The River (ABC)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:17:00 +0000

Show: The River (ABC)
Type: Drama, horror procedural
Rating: PG-13
One line description: A beloved TV naturalist Emmet Cole goes missing in the Amazon. A team headed by his wife and son go looking for him funded by a film crew documenting the journey.
Tone: Tense, Hopeful
Similar to: American Horror Story (subject), X-Files (subject, style), Alcatraz (tone, pace)
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Joe Anderson, Eloise Mumford, Leslie Hope
Quality: Bad to Good (30-65 range)

The River - 101 - Pilot and 102 - Marbely

The setup for The River seemed genuinely interesting and clever. News reel tells us of Emmet Cole's TV series in which he and his family hugged trees and snakes and other creatures for twenty years. Then he went missing and was declared legally dead. His wife Tess convinces her sceptical son Lincoln to come look for Dad because that's the only way she can get the money from sleazy documentary producer Clark.

So now we have a bunch of potential victims sailing up the Amazon with a film crew watching their every move. Naturally they discover that Emmet had begun to experiment with all sorts of supernatural goings on amongst those pesky natives and may still be alive. When they find his abandoned ship (The Magus) they can hear noise coming from the panic room but the door is welded shut. Intriguing right?

Up until then it was but within minutes it became clear that we were watching a horror procedural show. The daughter of ship mechanic Emilio began warning them not to open the door. But they did and the creature they released began stalking them and killed a camera man. Instead of being panicked beyond reason by these events Lincoln quickly follows his father's attempts to trap the creature while Tess screams blind at the malevolent spirit asking if Emmet is still alive. Unsurprisingly they both succeed in this quest and declare that Emmet must be alive and they will continue to search for him.

No one is nearly shocked enough by the existence of the supernatural. By episode two everyone has just accepted that evil spirits control this part of the world. Lincoln proves particularly adept at beating these spirits at their mind games. After his success trapping the Corpuseco (in episode one) he digs up a dead spirits mother's corpse in episode two to appease her anger. Attaboy!

The writers on The River have learnt all the wrong lessons from recent TV history. This show won't generate a following as American Horror Story did because the ghosts here all behave just like criminals on a police show and go away by episodes end. There is no hint of Lost-style characterisation or pacing. Can you imagine if we had seen the smoke monster in the pilot or the Others had come marching out of the jungle for a fight in episode two? Comparisons with the X-Files will abound but Mulder and Scully took their time uncovering creepy things. The River has no patience for anything. Not only do we have tons of footage of what Emmet Cole got up to (walking on water, holding fire in his hands) because he conveniently filmed it all but his spirit actually speaks to us in episode two to confirm that he is alive and pointlessly warn his family to not come looking for him.

All these developments kill any sense of mystery. The presentation of the horror stories is also not helped by the documentary style of the show. Everything we see is filmed by either Clark, A.J. (his cameraman) or by one of the numerous static cams they've placed around the ship. I do understand that on a TV budget this is an attempt to make things seem scary without having to spend millions on makeup departments and special effects. But the results are deeply unconvincing and at times confusing.

The documentary format itself leads to major logic problems too. Are we seeing this footage after these events have happened? Swear words have been edited out, no one is wearing a mic yet can always be heard and all Spanish is translated for us. So I assume therefore that the Cole's and their crew made it home safely. At least their cameras must have done. That idea in itself kills off any remaining tension about who will live and die.

The acting is basic as is the writing. Some viewers will doubtless enjoy this. If you like Alcatraz then this feels very much the same kind of show to me. We have quite a short season run this year (seven episodes I think) so if renewed a second season might give the creative team a chance to tweak things.

Smash (NBC)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Show: Smash (NBC)
Type: Drama, musical
Rating: PG
One line description: Marilyn (Monroe): The Musical comes to Broadway and we follow the team putting it together
Tone: Romantic, Hopeful, Semi-authentic
Similar to: Glee (subject), Mad Men (a show which covers all of a person's day in authentic detail), The West Wing (the last NBC show to cover life with less of a procedural outlook and such attention to detail)
Starring: Katharine McPhee, Jack Davenport, Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston
Quality: Average to Very Good (40-70 range)

Smash - 101 - Pilot

So NBC's answer to Glee arrives and it's a show about a Marilyn Monroe musical. Or more to the point it's about the producer, director, writers and the two competing Marilyn's. That is all you need to know about the plot and the result is good.

This felt slick. It's been a while since I saw a broadcast show which felt this movie like. The shots of actual New York sky scrapers and characters walking around Broadway helped give this authenticity. We also follow the characters real lives, something I beg every procedural show and science fiction drama to do. So we see the writers at home, arguing with their families, eating, watching movies and taking showers. We see the producer going through a divorce and the prospective stars practising for their auditions.

For the first forty minutes of this I would go as far to say that it felt like a Hollywood movie. The characters were all neatly presented so that we instantly took in their perspective and life situation. Debra Messing (Will and Grace) was particularly good as passionate writer Julia along with her partner Tom (Christian Borle). They stumble onto the idea of the musical and things move fast as they link up with producer Eileen (Huston) and director Derek (Davenport of Coupling and Flashforward fame). Eileen is in danger of losing all her money in a messy divorce while Derek clearly likes to use his position to sleep with actresses.

The main event though is the competition between polished chorus girl Ivy (Hilty), who has Marilyn's look, and newcomer Karen (McPhee) who has a vulnerable star quality. Karen is clearly the main character here and meant to overcome the odds and become Marilyn once the show arrives on the stage. Derek texts her at ten at night and she rushes round without entirely realising what kind of audition he is after. She turns him down of course and will rely on her talent to win through. All the conflicts are there for an entertaining season of television.

The one thing I really didn't like was the last couple of minutes. When I first saw Glee the thing I found hardest to accept was that characters would break into song in the middle of school corridors and life would continue on around them as if this was actually happening. I have no problem with vampires, zombies or mysterious islands of various kinds as long as everyone on a show reacts to them appropriately. I can't really accept people bursting into song (especially well dubbed and mic'd performances backed by orchestra) in the middle of the street as passersby ignore them. Yet that's what we got in the last few moments here as Karen and Ivy raced to the audition separately. Perhaps this was a onetime stunt to cap the pilot. If it continues throughout the show it may turn me off completely.

Of course if that doesn't bother you then Smash comes with a very solid recommendation. Critics I respect warn that the show's characterisation may not be what it could be but I can only go on what I've seen so far. If the show stays strong I might consider reviewing it weekly. I'm guessing that the subject matter won't inspire me that much so I will probably just check back in on the blog somewhere down the line.

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The River (ABC)

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