The River in HD on ABC - Page 2

Maybe it was in Peru? Last time I checked they spoke spanish there.

Yup, they sure do.
However, only 13% of the Amazon Rainforest is located within its borders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest

I'm out.

I usually give it three episodes to grab me, but this was absolutely terrible. Next week looks no better, with what sounds like another plot that Brannan Braga would write for Star Trek or...perhaps Terra Nova.

Well, it wasn't what I had hoped for. But I'll stick with it for awhile because, hey, it's a genre show and I root for them all. It would be nice for one - just one - to stick. Not that it matters as I've never been a Nielsen household.

The thing that bothered me the most was how they wasted the demise of the red-shirt cameraman. If you're going to kill off a cast member early, it should have a lot more emotional punch. It should deliver some degree of horror in some startling fashion. Instead, it was a lot of hysterical shaky-cam, we have no idea what the heck it is that's flying around, and then plop - he's dead, Jim. And quickly forgotten. Did they bury him at sea? Put him in a freezer? Have him for dinner with a nice Chianti (now that would be cool). What the heck happened to him?

Oh well. There's still 'Awake', which I'm now fervently hoping will be the one keeper in this dismal season for serialized genre shows. Guess it is too tough to pull off another LOST.

Hmm

Watched it last night off DVR. Not what I expected. I thought it was going to be more of an adventure/mystery/possible SF theme. Instead it's supernatural, "ghosts" & black magic.

Like a hybrid of Blair Witch & Ghost Hunters
"what's that" "did you see that?"

I agree completely that with all the cam motion, who can tell what flew past whom or where Totally frustrating! And despite all the shake and screeches, there was absolutely no tension. Flat!

The shaky handicam style gets old VERY FAST I watched Blair Witch in the theater & it was OK one time because of its uniqueness but I don't have the patience to ever watch it again only because of the camera shake BS.

IF all this show is about is spirit of the week, then it's no better than other formulaic shows and they are a whole lot easier to watch.

On a positive note, the doll tree segment was genuinely creepy, I really liked that part. For those old enough, the creepy dolls reminded me of the Twilight Zone ep, Talkie Tina

But capturing the angry spirit in the shell & throwing it overboard was pretty hokey for an adult adventure story. One part reminded me a little of something out of Sanctuary the blue dragonflies taking over the girl, a parasitic abnormal or the Big Bertha/Mali (?) ep with Will & the spider

Bottom line - looks to be another missed opportunity to follow in Lost's footsteps. Lost & BSG left some very big shoes to fill. No one has done it yet.

I'll keep watching, hoping for more character development and layers to the mystery. I'm with you, Arch, with a few exceptions (TN ), I'll support it as a genre show. I hope it evolves past magic spell of the week.

The one I thought came the closest in the last few years was 'Flash Forward'. It had the most interesting plotline with the most possibilities. I know there were a lot of complaints about the male lead but I thought he was fine. It's been one of the few I thought could have run for several seasons and not lost momentum.

Two other ones that were very well done and appreciated by the genre fanbase were 'Terminator:SCC' and 'Dollhouse'. I really mourned the loss of these two just as they really got rolling more than any of the others. 'Journeyman' and 'New Amsterdam' had a lot of potential as well.

Two other ones that I thought were pretty cool, original concepts and well cast/produced were 'Drive' and 'Traveler'. They barely got out of the starting gate before they were put down.

None of the new genre dramas I've seen this year on broadcast have been the equal of any of those. I'm hoping for 'Awake' to break through and make me sit up and take notice.

It has to be very difficult to come up with a serialized sci-fi-ish or Big Conspiracy concept that will instantly grab a large audience and then feed it constant thrills and sufficient long-term mysteries to keep them coming back, yet not lose momentum for however long the show has to run. BSG did it with a superb combination of epic story arcs and intense action sequences, as did LOST (for most of its run, at least).

Yeah, you are so right about those. I liked both of them a lot. Once Dollhouse got past creating "sex object of the week" it really got interesting with the complex grand conspiracy. As I understand it, sometime during the 1st season, Whedon took artistic control back from the suits who wanted the formulaic crap. TSCC - good from the onset and excellent acting. Lena Headey is very strong in Game of Thrones. Whedon managed to wrap up DH for the fans, thankful for that. Too bad TSCC ended on its cliffhanger but we all know the outcome anyway Maybe that's why it didn't do well. 3 T movies by that time...all the fans knew the story by heart.

Unfortunately, I didn't catch FF or the others you mentioned. Too many good ones get axed so been-there-done-that shows like A-Idol-atry can continue forth

So is this show just going to be 'spirit of the week' with the long arc to find Emmet?

Because right now that's what it looks like, and the shaky cam's got to go. It's not even a cheap imitation of Lost right now.

Agree with arch, Journeyman in particular was hitting its stride right when it got cancelled.

I'm willing to give it a few more eps ....
Nitpicks / Observations:
A) - I'm dissapointed that "everbody" was in quick immediate agreement, that it was all "sprits & ghosts", after they opened the hatch/room ......
It would have been better if at least a few of the characters ( Doctor/son, Girlfriend & Head Director guy), think there is a 'rational' explination - Some sort of animal / unclassified reptile, physics phenomenon ect ... , While others ( Engine room guy & his daughter..), are ' supernatural' oriented ..
That could even leave the rest "on the fence", between the 2 viewpoints" .. & leave the actual explination a mystery for a while ...

B) - Seems the mother might have had an affair w/ the director, in her past ...

c) - Odd that no one at least offered the suggestion, "This stuff is Amazing, let's stop, & get people down here right now to see & experience this, we'll all be rich & famous, & have more help finding Greenwood too .."

D) - I noticed it was filmed on location in both Puerto Rico and Hawaii .. odd/distant combo ...

