TV Cynics | The Hotshot Whiz Kids Podcast Network

This time on the podcast the guys talk about the great French series, The Returned, that was recently added to Netflix. Cline talks about how he loved the entire first season and then they discuss the similarities between that show and the show that premiers on Sunday on ABC that is very similar, which has been confusing people who enjoyed the French show.

You may have seen the ads for the upcoming ABC supernatural drama Resurrection. It has a very similar plot to the excellent French series The Returned, which is called Les Revenants in France, that has some people wondering is it is the American Remake of the critically acclaimed French drama. The confusion begins with the fact that the new show, Resurrection, is based on a book by Jason Mott that just happens to be called The Returned, but has nothing to do with the French series of the same name. The odd thing is that both stories are extremely similar. Both stories involve dead relatives returning to their small towns only to find out that they have been dead for several years or more, but the shows have different characters and a different story. The fact that the book was just released last summer has some speculating on whether or not the author was influenced by the movie or the show, but it is unclear if that is the case. To make things even more confusing, ABC had originally titled Resurrection The Returned before changing the shows name. Meanwhile The Returned is actually a adaptation of a little known 2004 film called They Come Back, that was called The Retuned when it was released in the UK. The show does a much better job than the movie and the return of the dead is on a much smaller scale, at least in the first season.

The Returned (Les Revenants)

The Returned debuted in France in the Fall of 2012 and premiered in the UK the following summer. Four years after her death, a young girl returns home to find out she had actually died in a tragic bus accident. Along with her fellow zombies who have risen from their own personal tragedies, the group has to cope with the fact that their loved ones had moved on and they are not totally welcomed back to the only place they have know. The show is stunningly beautiful, with rich colors and a landscape that has few rivals on television. The show is darker than most anything that is released in the US with little time for lighter moments. Instead their is a constant undercurrent of sadness, despair and loneliness that only the death of a loved one can bring. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the eight episodes of the show that ends with a somewhat shocking cliff hanger. The show isn’t your typical Zombie show, either. The “zombies” look perfectly normal and for the most parts don’t have a taste for human flesh, but I don’t want to give too much away. While the show has subtitles, it is definitely worth your time even if you are not a fan of reading your TV. The show is available to stream on Netflix and a second season is due to be released at the end of the year with the Sundance channel having the North American rights to the show and aired the first season late last fall. If you are really hung up on the subtitles, A&E has announced that an English version is now in production and will air later in the year as well, but it is doubtful they will recreate the feeling or look of the French version which is almost a perfectly written and directed show.

Resurrection March 9th on ABC and I will give it a shot in spite of the similarities to what is surely a superior show, but the premise is far too interesting to not give it a chance. Although, I expect it to disappoint like most network shows do. I just can’t see ABC allowing a show as dark as The Returned is on network television. American television, in general, has steered away from totally going to the dark side on prime time network television. I’ll post a review of the show when I see it.

So to summarize:

The Returned, the French show, is based on the 2004 file They Come back and is not related to the book of the same name that was released in August 2013. An adaptation of the show will be on A&E later this year.

Resurrection is based on the 2013 book called, The Returned, but is not related to the French show of the same name.

Hope this clears things up.