This article about the mind of an octopus, by Distinguished Professor of philosophy Peter Godfrey-Smith, starts out with a very interesting introduction. At first, with the line “Someone is watching you, intently, but you can’t see them” (Godfrey-Smith), I was reminded of the horror movie trailers, and common theme of being hunted by some creature in the depths of the ocean. Very quickly, though, the introduction shifted to descriptions of fantastical colors and shapes and textures, strange and curious and maybe with just a touch of the magic that I thought of when reading Bull Kelp by Jessica C. Levine. I thought that it was clever to start out by personifying the octopuses a little- it drew me into the article. The most curious part of the introduction, however, was the last line- “They are probably the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien.” (Godfrey-Smith). I thought that was interesting, since I wasn’t expecting the comparison to something so strange, so literally other-worldly, in this article reviewing research, and teaching the reader about the bodies and brains of octopuses. It does fit, though, as ocean creatures are frequently portrayed as like something from another planet. The rest of the article is much more informative than speculative, teaching the reader about the octopus’ strange and incredible body, and even stranger mind. An octopus’ ability to adapt and learn and interact is astounding, and then there are much more curious abilities, like recognizing and distinguishing different humans despite no clear evolutionary purpose for such a thing. Aside from that initial sense of strangeness and an ongoing sense of wonder and discovery, I do not think that this theme had a particular impact on this genre, or vice versa. A review article will always do what it is supposed to do- review and compile and compare pre-existing research- so the research being about a creature from the ocean doesn’t impact that much. It is interesting however to look at the creature from the ocean from a more friendly and analytical point of view, rather than the emotion-driven side of things usually present in the other genres explored here.