The Returned

It became apparent at the midpoint of season two: With the revenants still in hiding and the living in various…

In its exploration of grief, The Returned has reached the bargaining stage. It might be reductive to apply something…

“Esther” begins with the most promising five minutes of The Returned’s second season: The story of how one of those…

The camera locks in on a character we’ve presumed dead. Their eyes are closed, they’re not breathing—all onscreen…

The Returned understands the intoxicating allure of the easy explanation. It would have to, given the way it treats…

The explanation is so simple, it’s shocking. Six months after the flood, Camille wants to know why some of the…

If there’s a thematic constant running through “Milan,” the even darker second episode of The Returned’s sophomore…

Things used to be permanent in the world of The Returned. If a dam was un-compromised, it held back the flood…

How do you follow up one of the best single seasons of television in the 21st century? Very slowly, if the glacial…

In the end, The Returned refuses to offer any easy answers. Beyond the portentous, 35-year-old words of Mrs.…

The Returned takes place in something of a dream state, which is a difficult tone for a television narrative to…

The Returned displays a healthy skepticism toward easy answers. All along, it insists that there’s a reason that the…

Again and again, death tears us apart. That’s part of the reason that religious notions of the afterlife are so…

In the small town that serves as The Returned’s setting, the soil is crumbling beneath the population’s feet. Not…

“Julie” is the first episode of The Returned that’s not named for or centered on one of The Returned. Or is it? The…

“There’s an explanation for everything”—Pierre, “Simon”

So much time passes between the screams.

Since 2007, TV Club has dissected television episode by episode. Beginning this September, The A.V. Club will also…