Share:

“Chaos Theory” is the sequel series to Netflix’s “Jurassic World’s: Camp Cretaceous”, a spinoff of the “Jurassic World” franchise. “Chaos Theory”, like every other “Jurassic Park” movie, focuses on a rich person who wants to exploit dinosaurs for profit while the protagonist aims to stop them, but this movie adds a new fascinating element that the films teased which was to show viewers a world adapting or struggling to deal with an infestation with dinosaurs. 

The cast consists of Darren Barnet who plays Kenji, “a rich kid wanting a fresh start”, Sean Giambrone as Ben, “a conspiracy theorist who believes they are being hunted”, Kausar Mohammed as Yasmina, “a therapist who helps those with dinosaur trauma”, Paul-Mikél Williams as Darius, “a higher up in the “Department of Prehistoric Wildlife”, Raini Rodriguez as Sammy, “a farm girl living on her ranch in Texas”, and Kiersten Kelly as Brooklyn, “an activist for dinosaurs”.

After an abysmal decline in quality with “Fallen Kingdom” and “Dominion”,  it was honestly impossible for viewers to think an animated television show set in this world would even match the quality of the first trilogy. But when “Chaos Theory” released it showed a new side to the “Jurassic” franchise, with dinosaurs roaming around like everyday animals and  a company being formed called “Department of Prehistoric Wildlife” that deals with dinosaur incidents. 

And it’s one of the biggest positives on the show seeing people react to dinosaurs out in their world like they’re just everyday animals. For example, at some point in the series when the characters need to get from point A to point B a traffic jam was caused by brachiosaurus sitting in the road eating a tree, similar to a cow or deer. And the response is to just call “Department of Prehistoric Wildlife” to come and move the dinosaur which really adds to the world of adaptation the show wants to convey. 

But the most interesting part of the show was seeing how the show wanted to adapt a pretty silly concept the original trilogy failed to do, which was a dinosaur black market. In the movie “Fallen Kingdom” the show attempts to visualize what a dinosaur black market could look like, but it just comes off as cartoony with a cliched scene revolving around one of the sellers having dollar signs reflected off their pupils as the profits from the computer kept increasing. Even worse was the prices.The price tag for a triceratops’s skull is $170,000 to $400,000, and a diplodocus is $570,000 to $1.1 million according to The Guardian article on dinosaur fossil collecting prices so it was crazy to see the film price these dinosaurs from $4 million – $30 million when these are living breathing dinosaurs. 

So when “Chaos Theory” adapted this concept with a new character called “The Broker” it was a very anxiety inducing concept. She was ruthless when it came to those who wanted to stop her. And she was a big change from classic “Jurassic Park” villains who are always the cliche billionaire who wants to use dinosaurs for evil and money, then dies because of the dinosaur. However here they put a fun and jaw dropping spin on it where she’s actually behind the dinosaur black market and is selling dinosaur assassins through the “Department of Prehistoric Wildlife” believing if dinosaurs roam the world it only makes sense for people to have “accidents around them”. 

This made her a great foil for the group especially for Darius, since he cares for dinosaurs and wants to help them, but it leaves the viewer with an unknowing feeling if this dinosaur belongs to “The Broker” or not. It’s shown in a scene with a velociraptor tied up outside her lab. The group wants to help free the dinosaur as it looks dehydrated and wants to be free making the viewer feel bad for it only for it to attack them going from a scene about animal cruelty to a close call with the characters realizing they are meant to be guard dogs to let “The Broker” know someone is trespassing at her lab. 

“Chaos Theory” even adds more to her character’s manipulative side showing how she stayed hidden for so long. Brooklyn’s main goal is to put an end to the dinosaur black market, but needs to put on a facade to prevent ‘The Broker’ from finding out her true identity when she runs into her. The show makes you believe it will drag this plot line along, but no “Chaos Theory” shakes things up by Brooklyn’s identity getting revealed early. And instead of doing a cliche where the villain slips up, “The Broker” sees this as an opportunity by having Brooklyn believe she’s undercover as an apprentice when in reality she’s using her to keep tabs on the main characters. This makes her feel intelligent rather than it being told to the audience. It leaves the viewers guessing on where the show will go with this plot line, leaving her to let Brooklyn decide on what will she do: go with her friends to stop “The Broker” or go with “The Broker” to stop other markets all around the world. A rock and a hard place. This shows how “The Broker” is cunning, as she leaves with Brooklyn in a devastating cliffhanger, as the group watches the private jet fly away. A “to be continued” stinger left on the screen. “The Broker”, while having a similar plan to previous villains, brings a new edge. She shows why it is difficult to catch her, because she knows her opponents and is able to twist their values against them.

Overall “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory” is a fun show doing what the “Jurassic World” franchise couldn’t do being able to perfectly balance horror with an action adventure series. 

“Jurassic World: Chaos Theory” full season is now available on Netflix.

Follow: