Kevin Alejandro
Agnes Bruckner
India Ennenga
Sandrine Holt
Sophie Lowe
Mark Pellegrino
Jeremy Sisto
Mat Vairo
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Tandi Wright

Developed by:
Carlton Cuse

2015
Drama, Horror
A&E
TV-14

“The Returned” is an American remake of the excellent French TV series “Les Revenants.” Unfortunately, all of the magic of the French series has been lost in translation. It’s not that this is bad; the first episode actually works fairly well. It’s that everything has been watered down: the atmospherics, the potency of the relationships, the tension. The stakes have been lowered – too bad. However, “The Returned” does build rather nicely throughout this episode. It just suffers by comparison: It’s not special.

For viewers who are unfamiliar with its French inspiration, A&E’s take will likely work well enough. For fans of “Les Revenants,” you may feel a bit let down – just a bit. There’s no reason to watch this if you’ve seen the French original – well, at least for now. But you won’t loathe it, either. You’ll feel like something’s missing, though. Despite that, the cast is strong, and it’s hard to go wrong with the source material. Let’s see what happens. …

After a couple more episodes, I still see no reason to watch “The Returned,” so I’m going to stop. It’s not bad, but “Les Revenants” simply dwarfs it by comparison.

Verdict: Good to OK

About: (Source: thereturned)

Residents of the small mountain town of Caldwell, Washington grapple with the mysterious return of their dead loved ones. With no memory of their deaths, and no awareness of the time that has passed in their absence, the returned struggle to reintegrate into a world that has changed without them.