. So near the beginning of season 3, she fatally shot him in the heart, leading to a slow, sad death.



Claudia Brown and Nick Cutter are two of my most missed now-deceased characters from any movie or TV show I've seen. I still get teary-eyed occasionally when I think of this cute couple. Gosh, my eyes are getting wet now!

This is their last kiss before Nick enters the anomaly and Claudia vanishes from the time line...I just had to post this.

I hope you enjoyed this look on some movie/TV show characters that are close to my heart that I will miss. They're a great set of characters, but alas, not everything in life is good, right? Bad things and good things happen in life as life continues to forever change and evolve. With all the changes happening in the world today, it can be hard to find something to be happy about. But at times like that, we should remember the one Individual who never changes, no matter how much life fluctuates...that Individual is Jesus Christ. As it says in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” What a magnificent thing to be thankful to God for!

References:
Obviously, this is normally where I'd put my resources for the information presented above, but as I'm talking about characters in different movies and TV shows today, I think putting my sources down here is unnecessary.

Disclaimer: Many (or in some cases all) of the photographs and images above are not mine and are still-shots from the movies, TV shows and games mentioned above. If you own one or more of them and would like them to be removed, politely let me know via my email address.

Primeval Season 2 -- pt. 3: The Creatures

Hi everyone! Today we've got, as usual, lots of news concerning Jurassic World, the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel. Every piece of news I get makes me more and more excited about it! Anyway, before we get to that, let's see how long it is till our favorite holidays and movie releases . . . or mine anyway, and let me tell you a little bit about the stop-motion I'm working on.

Many of you might be aware that I started Animal Face-Off season 2 a couple of months ago. I figured that I should probably put my progress here on my blog. The last episode I finished was "Polar Bear vs. Walrus." My next episode will be "Lion vs. Nile Crocodile", and it's about 45% finished. That doesn't sound like much, but I've finished taking almost all the photographs I'll need before I can move on to the post-production stage (editing and voice recording). I'll start back posting my progress of my stop-motion films on this blog.

Days till:
It is: 45 days till Labor Day
It is: 57 days till Patriot Day
It is: 59 days till Dolphin Tale 2's release

In the Spotlight:
As promised, some awesome news has been leaked onto the internet by someone on Twitter. He has been able to obtain what appears to be a brochure that was given to extras who were filmed in Jurassic World (my research suggests that the movie-makers let the extras keep the brochures). It is thanks to these brochures that we are now able to know what attractions and (best of all) dinosaurs will be appearing in the park! Here are the photographs from the brochure below:

The cover of the Jurassic World brochure . . . brought to you by FedEx!

There are lots of cool attractions at Jurassic World. I'm really curious as to what dinosaurs will be in the "Gentle Giants Petting Zoo".

There's also plenty of other things to do while you're here.

At last, the dinosaurs of Jurassic World!!!

Obviously, the thing that excites me most is that we know now what dinosaurs to expect in Jurassic World: Ankylosaurus, Apatosaurus, Baryonyx, Dimorphodon (not a dinosaur), Edmontosaurus, Gallimimus, Metriacanthosaurus, Microceratus, Mosasaurus (also not a dinosaur), Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Pteranodon (again, not a dinosaur), Stegosaurus, Suchomimus, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus.

Here is another picture posted on Twitter that shows the map of the park. This map has been confirmed to be legitimize because it can be seen in the recent Today Show video in which a tourist is holding this very map:

Awesome!!!

You might have noticed that Velociraptors and Diabolus rex are absent from the list of dinosaurs and the map. But these dinosaurs have been confirmed to be in the film, so where are they? Well, we know that the Chris Pratt's character is studying the behavior of the raptors, so they are probably in a different part of the island, away from the tourists (why would areas prohibited to tourists be on a tourist map). Diabolus is a genetic experiment and not ready for the public, so it also would be in a different part of the island.

There might also be people wondering where the other dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park franchise are, such as: Compsognathus, Spinosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Corythosaurus and Memenchisaurus. Also, where are other dinosaurs that are referenced to, but not seen in the films or make an appearance in Jurassic Park: The Game (JP:TG is canon with the films), such as: Herrerasaurus and Troodon. Well, Memenchisaurus, Corythosaurus and Spinosaurus are only evidenced to exist on a different island that we see in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III: Isla Sorna. Jurassic World will take place on Isla Nublar. But what about the others that have been evidenced to exist on Isla Nublar? Well, they could very well still exist there. As you can see from the map, there are still several pockets of undisturbed areas of Nublar, especially in the north.

And just because a dinosaur isn't on the list or seen on the map doesn't mean it won't appear in the film. Compsognathus was one dinosaur on Isla Nublar that was a non-listed species in the original park. There's a rumor circulating that original buildings from the first JP movie might be shown, so perhaps this is where a creature like Dilophosaurus could make an appearence.

As you've probably already, guessed, I can't wait for Jurassic World to roar into theaters on June 12, 2015.

