In the finale of the 2012 television series The River, a character says what everyone else is thinking: “It’s never gonna let us go.” This foreboding last line is, of course, in reference to the show’s sinuous and uncanny namesake. From there the audience is left to wonder what happened to the crew of the Magus as they drifted toward imminent danger.
This wasn’t the first time a TV show visited the Amazon; a short-lived 1999 drama created by author Peter Benchley beat Oren Peli and Michael R. Perry’s series to the punch. However, The River was a mix of adventure and horror. In place of a plane crashing and the survivors struggling to survive their dilemma are characters who deliberately enter the unknown. After a famous explorer named Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) goes missing somewhere off the Amazon River, while searching for “real magic,” his wife and son (Leslie Hope and Joe Anderson) lead a small expedition to save him. Their journey to find Emmet results in close encounters with supernatural forces lurking in the rainforest.
The most important element that sets The River apart from a lot of horror shows is its “found footage” format. The search to find Emmet is only made possible when a television network finances the trip. In exchange, the mission is documented by a film crew, including Emmet’s former and always harsh producer Clark (Paul Blackthorne). What audiences then see in each episode is presumably the network’s effort to compile footage into specific chapters as well as form a linear storyline. This explains the overproduced quality of The River.
Image: ABC/DreamWorks Television
By 2012, found footage had already begun to lose its appeal with the masses, and prior attempts on TV were met with varying amounts of success. Animal Planet’s cryptid-themed anthology Lost Tapes lasted a staggering three seasons, yet today it remains largely unknown even among horror fans. Meanwhile, the television spin-off of Adam Rifkin’s voyeuristic CCTV thriller Look didn’t stick around despite its perverse entertainment value. And the year after The River ended, NBC briefly aired a horror mockumentary called Siberia. Based on the evidence, the allure of found footage just didn’t translate to the small screen.
Although it seems like found footage is better suited for movies, there is the argument that real-time horror also has a place on television. After all, watching any kind of found footage alone at home feels more unsafe than in a crowded theater; viewers are already witnessing the veil between reality and fiction gradually come down, and soon enough, they’re inviting the aftermath straight into their very lives. The fantastical, far-flung nature of The River doesn’t quite lend itself to accessible frights; most viewers aren’t anywhere near the Amazon, and according to the story, it’s only those who venture into this infamous section of the Amazon River, the Boiúna, who are at risk. Even so, the show’s voyage into uncharted territory is hardly lacking in thrills.
The original idea behind The River was once considered for a movie before Peli and Perry pitched it to DreamWorks Television (now a part of Amblin Television). With the longer runtime, though, the show had to fill in the gaps until Emmet Cole was found. The characters’ dreadful detours don’t directly feed into the larger story at hand, but they do pave the way. Once Tess Cole, her son Lincoln, and their crew enter the Boiúna, they come across a variety of paranormal situations. If not for the boat mechanic’s daughter Jahel (Paulina Gaitán), a walking encyclopedia for Amazon folklore, the Coles and their companions would have most certainly died from supernatural causes.
On the regular the Magus crew runs into paranormal entities, all of whom want these interlopers gone. From doll graveyards to zombies to trespassers doomed to live an eternity in the Boiúna, The River feeds a nostalgic desire for monster-of-the-week storytelling. It’s like The X-Files, but with a lot less skepticism. Lincoln and the others quickly learn to accept this region’s bizarre events as fact, and they barely escape unscathed. Other than Jahel, and later the enigmatic and steely bodyguard Kurt (Thomas Kretschmann), everyone flies by the seat of their pants. Their constant state of confusion and ignorance conjures a good amount of uncertainty.
Image: ABC/DreamWorks Television
If there’s anything about The River that might be deemed a shortcoming, especially those not accustomed to found-footage stories, it would be the characters. With found footage aiming to be authentic, the hard truth is that characters aren’t always going to be easily likable. More times than not, their worst attributes are magnified by the cameras shoved in their faces at the most unflattering moments. That’s not to say Lincoln and his companions aren’t compelling from time to time.
Once the show does find its groove, somewhere around the third and fourth episodes, key members of the Magus team are given an opportunity to breathe and reflect. Tess has to cope with the state of her marriage and family, and the guilt she feels after trying to move on; Lincoln’s childhood friend Lena (Eloise Mumford) wishes her missing father and Emmet’s cameraman wasn’t treated like an afterthought; Clark’s unrequited feelings for Tess endear him to viewers; Kurt’s own secret mission is compromised when he begins to care about the others. As for Lincoln, his and Emmet’s estrangement has dire consequences.
The River was one of several last attempts to bring found-footage horror to television. With the likes of Steven Spielberg and Jason Blum working behind the scenes, and directors like Jaume Collet-Serra behind the camera, the show should have been a success. Yet the numbers don’t lie; the ratings significantly dropped after the premiere. Critics were divided, with many of them at odds with the glaring clash between the series’ hyperrealism and its far-fetched story. Nevertheless, there hasn’t been anything like The River since it went off the air. And as found footage and first-person horror slowly slips back into the conversation again, a TV higher-up would be wise to study this hidden gem. Surely the concept is worth revisiting down the line.
The River is currently streaming on ABC.
Image: ABC/DreamWorks Television
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