The Returned (French supernatural drama on Channel 4)

maybe they recruited him for a mission when they sucked him under the lake.

Here's a question: is it possible to terminate a zombie pregnancy?

this show = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QUVNcQdTxo

Struggling to remember if the people from the town know anything about Serge, other than Julie, Toni and Lena. He's mostly been away from the rest of the action and Toni kept pretty quiet about him.

Part of me is still wondering whether the two twins swapped places, and whether Camille is actually Lena and vice-versa. But I don't know what I'm basing that on.

Could be misremembering, but the police knew about him because they went up to their house to arrest him. Forget who it was that ID'd him in the first place.

xp I keep on thinking that as well, I'm sure the first ep left it open. But no evidence beyond that, and they've always managed to react convincingly to having their names called even in moments of extreme stress.

Part of me is still wondering whether the two twins swapped places, and whether Camille is actually Lena and vice-versa. But I don't know what I'm basing that on.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, July 30, 2013 8:31 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

when the twin 'reveal' happened at the end of that episode there were hints that they might have switched?

is there anything in the fact that we don't actually know what happened to lena after she saw the horde? just a quick skip to her showering at home.

Part of me is still wondering whether the two twins swapped places, and whether Camille is actually Lena and vice-versa. But I don't know what I'm basing that on.

i thought it was suggested in the bathroom scene of the last ep when the undead twin said: 'you called me camille...even though you know i'm not her'

What was Victor doing between appearing before the bus crashed and following Julie home? Four years is a long time for a young boy to be wandering around on his own.

I've been thinking about this and I remembered that Victor appeared again after the butterfly (and remember the species was Victorina stelenes) escaped from Mr Costa's framed collection, so could he have been hiding out as a butterfly?? That obviously links in with the old belief that lepidopterans are the reincarnated souls of the dead, but then you have Simon's escape from the police station where there was a suggestion that he and Lucy had temporarily transformed into butterflies. And there's the whole thing about being trapped behind glass (the butterfly collection, Simon in his cell, Victor in the car) and maybe that relates to people being trapped under water?

I wonder if Serge's revenge mission had anything to do with Toni, and now that Toni is dead, will Serge and Mammy Serge just disappear?

i just wanna say nobody does emotional cruelty on screen quite like the french

I think the reason the horde didn't want Tony is cos he's not part of their project, whatever the heck that is. The same weird mechanism has brought him back to life, but he and (to a lesser extent) Toni are outsiders and separate to the rest of the village and they've got their own story to work through (crazy mother thing, Serge stabbing women in their stomachs etc). Much like the dog that got stabbed and came back to life - not a part of the horde's plan but still under the same spell (which could suggest that maybe the horde haven't returned to exact their revenge, but maybe they find themselves in a position to take their revenge because they've been returned to this world? i.e. there's a deeper magical logic at work and what people do when they come back is perhaps incidental). Don't think that Serge returned to kill Toni, cos if anything he was trying to stop Toni dying at the end.

I think the zombies ignite the worst fears of their "victims". The nurse feared being reattacked, Toni out of guilt to see his brother come back for revenge, the little girl to see her mom die, Thomas to see adele bang her ex lover, etc

I wonder if Simon shot himself in a similar scenario to Toni's death? Except other suicides (Costa, the nosey neighbour lady) don't seem to have back, so maybe not.

If this is a revenge thing then there are any number of candidates to take Serge down.

Neighbor lady was technically a suicide, but it was obvious that Victor was pulling her strings, right?

some of the theories are really getting convoluted now imo.

Yep, just like with Toni xp

im gonna need to stay off this thread, this is like lost. maybe serge is the horse????

otm

Just caught the last two episodes of this. Not disappointed on the whole but it was strange how they ditched the feel of the rest of the series (small stories that looked to be about personal vendettas) and turned it into something else, something kind of zombieish. The "deportation" scene was gripping though, the strength of the characterisation that was built up really paid off imo.

Also loved the soundtrack - I listened to it a bunch earlier in the year even before I watched the show. The Goblinesque theme that played when Julie/Laure/Victor got stuck on the dam was very effective.

I actually lolled when he popped it in his mouth :)

― click here to start exploding (ledge), Wednesday, July 24, 2013 8:06 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Me too!

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10601220.Mystery_over_dead_animals_found_in_Worthing_lake/

this is coming to the sundance channel in america next week. fyi to any americans.

Oh cool, I might watch it again.

Starts tonight!

America you should watch the fuck out of this show.

I haven't read anything saying it would be, but I have this horrible fear that it might be dubbed. Because America.

its subtitled. exact same version that ran on channel 4

american remake in the works

America you should watch the fuck out of this show.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 31 October 2013 19:38 (Yesterday)

this.

american remake in the works

Are you talking about Resurrection on ABC? It's similar in one respect, but totally different in every other.

lol i just heard it was based on the returned but apparently it's a different the returned

there is an american remake of this in the works, tho

http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/NIKKI-FINKE-large.jpg

Can't wait for second season 2 even though I know that I will inevitably be disappointed (didn't much like the direction which the finale suggested)

So much of this show is tied up in its particular sense of place, I can't imagine even a great American remake having quite the same peculiar eerieness.

I loved this show but found the end of season 1 just pushed things into True Blood levels of ludicrousness. Concerned the next one will jump the shark completely. That first episode is so great though - really understated, more about people's reactions to their returned loved ones than the supernatural properties at work.

No way did this get anywhere near True Blood idiocy, even at the end.

I actually stayed with TB for something like 4-5 seasons. I relished the campiness and the "oh boy, they've really gone crazy this time" before giving up. But the Returned felt so refreshing at first. Like those zombie movies where you're only peripherally aware of the undead threat and the real conflict is among the normal people having to overcome them, The Returned was brilliant and subtle. Just hoping they rein it in a bit, that's all.

I didn't like the turn it took in the last episode at all, but I don't see how they can go back to the small domestic stories that were the best thing about season 1.

Can we get spoilery on this thread? Tbh I thought they could have milked the domestic drama a good deal more and maybe throw in some more flashback stuff

Spoiler seal was broken a long time ago.

Yeah I think there should be a separate thread if American viewers don't want to know what happened.

This show is so good it deserves a thread.

Oops, did that accidentally, clearly there was a thread and I found it.

I love this show, although I haven't watched the last episode yet so maybe they ruined everything.

last episode takes the show in a new direction - IMHO
Curious as to when season 2 will appear

first episode was by far the best, as with a lot of these three-part gritty dramas.

(wasn't it 8 or 10 episodes?)

god, you're not wrong - it was 8 episodes. i distinctly remember it being shorter than that, but i was also watchign southcliffe at the same time.