Topic of the Week by Christian Ryan

Alright folks, it's time for the third part of my overview of the BBC series Primeval Season 2. A few weeks ago, we looked at each of the episodes in the series, then we learned a bit about each of the main characters. This week, we'll be looking at the creatures of Primeval Season 2. Hope you all like it:

Raptor

“Cretaceous . . . theropod dinosaur. Genuine article.”

– Nick Cutter

Raptors are my favorite dinosaurs and the most dangerous in the series.

Quite appropriately, the first extinct creature to make an appearance in Primeval Season 2 is one of my absolute favorite creatures in the entire series: the raptors! Straight from the forests of the Cretaceous (the habitat, not the fictitious time period), these dinosaurs cause an awful lot of trouble after exiting an anomaly into present-day London. In Episode 2.1, three raptors – a male, a female and a youngster come out of an anomaly in a shopping center bowling alley. Raptors are extremely dangerous dinosaurs: standing about as tall as a man, they have dozens of needle-sharp teeth, keen eyes, a good sense of smell, a relatively large brain, grasping hands, long tails used for balance and their most lethal weapons was a sickle-shaped, enlarged toe claw on each foot for disemboweling a victim. The raptors in Primeval will hunt either alone or in packs, often a loose social structure. They also appear to take care of their young and will defend them from other predators. But raptors don't always get along: sometimes older members of the species will cannibalize younger raptors. Males of this species are stronger and more aggressive than females – one individual took three tranquilizers to bring it down! Strange quills are found on the back and neck of these creatures and are able to produce a rattling sound when the animal is about to attack. Raptors – even juveniles – are definitely more than capable of bringing down a human being, as Nick Cutter states. These dinosaurs are one of the most commonly appearing animals in the series. Connor Temple has a great deal of trouble trying to tranquilize a baby raptor at one point in Episode 2.1. The raptors of Primeval belong to the family of dinosaurs called dromaeosaurs, aka, raptors, and there are many different species, from the possibly venomous Sinornithosaurus, to the infamous Velociraptor, to the grizzly bear-sized Utahraptor. The species of raptor that appears in this series isn't ever revealed. However, due to its size and appearance, it appears to be Deinonychus, one of the most dangerous of the dromaeosaurs and was the inspiration for the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park. The raptors turn out to be quite tenacious animals, even to the point of one individual (SPOILER ALERT!!!) grabs hold of Stephen's leg when he tries to exit the ancient world via an anomaly as the anomaly starts to close. Nick, Abby and Connor successfully rescue Stephan just before the anomaly closes, but the raptor isn't so fortunate and its head is decapitated when the anomaly closes. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!) It looks like Nick Cutter and the gang will have their work cut out for them!

Precambrian Worm

“They're worms, they're just a little less friendly than the ones in your garden.”

– Nick Cutter

Precambrian Worms are just like the worms in your garden . . . just less friendly!

Worms – some people hate them and think of them only as little wiggly creepy things that live in gardens. If you think of worms in this matter, then your mind will change drastically once you hear about the Precambrian Worms of Primeval! In Episode 2.2, a Precambrian (habitat) anomaly opens and releases not only a strange and sulfurous fog, but also a deadly bunch of these worms. These worms – which look a little like giant sea cucumbers – are dangerous predators that have large, plump bodies and an extendible proboscis with teeth, which they use for prey capture. They're blind and use their good sense of smell to get around their world. They sometimes spit a special liquid on their intended prey, presumably to help them sniff it out later. These are the first creatures encountered by the skeptical Jenny Lewis, the ARC's new public relations manager, who doesn't believe extinct creatures roam the present day at first. At first, Cutter has her remain outside of worm-infested office building while he and his team – Stephen, Abby and Connor – try to get rid of the carnivorous worms. However, Jenny eventually gets Cutter to allow her in and when (SPOILER ALERT!!!) she disobeys Cutter's orders to take the stairs rather than the elevator, she is ferociously attacked by a worm, only to be saved by Cutter. Jenny in turn also saves Cutter from a worm attack, though he doesn't appear to be to grateful. Cutter and his team find out after rescuing a firefighter from the worms, that the worms can only live within the fog from their native habitat. Upon exiting the fog, they suffocate and die. So naturally, the problem the team has is to clear the building of fog by opening the windows, but since everything like that is controlled by computers, the only way to get the windows open is by going to the floor of the building with lots of fog, and lots of worms. Worst of all, Stephen gets separated from the group . . . can he use his wits to survive?

Smilodon

“It's a Smilodon; better known as a saber-toothed cat. Fast, elegant, it's a real-natural born killer.”

– Nick Cutter

Smilodons are famous for their seven-inch saber-teeth.

