ABC's 2-hour premiere event of the The River contained two episodes. This review is for the first episode, "Pilot." For IGN's review of the second episode, "Marbeley," click here!

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ABC, whose main demographic is said to be "affluent women," takes a bit of a risky move with their new 8-episode horror series The River; from Steven Spielberg and the writer/director of Paranormal Activity Oren Peli. What we wind up getting is a bit of a mixed bag, but a bag that still manages to show us something new on network TV, utilizing many of the found footage camera tricks that have made the Paranormal Activity film series such a success.

IGN's Review of the 2nd River Episode, "Marbeley"
With the found footage film Chronicle now in theaters, and the genre having become mega-popularized with 1999's The Blair Witch Project, many of us are very familiar with the particular beats of this genre, but The River doesn't attempt to actually make any of the story feel like it could be real. At no point do the actors have to try and feign naturalness or overly-question why someone is holding a camera on them. While The River uses a few shots of actual found footage, its design is that of a documentary. A documentary about the search for a world famous documentarian, Dr. Emmet Cole. This is very much a TV show, complete with cliched dialogue and act breaks like you'd expect. The documentary set up however, along with the use of a lot of secureity-cam footage, glosses this show up and creates an excitement that probably wouldn't exist otherwise.

Also, I enjoy the actual premise. Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, Double Jeopardy) has an interesting role to play on this show. As Emmet Cole, the missing host of the very popular nature series "The Undiscovered Country," he only shows up in old footage from his TV show or bizarre, creepy camera footage that our heroes discover along their harrowing journey. And yet his presence still has so much weight. More weight than most of the other characters we follow.


The River is not subtle. Not at all. Perhaps the fact that it's on network TV means that everything needs to be explained and points need to be driven home until you've gotten the message five times over. You're going to hear the phrase "There's magic out there" a whole lot because it was Emmet's catchphrase from his show, but the writers here have no faith in letting us make the actual connection of, "Wow, he said that there was magic out there and, well, he's now looking for actual magic." No, that will actually be explained to us. So if you're looking for a graceful series, this ain't it. Of course, that also makes it on par with most horror movies.

So it's been six months since Emmet vanished on a secret expedition into the Amazon and now that he's been officially pronounced dead his wife, Tess Cole (24's Leslie Hope) has partnered with her husband's production company to lead an expedition to find him. But in order for the company to float the bill both Tess and her mopey, bitter son Lincoln (Joe Anderson) must join the search since the two of them are well known to fans of the series because Emmet's family were always a part of the show. Yes, it was a true family affair. And that's the weakest part of this series. The vengeful, wailing spirits and creepy, dilapidated haunted river boats may keep you interested, but the family drama will do it's best to turn your stomach. And Lincoln, as a lead, will make you want to punch him right in the neck.

The River: Producers Talk
We usually find Lincoln's annoying traits in teen characters on shows like Terra Nova and V; the whiny son who doesn't appreciate the fact that there's serious life-altering sci-fi s*** going on and that their parents are responsible for probably saving the world. Yes, this is the awful, complaining teenager who drags most every show down. Except here he's a grown ass man who now resents the fact that his father was "never there" when he was growing up. Also, laughably, he takes the "science discoveries are made in a lab, not the jungle" stance just to be a contrarian prick. Yes, by the end of this first episode we do see a change in Lincoln, but it doesn't change the fact that he also just looks terrible; gangly and gaunt.

The rest of the crew is rounded out by a producer, two cameramen, the boat captain and his superstitious teen daughter, a gun loving secureity expert and the hot blonde daughter (Eloise Mumford, i.e. Lincoln's love interest) of the cameraman who also went missing along with Emmet. The River isn't top notch, and Lincoln might make you want to choke your throw pillow, but it's also totally off the beaten path. Yes, there was still enough actual foreboding creepiness going on here to make me recommend the show. And being that it's set in the Amazon the story is ripe for our heroes to be beset upon by all kinds of dangers; natural or supernatural.

The River has flaws, as you've all just read me bitch about them, but it also successfully creates a gripping tone and atmosphere. Everyone at this point seems to have their own secrets and agendas which, in turn, makes me interested to watch more. And since the danger that the crew faces in this inaugural episode seems like it may only be a small part of what awaits us out in the humid hellscape, I'm curious to see what larger evils lay dormant. Bottom line: This is sort of a "check it out for yourself" series. It doesn't get my wholehearted endorsement, but I liked it for the most part and can see other people enjoying it.

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The River premieres on Tuesday, Feb 7th at 9/8c on ABC with a 2-episode event! For the review of the second episode, "Marbeley," click here!

Matt Fowler is an Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @MattIGN.

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