The Returned (French supernatural drama on Channel 4)

Think we were told at one point that Lucy had about a dozen men who visited her, so it's likely to not just be Jerome who has summoned up the return of someone in this way (if that's how the whole mechanism works).

Huh, hadn't thought about that angle at all. Could be, could be...

Does nosy lady with cats commit suicide or does victor go and kill her? Doctor woman goes out and reminds him to lock the door, he could slip out that way.

If it was him who caused the bus crash then he can't have been returned by lucy sex magic because the bush crash was before lucy came to town?

Lena going into the tunnel. No, don't go in the tunnel. But she sort of had to. But will he kill her or do the scars somehow mean he doesn't have to?

Yeah the way people keep going into the tunnel at night is the least believable part of the whole story imo.

My read on cat-lady is that Victor(?) somehow caused her to hallucinate being attacked and stab herself to death - we saw this happening to Julie but Victor "saved" her.

I think the idea of the tunnel is that the small town is built in such a way that there is no way to avoid it

for those who understand French, there is an official interactive website with a few clues and extra pieces of backstory: http://lesrevenants.canalplus.fr/#!/

If it was him who caused the bus crash then he can't have been returned by lucy sex magic because the bush crash was before lucy came to town?

Aw, and I really liked the Lucy theory till you reminded me of this.

I am also worried that this programme is setting up for a poor payoff. If it turns out to be satisfactory, I will be overjoyed.

One thing about the lights going out in the town (has anyone noticed a specific pattern to when this occurs btw?) - maybe the water escaping from the lake is not so much about what might be revealed by the dropping water level, but what will be covered up by the waters rising downstream e.g. the power station flooding, which will obviously plunge the town into darkness for a good long time.

> I think the idea of the tunnel is that the small town is built in such a way that there is no way to avoid it

like watford.

that said, if there'd been stabbing in it it would be a lot better lit and cctv'd up to the eyeballs by now.

but i guess this is the same town that puts a power station in an area at risk of flooding.

i thought the lights going out was a local phenomenon, caused by proximity to one of the returned (streetlights, the one in the bathroom where victor was hiding, a couple of other cases). the town-wide blackout was a power station thing and has only happened once iirc.

i don't believe the returns will be entirely because of lucy, not at all. it would be boring and also why would they play their hand so quickly?

agree with most of the credibility stuff, though for me the most insane bit was when adele was having a big public dream sequence with simon and assuming nobody else could see him, but nobody seemed to notice this which kept her theory safe until such time as the plot needed to debunk it.

there was a blackout when camille first walked into town and another one when simon made his escape from the police. possibly there had been a powercut when victor and his brother (?) were playing with torches and talking about demons under the bedspread before they got killed, but it feels like there's some sort of connection with the darkness theme there at least.

i don't believe the returns will be entirely because of lucy, not at all

don't think they're entirely because of her, cos yes, she wouldn't explain the appearance of victor in the past, but she definitely seems like some sort of node. can't understand why the police investigation into the murder isn't yet focussing on looking into her other clients, but maybe that'll happen all in good time

I get the sense that the returns have been happening for a very long time but have been covered up in some way.

Like, not constantly, but every few years there's a spate of them?

I wondered if some people return and go away again and then return. Not sure if this theory has already been discussed. Like maybe that's why Mr Costa knew what was happening.

There don't seem to be any old buildings in the town, everything's relatively new, which is very weird for a town in the middle of France.

Also all the returned seem to eat ravenously and never sleep.

yeah and you can see a church steeple in the water too when it showed it this week.

argh I'm dying to take part in the discussion here! Must refrain

Revenge would seem to be a fairly plausible motivation. Camille against Lena for breaking her promise and inadvertently causing the bus crash, Victor and Stabby McGee for their murders - and if Mr Costa tried to kill his wife a second time there's no reason to suspect he might not have done so in 1973. Simon died a violent death under oblique circumstances too. I like the idea that they have been brought back for revenge but don't necessarily know what they are supposed to be getting revenge for, at least initially.

Camille and Lena didn't really cause the bus crash, did they? It swerved to avoid Victor standing in the road.

bus driver's moral reflex was wrong. kill victor, save the kids.

keep driving

buy kids ice creams at next service station. all forgotten.