There's no such thing as a saber-toothed tiger. The creatures we often refer to when we use this name are actually called saber-toothed cats, as they are not closely related to tigers. There are many different species of saber-toothed cats, but the species that appears in Primeval is the most popular: Smilodon (this is the saber-toothed cat you normally see depicted in popular culture). These cats are some of the most ferocious killers that ever stalked the earth, complete with sharp claws and the ability to run quite fast over short distances. Their most lethal weapons were the dagger-like canines which grew up to seven inches long. However, they were quite fragile and used to deliver a killing blow to the neck of its prey. Despite the ARC not getting a signal from the anomaly detector, the death of a man at the nearby Blue Sky Park paint-balling area suggests that a previously extinct creature is roaming the area in Episode 2.3. Cutter and the team quickly find out that the killer is a Smilodon. After refusing to close his park due to upsetting the park guests, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the park owner, Peter Campbell, is savagely killed by the ferocious cat the following night. Pretty soon, Cutter, Abby and Connor find a dead victim of the Smilodon buried 10 feet under the ground, suggesting that someone is trying to cover up for the animal. It isn't long before Cutter finds out that the Smilodon actually came through an anomaly many years before (which is why Connor's anomaly detector didn't pick up an anomaly) as a cub and was reared to adulthood by Valerie Irwin, the park ranger for the Blue Sky Park, who believed the Smilodon was some government genetic experiment. In fact, she's grown very attached to the cat and treats it like an overgrown house cat. Unfortunately, while she attempts to protect the beast from Cutter, her precious pet turns on and kills her in seconds before being darted by Abby. Later in the episode, Leek informs Cutter that the animal died. However, in Episode 2.6/2.7, it is revealed that Leek lied about the death of the cat; he in fact kept it and another Smilodon for his animal army in his creature prison. (END OF SPOILER ALERT)

Mer Creature

“So to sum it up then, we're looking for a deadly skin-shedding aquatic predator with a neat lineage in Charlotte Church impressions.”

– James Lester

Mer Creatures are primates that spend much of their time underwater.

Up until Episode 2.4, the Future Predator is the only creature from the future to be seen in Primeval. This all changes when the mer creature (or mer for short) snatch away Lucien Hope and store him in their lair to consume at a later date. These strange seal or walrus-like creatures appear to be large aquatic primates. They are quite intelligent and live in groups, dominated by an alpha female: the Mer Queen. However, even though they live in groups, they don't often get along, as they are sometimes observed fighting amongst themselves. In Episode 2.4, after stealing Lucien, the same Mer takes Abby – who was previously having a fight with Connor – as well to their underground lair in a warehouse, which had flooded due to water flowing in through the anomaly. Connor is distressed when this happens, as the last thing he said to Abby was something during their argument. Cutter and Stephen also have a disagreement during the episode as to where the Mer went: Cutter believes it returned to the canal while Stephen thinks it's in the sewer system. Mers create beautiful whale-like songs to communicate with other members of their species, but this sound is deceptive, as the animal won't hesitate to attack a potential threat.

Silurian Scorpion

Instead of possessing a stinger, Silurian Scorpions have whip-like tails!

If you thought the giant Carboniferous arachnids in Season 1 were bad, just wait until you check out the dangerous Siluruan scorpions! In Primeval, these desert-dwelling arachnids are around 25 feet in length (there's no evidence that scorpions ever got this big in real life however) and, unlike modern scorpions, these critters don't have real stingers. Instead, they possess whip-like tails (similar to the ones found on modern whip scorpions), which they like to project above ground and are often mistaken as snakes. This is a big mistake made by a group of Leek's mercenaries in Episode 2.5 when they enter an anomaly. Most of them are quickly killed by the giant scorpions. These predators prefer to spend their time underneath the sand; in order to find food, they rely on vibrations caused by potential prey and then home in on the target and snap it up with their strong pincers. The only way to successfully escape them is by climbing onto large rocks or tiptoeing across the sand, hoping they won't feel the vibrations . . . personally, I feel these creatures are best left alone!

Coelurosauravus (Rex)

Rex the Coelurosauravus is back in Season 2!

The cute little Coelurosauravus from Season 1, named Rex, is back in Season 2. He still makes his home in Abby's apartment . . . much to the disgust of Connor's new girlfriend, Caroline. The gliding lizard dislikes Caroline from the start and promptly snaps at her when she tries to pet him. At one point, she even locks the poor coldblooded Rex in a freezer! In Episode 2.4, when Connor – who feels he and Caroline aren't a good match – breaks up with her (by text, as I might remind you!), she appears to become jealous and (SPOILER ALERT!!!) and steals Rex to give him to Leek so he can add the animal to his creature army. (END OF SPOILER ALERT) For more information on Rex, please visit the links given at the bottom of this post.

Columbian Mammoth

“Why is everyone telling me mammoth facts today? Do I look interested?

– James Lester

The Columbian mammoth is one of the largest land mammals ever.

