From visionary filmmaker, inventor, and explorer James Cameron comes the third installment of National Geographic’s Secrets of series, and this time, he’s returning to where it all began – the oceans. Beginning in 2021 with the Emmy-winning Secrets of the Whales, the franchise has become an Earth Day tradition, continuing last year with Secrets of the Elephants. Tonight, the latest installment – Secrets of the Octopus – premieres on Nat Geo, and it will stream tomorrow on both Disney+ and Hulu.
(National Geographic for Disney/Craig Parry)
Narrated by Paul Rudd, Secrets of the Octopus follows the format of the previous installments of the series via a celebrity auditory host paired with an on-camera expert. For this series, that’s National Geographic Explorer Dr. Alex Schnell. Across three episodes (instead of the usual four), Schnell takes viewers around the world to meet a few octopus, showcasing their incredible abilities, their profound mental acuity, and the big differences between octopus species. And for James Cameron fans, this season feels particularly poigniant not only for its return to underwater environments, but also for the supernatural abilities these creatures display. Cameron appears on screen at the end of the third episode for a series wrap-up with Dr. Schnell, where he drops hints that some of these skills have been borrowed for creatures on Pandora in an upcoming Avatar film.
James Cameron never cuts corners, and that’s evident on Secrets of the Octopus, which once again manages to capture some of the most incredible wildlife cinematography you’ll ever see. Sometimes filming in zero-light environments with bioluminscent creatures, these sequences pop off the screen. Another jaw-dropping moment shows an underwater geothermal river, home to an octopus nursery. You can clearly see the divide between the regular ocean waters, and this deep sea phenomenon, in a way that almost feels like standing on land looking down at rushing waters. It’s breathtaking.
But most importantly, what Secrets of the Octopus does is connect viewers with an animal that seems about as alien as life can possibly get on Earth. Despite their differences from almost every other animal humans come in contact with, the series makes these eight-armed boneless invertebrates feel relatable. Another departure for the series, Secrets of the Octopus doesn’t have much of a conservation message to share. You’ll see signs of human impact on their environment, such as an octopus hiding inside a glass bottle, but unlike Whales and Elephants, the takeaway here is more of a broad desire to keep our oceans clean an inhabitable rather than something specific (microplastics and warming waters for whales, poaching and sanctuaries for elephants).
(National Geographic for Disney/Craig Parry)
From the largest known species (the Pacific Octopus) to one of the smallest (the Coconut Octopus), the series showcases the diversity of these animals while primarily focusing on eight types of octopus. And there is a bit of a star in the series, beyond Paul Rudd and Dr. Alex Schnell. Her name is Scarlet, and she’s a very curious Day Octopus who develops a special bond with Dr. Schnell over the course of the series.
Whether you’re a fan of the Secrets of series or octopus in general, National Geographic invites you into the lives of these incredible color-changing shapeshifters through Secrets of the Octopus. The three-part series airs tonight at 8/7c on Nat Geo, and begins streaming Monday, April 22nd, on Disney+ and Hulu in honor of Earth Day. And you can go behind the scenes in our interview with Dr. Alex Schnell and author Sy Montgomery, who wrote the series companion book.
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