The River Information

The River is an American paranormal/action/horror/found-footage television series that debuted during the 2011"12 television winter season on ABC as a midseason replacement. Eight episodes were produced for the first season. The series ran from February 7, 2012 to March 20, 2012. On May 11, 2012, ABC officially canceled the series.

After The River was officially canceled by ABC due to its sub-par ratings, Netflix was in talks with ABC Studios about possibly continuing the series on its video-on-demand digital distribution service, though they ultimately passed.

Synopsis

Famed explorer Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) went looking for "magic" deep in the uncharted Amazon basin and never returned. The shocking truth about his disappearance is out there, somewhere, just waiting to be discovered. To the millions of children who grew up watching his nature show, Dr. Cole was a hero. To his own son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), he was more of an enigma. Now, six months after he vanished, Lincoln is finally ready to bury the past when Dr. Cole's emergency beacon suddenly goes off. At the urging of his mother, Tess (Leslie Hope), Lincoln reluctantly joins her on a search for his father. To fund the rescue, they agree to let Dr. Cole's cagey ex-producer, Clark (Paul Blackthorne), film the mission documentary-style. The mixed crew of old friends and new acquaintances includes the missing cameraman's daughter, Lena Landry (Eloise Mumford), Magus mechanic Emilio Valenzuela (Daniel Zacapa) and private security bodyguard Captain Kurt Brynildson (Thomas Kretschmann).

Cast

• Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Emmet Cole, a famed explorer and TV personality
• Joe Anderson as Lincoln Cole, Dr. Cole's son
• Leslie Hope as Tess Cole, Dr. Cole's wife and Lincoln's mother
• Eloise Mumford as Lena Landry, daughter of Russ Landry, missing cameraman
• Paul Blackthorne as Clark Quietly, Dr. Cole's producer
• Thomas Kretschmann as Capt. Kurt Brynildson, private security, bodyguard from Germany
• Daniel Zacapa as Emilio Valenzuela, ship's mechanic, The Magus
• Shaun Parkes as Andres Jude (A.J.) Poulain, lead cameraman from England
• Paulina Gaitán as Jahel Valenzuela, Emilio's daughter
• Katie Featherston as Rosetta "Rabbit" Fischer
• Scott Michael Foster as Jonas Beckett

Production

Oren Peli and Michael R. Perry created the series about a documentary crew searching the Amazon for a beloved scientist-explorer-television host. Peli told The Hollywood Reporter that producer Steven Schneider "became obsessed with this idea of nature run [amok] and animals taking over humans." Peli stated, "I started developing the idea of a missing documentary reporter who went to this weird place in the rainforest where strange things would happen". He added, "We were developing it as a low budget movie, but ... I had a meeting with Steven Spielberg". Spielberg suggested doing a television show with Peli. Perry added his thoughts, saying, "Why waste [the idea for The River] on a movie, when you can do a TV show where every season they go to a different place". Then, they pitched the whole pilot to Spielberg. In September 2010, ABC won a bidding war against NBC for the rights to the project. In February 2011, after a re-write by Michael Green, ABC green-lit the production of the pilot. In May 2011, ABC committed to produce eight episodes, announcing that the show would premiere in the 2011"12 mid-season.

The pilot episode was filmed in Puerto Rico and the next seven episodes were produced in Hawaii.

Release

The River premiered in the U.S. and Canada (on CTV) on February 7, 2012. The series aired in South Africa on DStv on February 21, 2012. In India the series started airing on STAR World on March 3, 2012.

In the United Kingdom the series has been picked up by Syfy on October 9, 2012 after being premiered on iTunes on February 8, 2012.

On March 5, 2012, ABC and DreamWorks/Amblin announced plans to release the first season of The River in DVD format on May 22, 2012 to the United States and its territories, Canada, and Bermuda. Entitled "The River " The Complete First Season", the package will include all eight episodes in their entirety and will feature deleted scenes and episode audio commentaries.

Episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release dates
			Season premiere	Series finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	8

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
Aux4 = 7.59	ShortSummary = Six months ago, Emmet Cole, adventurer and host of The Undiscovered Country, disappeared while on an expedition deep in the uncharted waters of the Amazon River. The fruitless search and subsequent 'memorial service' left thousands of fans in shock at the loss of their icon. Now, his emergency beacon had been activated, and his wife Tess, who reluctantly faced reality, organizes a search party to find him. The team comprises her estranged son Lincoln, who was more than ready to leave the past behind; Emmet's long-time friend and Undiscovered Country producer Clark Quietly; Magus mechanic Emilio Valenzuela and his daughter Jahel; Lena Landry, daughter of cameraman Russ Landry who has disappeared along with Cole; and Captain Kurt Bryndilson, protector of the expedition. What the team doesn't know is that this journey will take them to a place where magic comes alive and things are never what they seem. The paranormal entity they encountered in this episode is a corpo seco.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 7.59	ShortSummary = When Jahel becomes possessed by Emmet Cole's spirit, Tess becomes undeterred from her goal of finding clues to her husband's whereabouts. The team then discovers a tree draped in children's dolls, and an old legend reminds them that the tree of dolls is an offering site to "La Dejada, the abandoned one", as mentioned by Lena, in this case a spirit of a girl who drowned in the river. Tess was suddenly dragged away to drown and Lincoln has to find a way to appease the spirit.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 4.96	ShortSummary = When the "Magus" crew got a clue that Dr Emmet Cole might have been to a tree cave nearby, they followed that lead that needs them to hike through the forest jungle. They found out that they have entered the Morcegos territory, a tribe of warriors, of which they are known to be "The Guardians of the Forest", they are there to judge if the visitors are worthy to pass or not. When the team entered the cave; except for camera man AJ, who has a trauma with caves, they accidentally disturbed the bats dwelling inside. Later that night, they were visited by the Morcegos who placed markings around their tents and infected the eyes of the individuals who went inside the tree cave with some kind of a toxin, one by one they lose their sights. Camera operator AJ Poulain must find a cure and face his fear before the team becomes blind permanently.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 4.80	ShortSummary = The Magus team encounters Jonas, one of Emmet's cameramen who had disappeared with him six months ago, and discover that he's been the victim of a mystical curse. Jahel, the daughter of the ship's mechanic is uneasy with Jonas' presence. A lot of times "El Colgado" appears on her tarot readings, the hanging man. Soon, this discovered curse becomes a matter of life and death, not just for Jonas, but for the rest of the crew as well. When the others plan to jettison Jonas and continue the mission, Lincoln must face this challenge and be the moral compass.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 4.04	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 4.21	ShortSummary = After finding Emmet's camera bag during a trek to the Sahte Falls, the Magus crew examines the tapes and finds footage of Emmet, with two of his crew members looking for "The Source"; a tribe living in the jungle who have powers to heal or achieve anything. As a mysterious demon follows them, killing one of the crew members that leaves the other one in shock that she decides to leave, Emmet is left by himself. In the jungle, he realises that he might have made a mistake coming out here. As he progresses through the jungle alone, hungry and weak, the mysterious demon follows him, and as it is about to take Emmet's life, tribesmen come and save him. They heal him, and take him to a research facility in the jungle, before hurrying off. People from the base see Emmet and rush towards him to help. The Magus crew realise that he is alive and trek the jungle to find the facility, only to discover it is abandoned.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 4.09	ShortSummary = Beginning where the previous episode ends"?Emmet Cole's last known location"?the research facility, the Magus crew not only discovers that it is abandoned, but also that there has been illegal research and experiments occurring, 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-zombie is Kurt Brynildson's former German fiancée 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.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}	Aux4 = 3.99	ShortSummary = 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. 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 him, Lincoln 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.	LineColor = 0c4722 }}

International broadcasts

The River premiered in the U.S. and Canada (on CTV) on February 7, 2012. The series aired in South Africa on DStv on February 21, 2012. In India the series started airing on STAR World on March 3, 2012. In the United Kingdom the series was not initially picked up by a traditional broadcaster and instead premiered on iTunes on February 8, 2012. However, Syfy announced that it would air The River starting October 9, 2012 at 10pm.

Critical reception

The show has been met with generally favorable reviews, with a collective score of 64/100 from Metacritic from 27 critics. Matt Roush of TV Guide called the show "a terrifying heart-stopper, a cleverly cinematic supernatural adventure that takes us on a wild ride into an exotic heart of darkness." USA Today's Robert Bianco stated, "There are moments when The River, with its curse-around-every-corner setup, threatens to topple over into farce. But a strong cast and that things-that-go-bump-in-the-night shooting style so far keep the show on course". However, Mike Hale of The New York Times rated the show poorly, saying "The mixture of Lost storytelling and Paranormal Activity style is neither intriguing nor particularly scary, and it doesn't help that there's hardly a glimmer of humor".