The woolly mammoth is the most famous Ice Age animal of them all, next to the Smilodon. There were many different species of mammoths at one time, but the largest was the mighty Columbian mammoth, and it makes its Primeval debut in Episode 2.6. The creature storms out of an anomaly from the Ice Age and rampages on the M25. Chaos ensues as the stressed out creature makes a lot of noise and tramples and/or flips cars over. Jenny is going to have an interesting time trying to make a cover story for this incident! The Columbian mammoth differs from the woolly mammoth in many ways: besides being larger, it had longer tusks, probably lacked hair (as stated by Oliver Leek) and had a more southern range than its woollier cousin. In fact, numerous Columbian mammoths have been found in Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits. Female and baby mammoths were social creatures, but the males, like modern bull elephants and the individual in Primeval, were mostly loners. When Cutter, Abby and Connor arrive on the scene, they (SPOILER ALERT!!!) try to get it through the anomaly, but it closes and they're forced to change their plan: they lure the mammoth into a lorry using female elephant urine. At first, Lester isn't too fond of keeping the 8-10 ton behemoth in the ARC. When Abby begins to tell him about the dexterity of a mammoth's trunk, Lester could care less and utters the quote which can be seen above. Later though, when Lester battles a Future Predator in the ARC, he is saved in the nick of time by the mighty mammal and after the incident is over, he tells Cutter (in his usually sarcastic fashion) that his kids had been “pestering him for a pet, if they can't find a home for him.” (END OF SPOILER ALERT) Despite being a dangerous creature on the M25, the mammoth is quite docile when not frightened, as is seen when Abby feeds the creature some food.

Arthropleura (This whole bio is a spoiler alert)

Arthropleura makes a cameo appearance in Season 2.

The Arthropleura from Season 1 makes a comeback in Season 2 for a brief cameo appearance. Like a number of other extinct creatures, this arthropod was gathered for use in Leek's creature army. For more information on Arthropleura, see its fact file I wrote for its Season 1 appearance by viewing one of the links near the bottom of this post.

Scutosaurus (This whole bio is a spoiler alert)

Scutosaurus make a cameo appearance in Season 2.

The Scutosaurus from Season 1 makes a comeback in Season 2 for a brief cameo appearance. Like a number of other extinct creatures, two of these elephant-sized reptiles was gathered for use in Leek's creature army. Upon escaping their containment, Jenny makes one of them rampage toward one of Leek's guards, trampling him to death and allowing her, Abby, Connor and Caroline to get past. For more information on Scutosaurus, see its fact file I wrote for its Season 1 appearance by viewing one of the links near the bottom of this post.

Future Predator

“[An] . . . ambush predator; intelligent, adaptable, ruthless.“

– Helen Cutter

Future Predators are some of the most dangerous predators ever to exist!

Perhaps the most terrible creature ever to appear in Primeval is the nefarious Future Predator. As we learned from Season 1, they appear to have descended from modern bats due to natural selection. The future predator is a fast and ruthless killer; they are also very agile, able to jump and leap around like an animal of much smaller size. They bear sharp teeth and claws. However, future predators are blind; they find their way around by using their sensitive hearing, sense of smell and echolocation. Like modern bats, future predators send out high-frequency sounds that bump off of objects in their environment before returning to the creature's ears, forming a clear picture of their surroundings. (SPOILER ALERT!!!) In Episode 2.6, a future predator is released into the ARC by Leek in an attempt to have Lester killed. However, Lester is able to find his way to the armory room and fends off the predator with a gun for a while. Unfortunately, he isn't able to keep it up for long . . . but that's when he releases the Columbian mammoth from its containment! As the future predator attacks, it is suddenly stabbed by one of the mammoth's tusks, killed instantly. Cutter learns that Leek and Helen have used technology from the future in order to create neural clamps which can control the predators. The ARC team eventually finds out (after Leek holds Cutter, Abby, Connor, Caroline and Jenny captive) that Leek has an army of dozens of predators under his control, who he contends are – when under control – are no more dangerous than an automobile. He intends to use his army of creatures to take over the world! Unfortunately for him, Cutter is able to cause a short circuit in the electrical system and escapes as Leek looses control over his predators. They then attack and tear Leek to shreds. (END OF SPOILER ALERT).

I really enjoyed Season 2 of Primeval, and I hope you all enjoyed my overview of the series. If you think this series would interest you, don't hesitate to check it out! It's awesome! I don't know when, but I also plan to do something similar for Season 3 of this series. Can't wait to do it. Anyway, see you all next week!

PS 1: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 2: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 3: Click here for more information on the first season of Primeval: Episodes, Characters and Creatures.

Primeval Season 2 -- pt. 2: The Characters

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! I know I did! I went to see some awesome fireworks. I especially love the ones that are really loud, earthshaking and so bright that the ground beneath them is lit up. Now, without further ado, let's move on to our "usuals" before continuing with my overview of the British television series, Primeval, season 2.

Days till:
It is: 52 days till Labor Day
It is: 62 days till Patriot's Day
It is: days till Dolphin Tale 2's release!

