- The opening of the very first episode not only features a Call-Back to the Apocalypse Wow from the end of the previous series, but actually shows a shot from space of the meteor hurtling toward Earth, smashing into the Gulf of Mexico, and ending the reign of the dinosaurs. Then Kenneth Branagh proclaims: "This series is about what happened next." From there, we go into the full introduction and the title sequence. Perfect starting note.
- For that matter, the music from the intro is outright ICONIC. It's this incredible, epic mixture of instruments and chanting, creating the feeling that you're entering a ferocious, primal world.
- The juvenile indricothere. The narrator states that the calf hasn't been seen for months after being driven away by his mother. You fear a Downer Ending, but then the indricothere returns, and when an entelodont appears, the adolescent beast just effortlessly chases it off, and bellows as if to say, "Don't even think of messing with me, mofo." Then he runs down the cameraman! It all ties in very well with how the narrator predicted his future:
"But if he can survive that long, his size will mean that there will not be a predator on Earth that can touch him."
- That awesome scene towards the end of the episode "Next of Kin", where our ancestors sent the Dinofelis running with its tail between its legs… by throwing rocks at it. No test of strength or speed; they used their brains and refused to back down.
- From the episode "Sabre Tooth", Half Tooth makes his glorious entry by rescuing his cub and chasing off a pair of "terror birds".
- The hunting scene of the Smilodon clan clearly shows that they are one of the most deadly predators on the planet.
- The Megatherium shows why despite his lumbering appearance, it is still one of the most feared creatures in the plains. In a lot of media, ground sloths are portrayed as slow-moving animals that easily fall prey to predators. Not this one. The fatal wound the sloth gives a sabre-toothed cat almost resembles a Dope Slap.
- Half-Tooth's last battle against the surviving usurper. He manages to defeat the intruder' once and for all, bashing his foe in a satisfying moment of karma. And this one's not as lucky as he is, dying in mere days versus the weeks that Half-Tooth endured reaching the top again.
- The opening of Mammoth Journey. It may be a big Tearjerker with the trapped, dying mammoth being comforted by its herd and ultimately being abandoned, but it's just so subdued and solemn that the makers really deserve props for such an understated opening to the final episode of the series. Among the carnivores arriving to feast on the doomed mammoth? The Cro-Magnons, who are treated as just another predator by the narrator.
- From Mammoth Journey, the Cro-Magnons hunting the Megaloceros. It's the first time in the series that hominids are portrayed as predators, and it really shows how far we've come since Next of Kin. The music really helps, too.
- The incredible, massive pan-out of the huge herd of mammoths that are migrating south. Rarely have we ever seen such a massive gathering of animals in the franchise.
- The Neanderthals managing to take down two mammoths after the episode showed every other predator, including the Cro-Magnons, keeping their distance. Bonus points for subverting their usual pop culture portrayal as stupid or ineffective by showing their inventive use of fire, night, and a steep drop.
- The Megaloceros that escaped the Cro-Magnons. A half tonne-plus beast with antlers weighing 45 kg on its head leaps over a Cro-Magnon man (who averaged 176 cm, or 5'9", in height). If it was the loser of the fight that happened right before, then it definitely made up for its loss by escaping the humans. If it was the winner, then it was strong enough to not only win an exhausting fight, but also leap over the hunter (and it would just go to show why it won). This brief feat was awesome enough to make it into the intro.
