Courtesy National Geographic Channel
GULF OIL SPILL
Friendly Rating: More for teens and adults, but okay for younger.
Safety Rating: Some bleeped language.
Quality Rating: It’s decent reporting and told relatively well.
Special airing on the National Geographic Channel at 10 p.m.
To call the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico anything less than a colossal fiasco would be understating in the extreme. Since April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded then sank, nothing has gone right for anyone connected to the whole mess. And there will be environmental consequences for decades, if you go by past experiences with oil spills.
What the special does is cover the first 36 hours after the first explosion, and it does so letting the events unfold in the telling by those who lived it. And it seems pretty complete, too. About the only thing missing is any commentary on the future viability of offshore oil drilling. But while it’s easy to point fingers at Nat Geo’s ownership (which is Fox Broadcasting), one can also make the argument that such commentary is beyond the scope of what this special is about.
All in all, it’s decent. I did get the squirmies early on. But overall, it’s done well and moves appropriately without getting too icky, for the most part.