In the Spotlight:
We've got a lot of new images from what's going on concerning Jurassic World (Jurassic Park IV) this week. This first update is a little late, as you might recall, the film crew for the movie is now shooting in New Orleans and this is where some photos from the set were taken. You can view them below:

This set is portraying a cold and snowy winter in Wisconsin. We can't say for sure just yet, but it appears from my sources that the house in the pictures above will be the home of Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinsons and Judy Greer's character's. Perhaps we'll be seeing some scenes of the family before they leave for Isla Nublar.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, perhaps what is some of the most exciting Jurassic World news to date . . . you know how there's been a lot of news regarding cast and the movie's plot lately? Well, perhaps a recent image leaked onto the internet actually breaks the trend. An image recently appeared on the internet and it is claimed to show how my favorite dinosaur in the series: Velociraptor, will appear in the movie! This appears to be our actual first look at a dinosaur from Jurassic World!

IS THIS THE VELOCIRAPTOR FROM JURASSIC WORLD!?!

Frankly, I'm really excited to finally see a dinosaur from the film! Of course, we need to take this news with a grain of salt, but my sources confirm that it's more than likely that this is in fact the raptor from Jurassic World.

The image you can see above appears to be of a Velociraptor antirrhopus nublarensis, the raptors from the first and second film (it is believed that the raptors in the third Jurassic Park movie are V. a. sorensis, a different subspecies due to differences in size, head shape and behavior). The color of this dinosaur varies from the raptors in the other movies: it's a green color with black stripes. Perfect for camouflage. It makes sense if this raptor's coloration is different from the ones in the other movies if they are cloning a new batch of raptors for Chris Pratt's character to study in the upcoming movie. We don't know if both male and female Velociraptors will have this appearance in Jurassic World, but right now, who cares? It's (most likely) a dinosaur from Jurassic World and it's got a cool color scheme! What could me more exciting then that? Oh, escaping from of these beasts alive, perhaps.

Topic of the Week by Christian Ryan
Now it's time for a description of the main characters of Primeval season 2. Most of the characters are the same from season 1, but there are a few characters from season 1 that are absent and some new additions, who you'll read more about below.

(From left to right) Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart will be facing deadly creatures, such as the pair of ferocious raptors seen behind them.

Nick Cutter

Stephen: "Are you sure you're alright?"

Nick: "Under the circumstances I'd say I was doing very well."

―Stephen questions Cutter's sanity.

Stephen Hart (left) and Nick Cutter (right) are exhausted after their mission.

Nick Cutter, portrayed by Douglas Henshall was one of the only two main characters that knew about the alternate time line from Season 1 (Helen Cutter is the second). He finds the change quite shocking and nerve-racking, mostly because the woman he loved, Claudia Brown, practically vanished from history as if she was never born. At first, everyone thinks Nick has gotten terribly loony. This is clearly evident when Lester sarcastically says, “Don't you think you're a bit old for imaginary friends, Professor?” It seems as if Claudia Brown never existed in the first place . . . that's what Nick believes, at first anyway anyway. At the end of Episode 2.1, James Lester introduces the ARC team to their new Public Relations manager named Jennifer “Jenny” Lewis. When Nick first sets eyes on her, he immediately makes the mistake of calling her Claudia Brown. During the course of Season 2, Nick often accidentally refers to her as “Claudia Brown”, which irritates Jenny greatly. “For the record,” she says, “I really hate that name.” It takes a while, but Nick finally starts to adjust to this change in the time line as he continues to encounter more extinct creatures that come through the anomalies and uncovers the mystery of who on their team is sabotaging their attempts to keep the anomaly situation under control. Nick and Stephen, who before Season 2 had a close relationship, find their friendship strangled. This is partly due to Stephen's new romantic relationship with Nick's ex-wife Helen. It is unknown whether Nick still has feelings for her or not, but Helen seems to suspect that he's jealous. (SPOILER ALERT!!!) But at the end of Episode 2.7, Nick and Stephen finally seem to make up in a bitter-sweet ending in which Stephen risks his life to save the others. Right after Stephen's funeral, Nick gets the photo of Claudia Brown out of his pocket and tears it to shreds and scatters the pieces over Stephen's grave, reluctantly accepting the fact that Claudia Brown is gone forever and that he must continue with his life. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Stephen Hart

"How many Valeries' are there gonna be before we start telling people what's going on?"

— Stephen begins to question keeping the anomalies secret

Stephen Hart is often willing to sacrifice his own life for his friends.

