Critical reception River (TV series)
after first episode, sam wollaston wrote in guardian: stevie’s not person haunting him (ghosts, or whatever – calls them manifests ). mondeo man (who may have been involved in stevie s murder or may drug dealer) turns @ press conference. tragic girl – modern-day juliet capulet – disappearance river working on, turns around copper s flat. how let go of person if don’t know why ve gone? girl s mother asks river. this, suspect, key why these people aren’t leaving when die. finding river kinda wallander meets sixth sense , wollaston added: s more crime drama – s personal tragedy, demons; s study of loss , grief (which shares greatest nordic noir of them all: first series of killing). s study of – killing – , why people it. , why did – mr cream brings historical perspective it. , abi morgan, creator of series, brings characteristic humanness all; s people each other. enough me.
the first episode impressed daily telegraph s tim martin, gave full 5 stars in review , called superlatively creepy tv , dense , thoughtful police procedural . martin found that: of credit belongs skarsgård […] performance here revelation, switching in seconds remoteness fury, twinkling avuncularity withering scorn – , emotional punch @ end of episode, when river admitted extent of psychological distress, moving thing ve seen on television time. went home find dead man sitting on bed. personally, can t wait next week.
and daisy wyatt, in independent, found: 1 different likes of broadchurch , missing. still well-written , shot beautifully, criminal investigation not crux of drama. river s mind becomes crime scene struggles psychotic hallucinations – or manifests calls them – of past victims, namely colleague detective jackie stevie stevenson, played walker . wyatt found lead character, river, [cut] relentlessly sullen figure big, puffy face. emotionally distant s hard begin feel sorry him , adding: s not quite clear brought swedish officer london. perhaps chance fill scandi-chic flat seventies knock-backs vintage shops in brick lane ... there might more meets glazed-over eyes solemn character after all.
reviewing episode 2 daily telegraph, gerard o donovan gave 4 out of 5 stars, saying: 2 episodes in, river (bbc two) proving intriguing piece of television. takes shape – , tropes – of standard police drama yet appears expanding, flowing even, quite different . noted, detective john river may not original of characters, emerging composite of tv cop stereotypes: white, middle aged, lonely, retro-styled, music-loving, disgruntled policeman out of kilter around him , found redeemed extraordinarily expressive stellan skarsgård, man face sun-softened butter can switch dark depression humour-laden empathy twitch of eyelid. o donovan praised screenwriting, finding, abi morgan s well-honed script kept pace high , maintained constant sense of dislocation moments of deliberately overwrought dialogue , action downshifted hard-as-rock reality, before concluding that, river – far @ least […] offers richer emotional landscape crime drama on tv.
the final episode earned five-star review daily telegraph s michael hogan, noted, skarsgård delivered powerhouse performance: sad , soulful in 1 scene, sardonically spiky , manically energetic in next. craggy face , crumpled demeanour, haunted detective has prowled streets of east london wounded bear, pawing @ thin air pursued prey . hogan praised production, writing: series beautifully written abi morgan, stylishly directed, , of all, superbly acted. quieter, less showy supporting players shone. not stalwarts such lesley manville, eddie marsan, jim norton, sorcha cusack , michael maloney, fresher faces: adeel akhtar river s endlessly patient sidekick , georgina rich psychiatrist, before adding that, illegal immigration subplot, has proved timely . concluded saying, m torn between wanting river recommissioned […] , wanting series stand alone 6 near-perfect episodes. creepy yet uplifting, river stands alongside london spy, humans , wolf hall 1 of year s best home-grown tv dramas. if scandinavian star, box-set brigade falling on heap praise upon it. fact british-made shouldn’t mean overlook brilliance. climax reminded us, close home answer.
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