The Returned (US) - General Discussion

[Starchild]

how come she was drinking like she was an old pro, pounding down multiple shots with the greatest of ease when she had probably never sampled much wine or beer before she died (if ever) let alone hard liquor.

My guess is that it's related to why all these dead people are so hungry all the time. Somehow she is metabolizing the alcohol much faster than normal, so she's not getting drunk.

[ottoDbusdriver]

My guess is that it's related to why all these dead people are so hungry all the time. Somehow she is metabolizing the alcohol much faster than normal, so she's not getting drunk.

 

It's not even the lack of drunkenness (though that should have been shown since she since she has a small body type and drank 4 shots in a row), my disbelief is that if you have never drunk hard liquor before (like Camille), the first time you do it's such a shock to your system -- the burning sensation in your throat, followed by coughing and gasping,  She tossed down those four shots like she had been doing it for years.  Whereas the guy that was actually 21 couldn't even do one shot.

Edited April 7, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Morbs]

The fact that barely anyone reacts or behaves like a normal human would in this situation is why I've given up on the series.  

[alias1]

 

Julie and Nikki join forces to search for Victor; Tony's confession has a big impact on Adam.

 

Did we ever see Julie and Nikki join forces to look for Victor?  Is Nikki the policewoman?  If so, she was with different woman when she heard about that police report from 4 years ago.  I'm not sure why she would connect that with Victor, anyway.

[FormerMod-a1]

Good catch - that episode description was obviously wrong.  Let me see if they've since changed it, if so it will be updated above.  Weird, it has been updated, but it still has the Julie and Nikki part.

[alias1]

Camille drinking in the bar was pretty unbelievable.  But they seemed to be playing up the psychic connection between the twins,.  Lena felt the kiss that Camille and that boy had (the boy that Lena and Camille both were interested in, right?).  So maybe they were trying to show that Camille could drink like Lena.  Still unbelievable, though.  

[ottoDbusdriver]

Is Nikki the policewoman?

 

Nikki is the policewoman, and all she did after finding out about the 4-year-old police report about a young boy with no name who never spoke was to drive out to the community center to see if Victor was there (but he wasn't).  And she most certainly didn't team up with Julie to scout around town together looking for Victor. 

[Starchild]

Did Julie look at all? Wasn't it the psychiatrist who did all actual the searching?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Did Julie look at all? Wasn't it the psychiatrist who did all actual the searching?

 

Julie didn't look at all for Victor as I don't even think she was made aware that Victor was missing.  Peter the psychiatrist did do most of the searching until he found him at the end of the episode.

[BonnieD]

 

Why is no one in awe about people returning from the dead? Camille's parents are happy to have her back, but that's about the extent of it.  Even Rowan being happy (briefly) to have Simon back seems a bit sedated.  No one is like "Oh my god!!!  You were dead and now you're here!  WTH!!"

This is my biggest beef too. No one is shocked, or asks what it was like wherever they were, including the dead themselves. They don't even appear to be struggling to recall anything about the missing time. That's the main annoying thing, but there were plenty of smaller "bugs" too.

Why were all the frickin' deer BUCKS! Have you ever seen a herd that was more bucks than does? No. There wasn't a single doe among the dead. It's like the show creators don't even know that not all deer have racks.

And how do the dead have ANY MONEY! What's her face paid for a meal for her and the boy. What's his face apparently paid for train tickets. How? Where did they get any money from? Such nitpicks are sometimes more frustrating than the bigger logic lapses.

[methodwriter85]

They said the deviations would start to get big around the 5th and 6th episodes.

[Mayadog]

And in this one Camille is absolutely having an impact on Lena now - through the open wound on her back mirroring the piece of the bus that injured or killed Camille, and through Lena feeling something going on with whatever that guy's name is.  One of my friends said that Camille is draining the life out of her sister, and that feels different than the French version where we still aren't exactly sure what's up with that scar on Lena's back.  

I agree that Tony taking Julie to the hospital is a defining act for him and made his interaction with Julie when she and Laure try to escape the village much more poignant.  

One other thing that my friend brought up was that the number of deer in the river was the same as the number of returned - Simon, Camille, Henry/Victor, Helen/Mrs. Acosta - am I forgetting anyone?  

[dbklmt]

One of my favorite lines in the French version got changed in this week's American episode.

When Claire meets Simon and agrees to get a message to Adele in the French version she says, "Zombies have to stick together".  In the American version she says, "Dead people have to stick together".

 

Their discussion when they first meet is very similar except that there is more discussion of what happened to Simon before the suicide with one of the themes of the series said aloud "Love is stronger than death".

 

Actually liked the way the story of the Dam collapse was told better in the American version with 84 people being killed and their photos in a mural commemorating the event.  It was used for Victor and Mrs. Costas to meet when she's perusing the mural. 

