Drain the Oceans

The show was interesting and I looked forward to each ship story but dang, could you have gone at least 60 seconds without saying 'drain the lake' or 'drain the ocean' over and over again?

Shallow and basically insulting to most people's intelligence. Dumbed down in typical American fashion and they try to camouflage it with European experts and a New Jersey raised narrator who woefully attempts a British accent and fails miserably.

The concept of the show is interesting but the narration, repetition and presentation ruin what could be a very good show. Phrases like 'opened up like a can of sardines', or the endless questions such as 'What could cause this incredible damage', 'can the wreck tell us what happened' (duh - if it didn't you would have an episode) are annoying right from the start and get more annoying with every episode. I finally resorted to watching the show closed captioned so I did not have to listen to all the false drama.

The worst one is for a episode on 'Hitler's Killer Warships' when the wreck of the Hood was investigated. Somehow the producers of this show seem more intent on patting themselves on the back rather than acknowledging what is already known. In this case there are several shows that have already investigated this battle not the least of which is the James Cameron documentary (2017?). Even the movie 'Sink the Bismark' in 1960 seemed to have the facts.

I will certainly not be tempted to add National Geographic to my TV channels when the free preview expires.

I went on a binge of all the current "documentaries" on Disney+ recently and they are all basically unwatchable. They literally annoy you the whole way through. But you sit and deal with it for the few minutes of interesting information each episode.

I would easily pay to see these edited by a sane person. Music GONE. Repetitive narration, catchphrases GONE. Recapping what you just watched over and over GONE (and punishable by prison time).

It's like every documentary has this cookie-cutter template. I simply can't imagine anyone enjoying how they chose to edit these.

If you're up for some brutal punishment to see some interesting stuff, dive in, and have your trigger finger hovering over the fast-forward button, so you can keep skipping ahead.

...and don't forget to "Drain the Oceans"!

Firstly, I agree with other reviews about the repetitive narratives - the phrases and boastful phrases touting the technology to "drain" away the water (and silt) to reveal what remains - however, it is the history and the discussion of discoveries that keeps me intrigued. Matching how what is observed on the sites and the wrecks (or what remains - sometimes only piles of rock determined to be ballast from ships long gone) with what the historical record is intriguing. Learning the significance of particular details is not only fascinating but eye opening in that they use these to help you understand the point of view and prevailing cultures and habits of the time.

If you enjoy history, this is a delight. To avoid the irritating repetition you need to (a) always skip the intro and (b) not consistently binge. I recommend no more than three episodes at a time with a week or so in between the next session.