‘Dynasties II’ Recap: ‘Macaque’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘Dynasties II’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Thus far, our journey through the world of Dynasties II on BBC America, has provided us with one particular constant. In that, family is everything to the animals of the world and they absolutely expect, that a family member will be the one to take over the responsibility of keeping the family line going when their father or mother fades from this existence. Granted we’ve seen power struggles regarding that, and family members having to bide their time in order to take charge as the season has continued along, but time and time again… the next generation assumes command of the future in the end, leaving one to wonder… if by chance there are any dynasties out there… with different kinds of leaders or if the animal kingdom can only have a future with a family member at the helm.

Well as it turns out, the season finale of this phenomenal documentary series, took the time to answer that question by informing us that... yes, there are animals out there who simply want leadership over anything else and are happy to provide them with a family line if they can feed the group and keep them safe and one such species that is keen on this is the Macaque monkey. For the ‘Macaque’ troupe we met in this particular tale, was dealing with uncertainty with the death of their Alpha, leaving everyone to wonder who would assume command and be the leader they needed, and it didn’t take long for a monkey named Mac to assume that particular role and what was amazing about this… was how quickly the group accepted him.

For there was little fight for the crown once he stepped in, the group simply watched carefully to see what he would do and if he would be the right leader to lead them to the promised land, and if not, they would be happy to eject him. Which was… an oddly human trait to see since we too choose leaders that aren’t our family members, and we expect them to lead us as well or change will come if we aren’t happy with the results and sadly for Mac, displeasure did befall him when he made a tough call regarding food. For his push to get the group to a better feeding ground led to pain and suffering, leaving so many to wonder if they put their faith in the right leader and one particular male in the group, Simon… believed a mistake had been made.

Which motivated him to make a push in the fall, to take command himself, out of the belief that he could do better than Mac and well… once he pushed Mac out of the proverbial door, he assumed command and was met with curiosity by the group since once again… they were eager to know if the right leader was now in place and sadly, that was not the case. For Simon was… a tyrant and he was eager to harm over protect and assert his will in a violent manner and well, the lack of allies he created and the disdain he engendered amongst the group, allowed for Mac to return to the throne no problem and finally have the faith and trust of his subjects and that… gave rise to a true dynasty, one where Mac was able to build the family line he wanted. 

If anything, this was just… a fascinating finale. Because it really did introduce a brand-new dynamic to this series by showing us how some species are fine with major changes in leadership that don’t involve the direct descendants, and that they will hold those leaders to account and make changes as needed. Which really did offer up some fascinating parallels and some unique and engaging moments, the kind that undoubtedly had the viewer rooting for Mac all the way since he was clearly the right man for the job and well… in the end, the only complaint one can voice about this episode, is that we’ve reached the end of the journey. And that’s a shame, because this series is simply amazing and really does teach us so much about the family dynamic in the wild and hopefully, Dynasties III is on the way… so we can enjoy more of an honest and powerful documentary that gives us stunning insight on how families are raised in the natural world.

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