 

The beginning flashback to Tony and Adam was somewhat different from the French version with the Mother actually speaking and blaming Tony for Adam's escape thus sending him to find Tony.  Maman in the French version never said a word and was much creepier than the American mother.

 

Really liked the encounter with Victor confronting his killer, Peter so much more in the French version with the imagined fight between him and the other burglar who killed Victor and the resulting blackout.  Hoping that in the American version they reveal who the other burglar was as it was one of the most disappointing things not revealed in Les Revenants.  Hoping that happens when the French series has season two.

 

Still enjoying the American version and eager to see where it goes in the final five episodes.

Edited April 8, 2015 by dbklmt

[molshoop]

 

No one is like "Oh my god!!!  You were dead and now you're here!  WTH!!" 

 

  When Helen returned, her husband killed himself.  That's a pretty strong reaction.

 

  

[theatremouse]

That funeral home scene seems tacked on for no apparent reason -- wouldn't Lena have remembered this on her own the minute that the wound started to appear ?

I thought the point of the scene was two (ok-maybe one-and-a-half) fold:

To establish concretely for anyone who wasn't already suspecting it that the wound on Lena's back now is a mirror of a wound on dead-Camille's back when she died.

To establish that not only did Lena know/see Camille's wound (and thus would recognize thing 1 above) but also that Ben(?) and that other girl in the scene also knew/saw it, and establishes there's a possibility they'll recognize it too, which seems decently probable assuming that experience was mildly traumatic and therefore memorable for all three.

[theatremouse]

It's not even the lack of drunkenness (though that should have been shown since she since she has a small body type and drank 4 shots in a row), my disbelief is that if you have never drunk hard liquor before (like Camille), the first time you do it's such a shock to your system -- the burning sensation in your throat, followed by coughing and gasping,  She tossed down those four shots like she had been doing it for years.  Whereas the guy that was actually 21 couldn't even do one shot.

That was "the final round" though. They'd all already been drinking, I assume a lot. So it wasn't that the other couldn't do one shot. He couldn't do one more shot, in the whatever head-to-head against Camille/Alice. He'd had others earlier, some even on camera I'm pretty sure.

The whole Victor at the community center thing totally took me out of it as plot contrivance. This town has no foster homes? None at all? Earlier they established Peter takes in "transients" at that place. Why the hell would a police officer think a 7 year old would be safer in a dorm full of adult transient strangers of both genders all sharing a room? On the one hand, the only people we saw there were all dead, including Victor, but from an outsider law enforcement perspective it distracted me the whole time that she brought him there in the first place and seemed to be thanking Peter for taking him, and then she finds out a mute 7 year went wnadering off alone in the woods and is all "no big, tell me if he's not back in oh say 10 hours."

Edited April 9, 2015 by theatremouse

[Yeldarbe]

I'm starting to think that everyone is dead.

[Starchild]

Ha! Classic! Cuse had to backpedal on the idea for Lost so he tries it out here? Love it!

 

And I can't think of anything I've seen so far that would negate that theory either.

[theatremouse]

They all react too nonchalantly to dead people anyway. I mean, all who've been made aware they're speaking with a dead person. That'd make a lot more sense if everyone were dead...except that the dead people don't seem to realize they are until someone tells them so...maybe not.

I hope not anyway. "Everyone's dead...duhn duhn duhnnnnn" is such a boring resolution for anything.

Edited April 10, 2015 by theatremouse

[rubinia]

How did Victor know he and his mom had been killed (and who killed them) if none of the other dead people remember their deaths?

[Commando Cody]

My takeaway from this episode is Rowan's need to have a relationship issues.  If I understood what has been going on, she met her fiance at Simon's funeral?  They got together, he puts secret cameras all over the house.  She's pissed for a while, but not I'm leaving you pissed.  In the end she decides she has to pick one or the other.  Not get rid of both of them, pick one or the other.  Because apparently being with a creepy, spying boyfriend is better than having no boyfriend at all.  

 

I thought it was kind of stupid to take a child out of a regular home and bring him to a group home.  I had to wonder why that was better.  

 

I'm not sure what I'm getting from this show.  It kind of drags sometimes.  

[theatremouse]

How did Victor know he and his mom had been killed (and who killed them) if none of the other dead people remember their deaths?

Well, barring some scenario where either, Victor's special since he seems to have come back at some point before, then potentially disappeared again, and now reappeared, or one in which they all eventually sort of remember their deaths after some reminding of context, I think it's fair to say Victor definitely remembers what happened right before his death. Facing two home invaders with guns, he probably assumed he was about the be murdered. So if he remembers the conversation and the gun and possibly even being shot, it might make more sense for him to know he'd been killed.

With Camille and Simon, possibly given the nature of the car accidents, they may have died instantly. Victor, maybe not. So maybe he not only remembers being shot and feeling like he was dying, but possibly also hearing his mother be shot (and assuming there's no way those guys would have shot her in a non-murdery way).