Stephen Hart, portrayed by James Murray, was Nick's “right-hand man” from the start of Episode 1.1 up until Episode 1.6, in which Nick learns that Stephen was interested in Helen (who's now open since she's not married to Nick anymore) and this strains their relationship, which leads us to Season 2. He didn't change much from the original time line; he's still the same Stephen who is committed to wildlife conservation and is a rather athletic individual. Stephen is also brave in the face of danger, even managing to take down a ferocious Silurian Scorpion . . . by himself in Episode 2.7. Through Episode 2.1 to 2.5, he and Nick are getting over their relationship-strain until he gets involved with Helen again, who ends up feeding him disinformation about who the traitor on the team is. He has a big brother-like relationship with Connor Temple and it seems that there is no affection felt for Abby Maitland like there was during Season 1 (probably because he know is interested in Helen). Amid Season 2, he begins to question whether the ARC is doing the right thing concerning keeping the anomalies and the creatures secret from the public. During Episode 2.7, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Stephen and Nick semi-makeup when Nick volunteers to be the one to close the door that will prevent the animals from escaping Leek's building, but Stephen refuses to let him do this. Instead, Stephen does it, knowing that he'll be trapped with the ferocious animals and tells Nick before his death to tell Abby and Connor to stay out of trouble. Nick watches as Stephen sacrifices himself to save the lives of possibly countless others and is killed by the creatures who after killing him presumably kill each other, preventing them from escaping into the outside world and threatening civilians. At the end of the episode, Nick and the others attend Stephen's funeral. However, just after Nick and the others leave, Helen places an ammonite shell on Stephen's grave as a calling card and says, “Be patient, Stephen. Things can change faster than you think.” Could Stephen somehow make a comeback in later seasons . . .? (END OF SPOILER ALERT)

Connor Temple 

Nick: "Apparently some people never change." 
Connor: "Is that a bad or a good thing?" 
―No change for Connor in the new timeline. 

Connor (left) is one of the few people who believes that the timeline changed.

 One important lesson if you're considering a job at the ARC – never under any circumstances have Connor Temple, played by Andrew-Lee Potts, use guns! He's notorious for shooting at the wrong things. In Episode 1.1, he accidentally shoots Abby with a tranquilizer dart while trying to shoot a baby raptor and in Episode 1.3, he accidentally shoots a man in a lion costume, thinking it was a saber-toothed cat. Fortunately it was a bad shot and prevented injury (the man inside, anyway . . .)! Later in the latter episode, Connor asks Nick if he can have a gun but Nick responds by saying, “Take a wild guess.” Connor guesses “no” and Nick answers, “Good guess.” In Season 2, Connor is still “temporarily” living with Abby and the two have a close bond. He also ends up getting a girlfriend named Caroline Steel in Episode 2.2 who, unbeknownst to Connor, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) is actually a spy sent by Leek (END OF SPOILER ALERT). Connor's relationship with Caroline strains his relationship with Abby however. Through much of the season, he seems unclear about whether he's more interested in Caroline or Abby (who he had a crush on in Season 1). Even though he denies it later, when Abby was at risk of falling into the hands of the Mer creatures and tells him to let her go, as there's no point in them both dying, he replies, “I can't . . . I love you!” When Abby asks him about this later on, he acts as if he never said it, due to his embarrassment. Also in Season 2, Connor invents a new device that will help the ARC team locate anomalies faster than before: the Anomaly Detection Device. After learning about (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the real reason why Caroline was “interested” in him, he feels betrayed but still cared enough for her to get her out of Leek's creature prison safely. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Abby Maitland

Abby: "Just let me go."

Connor: "I can't. I love you."

―Connor tells Abby his feelings for her in the face of death.

In this image, Abby makes friends with a Columbian mammoth.

Hannah Spearritt portrays the reptile-loving Abby Maitland in Primeval. Her apartment is larger and better than the one in Season 1 (another time line change) and Connor is still “temporarily” lodging with her. In Episode 2.2, Abby takes an immediate dislike to Caroline due to her dislike for lizards (Rex in particular) and her relationship with Connor. In an interview with Hannah, she reveals her character dislikes Caroline greatly because she grows rather jealous of Caroline's relationship with Connor, who she seems to be falling in love with by the end of Episode 2.7. One of Abby's hobbies is boxing. In one episode, Caroline shows her a kicking move and Abby later uses it to save herself from an approaching Mer creature. In Episode 1.4, Abby is taken by one of the Mer creatures and the rest of the team worries that she's dead. This really frustrates Connor because ever since Caroline's arrival, he and Abby had been having verbal fights and never got the chance to make up. In Episode 2.7, she finally (SPOILER ALERT!!!) forgives Caroline and saves her and the others from the vicious saber-toothed cat that was locked in with them by Leek. At the end of Episode 2.7, she seem to be close to Connor again. She also is seen after Stephen's funeral trying to hold Connor's hand, but she pulls back at the last minute. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Helen Cutter (This whole character bio is a spoiler)

"Be patient, Stephen. Things can change... More than you'll ever know."

—Helen Cutter

Helen Cutter is a rather mysterious person.

