User Reviews

A good ending with more dream sequences and naff music to give the show a feel good factor again.

The story comes to a satisfactory but sad ending.

Things are left open a bit for a potential second series but, watching 5 years on, I know this doesn't happen.

BBC do still make good dramas when they don't get overly Politically Correct (not a same sex couple in sight, unheard of these days!).

The only downside is that having seen several of the actors in other things, they do find themselves typecast with the usual bad guys on show.

Well worth the time investment.

I absolutely loved this show. It came out of nowhere and blew me away. I was just looking at the list of Netflix shows and picked this one out, started watching without any prior knowledge, except that Stellan Skarsgård was the lead. I already knew he was he good actor, but not like this. The truth is that Stellan makes the whole show. Put a lesser actor in there and the whole show is ruined. Another reviewer here said that River is all about relationships. And I agree, this whole show is build around how River deals with everyone around him, dead or alive. I'm not going to repeat how well it was executed withing the show and I'm not going to reveal spoilers that I don't need to. Unlike most though I was disappointed in the final episode. As said before this show is about relationships. But the writers couldn't resist making this big "thrilling" finale to a show that was all about exploring the human psyche in it's own time. They insisted in making and solving this huge web of lies in one last episode even though the previous episodes barely had any of that. There really is a clash of styles, the last episode feels like it belongs on a different show, something more akin to CSI: suddenly putting plot twists and sensationalism above real human drama. Now, there was still some resolution and Stellan's, and the whole cast really, performance alone makes this worth your while. The last few scenes really are worth seeing and as a whole I can still recommend River to just about anyone. It's just a pity that at the end the writers overreached.

There should be no more episodes. River continues to weigh the balance between the living and the dead. There are revelations that he encounters as he trudges his way through the passageways of his own mind. Stevie certainly had her secrets and those secrets are what he just can't resolve. The search for the murderer is at the center, but River's sanity is utmost in this final episode. We find out things about his childhood that have led to his terse manner and inability to embrace love. Christie, whom at first seemed to be a villain, becomes a realistic ally. She is just a shade on the brighter side of angst. There will always be people who give up their lives in the pursuit of righteousness. Unfortunately, there is a fact that life doesn't play by rules. There are no winners in the end, but we have find the moments that give us pleasure and love those that love us. An incredible series. There is just no way that another season could be culled from what we have seen.