If I understood what has been going on, she met her fiance at Simon's funeral?

Worse. She met him when he was the officer who notified her that Simon'd been killed, while she was still at her wedding waiting for Simon to show up, which he didn't do, being dead. Edited April 11, 2015 by theatremouse

[queenanne]

I figured out that everybody who returned was hungry because Simon was desperate enough to dine-n-dash, but shouldn't Lena and her peers have more of a life?  I get that this is probably one of the things that can't be ditched from Les Revenants/French setting, but shouldn't some of them be in college?  That talk about Rowan tutoring for the (?P?)SAT's... I mean, I simultaneously get that there are small towns where there is "nothing to do but drink", but the show's youthcore all strike me as oddly aimless.  It isn't even really just "that" they drink; it's that they seem to have no conversation and nothing in common other than the drinking.  Somebody, please be an aspiring cartoonist... a tattoo artist... a handmade jewelry designer, novelist, SOMEthing other than "amateur fish".  At least Lena and Camille have their dad as excuse though I guess.

 

Also, I'm completely over the sheriff after the cameras-in-ceiling reveal.  I can't imagine liking or trusting the guy for and with anything.

[queenanne]

I have a problem with the bar-dealio partly because it makes Lena's circle seem like bores.  I don't know how heavily "barflies" factor into French culture, but in general in my experience in small towns in the U.S., early twentysomethings who aren't going to college, appear to have no jobs and no interests other than getting drunk, tend to become uninteresting fortysomethings still living in the same town and frequenting the same bar talking about their twentysomething-hookups like they were (a) of current interest; (b), of interest at all even when they happened, which is a stretch.  They may not have to all be separate self-actualized adults and characters in their own rights, but I'd at least like something of non-navel-gazing interest to have grown up in and around Ben (? the blond guy that both sisters are supposed to be in love with), at least.

[Commando Cody]

I came across a made for TV Jesus movie from 1999, last night.  It was really bad.  I thought the guy who played Jesus looked really familiar.  At first I thought he resembled Mark Pellegrino.  It turned out to be the actor who plays Peter.  

Edited April 14, 2015 by CommanderCody

[FormerMod-a1]

Camille attempts to help the parents of the support group; Victor comes between Nikki and Julie.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I can't believe that the hospital is not concerned at all that a patient up and walked out.  Or that the police are rather nonchalant about it as well.

 

The most unbelievable part is that Peter finally finds Victor, and proceeds to let Victor wander off after the scene at the grave site -- and doesn't seem overly concerned about where he is.

[ottoDbusdriver]

They weren't kidding when the US writers said that things diverged from the French version after episode 5.  And I don't think it's necessarily for the better.

 

So hold on a minute .. Lucy takes a a turn for the worse in the hospital and dies, yet suddenly wakes up after being pronounced dead, and her wounds are also gone.  That didn't happen in the French version at all -- Lucy just woke up from her coma, and then worked with a police artist to identify her attacker.

 

The French version of the Lucy episode is when Lena's friends dig up Camille's grave and find her body missing and the coffin full of water, and then get arrested for it.  But that doesn't happen in the US version. Also by this episode, the power plant at the dam has completely flooded and the power is out for the entire town.  And Claire/Pierre reveal the existence of Camille returning from the dead to their close friends. And Simon returns from the dead after being shot dead by Thomas -- heck, Thomas/Tommy and Adele/Rowan weren't even in the US Lucy episode.  And in the US version, Victor is not showing any signs of wounds on his arms, similar to Lena's back.

 

In the French version, I don't think that Camille ever told her parents about her psychic connection to Lena.  Nor did Claire go pestering Lena's friends for info on Lena's disappearance -- or Claire discovered that Lena was a reputation around town. Or that Lucy now hears things while not having sex.

 

Nikki and Julie never interviewed Mrs. Goddard/Dacosta in the police station -- and Julie never discover that Victor is Returned from Mrs. Goddard/Dacosta.  And Julie never thought that she was Returned from the dead in the French version.

 

Peter never showed Victor the grave of his partner in the robbery that killed Victor, and offers a gun to Victor/Henry to kill him -- and now is when the vision of his dead brother appears, who takes the gun from Peter's hand and points it at his head and pulls the trigger, but the gun doesn't fire.  Only it was Peter really holding the gun to his own head -- yet the gun was full of bullets.  And proceeds to let Victor/Henry wander off to his devices.

 

Adam treats Lena with a home remedy to her back wound -- which happened in both versions -- but still doesn't put a bandage on it (yet neither did the hospital), but the wound doesn't really close up.  You would think she would at least put something over it so that wound didn't ooze all over the dress she borrowed. Lena did not phone her mom from Adam's cabin in the French version to tell her she was ok.

