A week after the lythronax mission, its all hands on deck as the time comes to rescue the park's first dinocephalian species, estemmenosuchus! But with Cynthia in the picture, it isn't long before old tensions once again rise to the surface and drama ensues. And with the time of Novum's final decision on whether or not the park is ready to be opened to the public heavily on the horizon, the talks are weighing very heavily on several park staff member's minds.
- Angry, Angry Hippos: While not truly hippos, the estemmenosuchus are portrayed as behaving very similarly to hippos, and a pack of archaeosyodon noticeably prove very cautious about taking the chance to try to hunt them.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Over the course of their epically poorly timed argument, Drew and Cynthia both bring up painfully accurate flaws against each other. As Cynthia points out, Drew can be a self destructive lunatic with zero impulse control when left to his own devices and can often come across as rather lazy and loathe to accept responsibility. But as Drew fires back, Cynthia herself is incredibly raw, untrusting, and is not above trying to practically micromanage people she perceives as being under her charge.
- Deadly Dust Storm: A vicious sand storm comes down upon the rescue team within minutes after the rescue team arrives and finishes rescuing a pack of archaeosyodon. Drew and Cynthia in particular get the worst of it as they end up outside the storm shelter the rest of the team had already set up and gotten into before the storm hit and Cynthia very narrowly avoids getting lost and killed by the sand storm.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: The estemmenosuchus are portrayed as behaving very similarly to hippos.
- Mythology Gag: The chapter is named after the gorgonops rescue mission from Prehistoric Earth.
- Sea of Sand: With the exception of some rocky outcroppings and at least one small lake, the Permian desert the rescue team travels to in this episode is largely portrayed as a vast expanse of sand.
