{"id":32867,"date":"2026-03-02T13:15:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=32867"},"modified":"2026-03-02T13:15:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:15:35","slug":"can-zombies-be-happy-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=32867","title":{"rendered":"Can Zombies Be Happy Too?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Full spoilers follow for <\/strong>Primal<\/strong><\/u> Season 3, Episode 8, \u201cThe River of Life,\u201d which is available on Adult Swim now and debuts on HBO Max on March 2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zombie Spear\u2019s seen this before, back when he was still alive. Specifically in the Season 1 episode \u201cRage of the Ape-Men,\u201d where he was forced to fight an array of, well, raging ape-men, while also imbibing a mysterious liquid which turned him into something more akin to an Incredible Spear-Hulk. And while the players are different this time around, the rules are the same: Kill or be killed.<\/p>\n

When \u201cThe River of Life\u201d began and all those creepy, pale-faced figures emerged above the fighting pit, I figured we were in for another slaughter situation (\u201cRage of the Ape-Men\u201d is one of the most violent episodes of Primal ever, which is saying something). But when Spear defeats his first opponent and then is basically crowned as the reigning champ (and maybe new leader?) of this band of creatures, I realized that it makes sense that this would become a strange new place of comfort \u2013 or at the very least respite \u2013 for him. After all, the villagers in Mira\u2019s home have rejected him, despite how he saved a bunch of them<\/u>, so to bring back the Frankenstein monster comparison once more<\/u>, Spear is landing at a place where he could begin to \u201clove dead\u2026 hate living<\/u>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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And yet\u2026 just as the Karloff Monster in Bride of Frankenstein chose in the end to let Dr. Frankenstein and his wife live \u2013 to embrace some aspect of living even if he couldn\u2019t participate in it himself \u2013 Spear here can\u2019t really get down with just giving into death. And weirdly enough, it\u2019s all the killing at the \u201cRiver of Life\u201d of the title that gets him back into the mindset of attempting to connect with Mira again, as he flies over to her village for a quick check-in (even if he leaves before she sees him).<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, how sad is it when Mira and Fang and Fang\u2019s pups head back home after determining that Spear has been lost to them? And I certainly didn\u2019t see it coming that her baby with Spear would be born in this episode! Things are moving right along, that\u2019s for sure. But I really enjoy how Mira and Fang have become so close since Spear\u2019s (original) passing, and the moment when Mira introduces the T. rex to her baby while touching the dinosaur\u2019s face is just lovely.<\/p>\n

By the time the Celtic-warrior-by-way-of-Heavy-Metal shows up on his pterosaur while a guitar shreds on the soundtrack, you just have to laugh.\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

The action and fight scenes in this episode are pretty fun. Spear sure has the advantage over his various opponents in the fighting pit, what with already being dead and all, but the array of oddballs and gruesomes who he must face off with are a hoot. Unlike \u201cRage of the Ape-Men,\u201d which featured a bloody, tense, and worrying combat (Fang\u2019s life hung in the balance for one thing), \u201cRiver of Life\u201d has fun with its gladiatorial hijinks. By the time the Celtic-warrior-by-way-of-Heavy-Metal shows up on his pterosaur while a guitar shreds on the soundtrack, you just have to laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

Of course, Mira being Mira, she realizes something is amiss after Spear\u2019s clandestine visit, and so she breaks out the village maps to go find him. But Fang, on the other hand, also got a sniff of her old friend\u2026 and she seems to still be quite anti-zombie Spear, even after everything that\u2019s happened. Two episodes left to the season, so let\u2019s see where this goes!<\/p>\n

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Family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Questions and Notes From Anachronistic History<\/strong><\/p>\n