 

In the US version Lena never discovered that Adam/Serge was a serial killer (via Tony's confession through the door because he thought Lena was his Returned mother) BEFORE banging him -- Lena just put on Adam/Serge's mother's clothes and then they just banged.

 

Peter doesn't seem overly concerned that Mrs. Goddard seems to have bolted from his facility as well.  And Claire decides that this is the time to hook back up with Peter. And somehow Camille doesn't feel Lena getting laid, but lures Ben over for some sexy time of her own where he discovers that she is really Camille and he bolts from the house.

 

Julie is now suicidal, and Victor shows up in the nick of time to stop her.  And Victor/Henry finally speaks to Julie and tells her that she isn't dead/Returned and is a fairy that will protect him (are they ripping off ideas from the movie 'A.I.' now ?), while Julie says she's not a fairy initially, she agrees to be one for him.

 

In the US version, Lucy is now denying that she ever had any psychic powers and what she was telling Jack during their sessions was all bullshit, but now she has psychic powers and hears things while not having sex -- and starts telling Jack things about his past.

 

In the US version, Tony never lost it and shot a cop when the cops came looking for Adam/Serge based on the sketch from Lucy's description, Thomas/Tommy never shot and killed Simon at Adele/Rowan's house, after returning from the dead ... again ... Simon and Lucy never banged so Lucy discovered via her sexual psychic powers that Simon had killed himself, and the friends of Claire's never hanged themselves so that they could be with their missing daughter.

 

In the US version, Lena never discovered a circle of Returned around a fire in the woods after fleeing from Serge/Adam's cabin.

 

Still no mention of animals returning from the dead, or serious problems with the dam or the power station.

Edited April 14, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[alias1]

 

The most unbelievable part is that Peter finally finds Victor, and proceeds to let Victor wander off after the scene at the grave site -- and doesn't seem overly concerned about where he is.

I think Peter realized that Victor probably engineered that hallucination that ended with Peter holding a loaded gun to his own head.   Victor seems very capable of taking care of himself and appearing and disappearing at will.

 

So is Adam really nicer now that he's back?

 

I'm starting to like Lena more and Camille less.

[Dirtybubble]

Considering all the other returned queens were eliminated on the episode they were brought back. I'm not too sure that rest helps them.

 

LoL well seeing how the kid is DEAD and all what could really happen to him.

 

I can't believe that the hospital is not concerned at all that a patient up and walked out.  Or that the police are rather nonchalant about it as well.

True.  I'm also surprised how nonchalant citizens of this town are about people returning from the damn grave!!  I would be flippin' the F out if I lived there.  How is this not causing complete panic? 

 

Still struggling to remember the names of most of these characters but over all the episodes are getting better. 

So is Adam really nicer now that he's back?

From the previews for next week it doesn't appear so.  Maybe he had a moment of lapse when Lena showed kindness to him *shrug*.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2015 by Dirtybubble

[dbklmt]

"They weren't kidding when the US writers said that things diverged from the French version after episode 5.  And I don't think it's necessarily for the better."

 

Totally agree with your post.  I was just coming to see if anyone had commented about all the BIG differences in this episode and you saved me a lot of time as this episode was night and day with what happened in Les Revenants.

 

The U.S. version really cut down the story of Lucy-One Year Earlier.  One change when Lucy arrived in town was that rather than being a hitchhiker on a log truck she came on a bus with nothing, went to the bar where she had no bartending skills but still got a job and a place to stay from Tony.  It just so happened that Camille's father was there drinking when his wife came in and then they had words and left.  It would be later that we would see Lucy having her 1st "Psychic Sex" which wasn't a con as they're making it in the U.S. version.  Annoying that they've added her now hearing all the Dead Noise.   Another great line from the French version made by Tony to Lucy got axed: "If you like tragedy you're in the right place".

 

"In the French version, I don't think that Camille ever told her parents about her psychic connection to Lena.  Nor did Claire go pestering Lena's friends for info on Lena's disappearance -- or Claire discovered that Lena was a reputation around town. Or that Lucy now hears things while not having sex."

 

Nope none of that ever happened.

 

"And Julie never thought that she was Returned from the dead in the French version."

 

Actually it did but it was in episode 5 when the police ex-girlfriend came to the house and discovered her on the roof and saves her instead of Victor.

 

The whole dam story has been purged from the American version which does not portend well to where it's going.  As mentioned by ottoDbusdriver in the French episode the power plant has been flooded and TPTB are pulling out since there will never be power again in the town.

 

Another American episode with Simon still being alive and Tommy who was such a creep in the French version to everyone just too nice.  As a result it eliminated the scene of Simon in the morgue with full frontal nudity on display.  Taking bets this will never happen in the A&E version!  Dead Sex scenes are so much better in Les Revenants!

 

The last scene in the American version really deviated from Les Revenants. 

Lucy hearing voices in the hospital when she is visited by Camille's father who tells him that she has a psychic connection with his dead father who says "He is scared for you". 

