The River - Episodes 1 & 2

It’s the first time in the six year history of this weblog that I’ve reviewed a TV series. But I saw The River in a theatre, and if I see it in a theatre on a big screen, then it goes on the blog. Those are the rules.

It seems like a natural progression to take the haunted jungle from Lost and mix in the found-footage, documentary style that’s so popular with the kids these days. The River is a successful fusion -- exciting, dramatic, and also "realistic", thanks to the faux doc structure. But the main reason why it works isn’t the jump scares, of which there are plenty, but because the makers focus on the central family, their fame, their estrangements, and all the weird baggage that comes with that. Quintessential strong mom Leslie Hope and methody British stud Joe Anderson embody their characters expertly, while a motley film crew rounds-out the roughnecks who machete their way through the haunted jungle looking for Dad, who disappears after becoming obsessed with black magic. There's a lot of potential here. Introducing a new kind of black magic each week allows for the creators to have a new set of spooky rules. Hopefully, this will help to avoid violating the previously established spooky rules, the way that Lost so often did. Here’s hoping The River is a long and windy one.