The Returned Series Two
Worth returning to? Absolutely
released 11 JaNUary 2015 | 15 | Blu-ray/dVd Director Fabrice Gobert Cast Céline sallette, swann Nambotin, Jenna Thiam, yara Pilartz
If you’re settling down to watch this French zombie drama, bring a jumper. The Returned has to be the coldest-feeling show on television, its palette full of gloomy greys, brittle snowdrifts and freezing mud. Some characters look so frozen and pale that you want to make them a cup of cocoa.
However, once you get past the plodding, bitter opening episode of The Returned’s second series, the chills are more than worth it. The first year ended with the backfrom-the-dead citizens of a small town disappearing as a dam burst and sank the place under a lake. We return several months later, with the returnees marooned on a lonely estate and the army on the prowl. More dead start arriving – including some total bastards – and a subsection of them are quiet, sinister zombies who don’t even speak. What the hell is going on?
The good news is that we do actually find out. The Returned is virtually incomprehensible right up until the final two episodes, when finally – blessedly – the sun comes out from behind the clouds and all is made clear. Sure, there are some mysteries left unresolved when the final credits roll, but by and large the show does sign off with its central enigma solved. And a bloody satisfying one it is, too, from a haunting universe which will stay with you for a long time.
Extras A quick reminder of the events of series one. Jayne Nelson
Haunting – will stay with you for a long time