Not looking forward to what this means.

 

Did like that the American version answered a question that was left unanswered in the French version as to who was the other burglar who murdered Victor/Henry.  We actually got a good story of the history of Richard Gregory Finch who was Peter's friend and buddy on his first trip to Europe.  The nightmare scenarios were told in two different places at Helping Hands in Les Revenants (so much better imo) and in the cemetery in A&E's version.  Loved the added photo in Jack Kerouac's novel, "On the Road".  The French Peter was sympathetic, but this helps to make the American Peter even more so.

Edited April 14, 2015 by dbklmt

[ottoDbusdriver]

Actually it did but it was in episode 5 when the police ex-girlfriend came to the house and discovered her on the roof and saves her instead of Victor.

 

Yep, you're right -- I forgot about that.  But even then in the French version she was only jumping from her apartment window (not the roof), the same fall that Victor survived in an earlier episode (something that was also left out of the US version).

 

And I also forgot that before thinking about jumping, Julie did speak with Mrs. DaCosta at the police station, but that was also in Episode 5 of the French version.  The placement of scenes in different episodes makes the comparisons a little confusing.

[dbklmt]

The placement of scenes in different episodes makes the comparisons a little confusing.

 

 

And it's only to get worse since there are 2 extra episodes for the A&E version.  LOL!

[methodwriter85]

Lena and her friends go to community college, I think.

[metalchik]

 

I'm also surprised how nonchalant citizens of this town are about people returning from the damn grave!!  I would be flippin' the F out if I lived there.  How is this not causing complete panic?

Preach!  I told my friend that I would be freaking out at this and would probably head to my nearest church lol.

[Bananasandsocks]

Besides the substantive changes, which I agree do not appear for the better, I am getting the uneasy feeling that certain decisions are being made for the purpose of dragging out the plot, a quintessential feature of American television which is less about creating art and more about creating revenue (and staying on air as long as possible). In other words, the creators are looking ahead to seasons 2, 3, and 4. Thus I am less sure that dam/animal issues are gone from the plot than that they are being delayed.

 

I found the last episode--where we began to see what these writers will be doing--to be not that great. I thought the hospital scene where the doctors were trying to save a flat-lining Lucy was obnoxiously dramatic (and very American). Whereas the atmosphere was front and center in the French version and the plot moved along independently of the characters, I fear the American version will turn into a typical character driven drama where established characters are just given random things to do by writers until the ratings fall low enough for it to get axed.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Bananasandsocks

[ottoDbusdriver]

I thought the hospital scene where the doctors were trying to save a flat-lining Lucy was obnoxiously dramatic (and very American).

 

That scene was just drama for the sake of drama -- and the worse part was the miraculous waking up after being declared dead, with all of her wounds healed and new found psychic abilities that she was faking all along before she was attacked.  In the French version, Lucy simply woke up from her coma complete with wounds still on her stomach and sexy psychic powers still intact as before she was attacked.

 

Are we supposed to assume that Lucy is now a Returned based on her miraculous deathbed recovery and being fully healed.  Is Lucy the US version of Simon's hasty 2nd return in the morgue after he was shot dead by Thomas ?  

Edited April 17, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[candall]

So is Adam really nicer now that he's back?

Well, he found out his mother considered him so irreparably sick and twisted he couldn't be fixed and that his brother felt forced to kill him.  Bit of a wake up call there.

[theatremouse]

From the previews for next week it doesn't appear so.  Maybe he had a moment of lapse when Lena showed kindness to him *shrug*.

I can't pinpoint why I feel this way, but I got the impression his pattern may always have been giant swings. IE The relatively normal seeming, thoughtfulish demeanor may have been his most of the time personality all along, and then he gets, let's say cravings? And he goes all psycho murderer flesh eating stabby in these fits, but then once he's quelled that he's chill again for a while. Maybe it was something about the way Tony reacted to him? I mean other than his being dead, but some of the caution gave me a sort of fearfulness that made me think Adam's always been Jekyll & Hyde-ey. Edited April 17, 2015 by theatremouse

[alias1]

They weren't kidding when the US writers said that things diverged from the French version after episode 5.  And I don't think it's necessarily for the better.

 

So hold on a minute .. Lucy takes a a turn for the worse in the hospital and dies, yet suddenly wakes up after being pronounced dead, and her wounds are also gone.  That didn't happen in the French version at all -- Lucy just woke up from her coma, and then worked with a police artist to identify her attacker.

In the US version, Lucy is now denying that she ever had any psychic powers and what she was telling Jack during their sessions was all bullshit, but now she has psychic powers and hears things while not having sex -- and starts telling Jack things about his past.

 

In the US version, Tony never lost it and shot a cop when the cops came looking for Adam/Serge based on the sketch from Lucy's description, Thomas/Tommy never shot and killed Simon at Adele/Rowan's house, after returning from the dead ... again ... Simon and Lucy never banged so Lucy discovered via her sexual psychic powers that Simon had killed himself, and the friends of Claire's never hanged themselves so that they could be with their missing daughter.

