The Returned
Season 1 Episode 3: “Julie”
Directed by Charles Martin
Written by Raelle Tucker
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kevin Alejandro, India Ennenga, Sandrine Holt, Mark Pellegrino, Mat Vairo, Tandi Wright, Dylan Kingwell, Sophie Lowe, India Ennenga, Agnes Bruckner, and Jeremy Sisto
A&E
Air Date: Monday, March 23, 2015, 10pm

Please go back and watch The Returned 1.1 “Camille,” and 1.2 “Simon” if you have not done so already. Spoilers ahead!

Dead people have been coming back to this sleepy little one bar (oh the humanity!) town. It has been slow and it has been secret and it has been tragic. What you would think to be the best gift ever, to have loved ones returned from the dead, seemingly normal, is as complicated and messy and scary as you also know it would be.

Helen (Michelle Forbes) came back and her husband was so frightened, he pulls a Javert, letting himself fall to his death. Camille (India Ennenga) came back and her parents are so happy, but worried. And her sister is really really unhappy, unable to deal with it. And Simon (Mat Vairo) comes back and his fiancee thinks he is a ghost haunting her.

The Returned 1.3 “Julie” review: What a crazy episode! And I say that even though there’s not much of what one would call action. Seven years ago, at a costume party, Julie (Sandrine Holt) is walking home through the tunnel after kissing Nikki (Agnes Bruckner) good-bye, when she is stabbed by the hooded figure. Cut to funeral, present day, as the reverend says, “He and Helen have been reunited at long last in heaven” as Helen looks on and then turns away. Julie runs, frightened, when she hears about the stabbing. We already know the marks from the recent stabbing match hers from seven years ago.

Lena (Sophie Lowe) has something mysterious on her back that stings. And it’s getting bigger. What does this have to do with Camille’s return? I have no freakin’ clue, but it’s gross and ominous.

Simon starts pretending to be the ghost Rowan (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) thinks he is. If that is not the sweetest thing, I don’t know what is.

This little boy Victor is so friggin’ scary! Even without what little you know, he is a creepy little dude. Nosy neighbor better watch out!

The Returned is doing what Resurrection strives for, but just doesn’t quite manage, although I do like that show too. It is slowly bringing people back and they are staying more hidden, which makes it a little more realistic (as much as it can be). Therefore, it evokes more emotion when the reunions happen, and the living react in a vast spectrum of ways that also differ in intensity. All reactions are believable.

The Returned airs Mondays at 10pm on A&E.

“The Returned,” from executive producers Carlton Cuse (“Lost,” “Bates Motel”) and Raelle Tucker (“True Blood”), focuses on a small town that is turned upside down when several local people, who have been long presumed dead suddenly reappear, bringing with them both positive and detrimental consequences. As families are reunited, the lives of those who were left behind are challenged on a physical and emotional level. Interpersonal relationships are examined with intrigue and depth as strange phenomena begin to occur. “The Returned” is based on the popular and International Emmy®-award winning French suspense series adapted by Fabrice Gobert and inspired by the feature film, Les Revenants, directed by Robin Campillo.

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Video

The Returned: Inside the Episode: Simon (S1, E2)

Rowan was prevented from outgrowing her first love, and now he’s back. Carlton Cuse and Raelle Tucker describe Rowan’s conflict in this web exclusive from “Simon.”