Stream It Or Skip It?
Human is a five-part Nova series, produced by the BBC, that takes a look at the origins and survival of the human race. The host is paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi, and she travels to various parts of the world to speak to experts, explore dig sites and tell the story of how homo sapiens, currently the only species of humans on the planet, managed to survive when other human species didn’t.
HUMAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: “Where do we come from? When did our story really begin?” says a voice as we see an early human roam a rough region at night.
The Gist: In the first episode, “Origins,” Al-Shamahi explains how homo sapiens were not the first human species, and gives the examples of homo erectus and the Neanderthals as predecessors to them. She then travels to Morocco to a dig site where an important skull was found: The Ihroud 1 skull, with a brain pan more akin to homo erectus but a facial structure more common in homo sapiens, started experts speculating that the common thought that homo sapiens emerged in East Africa around 250,000 years ago might be inaccurate, as the skull was dated at over 350,000 years old.
Al-Shamahi then traces the species’ early migratory patterns and how colonies of homo sapiens came together at critical junctures as the species adapted to harsh climates and reproduced with that stronger DNA.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The style of Human brings to mind Carl Sagan’s original version of Cosmos.
Our Take: Human feels like a bit of a throwback, even though Al-Shamahi is showing the audience new information about the origins of the human race that has been gathered not only through new discoveries but advanced technologies that allow archaeologists and paleontologists to more accurately date and identify fossils and other finds.
Why do we think it’s a throwback? Because Al-Shamahi is more than just a narrator; she appears in most of the scenes, talking directly to the camera much of the time about how humans adapted, learned to create tools and weapons, and figured out methods of communication. She’s as much of a storyteller as she is a scientist, and she definitely brings the species’ journey to life. It’s the reason why we compared the show to Sagan’s original Cosmos series, because his professorial presence drew viewers in as he talked about complex topics.
She is most passionate when she marvels at how early humans were able to create weapons as sophisticated as a bow and arrow, admiring at how many centuries of ingenuity went into developing the arrow, then the bow, then the idea to put them together. She also spends a lot of time discussing how humans started collecting tiny shells with holes in them that they strung together to create jewelry.
There are some reenactment scenes, but they’re pretty unobtrusive, and we certainly appreciated that Al-Shamahi interviews people at dig sites and other remote locations, rather than have them sitting in a chair and droning on, like we see in most modern docuseries.
Sex and Skin: None. Even computer recreations of early human bodies that we see don’t show all the parts.
Parting Shot: Al-Shamahi talks about how homo sapiens went from a feeble species to one “so remarkable they were ready to explore this planet.”
Sleeper Star: The cinematography in this series is epic and expansive, showing Al-Shamahi in some extraordinary locations.
Most Pilot-y Line: None that we could find.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Human brings the science behind the study of the history of homo sapiens down to, well, a human level, thanks to the enthusiastic storytelling of Ella Al-Shamahi.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