 

Otto, thanks for pointing out all these differences, especially about Lucy.  I thought I was not remembering the French version correctly when they deviated this much.  And I wondered when they were going to show Simon being shot by Tommy.  The scene between Lucy and Jack where she admits to conning him just did not resonate.  Everything in the French version seemed moodier and more powerful.  I'm glad you know all the differences in such detail!.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Otto, thanks for pointing out all these differences, especially about Lucy.  I thought I was not remembering the French version correctly when they deviated this much.  And I wondered when they were going to show Simon being shot by Tommy.  The scene between Lucy and Jack where she admits to conning him just did not resonate.  Everything in the French version seemed moodier and more powerful.  I'm glad you know all the differences in such detail!.

 

No problem, I rewatched the French series recently so it's still pretty fresh in my mind.

 

While the French series wasn't perfect (but still pretty awesome), the US writers really are taking away some of the best creepy parts of the French series and replacing them with lamer ideas.

[candall]

Also, I'm completely over the sheriff after the cameras-in-ceiling reveal.  I can't imagine liking or trusting the guy for and with anything.

Agree.  I prefer the low-key reaction about dead people coming back--who wants to watch that level of hysteria over and over?  But why is spy guy still on my screen?  Who in the world would take back the creep who engineered that kind of nutfuckery?

 

I'd like to see someone's beloved pet come back all happy and waggy-tailed--would that ruin the dark sad vibe?  And I'm tired of the insatiable hunger angle--waay too many people saying their lines while they chew. 

 

I'm disappointed that I'm not loving this as much as expected.

[methodwriter85]

Every time I look at Adam, I keep thinking he should have played the sexy bad punk boy on a teen show like 5 years ago. Not a surprise he was on Degrassi.

[FormerMod-a1]

Claire's secret is revealed and Lena returns home. Police arrest the suspected killer who makes a full confession. Victor goes to extreme measures to protect Julie. Camille discovers her attempt to help has led to a horrifying result.

[alias1]

Another weird description of the episode.  Yes, Camille tried to help the parents in the support group, but as for Victor, he only stood in the doorway looking creepy, but he hasn't done anything yet to come between Julie and Nikki.  And actually, he still isn't creepy enough.

 

Based on no comments yet for this episode, are people losing interest?  I think I am. 

 

The Michele Forbes character is starting to grate on me.  I can't put my finger on why.  She just is.

 

I wonder if Simon will come back from the dead, again.

[ottoDbusdriver]

but as for Victor, he only stood in the doorway looking creepy, but he hasn't done anything yet to come between Julie and Nikki.

 

Aside from breaking up sexy time between Julie and Nikki, but that's it.  Maybe next time they should consider closing the door when there are other people in the house.  And that actor playing Victor is still the Diet Coke of creepy -- just one calorie, not creepy enough

 

Hold on, all of the parents at the support group meeting immediately recognized Camille, but Ben and his friends couldn't figure out who she was after spending days with her.  Ben only figures it out after kissing Camille. How the hell is that possible ?  

 

I find it odd that Jack/Claire/Peter aren't concerned at all about Lena -- no one from the hospital has told them that Lena is missing, and none of them have even gone to visit Lena in the hospital to discover that she is missing. Yet Claire has time to go bang Jack and host a support group meeting. WTF ?

 

Finally they mention something more about the dam, but more about the historical problems with the old dam and nothing about structural problems with the current dam.  And Mrs. Goddard seems a little too interested in the guy leading the engineering class. Is she planning on destroying the dam herself ?

Edited April 21, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[ottoDbusdriver]

The US version continues to to veer off on a tangent with regards to some significant plot points in the French version.

 

US version: In a one year ago flashback, Rowan went through the process of cleaning her house, writing goodbye letters, stocking the fridge and dropping off Chloe with Tommy under the guise of going to visit her sister prior to attempting suicide by ODing on pills. Tommy phones Rowan's sister, discovers that Rowan was lying and rushes to her house to find her unconscious on her bed and calls 911.
French version: In a one year ago flashback, Thomas and Chloe came home like any normal day and Thomas finds Adele with her wrist slit in the bathroom. Thomas tells Chloe to go to her room, bandages Adele's wrist and takes her to the hospital. And that's what justified Thomas installing all the hidden cameras -- he didn't want to risk the possibility of Chloe coming home and discover her mother like that ever again.

 

US version: Claire banged her Peter, and then does the late night walk of shame and returns home to find Camille up.

French version: Nothing physical happened between Claire and Pierre.

