The River: Season 1 Finale

I think we can all agree, The River delivered the horror goods. They covered it all. There were witches, spirits, ghosts, ghouls, a possession or two and in the last episode even…zombies; impressive. But all this jam-packed terror may have done more harm than good. Where do they go from here? How do they top what they’ve already done?

We all knew that Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) would be found; otherwise the season would’ve had an extremely disappointing and unsatisfying end. The question was how. And the show was never short of surprises and shocks, especially when Tess (Leslie Hope) pulled the finally discovered Cole out of a strange cocoon of preservation. But after this success, there was still one episode left. After the adrenaline that came with a zombie attack and witnessing the anticipated success of the crew’s mission, how could the finale deliver greater horror to its audience?

As the horror story goes, just when you feel safe, something bad happens. The finale chose Lincoln (Joe Anderson) as its victim. This was a smart move, since he was the only character we came close to caring about…but more on that later.

The crew has safely transported Emmet back to the Magus and is ready to head home. Lincoln and his father finally have a moment together to share in their cliché, father-son tribulations and just as we start to see some insight in their relationship, Lincoln is shot. Someone was aiming for Emmet, but missed. No! Not Lincoln! After all this he’s the one that doesn’t make it! Our hearts race…who is the killer? The crew begins to turn on each other in suspicion; who was out to kill Emmet? At this point, do we even care? Let’s get home already.

There must be a way to save Lincoln; the series is horror and not tragedy and therefore the hero never usually dies. We figure someone has the magic enough to bring him to life, and sure enough Jahel (Paulina Gaitán), a character we would’ve all liked to see more of, steps up to bat. Using her powers, she brings Lincoln to life, but unfortunately he becomes possessed by a demon in the process. Well, just when we think nothing possibly more insane could happen, we’re in for an exorcism. Down that Red Bull and buckle up, because they’re not done with you yet! This is becoming exhausting…

Lucky for us, Joe Anderson is awesome. His possession is creepy in the best of ways and just reminds us further how much Lincoln doesn’t deserve to die; he’s the hero. In a final climatic moment, as the windows burst and the demon flies to the sky, Lincoln is set free. Surely, this is the end of it all.

The River ends abruptly and with a path to a second season. As the credits roll, you think…wait? But they didn’t make it home! Oh…season two.

But the problem is whether or not it will have that opportunity. It was full of scares and shocks, but just like many horror films, the remakes can never top the first. I guess they still haven’t covered vampires…?

Perhaps we’d all be rooting for a second season if we actually cared about the crew on the Magus, but The River sacrificed character development for scares. Which is perfectly fine, but may have hindered their chance at Amazon Madness: Round Two. Let’s give Oren Peli another series, but with another setting.