by Raven Kross:
The River: “Peaches”
Original Air Date (ABC): Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Season 1 Episode 5
This was yet another visually captivating episode of The River. The country is mourning the loss of Emmet Cole, but does anyone remember Russ Landry? Ya know, Russ? Lena’s dad and one of Emmet’s cameramen who went missing along with him? It seems to Lena that no one really cares what has happened to her dad. But the Magus’ collision with another ship brings about even more daughterly heartache for the perky blonde.
I Should’ve Stayed In The Tree
Tess, Lincoln, and Jonas are bent over a map in the navigation room, trying to figure out where to go next. On the deck, Lena is fiddling around on an accordion, and Clark questions her about it. She says her father taught her (cue the heartwarming cutback) and expresses her fears that no one cares about saving Russ.
Later, a course has ben determined, but with the thick fog that has started rolling in, there’s no way they’ll make it any time soon. Tess orders everyone to the deck and snaps out orders. With visibility so diminished and the stakes so incredibly high, it’s understandable that she’s stressed, but she seems to be a wee bit snappier than usual.
Lincoln is one of those on the first watch. He spots a rock and yells out a warning. On the other side of the ship, Jonas spots Lena brooding by herself and makes his move. He tells her about how much he admires her dad, and she confesses how difficult it is without him. Lincoln notices them and interrupts his conversation with Jahel (she’s actually starting to learn English!) to reprimand Jonas.
Then they spot something in the fog- what could it possibly be? They shine their flashlights and honk the ship’s horn- it appears to be another boat. But they can’t get its attention. It’s heading right for them. Suddenly- CRASH. There’s the squeal of metal on metal, and then the boat is gone.
Say WHAT?
So We’re Stranded In The Middle Of The Bloody Amazon?
Looks like that ship did some major damage. Jahel communicates in rapid Spanish that there’s a lot more than a simple patching up can mend. And, in typical The River fashion, no one answers the radio. Which means they’re marooned in the middle of one of the largest jungles in the world with dwindling provisions, in great need of parts- and no one knows they’re in trouble.
Down in the camera room, Jonas shows Lena a tape that Russ made for her. He tells her to quit her crappy job and do something she enjoys, and that he loves and misses her. He calls her by his pet name for her, Peaches. She’s soon in tears.
Upstairs, there seems to be a dispute among the menfolk. Lincoln believes that the longer they wait for help, the more likely Emmet will be dead before they find him. He wants to continue their course by whatever means possible, even if they have to go on foot. The Captain points out that the journey would take weeks without the boat. Then all of a sudden, they get a message from a nearby boat, the Exodus.
Four people arrive by motorboat and are invited aboard. They have spare parts that the crew can use to fix the Magus. They ask the strangers to stay for dinner and tell them the story of Emmet’s disappearance.
Later, Jonas grills Lena about her relationship with Lincoln. She refuses to answer his questions. He’s distracted by something on the Exodus- looks like something moved. But the crew is aboard the Magus… right?
Down in the galley, the adults are getting a little tipsy with the aid of the dinner guests’ homemade brew. Someone gets a cut from a kitchen knife, so Kurt goes to fetch a bandage. He comes across two of the strange crew’s members chatting in the shadows.
“They’re not much use to us dead.. at least, not yet.”
Foreshadowing much?
We’ll See If We’re Right… Or If We’re Crazy
Cut to an old clip- Clark is trying to get some intel out of Kurt. He even goes so far as to question the good captain’s motives. But why ever would he have any reason to suspect him?
After overhearing the discourse between the two guests, the Captain goes to what appears to be a small armory contained in one of the ship’s many tiny closets and finds himself a nice little gun. In the meantime, Jonas and Lena are sneaking away to investigate the strange entity on the Exodus.
Back in the galley, everyone’s still drinking pretty liberally. Kurt returns to the group and manages to steal away one of the crew members he’d overheard. Tess is busy washing the dishes with the only woman from the Exodus crew, who observes that Tess doesn’t take breaks very often. She replies that her goal is to find her husband, and that’s what she aims to do.
Once they’re far enough away from the group, Kurt corners his hostage and pins him against the wall. He orders the man to collect his friends and get off the Magus as soon as possible. When the man resists, he doesn’t hesitate to use his gun. It appears the man is dead. But it’s not long- around the point when the wounded man’s fingers are wrapped around Kurt’s throat- that he realizes the man can’t die.