 

US version: After Lena wakes up, Adam gives her some of his mother's clothes to wear. Tony comes home and Adam tells him that mom has Returned from the dead and is in the house, but that "Mom" doesn't want to see Tony because he killed Adam so Tony leaves in his truck. Lena confronts Adam that he has returned from the dead, he confirms it and then they bang.  After waking up in the middle of the night, Lena discovers Adam's "trophy" room with items from all his assaults, including Lucy's necklace.  Apparently Lena when back to bed with Adam as Adam apparently didn't notice anything odd when he got up in the morning, walks to the nearest coffee shop (which is miles away since they live way out in the woods), comes home and notices Tony's truck at the house. While Adam was gone for coffee in the morning, Tony had returned to the house and Lena confronts Tony about Adam and Lucy's necklace.  Tony forces Lena back in to the house, and ties her her up until Adam gets home.Tony confronts Adam about the fact he lied about mom returning, then Tony and Adam have a long talk, about how Adam has changed his killing ways, settle things and hug it out.  Adam then releases Lena who runs into the woods to a road, flags down a logging truck and gets a ride back to town and she returns to her home.
French version: After Lena wakes up, Serge gives her some of his mother's clothes to wear and then Serge goes hunting. Toni comes home to find a woman wearing his mother's clothes through the window that he thinks is his Returned mother.  Through a locked door he confesses to his "mother" that he killed Serge because he was sick in the head. Serge returns home and Toni tells Serge that the police are looking for him in connection with Lucy's attack, and that he will protect Serge.  Serge enters the house, Lena confronts him that he has returned from the dead, he confirms it and then they bang.  The police come looking for Serge, Tony shoots one of the officers in the leg and as the police leave Lena escapes into the woods at Serge's insistence.  Where Lena finds a large group of Returned gathered around a large fire in the woods -- a horde of Returned.

Note: In the French version, Toni never knew that it was Lena in his house instead of his Returned mother.  In the US version, Tony doesn't even seem surprised to find Lena at his house.

 

US version: Rowan bitches to her therapist that the past six years that it has been a complete waste of time, and dumps all her prescription meds on his desk as she walks out.
French version: Never happened.

 

US version: Julie/Nikki took Victor to the park, and made out on a blanket while Victor played on the playground equipment where Victor meets Chloe.  Victor talks to Chloe and tells her about his dead mom, and tells her that he is also dead.
French version: Never happened.

 

US version: Tommy shows up at Claire's house looking for Claire's "niece", and tells her to bring her down to the police station for some questions.  The meeting of the bus accident victim's support group commences shortly after as Camille reveals herself to them, and Camille flees upstairs after being confronted by one parent who stated that Camille was a mean girl to her daughter.  Peter goes up to console Camille and tells her that she can help the parents of the other children killed in the bus crash. Camille returns to the meeting and tells them rather vague made up stories about the afterlife and the other parent's children were with her.  As she reveals details of the after life, it is so obvious that Peter is coaching Camille that it comes off as obviously fake that moments later even Jack blurts out that Camille's lying within earshot of the other parents. 
French version: At the meeting of the bus accident victim's support group, Camille reveals herself to them, and Camille flees upstairs after being confronted by one parent why only Camille has come back. Pierre goes up to Camille's room to console her and tell her she can help the support group.  After Camille returns to the meeting, she tells some made up stories about the afterlife to the other parents so they all feel better. While the meeting continues, Thomas shows up looking for Claire's niece and tells Claire to bring her niece down to the police station with ID for some questions.

 

US version: A rather small dam that doesn't appear to be connected to a power station, and has a single lane access road across the top of it, but it doesn't look like a public roadway since a class of people are walking across it in the middle of the day. 
French version:  Large hydroelectric dam, complete with power station at the foot of the dam and public roadway across the top of it.

Note: Have to say that the dam in the US version is tiny compared to the dam in the French version.  Disappointingly so.

 

US version: Mrs. Goddard is hanging around the top of the dam when an engineering class shows up talking about the original dam collapse, and Mrs. Goddard asks if she can listen in on the class.  As she listens in to the class, Mrs. Goddard gets all pissy because it was greed that caused the collapse of the first dam.  Mrs. Goddard invites the engineering class leader to the local bar for drinks.  And then she wants to dance with him, and starts talking about death and fate and how building the dam in the first place was a mistake. And then starts asking how to "hypothetically" destroy the dam.  And once he starts asking why she wants to know this, she gets all lovey and starts kissing him.
French version: None of that happened.

Note: Not to ask a silly question, but what would Mrs. Goddard have done if the dam engineer was married and didn't want to go for drinks.  How would Mrs. Goddard even know that this class was going on for her to go there and pick up the dam engineer ?

 

US version: Rowan doesn't explain anything about Simon or how he died to Chloe.

French version: Adele explains to Chloe that Simon killed himself on her wedding day and she doesn't know why.  And that Simon knew she was pregnant when he did it.

