# The Returned - new French drama on Channel 4



## alchemist (Jun 11, 2013)

> In a small mountain community, two local people - Camille, a teenager, and Simon - who both died years earlier, suddenly re-appear at their homes. They have not aged, and they are completely unaware of their own deaths.



Did anybody see this on Sunday night? It was very, very good; moody in the way only continental dramas can be. It was harrowing and chilling, but with the odd bit of good humour thrown in, especially by one character who reminds me of Gerard Depardieu (always tempted to write Doop-ee-doo). The acting is excellent, particularly by a teenage girl whose story arc seems central. It'll be interesting to see if it falls apart under the weight of explaining its interesting premise (I'm looking at you, Flashforward and Lost).

See it here before the inevitable inferior English language re-working.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-returned/4od

I dare you to watch half an hour and not be hooked.

(link may not work outside UK, but it worked in Ireland, so who knows?)


----------



## CrumpleHornedSnorkak (Jun 11, 2013)

I saw the majority of it, wasn't paying too much attention as I was trying to get some writing done. It did seem very intriguing though. My boyfriend seemed to like it. Will most likely watch it this week, too.


----------



## alchemist (Jun 11, 2013)

Do! It'll be worth it. They dropped a couple of twists into the last five minutes, so it's going to be one of those programmes which surprises (I hope!)


----------



## CrumpleHornedSnorkak (Jun 11, 2013)

Yeah, it definitely looks good. I find subtitles a bit of a struggle sometimes, but one does get used to it. That little boy is a tad freaky!  

Which girl were you referring to in your OP? I don't remember their names.


----------



## alchemist (Jun 11, 2013)

The redhead, who it turns out is a twin (which was an intriguing twist revealed at the end, their role in the crash). Agree on the boy, and he's not a common or garden resurrectee either.


----------



## CrumpleHornedSnorkak (Jun 11, 2013)

The older one? I liked her. 

I'm wondering what his role is, to be honest. Will be interesting to see... I might have to watch it on 4OD or something before Episode 2. The twin who 'returns' looks really really young. Do you know what her age is meant to be? She only looked about 12...


----------



## alchemist (Jun 11, 2013)

Give what her sister had got up to, I'd hope she was meant to be a bit older


----------



## CrumpleHornedSnorkak (Jun 11, 2013)

Yes... that was my point! The sister didn't look so young in that scene, then I saw the 'return' and I was like 'Eh???'


----------



## Handsome John (Jun 14, 2013)

Couldn't watch the link because I'm not in the UK but checked YouTube for the trailer.

Looks good. Hopefully FOXTEL pick it up here in Australia.


----------



## Perpetual Man (Jun 19, 2013)

We watched it last night as we slowly catch up on the TV backlog.

I was very, very impressed. It is quite a while since I watched something with subtitles, but like all good films it does not matter, after a while you soon forget that you are reading them.

It is well made, well acted and is not overstated. Things are happening alowly and there is more a sense of loss than anything horrific happening, as the characters begin to realise just what is going on.

There is a solid mystery running trough the background (why are the dead coming back?) and the feeling of foreboding that it might not be quite the miracle it seems and just to add spice to the pot a brutal murder. Is it connected to the other things going on?

I'll definitely be back to watch more.


----------



## sooC (Jul 2, 2013)

I was so eager to see the next episode I watched it on youtube, sans titles. I only have leaving cert french but it didn't put me off.


----------



## alchemist (Jul 2, 2013)

The subtitles keep using the word "bloke." Takes me right out of it, it does


----------



## Anthony G Williams (Jul 6, 2013)

My take on it so far:

The current UK TV enthusiasm for importing subtitled versions of foreign TV series continues with *The Returned*, a French drama. A coach crash kills thirty-eight young students from a small town. Four years later, one of them returns home – looking exactly as she did at the time of the crash and behaving entirely normally. She has no idea that any time has passed, and is just puzzled that one moment she was on a coach trip, the next she woke up in the countryside near her home. Then more people, dead and buried years earlier, begin to turn up alive…

This is nothing like the usual zombie horror story that might be expected. It is handled with great realism, with the focus initially being on the reactions of the families they are returning to, varying from stunned delight to horrified rejection. By the end of the first few episodes the returned are learning what has happened to them – especially the young girl whose identical twin is now four years older, and the young man killed on his wedding day who returns a decade later to find his bride about to marry another man. Other mysteries are still to be unravelled; who is Victor, the small mute boy who came from nowhere and seems to be involved with these strange events? And why is the level of water in the local mountain reservoir dropping rapidly? 

This is a different kind of fantasy; a strong and adult psychological drama, deliberately paced and dark in tone, with an air of foreboding. It is compelling viewing and supports the growing opinion that the best drama (including SF and fantasy) being made today is for television rather than the big screen. SFF blockbuster movies these days seem to be overwhelmingly about spectacular and often violent action scenes, the target audience allegedly being 12-year old boys. A TV series allows much more time for the gradual and subtle development of the plot and the characters, pulling the adult viewer into the story. We have seen this with *Game of Thrones*, *Fringe*, and *Continuum*, three current series which have me pinned in front of the screen. *The Returned* is very different from these, but still a worthy addition to this list.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)


----------



## rune (Jul 31, 2013)

I watched the whole series and felt I had wasted my time

There was no conclusion
There was no reason as to why they had come back
We werent even told really how they had come back
And what the hell happened at the end!!


----------



## Anthony G Williams (Jul 31, 2013)

The conclusion is called "setting it up for series 2"!


----------



## alchemist (Jul 31, 2013)

rune said:


> I watched the whole series and felt I had wasted my time
> 
> There was no conclusion
> There was no reason as to why they had come back
> ...


 
Spoiler: the dam burst and the town flooded? Although why or how is anyone's guess.

It was still done very well. Too much explanation would have spoiled it, but giving us something would have been nice. There is another series coming, though.

One of my main gripes were the leaps in logic and motivation. Simon was all confused, then Lucy gets him and he's part of the horde. He gets to know what it's all about but the viewer is left in the dark. Then there were dead people showing up everywhere, like Serge in the basement. And nobody questioned the police chief's actions. And where was the outside world?

The issue wasn't so much that they gave no answers, but they kept asking questions right up to the end without giving anything away. But I will watch series 2.


----------



## Perpetual Man (Jul 31, 2013)

In answer to Alc. spoiler: Did the dam burst or had more of the water receded so we could see the 'drowned' town below? 

I thought it odd that when the shutters were down you could hear the gunshots and everything, but there was no sign of a gunfight in the morning.

I never liked the Police Chief and thought it odd that no one questioned him too. As long as was serving himself he seemed okay to stand and fight,, but when it came to the others he just let them go.

The producers would like a third season to tie it all up properly, so there could be a way to go.

It was inspired by a film: Les Revenants

There is a US remake coming, of the series. I can't imagine it having the same slow burn feel of the French series.


----------

