‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ Recap: ‘Making Of’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

When one reflects upon a documentary show, one that revolves around the wonder of nature, our minds instantly gravitate to the memorable moments present within said show. The kind that moved us in either breathtaking or heartbreaking fashion. Which is a wonderful thing for certain, since it motivates us to share the wonder of said documentary with others, so they too can partake in its majesty when they have a little free time. But while it is important to discuss these shows and share them with others, there is a critical aspect to documentaries that we honestly don’t discuss enough in popular media, and that would be; the behind the scenes crew who put these incredible stories together for all of us to enjoy.
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But the time has come to do so, and thankfully; Seven Worlds, One Planet took the time to truly appreciate their crew by making them the focal point of last night’s finale of the series. For ‘Making Of’ took us back around the globe with everyone that worked tirelessly to assemble a powerful story about the life that we share this planet with and well, this particular episode taught us a great many things about the folks behind the camera. For starters, we came to learn that the people who agree to capture incredible moments in our world, are supremely dedicated individuals. The kind that outright brave illnesses and awful weather to capture those all-important images that we chat up on social media.

Second to that. We also came to learn that every last one of these individuals are genuinely compassionate about the animals that they film, and it was fascinating to see the crew pull for these animals at every single turn, and call them by the names that the locals gave them and also see tears in their eyes upon the realization that their time with these precious animals is coming to a close. If anything, the North America crew likely provided us with the finest example of how deep that compassion runs. For they struggled with seeing a beluga whale lose its life to a polar bear and it really is quite incredible to know that in a way, the film crew and the audience were able to share emotions when it comes to these powerful moments, in the in the most unique way imaginable.

Yet while all of this was fascinating to learn in its own right, the bravery of these individuals is what will stay with us for some time. Because truly, they put themselves in harm’s way in order to bring the audience and the world incredible footage of nature in the raw, and it was definitely harrowing to see these men and women moving as quickly as possible to avoid being hit by large animals as they did their thing, and really the most powerful moment of the night in regard to bravery, involved the Africa crew. Because they found themselves under fire from poachers while trying to gather footage and it really doesn’t get more dangerous than that and it takes a brave soul to keep their cool when bullets are headed their way and these guys and gals handled that terrifying moment perfectly.

But what was truly impressive about this final chapter in the Seven Worlds, One Planet saga, is the sheer fact that it was still able to teach the audience about our impact on this world, and it accomplished that feat by way of the finale segment in Borneo. Wherein we were able to see through years of footage, how the orangutan’s world has transformed as mankind continues to grow and truly, the series deserves serious credit for informing us of possible ways to set this right and to infer that there may come a day where these hardworking individuals may not be able to film the majesty of animals in the wild, if we do not correct our course. In the end however, it really was wonderful to meet the people who put this magnificent documentary together and I thank them, for all of their hard work and dedication. Because four years of assembly paid off in spades since this truly was a powerful and informative documentary about our world and how we need to take better care of it.  

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