Surviving Earth: Initial Thoughts on ep 1

 


Well, it's official: Tim Haines is BACK!

After years of waiting, Tim Haines has made a new palaeo-doc. Surviving Earth, which covers many of the extinctions of Earth's history.

The first episode, "When the Earth Burned", naturally starts things off with the Permian Extinction. Set in Russia, we follow a family of the gornopsid Inostrancevia. Pretty inspired choice.

Without spoilers, what are my thoughts on it?

The effects and design are excellent. The cinematograohy is alsao very lush, with the Californian forests .

The animal behaviour is up to par. I like the gorgonopsids have a lion-influenced social structure... though I do object to them fighting even as lava looms to be the alpha (which is a bunk term).

The species selection is great, showing both the big guys of Permian Russia (Ino, Scutosaurus) and the dicynodont Elph (no joke I genuinely thought they said elf and was wondering why they were calling them by snything other then their real name) and Suminia making a gran debut. ??? Triassic stands out, for introducing 

One of the best parts IMO is how the episode showcases the effects of how the release of CO2 causes terrible effects, like acid rain and causing trees to shed sap, trapping animals. If that makes you think of what's gong on today because of polluters. Then at the end, it just rips the bandaid off and spells it out for the dumb american audience.

Honestly, I still have a few (personal) complaints.
  • Josh Goodman's voice is a bit too casual for an epic series like this.
  • The epilogue feels a bit disjointed with its focus on the reptiles. Perhaps a better version would be showcasing an early proper reptile (even if they aren't known from Russia).
  • The Inostrasivia are only refered to as Gorgonopsids.
  • The series seems averse to calling Russia Russia.
  • There's a general feeling of toothlessness to the episode: up until the end, only one creature dies and it's not a baby. This just lowers the stakes. And if it were made even 20 years ago, the Suminia wouldn't be throwng pine cones. In general, you can clearly tell this is made for american viewers, which tend to be... a bit pussy to say the least (no offense). On that note... It kept. Cutting. To commercial. EVERY 5 MINUTES. Friggin' advertisers...
But otherwise, I consider "When the Earth Burned" is excellent.
  • Accuracy - 9/10
  • Presentation - 8/10
  • Narration - 7/10
  • Plot - 9/10
  • Behaviour - 8/10
  • Visuals - 9/10
  • Music - 7/10
  • Rewatchability - 9/10
When the Earth Burned hits the ground running... emphasis on hit. Man, writing this really made me realise its flaws. I wasn't expecting Walking with Dinosaurs again (that itself certainly wasn't perfect), but I expected bette. Still, I enjoyed it on its premeire, and it's certainly a great watch and member of the palaeodoc canon. Can't wait

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