Tuesday Night TV Recap: The River (03/13/2012)

**this blog will contain major spoilers for the 03/13/12 episode**

Well, last night proved to be another great night for The River. Last week's episode, the one all about Emmet, finally kicked this show into high gear and threw us right into the evolving mystery surrounding Emmet Cole and this "source". Last night, the group found themselves at an abandoned medical base where they believe Emmet was once at. In there they find Rabbit (played by Katie Featherston) who was shown previously abandoning Emmet. We also got a major glimpse into what Kurt has been so secretive about this whole time. Apparently his girlfriend, or wife, or lover was sent to this medical base on a security detail and that's essentially why he's along for the ride...but there may be more to his story that we just don't know yet.

The River took a page from 'The Walking Dead' last night as well. This medical center was in shambles and deserted, but the crew discovers why. They watch a video of an experiment that goes wrong, and when Kurt's lady friend shoots everyone, some kind of virus is released and...infects (?) all of them. Next thing we know, a hoard of infected people come chasing after our band of merry men (and women). And I can't help but think these things look just like zombies. It even takes a shot to the head to kill them. So that was something I was not expecting. I'm not sure if they are actually zombies or some kind of freak medical experiment gone horribly wrong. That little mystery is under wraps as of right now.



However, the shows biggest mystery was temporarily solved last night! The group found Emmet Cole! He was inside this giant orange cocoon type thing. They cut him out and he was barely alive. But that's when all hell broke loose and a ton of zombies came chasing them out of the building and eventually they ran themselves back to their boat. The dog would not go on the boat though, and I'm wondering why. Is it because two zombies made themselves on board secretly? Hmm. While on board, Kurt gets drunk and tells AJ the cameraman in German "I'm going to kill Emmet Cole". See...there might be more on his agenda then we think. Unless he's just pissed that his girl is now a freak zombie.

Well the two zombies that snuck on board attack and kill Rabbit (who Tess is angry at and says they will cut her loose at the next village). Sorry Katie from 'Paranormal Activity'...guess your TV spotlight has been cut short! Turns out one of the zombies was Kurt's girl, who he had to shoot in the head and kill. The other got loose below deck and was attacking Clark when BOOM...the zombie is shot dead...by Emmet Cole. Then he mutters some witty line, something like "So, how was my funeral?" and then it ends.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was fast paced and full of enough action to prevent me from getting bored. But it was also chalk full of the mythology of the show and a lot of questions are slowly getting answered. You can't expect every single answer in one episode though, you must me patient my children! I have a thought about Emmet, and I've seen that other people think this too. The dog would not get on the boat, and it's possible that may because he knew the zombies were on the boat. But they were also being chased by zombies, so why would it go back to that and not on the boat with his people. What if the Emmet Cole they found was not the real Emmet Cole? In an earlier episode he communicated with the crew through that firefly thing and possessed the little girl. How is he doing that if he's also wrapped up in that cocoon. Obviously this is all completely outside the realm of possibility, I'm aware of that. But that's what I think.

There are rumors floating around that 'The River' is on the cusp of getting the axe when the season concludes next week. It's only averaging around 4 or 5 million viewers and for ABC, that's not good news. Those are cancellation numbers for sure. They love to cancel shows, they get a kick out of it. Quality doesn't seem to matter anymore (see NBC's Community and ABC's Cougar Town - two shows that are great, but get no viewers that are about to be whacked). IF it does get cancelled, it's going to suck. Because the previews hinted that the mystery is just beginning. And with one episode left, you know tons of questions will be left open next week and I'm sure it will end on a cliffhanger. People have said "Well how long can this show possibly go on for anyway, if it gets cancelled its for the better". I'm tired of hearing that with every new unique show that comes on. The creators of the show are (usually) dumb enough to create a series and not think about the long term and where it can go. There are probably endless possibilities with this show but if gets cancelled we will never know what those are.

So...another great episode, and I'm really looking forward to the finale next week. The Walking Dead and The River both end next week....Grr!!!