 

US version: Simon sneaks into Rowan's house and pleads with her to explain why she and Chloe didn't meet him at the train station. Rowan explains that Chloe isn't there and why she wouldn't go away with him since he killed himself on their wedding day, as Tommy enters the living room with his gun pointed at Simon and keeps warning him to stay away from Rowan.  As Simon gets too close, Tommy shoots him in the heart and kills him (which was surprising since he was so physically close to Rowan at the time).  Rowan appears to be relieved that Simon is dead again.
French version: Simon sneaks into Adele's house and pleads with her to explain why she and Chloe didn't meet him at the bus station.  Chloe is in a room upstairs and calls Thomas on a cell phone to tell him to come over since Simon is there. Chloe goes downstairs and tells Simon that he is dead and he chose suicide instead of remaining with them as a husband and father.  Simon leaves Adele's house as Thomas drives up to find Simon on the lawn outside Adele's house. As Adele puts Chloe to bed, Thomas shoots Simon in the chest and kills him (even though he wasn't doing anything threatening at the time).

Note: I thought this was a substantial fail in the US version to leave out the part when Chloe told Simon to go away because he didn't want to be with them since he killed himself.  Having a 10 year old call you out on your shitty choices really hammers home the point.

 

US version: No sign of the horde of Returned -- at all.  And no mention of their existence.

French version: It's implied that the Returned horde congregated on the 50s restaurant and took every piece of food in the place while simultaneously trashing the restaurant. The Returned horde then gathers in the woods around a bonfire where they are found by Lena.

 

US version: No mention of skin decay or any health problems of that type at all with the Returned.

French version: Several of the Returned are experiencing problems with their skin and flesh decaying -- Camille, Victor, and Simon specifically.

 

US version: By episode 7, no problems with the power supply at all.

French version: By episode 6, the power station has failed and almost no one in town has power.

 

US version: Nikki kind of moves in to Julie's apartment with Victor.

French version: With all the power out in town, Laure asks Julie and Victor to come live with her since she has a fireplace in her house and supplies.  Laure lives right next door to Adele's house.

Note: So, did Nikki just ditch her girlfriend from a couple of episodes ago in the US version ?  Or was that a one night stand, because it seemed like they had a more going on than just a casual hookup.

 

ETA: to correct one comparison.

Edited April 23, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[alias1]

Aside from breaking up sexy time between Julie and Nikki, but that's it.  Maybe next time they should consider closing the door when there are other people in the house.  And that actor playing Victor is still the Diet Coke of creepy -- just one calorie, not creepy enough

 

I find it odd that Jack/Claire/Peter aren't concerned at all about Lena -- no one from the hospital has told them that Lena is missing, and none of them have even gone to visit Lena in the hospital to discover that she is missing. Yet Claire has time to go bang Jack and host a support group meeting. WTF ?

 

Victor was trying to look creepy when Chloe asked him if he was an angel and he sort of shook his head.  I had to laugh, actually, because he is so bad at looking creepy.

 

Am I not remembering this correctly, but didn't Clare keep calling Lena's phone and Lena finally answered (when she was with Adam) and said "I'm fine stop calling me" (or something like that)?   But yeah, Jack saying she's an adult and we shouldn't worry about her was sort of weird.  But then, I find Jack sort of weird, anyway.

[mjc570]

Despite the gaping logic holes mentioned above (especially the fact that the other parents recognized Camille immediately), the thing that bugs me the most was how her parents have abandoned Lena, both now and in the past.  She obviously was a troubled young person struggling with a load of survivor guilt (I'm surprised she can still have sex, considering what happened the first time), yet it doesn't seem that her parents - especially Mark, who had first hand knowledge of her promiscuity - did anything at all to help her.  They certainly don't care about her now.  Does anyone even know that she's not in the hospital anymore?  I feel for her - she's better off with a serial killer.

 

I felt for Tony and Adam (name right?) - they don't want to hurt her, but she really does know damaging info about them.  Good thing the chief of police has his own family drama to deal with (although I did like that he sort of started to investigate "Alice").  I also liked Rowen laying some truth on Simon, although I would be a little apprehensive about ticking off some kind of supernatural creature (whether he's an angel, a zombie or just a plain old revenant). 

 

Especially since I didn't see the French version (or maybe because of that), I do enjoy it and intend to continue watching (At least until something better comes along.)

 

Thanks, SierraMIst:  I forgot that at least Claire (Clare?)  did try to call her.  Still not enough, in my opinion. 

Edited April 21, 2015 by mjc570

[alias1]

Otto, great recap of the differences, as usual.  There is one point I thought was different regarding Claire and Jack (and Peter) .  In the US version, after Jack told Claire she was living in a fog for the last 4 years since Camille's death, she goes to Peter for consolation and they have sex.  She doesn't have sex with her separated from husband, Jack.  I could be wrong but I thought Claire and the Peter character did have sex in the French version also (not necessarily in the same episode, though).