THE RIVER: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” Never Sounded So Creepy

“It’s a really satisfying end for eight episodes, but it does crack the door open for a second season.” – Leslie Hope (Tess Cole)

Last night was the season finale of ABC’s The River, and I can honestly say that the childish little song, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, will forever give me nightmares. I can also say that Joe Anderson’s performance kicked major ass and I’m wondering how many bruises resulted from that episode. I can also say that Leslie Hope’s comment from the Q & A I had with her and Joe, is 100% accurate. Not that there was any question.

The official synopsis from NBC reads: “With a course now plotted for their final destination, the Magus crew suddenly finds itself incomplete chaos when a member of their own is shot dead, leading Jahel to call upon the spirit of the Boíuna to help, against the wishes of her Father. The crew’s quest is threatened further by the unknown killer, as the situation continues to spiral out of control.”

The show begins with the crew of the Magus reacquainting themselves with Emmett Cole, and wondering when he will tell the whole story of why he came to the Amazon and what he hopes to discover. He never answers the question directly, but he is definitely a changed man. The many times he should have died convinces him that it’s time to go home and be the husband and father he should have been all along. He tells Lena that if anything, all signs tell them all to get out. Emmett found not only magic, but powerful evil.

In a shocking turn of events, as Emmett and Lincoln are having a long overdue father/son moment, Lincoln is shot dead in an attempt to save his father, for whom the bullet was meant. I literally screamed at my TV. They can’t kill off Lincoln! It was a gut-wrenching scene as Emmett tries to stop the blood flow while screaming for help, and Tess comes on deck and experiences the horror of watching her only son die. I was crying right along with her.

The list of suspects is a short one – there are only ten crew members, including Linc. If the bullet was meant for Emmett that leaves eight, and we can pretty much rule out Tess and Lena. That leaves Clark, A.J., Jonas, Jahel, Emilio and Kurt. Suspicion falls to Kurt after Clark tells everyone about the phone call he overheard Kurt make early on in the series. In that phone call, he mentioned that if Emmett found ‘the source’, he would “put him down”.

That night, as Jahel mans the wheel, she begins to hear voices coming through the radio. She runs to Tess and Emmett and tells them that there is a way to bring Lincoln back. She says his spirit is wondering around out there and is calling for help. Jahel says they can call upon the Boiúna. Emmett rejects her offer, saying that it’s too dangerous to mess with things like that. That the Boiúna is a god of the evil demons in the area. Later, in her grief, Tess finds Jahel and asks her to perform the ritual that will bring her son back to her.

The Boiúna possesses Lincoln’s body but Tess thinks she has her son back. Lincoln attacks and kills Jonah, and attacks Kurt in his holding cell but leaves him alive. We find out later that Kurt knows everything about the Boiúna, including how to get rid of it. Probably why he was attacked.

Lincoln finds Lena on deck and begins to tell her that she’s meant more to him than just being friends. She lets him kiss her and they share a bottle of beer, which has been laced with something that makes Linc gag and collapse. Emmett walks up then and in the next scene, Linc is strapped to a table as Lena and Emmett prepare a liquid of some kind that they think will get rid of the evil spirit.

Of course it doesn’t work, but the Boiúna begins to abuse Linc’s body. Here is where Joe Anderson’s acting chops kick in and you cannot turn away during this performance. It was so intense.

Nothing that Emmett does is working so they go to Kurt, after watching him on camera in his cell, praying. They know that he knows something more about this demon. Kurt tells them that they need to stop speaking to the Boiúna and start speaking to their son, calling him back into his own body. After a major physical struggle, Lincoln wins and the Boiúna leaves. But it’s pissed! You can tell we have not seen the last of it.

We learned more about Jahel during this episode too. Her father tells her that her mother was just like her. She heard voices and could do things which she turned into help for others. Then something happened and she ended up in a place where Emilio hopes Jahel never see’s. But he doesn’t tell her where that is. I assume she is alive, perhaps in a mental hospital?

Now we come to the end of the episode and the crew of the Magus has plotted a course for home. They are all finished with this journey and want nothing more than to get outta Dodge while they still can. As they approach their destination, suddenly it’s no longer there. They send up the flying camera and see that even as they watch, the river is changing. It’s turning into a maze, twisting and turning upon itself, and off in the distance we see a swirling of leaves, the same thing we saw in “Dr. Emmett Cole”. It’s the Boiúna.

I’m terrified. This thing won’t let them leave the river. That ending opens up so many possibilities for second season story lines. This season was all about the search for Emmett Cole. Next will likely be finding a way out of Boiúna territory.

So what did you think of the season finale? Leave me your comments below!