'The River' Season 1, Episode 6 Recap - 'Doctor Emmet Cole'

Just a couple of episodes before the end of the first season, and it looks as though "The River" has found its stride. But interestingly, most of the focus of this episode is not on the current crew of the Magus, but rather the old crew: Emmet, Lena's father Russ, and their crewmates Rosetta and Manny.

Maybe it was that Bruce Greenwood is a terrific actor with a great grasp on the character of Emmet, or maybe it was the excitement over seeing someone who actually knows how to deal with the jungle taking it on, but I couldn't take my eyes off this episode. Even when it just came down to Emmet talking to the camera alone, it was riveting. Bravo.

The story is this: the present-day crew finds Emmet's old pack with some tapes inside, which they watch in hopes of gaining some clues. They certainly do, but they're taken on quite a ride during the viewing. Emmet sets out with Manny and Rosetta (he calls her "Rabbit," and in one awkward scene she gets a little too flirty with Emmet while everyone watches... but Emmet stays faithful to Tess), and the three of them leave Russ behind.

Soon, though, they run into "Il Tunchi," a spirit of the jungle that Jahel recognizes as a demon. Emmet thinks that the spirit is just trying to test him, but Jahel knows better: "She doesn't come to scare you," she says, "she comes to kill you."

Poor Manny ends up being skinned and hung from a tree by the demon, which understandably freaks Rabbit out enough for her to head back to to the Magus. But she takes the survival gear with her, leaving Emmet without any shelter or food. We watch as he slowly starves, fending off the demon with a song he heard while meditating until he can't whistle any more.

Thankfully, he doesn't eat the dog (but what a surprisingly tense scene, eh?), but when he passes out from starvation, some of the inhabitants of the jungle pick him up and leave him near an outpost, where he is discovered. So, Emmet is alive, we think.

What was interesting, and surprising, about this episode was the way in which we experienced it. We could have easily just watched the tapes ourselves, but we watched tape of the crew watching the tapes as well. In a way, the current crew of the Magus was watching this episode with us, jumping at the scary parts and getting choked up at the emotional parts. A neat little meta twist on the show.

Sadly, it looks like we won't get this much of a look at Emmet's footage from here on in, as he's out there without a camera. A shame, since it was nice to get to know the guy that we're supposed to care about so much a little better.