In one of the early episodes of the UK series River (available on Netflix), the series' flawed protagonist John River (Stellan Skarsgård) exclaims, "There are no trees," as he walks out of his police precinct building into the lifeless city surrounding it.
As he and the new partner and watchdog assigned to him, Ira King (Adeel Akhtar) walk by a concrete wall, River declares, "There is no oxygen."
River's claims line up well with the way the series' setting is presented so far. The urban setting presented in River is violent and constructed. The city is a dangerous place here, and the only sign of nature seems to be the River Thames.
As the least controlled character in the series, John River may parallel the Thames in the series, connecting more closely with the natural world than the lifeless urban setting around him. As I watch further, I'll see how this parallel develops.
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