The River
ABC | Release Date: February 7, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
People WeeklyTom GliattoFeb 3, 2012
Season 1 Review: The scares are not as over-the-top as American Horror Story but more chilling because they're applied glancingly. [13 Feb 2012, p.44]
90
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River is a terrifying heart-stopper, a cleverly cinematic supernatural adventure that takes us on a wild ride into an exotic heart of darkness. Read full review
88
RedEyeCurt WagnerFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: An exciting and scary trip. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerApr 13, 2012
Season 1 Review: The performances are good but constrained by the parameters of scary-story acting. Read full review
83
HitfixAlan SepinwallFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The series' embrace of its narrative style, its creation of such an ominous world and its skill for generating suspense practically out of thin air are all very impressive. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda StasiFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: Lots of good stuff, although much is forced. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: A strong cast and that things-that-go-bump-in-the-night shooting style so far keep the show on course. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeSarah RodmanFeb 9, 2012
Season 1 Review: The mix of the familiar and the frantic creates an intriguingly creepy effect. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: Made with ingenuity and verve, it substitutes the half-glimpsed and suggestive for the in-your-face and explicit, and concentrates more on the buildup than the payoff, the fear more than the fright. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GrayFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River makes effective use of the idea that sometimes it's the things you can't see so clearly--or at all--that are the scariest. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River lacks the sophistication of "Lost" but its formula is more flexible than recent Fox addition "Alcatraz." Read full review
70
TimeJames PoniewozikFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: A suspenseful, hurtling water ride of a TV show. Read full review
70
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Andrea ReiherFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: For now, we find it a solid, entertaining spook-fest. Read full review
70
PopMattersMichael LandweberFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River plainly evokes Lost. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: You have a series that cobbles together a pretty strong rooting interest. Read full review
70
VarietyBrian LowryFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River is one of those pilots it's hard not to admire, even if the longterm prospects for its journey remain shrouded in mystery. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchGail PenningtonAug 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: There are real scares, and you'll certainly jump in your seat. On the other hand, who knows if such a dense plot will ever be sorted out? Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris HellerFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The series manages to serve up a legitimate fright or two, but it needs to slow down. Read full review
60
The Huffington PostMaureen RyanFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River isn't terrible, and it actually has some effective elements, but it's fairly indicative of ABC's post-"Lost" flailing. Read full review
58
NewsdayVerne GayFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River still has a quirkily eccentric charm. It's just so deliciously odd. Read full review
58
Uncle BarkyEd BarkFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The River in comparison seems like stale tap water, unworthy of any prolonged big drink of time or effort. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzFeb 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's reasonably clever and well acted and has strong atmosphere and a few good scares, and the concept--a found-footage voyage into the Amazon to locate a mysteriously MIA scientist--is catchy. But the format of the show may prove a dealbreaker for me. Read full review
50
Denver PostJoanne OstrowFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: Depending on your tolerance, it's either a ridiculous presentation best suited to a drinking game (take a gulp every time the screen goes black), or a paranormal adventure that owes everything to "Lost." Read full review
50
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: The makers of the "River" deserve credit for spilling so much of their "X-Files" myth-ology from the start, but there's not enough reason to book passage on this voyage of the bland. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: After swimming in its silliness for two hours, I can only say The River goes downhill fast. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The performances are adequate, but in many cases, the cast deserves credit for having to enliven trite, stock situations. Read full review
40
Washington PostHank StueverFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: Although it has some nice moves and the occasional tense moment, the show's visual allure quickly leads to aggravation. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyFeb 7, 2012
Season 1 Review: All these characters seem modestly interesting, but none, at least on first acquaintance, feel compelling. Nor are we drawn into their quest. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMike HaleFeb 6, 2012
Season 1 Review: The mixture of "Lost" storytelling and "Paranormal" style is neither intriguing nor particularly scary, and it doesn't help that there's hardly a glimmer of humor. Read full review
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