While a big fan of nature documentaries, the best of which being masterpieces and genre milestones, 'Serengeti' didn't quite click with me on the whole. It does get better three quarters of the way through, but it took four heavily flawed episodes that ranged from average to just a little above that to get there. Is that saying that it is a terrible series? Absolutely not, it takes a lot for me these days to call anything that. Considering what it had going for it, it could have been much better.
A couple of episodes, despite not overcoming the problems present throughout the series, were above decent. 'Serengeti's' penultimate episode "Exodus" is one of them. It actually gets my vote as the best of the series, it had some truly hard to forget moments, is the only episode where the target audience wasn't called into question for me, is the only one to have any hard-hitting tension and is also the episode to take the most risks and not be too careful.
"Exodus" is not perfect. The music continues to be intrusive and never gels with anything. The narration was in need of much more subtlety and not feel as hollow or as preachy at times, not saying much illuminating.
John Boyega never worked as narrator, basically speaking the lines without much feeling or care for what was being said.
However, "Exodus" is incredibly well made in production values. The best looking for me of the six episodes, the editing is certainly the most coherent and least obvious here, can't criticise at all the gorgeous filming, scenery that leaves one in awe and vivid colours. It is easy to understand for younger viewers but there is more than enough for adults too in a way that wasn't so much the case in the previous four episodes. Despite some very hard-hitting moments, "Exodus" doesn't feel unnecessarily over-dramatised and doesn't try too hard in being too family-friendly, so the material has the boldness needed for the subject that wasn't there in the previous four episodes.
It has the most tension of all the episodes of 'Serengeti' and some of it is unnerving. Primarily the zebra stuck in the mud, that was harrowing. One of the best scenes of the whole series and the most bold is with the bush fire, the closest 'Serengeti' got to leaving one in wonder at how it was able to capture something so powerful and uncompromising so authentically. There is even a moment of amusing levity, without being too cute, that with the porcupine. As ever, it was hard to not care for the characters, their emotions and situations.
On the whole, pretty good and the best of the series. 7/10