The Returned

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I started watching this series called "The Returned" a few months ago. It's in French (subtitled). It isn't very dialogue-heavy, so following that part isn't very hard.

The premise is that people come back after having died (anywhere from recently to decades ago). Not as flesh-eating zombies, but as they were when they left. This show doesn't get into the violently gratifying aspect of shooting zombies in the head, instead it explores some of the darker aspects of human emotions (sometimes the living move on and just want to forget).

This show is very atmospheric; there's the breath-taking landscape, the dark subject matter, the slowly-building musical score (all done by a post rock group called Mogwai), and like I said, the dialogue is not the main plot-mover.

Season 2 is coming out, so I'm getting into it all over again. If anyone here is curious, this show airs on the sundance channel, and if you watch season1 episode1, you'll know whether or not you'll like it.

I started watching that series, but having to read the entire dialogue was too off-putting, plus I found the show too slow-moving. I really like its American counterpart Resurrection though. I don't have to read it and it is over-all better, with more things happening.

My sisters used to watch anime growing up, so I'm used to the subtitles. I haven't seen resurrected, I saw the american version of the returned, but it didn't hold up like the original.

I like this show's approach to storytelling, if it was a comedy or action, I'd like a faster pace too, but this is a different genre, and the approach they took worked for me. The stunning imagery of the french alps really contrasts with the subject matter of the show. The soundtrack is just eerie and it synergizes with the acting and the imagery. This show isn't just a piece of high production value, it was really thought through.

I liked Battlestar Galactica because it showed a struggle for survival, its fast pace suited the nature of the show.

I just watched an episode of Resurrection, it had its moments, but not all of the actors had the emotional range needed, some of the more tense scenes were painful to watch because of the acting. The actors in the Returned seemed like they actually lived there. This show went through great lengths to create an atmosphere of gloom and suspense. The story is fluid and believable because the actors don't seem like they're rushing you through the plot-line .

I can't tell you how often I find movies and shows unbelievable because characters respond to each other too quickly and say something wittier than average every time. It's entertaining sometimes, but it isn't convincing. Highly emotional scenes seemed seemed less sincere in Resurrection because of the acting

It's really unfair to compare the original Returned to its US counterparts The French version is a stand-alone masterpiece, there isn't a show like it.

Well, season 2 has ended. The ending was bittersweet, and left a few lingering questions. Victor just seems to have come out of nowhere, and they never explain exactly where this horde is going. I don't think there will be a season 3; they seem to have resolved all of the main character's story arcs.

This show is suspenseful, but in a sad way. I can see how that would turn away a lot of viewers. It deals with death and for the most part, it doesn't have a very happy-ending.

This show is still a work of art though, they've managed to make it appear as though extraordinary events are taking place in the real world.

I don't have a problem with subtitles, I just found the thing too... French. That may sound like stereotypeing, and at its worst, racism, but French cinema, and television to a lesser extent, seems to go for atmospheric and strange over intruiging and captivating. Style over substance. But then maybe I wasn't getting the substance because I was reading, not watching. Frankly, it bored me. But that's just me.

Give me Engrenages over Les Revenants any day.

I also used to spend a lot of time caught up in plots, but I've realized how easy it is to conceptualize an airtight story one way or the other. Not to mention that life doesn't normally follow a storyline.

I think because death is the central theme of the show, the characters could get away with being less talkative than other shows. This show is about as dialogue dense as the walking dead, and much less action packed. What seems to be boring everyone else appears surreal to me.