The mischievous Helen Cutter, portrayed by Juliet Aubrey, is back in Primeval Season 2 with a new plot. It is revealed over the course of the series that she's working with Oliver Leek to collect animals from the past and future using the anomalies to keep them in Lester's creature prison. But that's where the similarities in their plan disappear. Helen's plot is to use the animals to “play with” the future; she wants to see what would happen in the future if she “alters” the present using the animals they've collected (actually, the Cleaner and Leek's other soldiers are doing the collecting). In Episode 2.2, she appears to Stephen once again and asks him to let her stay overnight because she was supposedly injured by a Cretaceous pterosaur while trying to steal their eggs for breakfast. We learn in Episode 2.4, 2.6 and 2.7 that she's working with Leek, but she misinforms Stephen Hart, her new boyfriend, that Lester might be the traitor on the ARC team that's trying to sabotage their work. By Episode 2.6, Stephen fully believes Helen and isn't seen working with the ARC team much from that point on. In Episode 2.7, Helen eavesdrops on Nick's conversation with Jenny who are trapped in one of Leek's cells and hears Nick say things that suggest he still cares for her. Later in the same episode, Nick reveals he meant to say those things because he thought it was Leek's style to have a way of listening in on what's happening in the cells. However, Helen doesn't believe him. They don't have time to go into the matter more because the animals soon escape their containment and rampage around Leek's creature prison while Nick and the others try to escape. After Stephen's death, Helen is seen once more at Stephen's grave where she tells Stephen to be patient, as the time line can change. At this point, we also see several copies of “the Cleaner” who died in Episode 2.4, and Helen gives a sly grin. Something tells me we'll be seeing more of her in the near future . . .

James Lester

"That's not good news, good news makes people happy."

— Lester on the current creature incursion

James Lester is head of the anomaly operations.

James Lester, played by Ben Miller, is the head of the ARC and a senior UK government official. He appears overall unaltered by the alternate time line and is still his ruthless and sarcastic self, especially toward his “alternate time line assistant” Oliver Leek. It is his job to ensure that mass panic doesn't ensue and that the team discovers more about the anomalies. He may not look it, but Lester's hobby is playing tennis. He can get irritated easily by Nick Cutter, but would prefer him instead of Connor when it comes to leading the ARC team on location. In Episode 2.5 he makes this quite clear. He can also become irritated by Leek's obvious statements or questions. Episode 2.6 is the first episode when Lester is in any real danger in the series when (Spoiler Alert!!!) Leek lets a mind-controlled Future Predator loose in the ARC to take his revenge out on Lester. Lester survives however by letting the ARC's Colombian Mammoth out of its containment and the huge mammal impales the Future Predator with its tusks. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!) Later, Lester jokingly states that he could take the mammoth home for his kids as a pet if they can't find a home for him. During Episode 2.7, Lester is shown getting his hands “dirty” in, along with his team, tracking Leek down.

Jennifer Lewis

"Don't call me Claudia! And I'm fine."

— Jenny's first incursion

Jennifer Lewis, Claudia Brown's doppelganger, is the ARC's new PR official.

Claudia Brown vanishes from history as if she was never born and her doppelganger, Jennifer “Jenny” Lewis, played by Lucy Brown, appears. She is hired to be the ARC's public relations official to keep the anomaly-related topics “out of the press”. Jenny is a rather stubborn and bossy individual and at first didn't believe she'd be dealing with extinct creatures during this job. She learned this the hard way in Episode 2.2 when she disobeyed Nick's orders to take the stairs in an office building and instead took the elevator and ran into a deadly carnivorous Fog Worm. Nick later stated, “Next time I say take the stairs, you take the stairs!” After getting over the shock of what she'd be dealing with, she quickly adapted to her new job. She even has the ability to take on the responsibility of leadership and is much better at handling guns than Connor. Her “friends preferred pony riding, I preferred clay pigeon [shooting]” she says. There doesn't seem to be much hope for the same type of relationship Nick had at one time with Claudia to happen between him and Jenny. In Episode 2.2, when Nick visits her house to try and explain the Claudia Brown/alternate time line thing, he is involuntarily interrupted by her fiancee. Even still, Nick accidentally refers to her as Claudia Brown. But in Episode 2.4 when Nick calls her Claudia, she replies, “. . . you saved my life. So just for tonight, you can call me anything you like. For the record, I really hate that name.” (SPOILER ALERT!!!) In the beginning of Episode 2.7 she tells Nick that she's become disengaged with her fiancee however and at the end of the Episode, she hangs around Nick after Stephen's funeral and asks if they can go out for a drink. Could this mean the two of them could develop the type of romantic relationship Nick lost when Claudia disappeared? In Primeval, anything's a possibility . . .

Oliver Leek (this whole bio is a spoiler)

"I think this is something we should consider Sir. It seems to be our first breakthrough to date"

— Leek points the obvious to Lester

There's much more to Oliver Leek than what meets the eye.

