Ryan Reynolds brings his signature dry wit to the animal kingdom again in the second episode of Underdogs. Titled “Terrible Parents,” this installment turns its attention to the more questionable reproductive and child-rearing strategies found in nature, leaving human parents feeling a bit better about their own methods.
The episode spotlights a collection of creatures whose parenting styles are, at first glance, baffling. Among the subjects are a goose that lays its eggs on a precarious cliff edge and a koala whose main source of nutrition for its young is, to put it politely, poop. The show gets up close with these and other outcasts of the animal world, examining the logic, if any, behind their seemingly poor choices.
With Reynolds narrating, the material is presented with a consistent undercurrent of humor, questioning whether these animals are truly bad at their jobs or if they are simply misunderstood geniuses of survival. Underdogs continues its mission to find the charm in the unsavory, celebrating the creatures that don’t typically get the glossy nature documentary treatment, from their hygiene habits to their courtship rituals. It’s a biological study with a comedic twist.
Underdogs airs Sunday, June 15 at 9:54 PM ET on National Geographic.
