In its Netflix series debut, All the Sharks brings four shark-obsessed duos on a competitive quest to photograph as many sharks as possible. In six 45-minute episodes, the teams will compete across five continents, facing relentless conditions and endless depths to win $50,000 toward their marine charity of choice.
Opening Shot: Host Tom “The Blowfish” Hird, a self-proclaimed “heavy-metal marine biologist” with a long, braided beard to boot, welcomes the four groups on the beach of Fuvahmulah. The Maldives island, colloquially known as Shark Island, appears a sunny, idyllic, not-at-all-shark-infested paradise. Hird then announces that over 30 species of sharks lurk just beyond the shore, explaining its namesake.
The Gist: Teams must decide to focus on quality or quantity of sharks photographed in each dive. Rarer sharks found in deeper waters earn more points, while more common sharks earn less. Wildlife biologist Randy and ecologist Rosie of the Land Sharks decide to start deep, following cleaning wrasse around reefs in pursuit of the rare Thresher shark, which earns a whopping 75 points. Gills Gone Wild’s MJ, a spearfisher and shark diver, and Aliah, a marine biologist with a stingray specialty, had the same idea, braving rough waters and a strong current in one of the deepest areas offshore. Other teams, including the Shark Docs, marine biologists Brendan and Chris, take the opposite approach, starting shallow to rack up points with more common sharks. The Great British Bait Off, the only non-scientist team made up of underwater cameraman Dan and environmental journalist Sarah, who’d been bitten by a shark in the past, travel to the other side of the island. They want the best of both worlds, searching for a reef drop off with both shallow and deep water potential.
You can tell how much the experts live for this. “Personally, I just want to see some sharks right now,” Chris said of why he wanted to start in Tiger Harbour, despite the low point potential tiger sharks offered. The area hosts over 200 of the predators, the densest population on the planet. In another iconic moment, Dan says to Sarah, “Uhhh… Sarah, look around. We’re surrounded by tiger [sharks].” Any normal human’s stomach would drop upon hearing that, but Sarah responds excitedly, “Sounds like points!”
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? All the Sharks combines the competition of Survivor, the beauty and environmentalism of The Blue Planet, and the hunt of Jaws or Deadliest Catch.
Sex and Skin: None.
Sleeper Star: Tom “The Blowfish” Hird is a goofy, eccentric host. The moment I watched him emerge from the ocean in slo-mo, shaking his braided beard upon intro, I knew he’d be a highlight.
Most Pilot-y Line: Hird says he thinks the episode is “the start of what I think is gonna be the most insane shark competition the world has ever seen.” Yeah, that doesn’t seem that hard to do. Do any other “shark competitions” even exist?
Parting Shot: The team in first place this round, ranked on the beach in the final scene of the episode, wins a prize worth upwards of $2,000. Hird tells the groups to pack their bags — they’re headed to Australia for for Episode 2.
Our Take: Although I love ocean documentaries and competitive reality TV, my expectations for All the Sharks were low. I didn’t expect the two genres to mesh well. Plus, a show where the only contest is who can take the most photos seemed like a deeply boring premise. However, unlike the sharks featured in the show, I’m hooked. The preview for the rest of the season left me hungry for more, teasing dangerous locations, shark frenzies and looming eliminations.
Our Call: All the Sharks has the potential to bring David Attenborough fans and competitive reality TV connoisseurs together for the first time in history. STREAM IT!