Same here. I made it to the 22 minute mark, at which point I began to feel physically ill. I can take shaky-cam to some extent (for instance, loved "The Shield"), but this was over my limit.

I think they should have fired the cameramen. Surely a professional can steady a camera better than these guys, er guy, seeing that one of them got slimed. Where's the image stabilization? Hell, they can't even zoom in on a subject without overextending the zoom & then backing off.

The only thing worse than shaky-cam is faked shaky-cam.

Don't try 'Troll Hunter' or 'Lunopolis' - you'll hate them. Both are on Netflix streaming

Actually both are 'interesting' (although Lunopolis gets a little less interesting for 30 minutes or so in the middle).

As for the 'River' we'll watch again next week.

Agree with Archiguy Flash Forward, Terminator:SCC, Dollhouse and Journeyman were all good - but all got similar comments on this forum to the River.

We also watch Fringe and Alcatraz - this week's Alcatraz was good - less of the 'killer of the week' and a bit more intrigue.

Off course none come close to BSG or Lost which we watched from the first episode to the last.

Fringe is doing this show but better.

Not really the same thing though - Fringe is pure sci-fi, this one is mystical mumbo-jumbo so far.

The wife finally has signs of life that her husband may be alive in the panic room. So instead of the whole crew being on pins and needles while the door is being cut; They all leave the guy cutting and walk around the ship to investigate crew quarters?


I stopped it right around there, I'll get back to this show at another time. Didn't know Netflix had Deep Space Nine streaming, off to marathon that show again.

Hate to say it, but DS9 is looking like a big upgrade so far.

I keep tuned for both eps but not my kind of show. I didn't like the shaky cam either but I guess it doesn't bother me as much as others. I just couldn't get past why the monster?? didn't just kill his victims instead of just banging into the boat and jumping from trees guess that would be a short show though

Well after watching last nite, the biggest nit for me was a bunch of folks schlepping thru the Amazon jungle in shorts, sneakers, and halter tops. Gives a new meaning to dumb. Kind of reminded me of the old teenage slasher flicks, No Johnnie, don't go in there . . . and then Johnnie's gone, eaten, slashed, or whatever.

Didn't notice the "shaky cam" that much. Will stick it out for a few more.

Liked this episode better than the first two. A few nice creepy moments (natives stalking the camp and ship, native w/out eyes, claustrophobic buried-alive.) Nothing much revealed on the underlying mythology but will stay tuned in.

+1

I agree...this episode had a better pacing and was more intense than previous episodes. I thought the "blindness" afflicting everyone one-by-one was a stroke of genius. I would NOT have wanted to be the camera man when the doctor suddenly became blind while working on his wound!

Enjoyed that episode. The under the tree scene was very well done I thought, especially if you are claustrophobic.It was funny when he makes the discovery and then realizes what he has to do next and just starts cussing away. He couldn't escape the fact he was going to have to relive his past fear.

I found the episode as boring as the first two. It always seems to be: uuuuuhhh Spanish girl is speaking, something creepy is about to happen. The characters are without any interest and I don't see any interest in finding Emmett Cole, no attachment to his character at all. And just weekly scary monster/spirit/whatever episodes will quickly wear off.

The really bad news is that the ratings dropped by almost 40% from last week's two hour opening. This does not look good for the show's longivity. Comments like "viewers have rejected The River..." are appearing.

Anybody else notice on the "fast" motion shots where they fast forward that while the people move around but the fire doesn't and it doesn't die down, just stays constant?

Simply awful show. Weekly attack by ghosts/natives and pointless scavenger hunts that do nothing to advance the plot. And I find it extemely annoying that the girl can seemingly understand english, but only responds in spanish. And I agree, the characters are dull and who even cares if they find the guy? I'll watch one more week, but so far it shows no promise.

Why in the world would you want to waste another precious hour on such an "awful show?" Do you believe that some strange (and satisfying) turn-of-events will take place, or that new, exciting characters will be introduced in the next episode?

Seriously though, I can't for the life of me understand how people can write in with their glaringly negative posts and yet end on the note, "Ill watch one more week."

Here's a pretty good joke, courtesy of Chuck Lorre, that may shed some light on this question.


THE JOKE

A hunter goes into the woods hunting for a bear. When he is deep in the woods he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns to see an enormous grizzly towering above him. Before he can fire, the beast rips the rifle out of his hands and proceeds to sodomize him. Mortified, the hunter retreats to his cabin, arms himself with a double-barrelled shotgun, and races back into the woods to find and kill his furry assailant. But once again, the bear sneaks up behind the hunter, pulls the weapon from his hands and has his lusty way with him. Undeterred, the hunter equips himself with a machine gun and treks back into the woods where he is again ambushed, disarmed and defiled by the bear. Now, apoplectic with moral outrage, the hunter flies to a third world country where he buys a heat-seeking, shoulder-launched, nuclear-tipped rocket from an international arms dealer. Convinced he finally has the upper hand, he returns to the woods, tracks the bear to his lair and patiently waits to vaporize him. And yes, again, the bear surprises, disarms and sexually assaults him. But this time, before the hunter can run off to acquire more lethal armaments, the bear enfolds him in his massive arms and says, 'You don't really come out here to hunt, do ya?'

We thought this last episode was pretty entertaining. Sure, they advertised it as stories of fear, but it's closer to slapstick/soap, and if you look at it that way, it's a hoot. We had fun shouting out the girl's monster of the week name at every turn, whether she was present in the scene or not. And when mom and son sat with backs to the river, we shouted a warning, just like the good old days of silent flicks, when somebody had to warn the hero of approaching danger. The cameraman's scene at the tree was the best.

lol!

We caught ep 3 last night...missed the first 2. I don't think I'm coming back.