The River "The Experiment" Review

The River has been telling stories about ghosts and demons week after week. "The Experiment" moved the show into different territory--more of a sci-fi direction than classic horror. There were elements of the first fifteen minutes which I couldn't help but compare to season two of LOST and the "Bushwhacked" episode of Firefly. I wondered if we were getting a glimpse of the show's true identity because of the confidence of those first fifteen minutes. It was without a doubt the best directed sequence in the show. The camera moved throughout the abandoned research center, stopping to look at the shattered glass, bloody footprints, the low buzz of the flies; a palpable sense of dread and doom dominated the atmosphere. The atmosphere created was sensational: the mournful tune playing in a distant room; Kurt suspiciously wandering alone down empty stairwells and dark hallways; the discovery of the bodies. The direction and set design entranced me. I felt a let-down when everything became about cannibals trying to eat the Magus crew. I'll always have those first fifteen minutes to cherish though.

"The Experiment" began where "Dr. Emmet Cole" concluded, with members of the crew wandering around the abandoned facility in search of Emmet. Confusion was collectively felt by everyone. Eventually they settled on the idea that they were in an abandoned research facility. Inside, it became evident that something horrific happened. Blood lined the floors and walls, objects were broken or shattered, and a bunch of dead bodies were locked in a storage room. Lincoln searched through the bodies and didn't find Emmet, which kept hope the group's alive. A light from the infirmary across the yard caused Tess and Lincoln to suspect it was Emmet signaling them. The group made their way to the infirmary without any complications because the ravenous cannibals were asleep, but only found that light from the sun reflected off of glass, meaning no Emmet Cole. Tess fell into despair. Lincoln, though, carefully watched a dragonfly and followed it. The dragonfly led them to an alive Emmet Cole.

One might think finding Emmet Cole would ve the show a happy ending and end all of the wild adventures the crew experienced in the Amazon. The episode interspersed scenes from before the search-and-rescue began. The scenes were unrelated as a whole but were important for personal arcs; and one in particular was important to the endgame of the season. Lincoln was involved with another woman before the trip, making a courtship between him and Lena more difficult to achieve. Clark motivated Tess to rise from the couch and find her husband so that he could produce a TV show. Kurt spent his last days before the journey in the arms of his beloved. Lena worked at a retail store, fainted, and awoke convinced of her father and Emmet's survival. The biggest mysteries from the 'before Amazon' footage regard Lena and her connection the magical tribe that scientists experimented on, and why Kurt's girlfriend shot everyone dead and, in doing so, accidentally released a contagion that causes cannibalism.

Kurt's always been an untrustworthy individual, making secret phones to an unknown agency about the fate of Emmet Cole. Kurt wanted extraction several episodes ago because he believed Cole to be dead. We learned that Cole is a targeted man by this European agency. Kurt, in fact, needs to kill Emmet Cole. Of course, we don't know why nor do we know why his assassin girlfriend refused to let the scientists continue their research to cure cancer. The tribesmen being studied had a unique gene pool--an old man had the physiology of a teenager or something (I don't know...I don't take notes during episodes, I rely on my memory, the facts of the experiment didn't seem important once bad-ass West European woman ruined everyone's day, but I'm sure it's important and, if so, I'll write it about next week). Perhaps everyone needs to die because they discovered an experiment gone wrong in which people became cannibals. The cannibals were a non-factor for a large part of the episode, so naturally I dismissed them and didn't think about what they meant to the show besides being temporary threats.

However, I'm more convinced each week that the ultimate endgame of the series will reveal that everyone died. Found footage stories usually stem from people in the future finding footage and showing it to the world, controversy or not, for everyone to see. I suppose such a conclusion isn't important. Emmet Cole had a most bad-ass re-entry into the lives of his family and crew. Two cannibals snuck onto the Magus. One found his way into the cabin and attacked test. As Lincoln rushed in, someone shot the cannibal. Emmet stood there, gun in hand, and asked, "So, how was my funeral?" With 1 episode to go, I'm unsure of the show's identity. Obviously, Oren Peli, Steven Spielberg and Michael Green wanted to make a horror series. I opined in the past about how The River could've succeeded as a modern Twilight Zone. The overarching mystery about why people want Emmet dead could take the show into an even more sillier and nonsensical place. I don't know what to expect in next week's finale. It's a good thing; but it's also a bad thing.

Other Thoughts:

-Kenneth Fink directed the episode. Fink directed a season three Dawson's Creek episode. He deserves accolades for the tremendous opening fifteen minutes. The editor also deserves a ton of credit because the editing has been excellent. Kenneth Fink may owe Tim Minear lunch because Fink pretty much copied the first fifteen minutes of Firefly's "Bushwhacked." Soo Hugh wrote "The Experiment."

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