Episode Title: "Magus"
Story by: Oren Peli & Michael R. Perry
Teleplay by: Michael Green and Michael R. Perry
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Episode Title: "Marbeley"
Writers: Michael Green & Zack Estrin
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Premise:
TV explorer Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood) disappeared in the Amazon forest and seemingly perished. Six months later, Cole's estranged wife, Tess (Leslie Hope) and his grown son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson) led an expedition to find him. "The River" is comprised entirely of "found footage" from the second expedition intercut with clips from Cole's TV series, "The Undiscovered Country" and other related videos.
Story:
On camera, Tess asks Lincoln to accompany her on a quest to find his father (and her husband), Dr. Emmet Cole. Reluctantly, Lincoln agrees as Cole's ex-producer, Clark Quietly (Paul Blackthorne) bankrolls the trip in return for full access for his cameramen, A.J. Poulain (Shaun Parkes) and Sammy Kirsch (Jeff Galfer) . Also on board are Cole's former engineer, Emilio Valenzuela (Daniel Zacapa), Emilo's daughter, Jahel (Paulina Gaitan) and a fearsome bodyguard by the name of Captain Kurt Brynildson (Thomas Kretschmann).
After three days on the Amazon, the ship finds Cole's transponder in a protective underwater cage with no sign of Cole or his ship, The Magus. Lincoln suggests that this means that his father is dead, but Tess insists that they continue. The next day, their ship stops to take on supplies when a helicopter sets down with Lena Landry (Eloise Mumford), the daughter of Cole's cameraman, Russ Landry, who is presumed missing alongside his employer. Lena rips into Lincoln for not telling her about their expedition and she forces herself on the crew by saying that she knows where to find the Magus.
The next day, the crew takes two rafts up the river, where they discover the Magus washed up on the side and seemingly devoid of life. They soon discover that the panic room has been sealed from the outside. But when they hear banging from within, they theorize that Cole and Russ are trapped inside. So, they open the door and discover an odd creature that attacks Lena at high speeds and then escapes into the jungle. While treating Lena's injury, Lincoln learns that she had been in contact with his father prior to his disappearance.
After Lena is seen behaving suspiciously, the crew discovers that the rafts have been disabled and the sounds of the creature surround them. With no other recourse, the crew makes the Magus sea worthy again. But in a second attack by the creature, Sammy is killed. Convinced that the creature may be Cole's producer, Cam Travers (somehow transformed), Tess begs "Cam" for answers about Cole's survival before she is slashed two times. Lincoln manages to trap the creature in a container found in the panic room before he throws it overboard.
The next day, Clark is in the editing bay when he spies on Kurt and he overhears the security expert report to someone via radio that he will put down Cole if he found "the source." On the deck of the ship, Tess is ready to give up, but Lincoln is suddenly convinced that Cole is alive and that there really is magic in the undiscovered country of the Amazon. On the eighth day, Jahel and Emilio restore full power to the Magus while Lincoln, Clark and Lena go over Cole's tapes in the hope of finding clues to his location.
That night, a dragonfly crawls down Jahel's throat while she is sleeping. When she awakens, she seeks out Tess and the spirit of Cole speaks through her to his wife by urging Tess to leave. But after a few moments, Jahel convulses and passes out. As Jahel's father and the rest of the crew watch over Jahel, Tess relates what she was told, including the detail that Cole is alive and being held against his will. After some convincing, everyone but Emilio leaves the ship to pursue their latest lead.
On the ninth day of the expedition, the crew finds a burial ground in the jungle where English explorers and robber barons are resting beneath crude graves. They also find a "spirit tree" with dolls tied to its branches. Lincoln also finds his childhood teddy bear, Marbeley tied to the spirit tree and reclaims it as a sign that Cole had been there. The group also hears a child's voice calling out of her mother, but a freaky monkey with a doll's head on its face is all they find before it scampers off. At night, some of the dolls seem to supernaturally move and observe the camp. Meanwhile, back on the Magus, Emilio tries to convince his comatose daughter to release Cole's spirit before its passing harms her.
Late in the night, a supernatural force pulls Lincoln into the forest while he is still in his tent. Alarmed, the group decides to leave. But when they head towards the Magus, Tess is grabbed by something and nearly pulled under the water of a shallow stream. Even A.J. confirms that he saw a hand grabbing Tess to a skeptical Clark. Lena then shares a story that Cole told her about La Dejada (the Abandoned One), a young girl who drowned while trying to recover her doll from the river. According to local legend, the girl's spirit lures people out to drown them, hence the gifts left behind on the spirit tree.
Going back to the spirit tree, Kurt orders Lincoln to return his teddy bear to the tree; which falls off again two more times. The third time, Kurt ties the bear himself, but several other dolls fall as well. As the group flees in panic, they are surprised to find themselves back at the tree after a few minutes. But Tess is caught by the stream and pulled under by the vengeful spirit of the dead girl. Unable to find his mother in the water, Lincoln suggests that they give the drowned girl her mother back. So they dig up the grave of the girl's mother(!) and toss her bones into the stream(!!). Several moments later, Tess emerges from the mother's grave, alive but shaken.
On the tenth day, the crew returns to the Magus. Lincoln visits Jahel, who is still mostly unconscious. Trying to speak to his father, Lincoln promises Cole that he will protect him, but asks for a sign of where he is. Just then, Jahel coughs up the dragonfly, which escapes out the window. The young girl then apologizes to Lincoln for not holding on to Cole's spirit longer. But Jahel insists that Cole is still alive... somewhere.
