“The River” Review: Dive In
By Javi Perez at February 8, 2012 | 4:34 am | Print
Photo courtesy Bob D’Amico/ABCFollow Javi on Twitter: @PlaymakerJavi
I’m not a fan of the Paranormal Activity movies. There are a lot of cheap scares and the characters always give away their blatant stupidity with their inability to just leave wherever they are. We don’t get invested in the characters and the plot and story are paper thin because half the movie is spent in silence waiting to scare the audience with the next loud noise.
That was the only aspect of The River I was worried about going into last night’s season premiere. But really that aspect of the show was made better by an interesting story with elements of intrigue, mystery, and suspense.
The show begins by telling us the story of a nature documentarian that hosted a weekly television show and was beloved in a way that was reminiscent of Steve Irwin. His name is Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood: Star Trek, Dinner for Schmucks) and he’s even got a catch phrase: “There’s magic out there.” He’s the one that ties everyone together. Cole gets lost out in the Amazon and after months of searching, he’s declared dead. After his funeral, Emmet’s son Lincoln (Joe Anderson: The Grey, Across the Universe) is approached by his mother who is being followed by a camera crew. Tess (Leslie Hope: 24, The Mentalist) tells her son that Emmet isn’t dead because his private beacon, which contains a unique tracking signal, was found. A TV network will pay for their search, but both of them have to go and they have to be accompanied by a camera crew that will document their search.
The boat that they take contains the fictional program’s director Paul, the ship’s mechanic and his daughter Emilio and Jahel, Captain Kurt Brynildson in charge of private security, and two cameramen. Just as they start off on their journey, love interest Lena Landry (Eloise Mumford) flies in on a helicopter upset at Lincoln because her father, Emmet’s cameraman, was also lost and she wants a chance to find him as well. Lincoln and Lena grew up together traveling with their parents.
What draws me to the show aren’t the moments geared to put the audience at the edge of our seats and scare us, but figuring out what everyone’s motivation is for being there and what they bring to the table. Much like Lost, there are huge plot points that are referenced but never revealed. Lena has a mark on her neck matching a necklace that an old woman gave Emmet a long time ago to give to a child strong enough to wear it, except Emmet gave the necklace to his son. Lena was also the last person Emmet talked to and it was a medical question, even though his son Lincoln is a doctor. And then there’s the matter of the private security man on board communicating with someone off the island confirming instructions to kill Emmet Cole if they find him.
But easily my favorite aspect of the show is the supernatural stuff that happens. The crew finds tapes of Emmet creating fire from his bare hands and even walking on water. A monster takes out members of the crew and later another goes after Tess. Jahel, who doesn’t speak English, is a medium who can speak to ghosts and can even host spirits in her own body as she does in the 2nd hour of last night’s two-hour premiere.
I’m all in. Much like Lost, The X-Files, and even the tales of Sherlock Holmes, there are a few big things going on while the crew also has engage in problem-solving along the way. My favorite part of the premiere is when Tess is abducted.
There are only six episodes left this season and the word is that most everything will be wrapped up nicely by the end of this run, but there will be some openings for a second season. While there’s a whole supernatural part of this show that will likely become a bigger and bigger part of the story every week, there are a ton of possibilities that I know I’d already like to see in season 2.
I’m knee deep in the river and I’m diving right into this one. Jump in to The River before it’s too late.
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