Infested is an Animal Planet series with a pretty straightforward premise: people's homes are infested with the kind of stuff that usual infests homes (hint- it's not puppies and kittens). Episode 1 focuses on snakes, spiders, and ants.
What I learned: Learned a good deal about the habitats of these animals. Snakes live in something called a hibernacula; basically a snake den. What a cool word, right? I also learned about the Argentine Ant, which is a special breed (guess where they're from?) that can't be deterred by traditional exterminator methods. They have multiple queens in their colonies so they can breed at an incredible rate. In regards to spiders, I already knew what I needed to know; they freak me out.
What I liked: I thought it'd be like most other TV nature documentaries; light on content, heavy on crappy re-enactments and commercial breaks. But this one was structured in a way that really built the tension. Instead of telling one story at a time, they told all three at once, allowing them to build up to an exciting climax and eventual resolution. I typically dislike the amount of foreshadowing shows like this do, but it worked well here; the ominous shots of spiders on their webs or the close ups of ants on the kitchen table did a lot to build excitement for whatever was coming next. You knew it was gonna get bad (it's called 'Infested' not 'a baker's dozen') so it was interesting to see how it'd get that bad.
What I didn't like: I was disappointed they didn't have any actual footage of infested homes. You could tell it was all doctored footage and stuff they filmed elsewhere of snakes and spiders. The guy with the snake infestation said he caught 40 snakes in his backyard in one afternoon; how awesome would it be to see that on film? I'm surprised the homeowners didn't document the pests more.
Overall, it was super creepy. There were some freaky shots of snakes sneaking into the house, spiders on the bed, and ants in a dude's mouth. On more than one occasion I might have yelped in momentary fear while watching it. I had no idea I was so averse to the creepy-crawly animals of nature, but something about the juxtaposition of seeing these wild animals in your home is too much for me.
The whole thing made me think of Arachnophobia, an underrated movie from my childhood that helped solidify feelings of awe and terror for the eight-leggers.
Well, this trailer doesn't capture the intensity of the movie at all. It portrays it as some kind of "Mouse Hunt"-esque family comedy. It's not. Wow, what a weird trailer.
Anway, Infested is on netflix. The next episode is about raccoons!
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