 He may not look it, but there's much, much more to Oliver Leek, played by Karl Theobald, than what meets the eye. Leek is Lester's assistant in the alternate time line and is often the focus of his Lester's sarcasms. Nick and the others don't initially believe Leek has the capabilities to pull off anything like he plans to, which is why he isn't immediately expected as the traitor. It is revealed in Episode 2.3 that he hired Caroline Steel to spy on Connor by pretending to be interested in him and in Episode 2.4 we learn he hired the Cleaner to spy on the ARC team and capture animals for his menagerie. Even though he's working with Helen, Leek has a very different agenda – his plan was to use the animals from the past and future to make him a powerful man in the future. He even went as far as to mind-control an army of Future Predator using neural clamps. Nick stated he didn't think before that Leek was capable of this sort of intelligence. He is also surprised to learn of Leek's computer hacking skills. To take revenge on Lester, he lets a Future Predator loose in the ARC and almost succeeds in killing Lester in Episode 2.6. In Episode 2.7 when he informs Connor about how he hired Caroline to pick him up, he also says that they're both “uncool, nerdy and never get the pretty girls.” But Connor disagrees, saying he's “choosy”. When Caroline wants to find out why Leek is interested in the creatures, he not only shows her, but is unmerciful and places her in a cell with Abby, Connor and Jenny and they're almost killed by a saber-toothed cat. Helen orders him to stop at Nick's request and he replies, “You do not give me orders! No one does!” The Jenny, Connor, Abby and Caroline soon escape and Leek prepares to have Nick killed by the Future Predators if Lester and his soldiers continue their search for Leek. But at the last second, Nick destroys a neural clamp of a Future Predator he killed by ripping the clamp off and the other clamps dismantle. Nick escapes while Leek is left in the room with the Future Predators which turn on him soon tear him to bits (all off-screen, thankfully!).

The Cleaner (this whole bio is a spoiler)

"I'm a professional, I never talk."
— The Cleaner.

The Cleaner, played by Tim Faraday, works for Leek and Helen and was originally first seen in Episode 2.1 when he was doing what his name suggests: he was cleaning the mall as an undercover member of Leek's soldiers. Connor and Abby think it strange that he disappeared after being attacked by a baby raptor and that he's soon spotted at the ARC dressed as one of Lester's soldiers in Episode 2.2. Later, he's spotted yet again in Episode 2.4 by Nick and Leek scolds him for being careless. The Cleaner is a rather uncaring and heartless individual, even willing to leave a little girl behind on the “ancient side” of an anomaly in Episode 2.5 when she tried to save them. One of the soldiers tried to protest but the Cleaner answered, “We're not social workers.” Since they didn't listen, most of the men met their demise thanks to Silurian Scorpions when they could have been saved by listening to the girl. Later in the same episode, the Cleaner was killed by a Silurian Scorpion as well. However, dozens of copies of the cleaner were seen in Episode 2.7 near Stephen's grave where Helen was, suggesting they could make an appearance in Season 3.

Caroline Steel

"Abby you look awful, you really must let me talk to you about make-up sometime."

— Caroline wants to share her female wisdom with Abby

Caroline Steel appears to be Connor's new girlfriend.

Connor runs into Caroline Steel, played by Naomi Bentley, while in the video store looking for sci-fi DVD's in Episode 2.2 and he thinks that he's found a new girlfriend. Abby meanwhile begins a rivalry with her from the start, because she senses that (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Caroline's interest in Connor is counterfeit and because she herself has developed an interest in Connor. But what Connor doesn't know is that Caroline was actually paid to pick up Connor to spy on them. Caroline and Connor start dating up until Episode 2.5 when Connor feels that their relationship isn't working out and dumps her – by text, I might add – with two simple words: “It's Over!”. (END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!) Caroline's hobbies include dancing, fencing, kickboxing and paintballing. She also has a great dislike of reptiles, including Abby's pet Rex. In fact, she hates them so much that in Episode 2.4, she placed Rex in Abby's freezer when Abby and Connor were on an anomaly mission, much to Abby's horror. Abby even referred to her as “Cruella De Vil”. Even though Caroline was working for Leek, she had no idea what he was really up to until (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Episode 2.7 when she was taken hostage with Jenny, Abby, Connor and Nick. Before taken hostage, when Connor dumped her (remember, by text), she attacked and stole Rex to revenge Abby as well and gave the lizard to Leek. Leek's uncaring side is shown in Episode 2.7 when Abby and Caroline begin fighting and Connor tells Leek to stop them, but he doesn't. On the contrary, he finds it amusing! Connor eventually gets them to stop fighting, but when Caroline thanks him, Connor tells her, “I didn't do it for you.” Eventually, Caroline asks and receives forgiveness from both Abby and Connor for her money-driven deeds and even is sympathetic towards Rex – she rescues the lizard after he is injured. Caroline's last appearance is made at Stephen's funeral, where she reminds Connor that he has her number.

I hope you found the biographies of the characters of Primeval a good read. Next week will be Joy's article, and the week after that, you will have the opportunity to read the third part of my review of Primeval Season 2, when we'll look at each of the creatures that make up the series. Catch you later!

PS 1: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 2: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.