On the strangers’ ship, Jonas and Lena have climbed aboard and switched their camera to night vision to make it even spookier. Lena hears a strange noise coming from behind a door. Together, she and Jonas pry open the door and break in. They see a couple of prisoner in the far corner. There’s Kurt, and… wait a sec- is that Russ?!?!
It’s A Small Boat; If You Can’t Find Them It’s Probably On Purpose
Lena rushes to him and embraces him. For a few seconds, they are wrapped in reunited bliss. But suddenly Russ breaks away and starts screaming at the walls. What the-?
Back on the ship, in the engine room, Jahel is hard at work when another of the strangers, who is fluent in Spanish, comes and speaks to her. He tries to entice her to come back to the Exodus and hang out in his room. And it seems… strange… it seems as if she is actually flirting with him. First the English, now this- our little Jahel is growing up! Luckily, she declines, and Emilio comes in before he can try to take it further.
On the Exodus, Lena and Jonas are becoming increasingly panicked; Kurt is just really pissed off, as usual. Russ says that he had been stranded in the jungle, and when he saw the ship, he thought it was a miracle. But the crew chained him up and imprisoned him. He explains that it’s some kind of ghost ship, that the crew can’t leave until they’ve found enough souls to replace them on the ship.
Meanwhile on the Magus, Tess is telling the other woman about the expedition and reveals her fear that Emmet is lost forever. The woman looks at their hand-drawn map and tells her it’s completely inaccurate, then offers to her their map, which is on the Exodus. Uh-oh…..
Clark and AJ are lying in a drunken stupor out on the deck. Tess takes a handheld camera and tells them to go get some sleep before departing for the ghost ship. Lincoln bumps into Clark and asks him where everyone is. The inebriated director isn’t exactly helpful, however.
On the other ship, Tess’s new best friend is only too happy to show her belowdecks, where she tells Tess how terrible it is to be trapped on that ship for so long. Then- ATTACK!!!
You Mean The Guys On The Broken Boat Who’ve Been Drinking All Night?
Lincoln realizes that people are missing, so he gathers AJ, Clark, Emilio, and Jahel and searches the boat. Hearing something from above, they run out onto the deck and see the strangers’ ship disappearing around a bend in the river.
In the prison, Tess is added to the group of prisoners and Lena explains their predicament. They have until sunrise to escape, but no way of contacting the others on the Magus. Russ gets the idea to contact them via the transmitter on Jonas’s camera- assuming he can get it to work.
While Jonas worked on it, Russ told Tess about his final days with Emmet, saying Dr. Cole became obsessed with the incredible things they saw on the river (and simultaneously went insane). The transmitter starts to work, so Lena sends an alert to the Magus in the hope that someone will see it and come find them.
Lincoln is literally THISCLOSE to seeing the broadcast, but in his eagerness he doesn’t notice it. He orders Clark to grab some flares, then they hurry up the ladder and speed off down the river in their little motorboats.
I Love You, Peaches
So now Lincoln, Clark, and AJ are in Zodiacs, going at top speed down the Amazon River to rescue Tess, Jonas, Lena, and Kurt from the hands of an undead crew that plans on killing them at sunrise (which is about ten minutes away). Yep, this is going to end well.
Jahel runs down to the galley to get something for her dad, and as she passes the tape room she sees Lena’s transmission. She hurries to contact Lincoln and tell him where the signal is coming from. They hurry in that direction and soon come across the ship.
They attempt a daring rescue; but Kurt, who has been steadily working on breaking the lock on the prison door, finally succeeds and they race to freedom. The ghosts intercept the two parties on the deck and no matter how many times they’re shot, they of course never die. Then Lincoln whips out a flare, and they retreat. What’s this- a weakness?
In minutes, the ship has been set on fire and our heroes are eager to escape. Lena tries to convince her dad to leave too, but he reveals that he’s already dead- he’s one of the ghosts. She doesn’t want to accept it, but it’s time for his soul to be set free.
The boys pull her, clawing and screaming, off the ship and into their motorboat. She cries and shrieks for him as the flames engulf the ship and her father’s body with it.
And so ends another scintillating episode of The River.
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