Season 1 |
Season 2 |
Episode Guide
Iceland
France
Costa Rica
Sardinia
Lima
Puerto Rico
London
Iquitos
2020 has brought forward a lot of travel documentaries across various streaming platforms. Whether it be James May in Japan or the quest to find fans in Twogether, there’s certainly a lot of choice in this genre. Down To Earth with Zac Efron isn’t a show that reinvents the wheel. Nor is it a particularly groundbreaking or unique perspective on the travel genre. Instead, the star power of Zac Efron and his banter with Darin helps to ground this into an enjoyable series with an important message about sustainability on our planet and renewable sources.
Across the 8 episodes available Zac travels with his healthy food and lifestyle guru Darin as they aim to give new perspectives to old problems. Whether it be the geothermal energy in Iceland, the tap-water system in France or even eating exotic and unusual foods in the Amazon Rainforest, there’s a decent amount of variety across the season that make this worth watching.
It’s a light, breezy watch for sure and the comedy between the pair is ultimately what makes this so watchable. Each episode see the pair travel across their chosen country, with an accompanying translucent map depicting their route along the roads. There’s plenty of car banter too but it’s hard not to believe Darin is high on marijuana through much of the show. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, given Zac Efron balances the pair out with his own array of jokes, but his slow speech and relaxed demeanour certainly gives off that impression.
One particular joke early on involving an “expert” at the waterfalls is definitely one of the highlights of the comedy. These antics continue between the pair and their journey takes them across the country with an enthusiasm that’s hard not to appreciate.
Interestingly, Down To Earth is executively produced by Zac Efron himself, complete with his own narration and comedic spin on proceedings. With that in mind, Down to Earth is a show that does feel geared toward Americans. A lot of the facts and expository text that pop up on screen are pretty common knowledge while America is mentioned and shows up a fair few times across the episodes – there’s even a good 10 minute segment in the episode about France dedicated to visiting a French restaurant in LA.Â
Having said all that though, Down To Earth is a fun, breezy show that’s easy to jump in and out of. The episodes explore some fascinating and beautiful locations across the globe while keeping the message about sustainability at the core of what the pair get up to. Zac Efron’s star power will be enough to get a good amount of eyeballs on this but there’s actually some really compelling material here that makes this a decent entry in the genre. If you’re looking for another travel documentary series to whet the appetite, Down To Earth is certainly worth a watch.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10
For forty years I have been a gardener watching the climate change as my guavas that I should be harvesting in August won’t be ready till November maybe even into December anyone that has the guts to talk about our planet and our environment should be rewarded.
The conscience for the average person doesn’t even know how to grow a plant, have no idea what it takes to compost. They think the grocery store is the only way to get food. The ignorance of America is at this point.
It’s horrible I have a sister who has 600 exotic fruit trees in Hawaii and do you think one person has visited to see this sustained self farming. Solar, water catchment, composting toilets all aimed at giving back to nature. No: so anyone who has the money, fame and will power to go out there and show the world we can do a better job with our planet deserves 110% greatness.
We organic folks are treated worse than the dirt we are trying to save.
So If Betty Boop talked about the planet it would still be fantastic. I suggest people need to you go out there and see for yourself what it takes to really grow food. Now that would be something to write about. So Zac Efron deserves a lot of credit for trying to help by educating the ignorant.