Life on Our Planet

⭐8/10

This is a Netflix documentary covering exactly what the title says. It's actually probably a little more interesting than it sounds, essentially covering the entire history of our planet. It takes a little while to get going as the interesting creatures take a little while to appear, but I thought this was a pretty sweet way to learn about prehistoric periods if that is of interest. It's beautiful of course, and features the dulcet tones of the one and only Morgan Freeman. 

It's got a few issues I suppose. Along with taking a second to get going, it also has an issue where it shifts from real footage to CGI, because of course they don't exactly have footage of a T-Rex, but then shift back when they want to, say, talk about the origins of flowers (very cool btw). It's a bit of whiplash, but either way I think the footage looks amazing. I also watch these to chill out, but that final episode is about humans and our next mass extinction which is too much of a bummer to enjoy. 

But this show also made me feel some very unique things, like how profoundly better off the planet was without humans, and yet how humans have brought so much value to the world, essentially being the only species that care for other creatures (though of course it's overall a net negative). It made me sad, but also made me feel longing for a world where we could have used our intelligence for the good of all. The show also made me feel a lot of strange emotions, like the absolute tragedy of the Yucatan meteor, wiping out life nearly overnight. They really focus in on that event, and for good reason! Such a history-altering event that we kinda just shrug our shoulders at. 

But in the end, these are the types of shows where you get zooted, sit back in the couch and enjoy. It was the show we watched in parts after watching a movie or whatever, and was the perfect show to fall asleep to. I know that's a unique need, but I absolutely love having a show like that, and this one was good enough to see through to the end.