My Thoughts on Prehistoric Planet Season 2 Episode 5

Once again, we're at the end of the series. So many emotions. Definitely sad that it's over, but at the same time, the producers aren't ruling out a season 3. The fact that we got season 2 a year later is a miracle and should be celebrated. Besides, there's another series coming later this year from Netflix, that'll also cover the prehistoric eras in broader strokes than Prehistoric Planet, so there are more paleo media coming this year!

So what about the last episode? I think this episode is a great way to end the season. This episode is simply about North America. It is not about any specific biome and just goes where it wants to go. We get a segment in the ocean, a segment in the icy regions, a segment in the forest, etc. Someone in my friend group pointed out that the final scene doesn't really feel like a finale, and just feels like the end of a regular episode with more to come. I do agree with him, but I also think we're reading too much into it. I know the way season 1 ended felt a bit grander, but otherwise, I think this finale is better.

I will say I'm slightly disappointed that we didn't get more Deinocheirus or Therizinosaurus but at this point, it's more like nitpicking than actual criticism. I just happen to like these animals, but Mongolia was already featured extensively in both seasons, and they wanted to show off more new animals. It goes to show just how rich the world is in Prehistoric Planet. What I can say is that the choice of featuring Pectinodon in this episode is weird simply because Pectinodon is known from a tooth. They could have chosen a more complete animal to feature instead of such a speculative animal. I know speculation can be fun and allows for more creative freedom. Other than that, this last episode has a good mix of old and new creatures.

By this point, you can get a general idea of some of the animals' lifestyles if you watched both seasons. The best example is the T.rex. We go from showing its ability to swim to protecting its young, to finding a mate, to hunting prey, and ends with it fighting over an Alamosaurus carcass with some Quetzalcoatlus. It's a very realistic depiction of what we think the animal is like in real life. Just like in real life, T.rex is powerful and scary, but it's also not invincible or unstoppable. It's still an animal doing animal things and T. rex doesn't always win. Predators kill to survive and not because it's some monster that kills for fun. You might even feel bad for a hungry predator because it hasn't made a kill in a long time. Don't worry, none of the creatures are anthropomorphized, it's more down to the writers' and creative teams' ability to depict nature, speculative nature, in a very realistic way.

If season 2 really is the end, I am more than happy with what we got. I really can't imagine anything else being able to top this series anytime soon. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. In a decade, chances are, some of the depictions in this show might be outdated, or even wrong. That means a new team can come in and give us another show to bring dinosaurs up to date with the latest paleontological findings.