Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Palm Springs!
Hulu's Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti), two people stuck in a time loop. In one memorable scene, a small group of Brachiosauruses (or some kind of long-necked dinosaurs) is seen roaming the California desert, which has caused some confusion.
Nyles and Sarah were in Palm Springs for a wedding but never met each other before the ceremony. Whereas Sarah was the sister of the bride, Nyles was just the boyfriend of one of the bridesmaids. The pair then got a chance to get form a special bond when they both find themselves stuck in a neverending time loop, reliving the wedding day over and over again. Nyles had already accepted his fate after spending in what was presumed to be decades in the loop before Sarah entered the mysterious portal. Upon suffering an existential crisis, Sarah vowed to escape the loop and convinced Nyles to come with her.
Before Nyles accepted the fact that he was in love with Sarah, the pair spent a night in the desert together during one of the loops. Sarah tried to get Nyles to open up emotionally but he remained a bit reserved. In the distance, he discovered a few dinosaurs walking through the desert. Sarah questioned if the creatures were real as the pair stared at them. The scene came just after the fact that Nyles mentioned that they were both high on mushrooms, indicating that the dinosaurs could have been a hallucination. Based on the rest of Palm Springs, the inclusion of the dinosaurs was more than just a wild drug-induced illusion.
The Palm Springs Dinosaurs Were More Than A Hallucination
At first thought, Palm Springs' dinosaur scene could have been a nod to Cabazon Dinosaurs, a roadside attraction located near Palm Springs, CA, which features two gigantic dinosaur sculptures. The movie, however, never directly explained the dinosaurs. According to an interview with writer Andy Siara and the cast (via LA Times), the existence of the dinosaurs was meant to be ambiguous. Siara compared them to an intangible feeling while Milioti described the dinosaurs as "magical realism." Samberg, on the other hand, liked that the symbolism was up to the viewer.
The dinosaurs made one final appearance before the end of Palm Springs. After Nyles and Sarah escaped the loop following the latter's epic plan, the duo was seen floating in the pool at the house of the family on vacation. The family came home and questioned why two strangers were in the pool before the camera panned out and revealed a view of the desert. On the horizon, the long-necked dinosaurs were still roaming, proving that they were more than a hallucination. It's possible that the dinosaurs were linked to the mysterious loop or a rip in the multiverse. Then again, it could have just been a piece to the new reality that Nyles and Sarah created by breaking the loop.
