‘Untold: Swamp Kings’ Netflix Series Review - The Rise and Fall of the Florida Gators

Untold: Swamp Kings is a four-episode docuseries that explores the rise and fall of the Florida Gators football team under the leadership of coach Urban Meyer in the late 2000s. The series is part of Netflix’s UNTOLD banner, which features stories from the world of sports that are often overlooked or underreported. The series features interviews with Meyer, former players, coaches, and journalists, as well as archival footage and photos of the team’s glory days and struggles.

The first episode is named ‘The Swamp King’. This episode tells the story of Urban Meyer, the head coach of the Florida Gators, and how he came from humble beginnings to become one of the best college football coaches in the country.

The next episode ‘The Chosen One’ focuses on Tim Tebow, the star quarterback of the Gators, and his rise to fame and glory. It also explores his faith, his leadership, his relationship with Meyer, and his impact on the team and the fans. The episode covers the 2007 season, where Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, and the 2008 season, where the Gators beat Oklahoma in a close game and secured their second national title in three years.

The third one is ‘The Dark Side’. This episode reveals the off-the-field problems that haunted the Gators, such as arrests, violence, drugs, and academic issues. The episode examines how Meyer handled these issues, and how they affected his health and his coaching performance.

The last one is called ‘The Fall’, it chronicles the decline and collapse of the Gators under Meyer, as well as his departure from coaching. It also shows how some of the former players fared after leaving Florida, and how they reflected on their time with Meyer and the team.

As I have told in the reviews of every other release of the ‘Untold’, all of them have the main characteristics every documentary should have. It uses multiple things like interviews, real footage, old newspaper articles, and shots from TV, sometimes even social media was used in the earlier releases which I really liked. This one also passes all these necessary checklists quite flawlessly. Though we cannot complain about the storylines of any documentary, the story of this one felt quite interesting to me. The series does not shy away from showing the flaws and mistakes of the players and coaches, as well as the challenges and pressures they faced.

I actually learned some moral lessons from this series and learned about the conflict between a team’s success and one individual’s success. For the earlier releases, I had a few complaints about the pacing. But this one efficiently uses every single minute it has got, almost no irrelevant and boring facts and info were present in the docu-series because I didn’t feel like falling asleep after every minute, which I did a lot for the older ones. So a little applause for the creators.

Untold: Swamp Kings is a fascinating and insightful look at one of the most successful and controversial teams in college football history. The series does a good job of balancing the achievements and challenges of the team, as well as showing the human side of the players and coaches. The series also provides a broader context of how the team influenced and was influenced by the culture and politics of Florida and America at the time. The series is not only entertaining for sports fans, but also for anyone interested in learning more about the dynamics and dilemmas of leadership, teamwork, fame, and legacy.

Final Score – [7/10]
Reviewed by - Arpita Mondal
Follow @ArpitaMond33387 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times