Tweekums As this series, set in a small French Alpine town, opens fifteen year old Camille returns home; she acts as if it is a typical day but her parents and sister are shocked... Camille had died in a coach crash four years previously! She has no memory of what happened that day or in the intervening years and hasn't aged a day. Over the coming days more people start returning from the dead; some from much further in the past than Camille. As the series progresses we learn more about the characters and their town's past and see how people cope with the return of people that had died. One of the returned is a strange young boy called Victor who we first see in a flashback scene where he is standing in the road causing a coach driver to swerve and crash killing his passengers, including Camille.The opening episode immediately intrigued me; while there was the obvious question about why Camille and the others were returning that didn't dominate the series. Instead it was about the characters and how they deal with such a strange event; some are frightened while others are just happy to have their loved ones back. It was interesting to see the living dead portrayed as ordinary people rather than brain eating zombies; that isn't to say this wasn't chilling; not all of them were good people when they were alive and they aren't different now. There is also the constant sense that things could go wrong for any character. The cast do a really good job; young Swann Nambotin is particularly effective as Victor; he manages to make the character distinctly creepy while still being sympathetic. Yara Pilartz is also memorable as Camille; possibly the most normal of The Returned. The first season was the better of the two to my opinion but the second was still pretty good and gave the story a satisfying conclusion. Overall I'd certainly recommend this for anybody looking for something a little different.These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

tibet23 Pointless and overestimated show. Two series and they keep mixing things up just to avoid giving the viewer any clue. Characters contradict their statements after a few episodes. They all seem to know "something" and when asked the simply reply: "I don't know". Which is a trick you can you for one or two episodes NOT two series.And the zombie thing is incoherent and I guess just...stupid. They refer to it as the french Twin Peaks, but rather the authors demonstrated one must be David Lynch to deal with mystery and a whole range of invisible dimensions and universes while keeping people sticking to the screen ad the story. Otherwise we have just great music (Mogwai's soundtrack) and photography. But WITHOUT a good screenplay it's simply atmosphere and teen drama... no chills, just boredom!

strifnos This show has it all!!!!Drama - mystery - Sifi - and yes horror!!!!All in the correct dosage.I usually get bored easily then TV shows go around the main plot developing the characters, but man, the characters of this show are so interesting!!!!I cant believe i have never heard of this show. Even after i watched the first 3 episodes of the American version and got bored to death, i didn't know there was a Frenchversion. I only found out about it now that the new season begins.The plot evolves nicely, and when the episode ends you cant wait to start the next one. I recommend it to everyone.

dholliday No spoilers here, just some casual references to the themes.The Returned has a few issues which prevent it from being great: the cast's facial expressions are almost-permanently overwrought with bedraggled despair. It gets tiring after a while, and makes it harder to connect with the characters.the music is bland elevator electronica, with the same 4 or 5 motifs repeated every few minutes, not really fitting the mood...and no variation for different episodes.the post-Lost trend to add mysteries wrapped in enigmas for the sake of it only works if we can really care for potential answers. That's not quite the case here, and don't expect much in the way of answers anyway.there are many moments of standard telly soap-opera: for example tropes like a love triangle where two are being affectionate while the other just happens to look on from a distance - there's also tortured emo-prancing which is one very small step removed from Twilight's Bella & Edward.It's not all bad, tho': I like how there are no obvious good & evil characters, tho' this is nothing new nowadays, and this shading is taken to distastefully extreme levels by portraying a certain disturbed character as sympathetic later in the series.it is agreeably watchable, its mood & rhythms remind me of Twin Peaks sometimes, but it lacks the sharp humour and memorable surrealism.the acting is good, if limited by the script and direction.there's some decent camera work, quality dialogue and solid (if a bit archetypal) characterisation.the story and its development is genuinely interesting.it's not English. I enjoy delving into other-language dramas...gives us a sense of something culturally fresh. Original audio with subs is a must, of course...dubs almost always ruin the intended vibe.Broadly recommended if you don't mind the aforementioned negative points.