Adele!
The penultimate episode of the series doesn’t disappoint in setting the scene of what will be an incredible finale. Delving into the past of Adèle while people become trapped in the village, as no one is allowed to leave.
Suicide is one of the mayor themes throughout The Returned. The previous episode ended with a shocking scene of watching a couple commit suicide, in the hope to be reunited with their son in the afterlife. Adèle (Clotilde Hesme) has the same motive, as we witness her suicide attempt in the bathroom the year previous – hoping to be reunited with Simon.
Throughout the series Simon (Pierre Perrier) struggled to understand how he died. He has no recollection of why he would have committed suicide, mere hours from marrying the love of his life Adèle. Simon needs answers, but Lucy (Ana Girardot) tries to persuade him that he should be happy! She seems to know what their purpose is, telling Simon that they are no longer the same person as they’re dead now, and that time has come to move on. Simon agrees to follow her, after looking for answers from the village priest. Sadly for Simon, the priest has no real intention to help him as he betrays him to Thomas, and ends up back in prison.
The suicide attempt by Adèle is revisited thanks to Victor (Swann Nambotin), who makes Chloé see a vision of her mother with bloodied wrists, as they play on the trampoline together. It’s always scary to see Victor using his powers, especially as he seemed happy for the first time.
Blame is the second theme explored during this episode. Chloé gets very angry at Adèle for choosing to be with Simon instead of be a mum to her – as she tells her mother she saw what happened the year before.Victor gets blamed for what happened to Chloé by Thomas, but Julie (Céline Sallette) takes his defence. Glad to see a return to form after last week’s blip in credibility, as Julie pleads to Laure to take them all far away from the village. Finally someone has the common sense to leave!
Camille (Yara Pilartz) gets blamed for the suicide of the couple, as other parents and people at the shelter turn on her, believing she’s harmful to other living people. Pierre (Jean-François Sivadier) tries to calm everyone down by organizing a meeting in the hall. It’s to be a celebration of life as death is not the end. Léna (Jenna Thiam) however has stopped blaming Camille and the two sisters are happily reunited. It’s a very emotional scene and it’s great to see the twins bond. Camille starts to suffer from the ‘curse’ of being dead and develops a mark on her cheek, which Léna tries to camouflage with make-up. But Simon definitely wins the ‘eww factor’ as not only does he discover rotten flesh on his stomach, he also takes a piece of it in his mouth! Why would you do that?!
There are definitely powerful forces at play as not only do the returned start to physically deteriorate, the village seems to suffer from the same curse from Once Upon a Time where no one is allowed to leave, no matter how hard you try to escape. Laure, Julie and Victor try to drive away but they keep returning to the dam. While Serge (Guillaume Gouix) and Toni (Grégory Gadebois) find out that they keep going in circles as they run from the police.
We still didn’t get any answers on why Simon tried to kill himself but the irony in this episode has to be applauded. The one person who remains unconvinced that people have returned is the priest! Furthermore when Pierre talks about how we should celebrate life , Sandrine suffers a miscarriage and loses her baby. It’s these sort of touches that makes The Returned so entertaining. Mentioned Once Upon a Time but did anyone else feel we were back in a bunker of the Dharma Initiative from LOST, when Pierre showed Claire all the provisions, weapons and medical room at the shelter?
The entire atmosphere has become eerie and desolate, you anticipate everyone will get into trouble as the menacing Horde have come to Lucy’s doorstep at The Lake Pub, apparently waiting for her to take the lead. It can only result in a show down between the returned and the people staying at the shelter. What exactly do the Horde want? Why have they returned? What’s the connection with the dam? Is it really the beginning of the Apocalypse?
Don’t miss the final episode!
