The Returned, “Helen,” was directed Deran Sarafian with the teleplay by Graham Roland. Sarafian’s other credits include
Hemlock Grove,
CSI: NY, and
House MD. As this is the second last episode of the season, some storylines seem to be wrapping up while we’re moving towards what appears to be a pretty big climax. So far there’s been no word on whether this version of the show will get a second season, but the French version should have a second season, so people might be able to get more of the show that way if this version isn’t renewed.
The episode begins with Helen’s (Michelle Forbes) backstory from 29 years ago. It quickly becomes apparent that her odd behavior isn’t a product of her coming back from the dead. We see that she was in a mental institution because she’d burned down City Hall. The warning alarm goes off, and instead of going to safety on the roof with the others, Helen heads outside, and we see the wall of black water – the water she described and that we’ve seen come out of the sinks and in Camille’s (India Ennenga) coffin – come over the hill before we cut to the present.
Helen is drinking with Craig (Kevin O’Grady) who she’s picked up at the Dog Star. She sleeps with him, apparently to get access to the dynamite he has access to because of his job with the mine. After cracking him over the head with a rock, Helen steals his keys and his car and ultimately his dynamite. Clearly, she’s out to destroy the dam again.
Victor (Dylan Kingwell) also seems to be escalating. Kingwell continues to impress. Julie (Sandrine Holt) promises not to be mad but asks if Victor hurt Tony (Aaron Douglas) for her – his only answer is a creepy smile. However, when Nikki (Agnes Bruckner) finds out that Victor, under the name Eric, set fire to a house in 2002, killing the woman who had taken him in and presumably himself, she goes to Julie to try to warn her. Somehow, Victor has Julie appear to Nikki – in reality Julie’s in the shower – and “Julie” pushes Nikki down the stairs. Did Victor use an illusion of Tony’s mother in the jail or conjure her ghost? Is Julie maybe actually dead? Still lots of questions here – including whether or not Nikki is dead.
Simon (Mat Vairo) returns from the dead and goes to Peter (Jeremy Sisto), who finally decides that he can’t help Simon any more because Tommy (Kevin Alejandro) is getting suspicious. There's a really interesting exchange between Peter and Tommy in which Tommy tells Peter he's beginning to realize what he is - does he know Peter is also one of the returned? - and Peter tells Tommy that he knows Tommy's been lying to Rowan - but doesn't specify what the lie is. Simon steals Peter’s van and kidnaps Chloe (Dakota Guppy). I have to say that I didn’t feel a lot of sympathy for Rowan (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) after what she’d done to Simon. Rowan crashes her car chasing them and then proceeds to run down the center of the street – much like the shots of Adam and Victor last week.
However, Simon’s dream of being with Chloe and Chloe’s fantasy of going with the angel turn out to be very different from reality. I very much liked this storyline and how it didn’t play out in the expected way and even felt like it was the right decision. Simon tells Chloe that he didn’t want her to grow up the way he did without his real parents. Chloe asks why he went away, and he tells her he made a mistake. Pretty much as soon as Chloe says she wants to go home, Simon takes her to the church. He asks the Pastor (Carl Lumbly) if he’s in Hell because he has to watch everyone move on, and the closer he gets to them the more he hurts them.
Simon calls Rowan to come for Chloe – at the place where he left her. He tells Rowan to marry Tommy and that he’s been holding on to something that’s already gone. Chloe is upset that he’s going, but he tells her that she was right about him. That he is an angel and “the thing about angels is they’re always there watching over you.” Simon leaves even though the Pastor has called Tommy, and Rowena tells Tommy just to let him go. Has Simon done what he was meant to do by coming back? He’s reassured Chloe that he’s watching over her and allowed Rowena to move on.
I’m not sure if I missed something somewhere or this was supposed to be a surprise, but I was surprised that Jack (Mark Pellegrino) apparently owns the Dog Star. He’s getting rid of Tony’s things when Lucy (Leah Gibson) shows up at the bar. Lucy tells Jack that it wasn’t Tony who attacked her. She tells him it’s time for her to move on and that she hasn’t heard any more voices since she last saw him. Jack confesses that he was happier with her in the last year than he had been for some time. They make love, and suddenly, Lucy is hearing voices again and she sees the black water come out of the sink. I’m not sure how they are going to wrap up this part of the storyline or at least fold it into the rest.
Meanwhile, the big event is the dedication ceremony for the memorial installation that we saw the model of in the first episode. It’s as ugly as Jack said it would be. The other parents come to Peter and tell him they don’t want the Winships at the ceremony. I have to say, I had to wonder why Camille’s photo would still be on the memorial givens she appears to be alive.
Camille comes to Peter and he just wants her to go. She insists he help her and she’s angry that he said they’d accept her if she gave them hope – in the way Simon gave hope to Chloe and Rowan – though neither accepted him either. Peter tells her he failed her and was wrong and wonders if Jack were right about going away to start a new life. Camille insists that they can’t run and hide.
Peter gives a speech to dedicate the memorial, but he berates the other families for not accepting Claire. Kris (Chelah Horsdal) accuses Camille of not being Camille – body snatcher perhaps. Peter defends her vehemently. Rowan, however has warned Lena (Sophie Lowe) that Camille may be dangerous – though we’ve seen no evidence of that. When Kris asks how Peter could know that Camille was harmless, he confesses that he knows because he’s just like her – he died 29 years ago – presumably when the dam burst.
It would seem that each person has come back due to unfinished business and needing to make amends. So far, only Victor and Helen seem menacing, but I have to wonder if Adam (Rhys Ward) is going to go back to the way he was. We know that Peter keeps telling people they can turn their life around, as he did with his.
