Last night's episode of P:NW was very, very tragic, on an almost epic scale. This episode's chronologically-displaced creatures were Lycaenopses, the smaller cousins of the Gorgonops from the original series and WWM (2005). The Gorgonops was basically built like a tank, and as such it was powerful enough to fight anything, from a military truck to a future predator. The Lycaenops is a much smaller animal, roughly the size of a large dog, but here it behaved more like a cat, instigating ambushes from higher ground (tree- or rooftops) and then charging at its prey (i.e. people) with powerful, but short bursts of speed.
Scientifically, of course, this is all speculation; in reality Lycaenops was built more like a wolf than a leopard, and probably pursued its prey on the ground, rather than from the trees. As a matter of fact, that is reflected in Dylan's comments, when she compares that yet unidentified gorgonopsid to a coyote or a hyena, neither of which is an arboreal animal. Considering that this version of Lycaenops is arboreal, a hyena-based comparison is incorrect. But when it comes to prehistoric animals, Dylan often makes important-sounding, yet somehow incorrect statements, so it's all for the course.
And as far as we're nitpicking, what's with all the dinosaur statements? Lycaenops, Gorgonops and their relatives were actually mammal-like reptiles, close relatives to the direct ancestors of the mammals, cynodonts. Calling them "dinosaurs" is like calling monkeys parrots or vice versa - it's simply wrong.
That aside, however, "Undone" was a very good, but very tragic episode. Samantha, Mac's girlfriend that was introduced in the episode "Fear of Flying" made her appearance on screen once again, but this was for the last time (not counting the potential flashbacks): the Lycaenops killed her. Curiously, it didn't eat any of the people it killed, so it probably attacked in self-defense, finding itself (and its' mate) trapped in a strange time alongside strange creatures...
But Mac, and probably Dylan, have also killed the gorgonopsids in self-defense, for those creatures clearly weren't compatible with the 21st century Vancouver. Seriously. They have killed at least two people, and scared several more. As many dangerous or rogue (individual) animals they had to be put down, and so they were.
Leaving the CP team with a very bitter aftertaste in their mouths. Firstly, they failed to protect the people they planned to - the innocents, the passer-by. The CP people had tools and technology and by now also experience, but they still failed, and there's blood on their hands - blood of people, and blood of animals. Not a good thing!
Secondly, the CP team was split upon this issue: Mac and Dylan were ready to use lethal force on the Lycaenops, Evan (and probably Toby) were not. The fact that the Lycaenops died contrary to Evan's wishes has raised a question of Evan's capability as field leader and as a team leader too. And that question isn't raised just by Mac (and Dylan?), but by Evan himself: just like Tony Stark (hence the Chinese-related banter at the beginning of the ep), he does not take failure easily and failure so close to home? Doubly hard. And with the next episode only a week away, how will he manage to pull himself together by that time period?
Thirdly, Mac was clearly interested in his relationship with Sam(antha), and her loss took him. How will he deal with it? Will Toby be involved? Will this issue be resolved by the next week? I can't wait to find out!
Finally, who was that woman that Evan went to seek consolation from? It may be Ange, but I'm not sure. In either case, apparently the relationship between Evan and Dylan isn't that intimate yet - and with the new rift, it may be even longer in coming.
So: an interesting new depiction of an interesting new creature, some very tragic new developments for the CP team, and oh yes, Mac (Danny Rahim) appeared shirtless in the shower. Go P:NW!
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