The Returned will be back in 2014 (Picture: Channel 4)

The Returned finale ended giving nothing away. But what’s really going on?

1. The water

Is there something in the water? You bet – a lost town and a farmyard of dead animals.

Firstly the water was coming out of taps and was definitely not drinking quality. Then the water started ebbing away in the reservoir to reveal the lost town and Camille’s coffin was full of water instead of a body.


The flooding in the 70s that claimed the lives of villagers was a key event – and now they’re back from the dead.

Theory: Is the town home to super-charged mineral water that can give life back to the dead? Well Twin Peaks had a spooky forest, why not a spooky reservoir?

Adele with Simon, before he died (Picture: Channel 4)

2. Adele



Pregnant with Simon’s child – conceived after he died. The Horde want her (and baby) but why?

Theory: Is her unborn child, who let’s face it is bound to be way scarier than Victor, the secret to their survival, because some of the undead are past their sell by date (see scars section below).

3. Scars

Which brings us onto scars. So out of our original Returnees Camille, Simon and Victor all have scars developing. They’re getting worse. Lena, one of the living, had a scar too but was this a sympathetic scar for her twin, much like that ‘orgasm’ in the first episode? That weird guy having a refreshing drink straight out of the toilet bowl in the Lake Pub had scars too. Lots of them.

Theory: Does this decomposition mean the Returned are only around for a short period before they start wasting/flaking/peeling away and if so do they have a mission to complete before it happens? So far Serge and Mme Costa remain scar free… as far as we know.

Lucy seems to have become super-powerful in the afterlife (Picture: Channel 4)

4. Lucy

Lucy was psychic before she was murdered by Serge and now that she’s back from the dead (we assume) her powers seems to have increased. She’s emerging as the leader of The Horde – Pierre’s undead counterpart. She’s able to galvanise them and, in contrast to the rest of the Returned, seems very comfortable being dead and knows exactly what demands to make.

Theory: Instead of death making them dumb zombies, it actually makes some of them super powerful – see Victor and his creepy powers of mind manipulation.

5. The Returned

Why do the Horde (the scary group) want the Returned (the characters we’ve become familiar with during this first series)? The Horde marched on the Helping Hand and demanded Thomas hand over Camille, Mme Costa and Victor. Why do they need to stick together?

Theory: Is there some kind of supernatural strength in numbers? A power that gives them the ability to flood the town in the finale?

(But why aren’t they fussed about Serge? Is Serge different?)

Camille and the rest of the Returned are always hungry. Why? (Picture: Channel 4)

6. Hunger

So how did Mme Costa die – killed by burglars, in a fire or did she starve to death? We know she died a second time in a fire but there is surely something in the latter explanation. A lot of the Returned are ravenous (The Horde headed straight to the local diner and looked to have cleared out everywhere else).



Costa warned Camille to enjoy her food while it lasts before it’s rationed. There are plenty of provisions at the Helping Hand but something tells me there isn’t enough pasta to last an entire second

series.

Has it happened before? Was the town holed up previously in the 70s after the dam burst – when we last saw Mme Costa ‘alive’?

Theory: Those animals were so scared of the Horde they drowned themselves. So what aren’t the Horde above trying to eat? (This is a zombie drama after-all).

One other thought. When Simon came back from the dead a second time and Lucy asked him if he was hungry – he said no. Why has he suddenly lost his appetite?

7. The town

So Serge and Toni tried to escape via the woods but kept going round in circles and Laure, Julie and Victor kept crossing the dam over and over again. So is it that no-one can leave or just the Returned can’t leave? If Laure and Julie had have left without Victor, would they have escaped?

Theory: If no-one can leave is the town purgatory or limbo. Is everyone dead?