Camille totally distracted the driver, though. Might have been able to break earlier, etc.

I was on a bus in rural China once. The coach in front of us (probably had about 60 or 70 people in) span off the road, flipped over on its side and crashed into a mountain. The driver of the bus i was on honked his horn, shouted what i assume was abuse out of the window and drove on without even slowing down. That's the kind of attitude you need.

Just wanted to say that the last episode has put this series up as being about the best thing on the box right now. I'm not into madly speculating on all of the goings on, though; I'm happy to just let the mystery unfold.

I couldn't help it. I made a nice meal, disassociated for a bit, and then shotgunned the rest of the series in one night. I have banned myself from posting anymore on this thread.

Could you find it with subtitles or was your French good enough?

i found it with subtitles

There don't seem to be any old buildings in the town, everything's relatively new, which is very weird for a town in the middle of France.

It's plausible that the original town is at the bottom of the reservoir and they built the new one at the same time as the dam. Hence the steeple etc. Dunno if this will turn into a plot point though.

Simon died a violent death under oblique circumstances too.

We only have Thomas' word (and not even that, actually) that it was suicide - who knows if he's telling the truth or just trying to turn Adele away from Simon.

Any tips on where? Mainly cos 4OD is such a dire user experience. xpost.

We only have Thomas' word (and not even that, actually) that it was suicide - who knows if he's telling the truth or just trying to turn Adele away from Simon.

i had assumed it was prob a suicide to begin with.

first google result here

Yeah I've found the whole thing subtitled, only downloaded the fourth ep though because I want to watch it as it unfolds on TV.

The subtitles are fine fwiw but whenever there's an accent or other special character then the names are garbled, which makes it slightly more difficult to follow, although you can usually hear the names anyway,

We only have Thomas' word (and not even that, actually) that it was suicide

The drawing by Simon's daughter also possibly corroborates the suicide theory (presumably no-one had explicitly told her that her dad had shot himself in the head)

That's what I meant by "not even that" - Thomas just says it wasn't an accident and then we see the daughter's drawing.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

We need to know more about these flesh-eating cats too btw.

Camille against Lena for breaking her promise and inadvertently causing the bus crash

So on the bus, did Camille actually feel Frederic's hands on her when he was in bed with Lena? Or is it a psychic thing? Doesn't Lena try to escape from hospital when Camille is trying it on with Frederic in the pub? Does she appear to feel something, or does she just wake up? Or neither of those things? Sorry for being thick, I'm going to have watch these again!

i don't believe the returns will be entirely because of lucy, not at all. it would be boring and also why would they play their hand so quickly?

I sometimes wish programmes like this would at least play some of their hand a little bit quickly, so that I know whether their idea of a decent resolution matches mine, and I know whether I should keep watching or not. As someone else mentioned above (could even have been you), I'm a lot warier nowadays of programmes that promise a huge payoff to a massively creepy buildup, because nine times out of ten they don't deliver. I'd like there to be some answers to something soon.

"It was all a dream"

"i used to read Les Inrockuptibles"

Can't remember the last time I was so taken by the cinematography of a TV series - the way the whole thing is shot is so clinical and eerie. The show would have been much less interesting had it been shot in a more traditional way. Some of the scenes in the final episodes are breath-taking.

http://newgifs.com/images/full/les-revenants-fabrice-gobert.gif

btw i feel like i have always loved Frédéric Pierrot. the fact that he was in one of the very first scenes guaranteed i would stick with this.

I know what you mean, Trish, but the resolution is only part of the enjoyment for me - if the resolution turns out to be somewhat unsatisfying that will make me think it's a less good series in retrospect but it will have left me with 7.5 hours of enjoyable (sometimes thrilling) telly, which is cool in and of itself.

Tim I feel you are hinting towards some broader, more existential point with that post.

How dare you suggest anything of the kind?

Now I'm frightened of whatever's under the water AND whatever's going to happen in the big blackout when the power station floods, thanks guys

Maybe the mysterious scar on Lena's back is somehow connected with the mysterious dam crack. Or maybe it isn't. I don't know

The cast of the U.S. remake (man, I *hate* this ubiquitous kind of promo shot):

http://www.sorozatguru.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/the-resurrection-492x354.jpg