Review by Frank Plowright

Several stories are being told within Amazonia by collaborating writers Rodolphe and Leo. The primary narrative began with British agent Kathy Austin in 1949, whose earlier activities were detailed in Kenya and Namibia. She’s searching for a mysteriously pale, tall and silent man photographed among tribesmen and possibly an alien. Episode 3 revealed his past in 1930s Romania, and further scenes from his past form a second thread here. We’re also following the slightly earlier activities of Clyde and Oscar, lovers, independently wealthy and with an abiding interest in Bram Stoker and his works. Complicating everything is a German submarine lost after World War II and believed to have looted treasure aboard.

Once again, the first thing to strike is Bertrand Marchal’s impeccable drawing. His jungle scenes are packed with foliage and wildlife, his scenes of a carnival freakshow in Nazi Germany are appropriately depressing and he’s a master of illustrating transport, be it car, boat or plane. All are convincing for the period. Marchal works with colourist Sebastian Bouêt, and they combine for page after page of stunning art.

This episode seems to end Clyde and Oscar’s story disappointingly. Their presence was initially puzzling, briefly perhaps intended as a red herring to suggest the pale white man may be a vampire given that they’re such admirers of Bram Stoker. They’ve taken quite the journey over several years. However, while it apparently shudders to a halt here with a couple of contrived events, their journey isn’t quite over, and their scenes here are a transition to revelations in Episode 5 definitively connecting with the series theme. Apparently random, though, are the distressing revelations of the British Consul. Again, he’s been featured over the past episodes, yet his presence has little effect.

The progression of other cast members is more satisfactory. We see more of the pale man’s journey through the 1940s, and in Amazonia‘s late 1940s present day while stuck in the jungle with limited resources, Kathy and Délio circle around avoiding several dangers. When the Germans connect with the pale man, one of them acts as an old friend referring to him as “Jo”. A fine balancing act is required with out and out Nazi Reinhart having to curb his appalling tendencies to secure the aid he needs.

The vastness of the Amazon basin has been reinforced throughout, but here the idea is diminished by so many characters gathered in a relatively small area, yet able to avoid each other. It has the feeling of deliberate delaying tactics that without Marchal’s skill might be more obvious. By the end, though, one party has discovered what the other searches for, and it sets up the conclusion very nicely.