The River - Small Screen Review

The River - Small Screen Review

Episode 7 - "The Experiment"

Beginning where the previous episode ends, the crew discovers that there has been illegal researching and experimenting occurring at the research facility, with the inhabitants of the forest being used as test subjects. The research went wrong and turned the inhabitants and workers into cannibals who begin to stalk the crew. One of the researchers-turned-cannibal is Kurt Brynildson's former girlfriend and the reason for his secrecy is finally revealed. The crew finds "Rabbit", who abandoned Cole some months prior to the episode, and also discover a room in the facility with an unconscious Emmet Cole concealed in a cocoon. They cut him out and travel back to the ship, only to be followed by the cannibals, which results in the death of one of their crew and Emmet Cole waking up.

Episode 8 - "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

After Lincoln is shot dead by a member of the Magus, Jahel disobeys her father and Emmet by calling upon the river's spirit for help. The Boiuna itself, the Black Snake. With the help of Tess, Jahel performs a ritual which brings Lincoln back to life. Lincoln tells the crew that Kurt shot him, when later it is revealed to be Jonas. With an evil spirit inside Lincoln, he kills Jonas. Clark discovers Jonas' body and the crew realize the truth about what is happening—the Boiuna's spirit is living inside Lincoln. Emmet asks Lena to help force the evil spirit out of his son and they perform an exorcism. When it doesn't work, Emmet asks Kurt to help, who tells him that he needs to talk to his son, not the spirit. Emmet does so, which results in the spirit leaving. The crew then tries to follow the map out of the Boiuna to a fishing village for supplies, but find that it isn't there when they arrive. Clark sends up the heli-cam to inspect the surroundings.

On a monitor, the crew sees that the river and terrain are changing, to which Lincoln explains that the Boiuna won't let them leave.

I had a feeling that this was the way they would have taken the show. Or killed everyone off. But The River was actually quite good and well done being a “found footage” type show. The supernatural elements were great and didn’t seem like the over used “ghost” types. Although the inclusion of the zombie-fied facility crew was a bit overboard, it still worked. I wonder if they will be bringing the show back or something similar.