Review: “Incredible Northern Vets” Harkens Back to Early Aughts Cable Comforts
Sometimes when you turn on a television show, you’re transported to different worlds. As the show continues, you forget what’s going on in your own life and instead become a fly on the wall in these wondrous places and scenarios. That’s the power of television: being able to bring incredible stories into the comfort of your home. However, when I turned on National Geographic’s newest series Incredible Northern Vets, I didn’t expect to be transported into my childhood living room in 2003 watching TLC all day long.
Incredible Northern Vets is a new docuseries following three indigenous veterinarians across Canada working in different types of animal clinics: one rural, one residential, and one for a shelter. The work they do is what you’d come to expect from a veterinarian program, following various cases and animals as they enter their respective clinics. From feline amputation to puppy steroid shots to bovine ultrasounds, everything is tackled on this show.
While highlighted in the opening credits, the indigenous backgrounds of the three main veterinarians highlighted on the program are quickly rushed through. Depending on how you look at it, the matter-of-fact nature of their culture is welcome, showing these successful women and highlighting where they come from. That goes for all the backstory presented for these vets, mind you, as more time is (understandably) spent with the cases instead of the humans working on them.
As far as cases go, they are pretty routine at that. I’m happy to say they are routine, as isn’t that what we all want when it comes to animal health? Sometimes, the abundance of crazy cases that fill these types of show always leave me feeling icky, as if they sought out the worst for viewership.
That being said…nothing really happens. Like I mentioned above, all I could think while watching this show were the types of shows that would fill cable channel’s schedules during the weekend. Seven-year-old me would plop myself down on the couch with a bag of Funyuns, do a bit of channel surfing, and end up watching a six hour marathon of something like Incredible Northern Vets. (For inquiring minds: While You Were Out and Pet Star tended to be my go-tos at that age.) Even down to the absolutely atrocious logo (whoever chose that font should be tried in a court of law), this feels like a program from a bygone television era.
Yet, Incredible Northern Vets is the type of comfort food we rarely get from networks nowadays. A background show where you can turn on an episode, become invested, go run an errand, start cooking dinner, and jump right back into these three vets being superb at their respective jobs. Just, for the love of god, look away from the title card.
Incredible Northern Vets premieres February 8th at 10/9c on National Geographic Wild. The full series hits Disney+ and Hulu on April 16th.