What did you think of the episode? Is Simon gone for good, and if he is, where has he gone? Do you think Helen is going to manage to destroy the dam and the town? Are Lucy’s new abilities going to be helpful? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
I'm officially disliking Rowan after what happened in this episode. I get that she had mental problems brought by Simon's initial death but to tell Lena that people like Simon are dangerous, well, I hope she learns the real truth behind his death.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I was surprised that Peter was a returned himself. Even though I was theorizing that he may be one, I still didn't see it coming. I have my issues about this reveal though, continuity-wise, but I'm willing to get past it since it brings something new to the character which would explain his actions throughout the season.
Hi Lisa! Sorry it's been a while since I dropped by!
ReplyDeleteI thought the last few episodes got a lot better. In earlier episodes there are times where there are just too many questions without answers and the stories just felt like they hadn't been leading anywhere, because nothing stays the same for very long.
I think I find Helen the most interesting character, since she and victor/henry seem to represent the aspect of retribution and seemingly, Helen might cause another cycle of death. The others all seem to want forgiveness and understanding (accept that I agree, Adam seems like he could be on the fence) and I'm curious to see if there is bottom line or if just like living, there can be more than one reason any of them are ever brought back and what happens when that is fulfilled? Almost like a mild backwards version of The Leftovers.
I didn't know Jack owned the Dog Star either!!! It was news to me and it kind puts a really weird last minute kink in everything, since so many of the characters connect through it and because he sometimes seems like his own number one customer! XD
I wasn't surprised that Peter was a Returned, I thought that from episode 3 or so onward. It made sense to me that he made the shelter because he knew what it was like to have no where to go for the same reasons and because he is trying to redeem himself, but I was surprised that he broke down to tell the others.
I think Rowan is the most wishy-washy character, but I also think there's a little connection between her and Helen--with some kind of mental illness/lack of stability. It's not that I necessarily think Helen wasn't out to seek some kind of needed justice before, but rather there are other ways to try and do that--unless there some kind of conspiracy with the town/city officials that relates to The Returned more directly?!. I kind of wish Rowan would take some time for herself and not let either man dictate her future, even though I feel for Simon too and Tommy still acts like a creep, but I feel like she's a character that lives in chronic fear and doesn't really know who she is.
Thanks again Lisa!
I've found Rowan hard to take for a few episodes. I was initially sympathetic, but that wore of pretty quickly! I do think that her remark to Lena was made when Simon had Chloe, so it's excusable from that perspective, and I think by the end she did realize that he wasn't. But I'm almost thinking she deserves Tommy now...
ReplyDeleteNow I'm dying to know your continuity problem!!
Ya, it really is weird thing for them to give us that information about Jack! Maybe he doesn't want certain people to know?
ReplyDeleteI totally don't mind not getting all of the answers. That has never been my thing, but I do want some kind of bone thrown to begin to lay down some kind of mythology...
But also thinking about it more, especially when I think of how contorted Peter's story is, that maybe the point is that killing people is not the answer--that retribution only comes when people learn how to better live together, because essentially, they will all just keep coming back! That could be why wouldn't get a lot of solid evidence about what this is about until we reach the ending
The only other thing that crossed my mind was if this was like the UK version of Life On Mars, which I never saw, but had read about what was going on there...
Remember in "Victor", the opening flashback had a masked Peter talking to Henry? Well, he was speaking with a different voice, supposedly Peter's when he was younger. But that happened 29 years ago, and Peter in the latest episode revealed that he died during that time period as well.
ReplyDeleteThat would mean, the show is disregarding what was thought to be an established fact that Peter was young and probably in his late teens to early twenty's when he and his partner invaded Henry's home.
However (this is becoming complex just thinking about it), Jeremy Sisto is 40 years old in real life so, if his character's age is somewhere along that age range, he would have been in his early preteens 29 years ago when Henry died. Thus, it sort of make sense that he was already a fully grown adult during the time of the home invasion who later on died within the same year.
I'm actually surprised that you guys only knew now that Jack owns the bar. I thought it was long established back in the first episode.
ReplyDeleteWas it any wonder why the police approached him after Lucy was attacked? They didn't know he had an affair with her but they know she was employed under him.
I thought it odd at the time that they'd come to him, so it does make more sense that he was her boss. But the flashback still doesn't make sense...
ReplyDeleteIt still makes sense. Peter has been in the community for many years - he simply came back much earlier. If he died in the flood and came back after 9 years that would still make him about 40. Victor/Henry died before the flood after all..
ReplyDeleteSo the final episode addressed this in the first few scenes with Peter. Looks like he was younger when he died but when he came back at some point after the flood that, somehow, he aged naturally.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that the returned all age naturally after they come back, but Peter has aged a lot more because he's been back for decades and the others haven't.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this helps it make more sense, but I think it was said on the show that Jack owns the bar and hired Tony to actually run the place.
ReplyDeleteThat still doesn't explain about Victor still in the same age as he was when he died. His most recent appearance before he was took in by Julie was 4 years ago before Camille died. He would at least be in his teens or later if he does manage to age if he first returned as recent as four years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that the show established that Henry (Victor) has died and returned more than once, so I think that should take care of the issue of him looking the same age. Presumably, he hasn't stayed alive long enough between his deaths to age much. That's just my guess.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one big thing that makes me think that the returned all continue to age after they return is that (if the show lasts for multiple years) the actors will continue to age. They can't really have the returned look like they aren't aging when the actors playing Camille and Victor in particular will very obviously be getting older.