Parents' Guide to

The Returned

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

People come back from the dead in eerie supernatural drama.

TV A&E Drama 2015
The Returned Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

See all
age 12+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Plea L.
Plea L. Adult
April 4, 2017
age 10+

Good

10

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
jeffreya
jeffreya Adult
March 25, 2017
age 10+

Are you "returned"...?

My experience with the phenomenon: http://karma-dharma-bhutadaya.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-second-time-i-wa…
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE RETURNED, the American remake of the French drama of the same name, certain long-dead residents of a mysterious small town are suddenly coming back to life: a teen whose school bus drove off a cliff on a school trip, a groom who died on the way to a wedding, a wife swept away when a local dam gave way. Their bereft loved ones had found a fragile peace. Now that peace is shattered, and questions remain. Why did one teen return when the rest of her classmates stayed properly dead? What mysterious force is bringing people back? Are they truly alive or in some other state altogether? Why are they here, and what will happen next?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (1):

As showrunner Carlton Cuse showed aptly on Lost, he's a pro at conjuring an eerie atmosphere. The scenes in which the newly returned walk through their changed town and try to come home are genuinely, compellingly horrifying in the best tradition of terror: It doesn't just creep you out, it makes you wonder what you'd do in the same situation. How would you act if your daughter suddenly came back from the dead? And how surprised would she be coming home to find the marriage of her parents (Tandi Wright and Mark Pellegrino, both outstanding) broken up and her twin sister years older?

The Returned has a Twin Peaks vibe and not only because the scenery features green trees and rushing water. It shares a surreal, dark majesty with that show, and, as with Twin Peaks, the viewer wants to keep watching to find the answer to a central mystery. Will The Returned resolve its mysteries more satisfyingly than Twin Peaks did? Seeing as it's Cuse at the helm, the man who polarized a nation with the ending to Lost, all bets are off. Indeed, frustratingly, Cuse seems to be showing some of the same irritating tendencies. Mysteries that could be cleared up linger when characters refuse to answer questions; characters act in ways contrary to normal human behavior. It's worth noting that many fans of the French version of this series complain that the plot went off the rails as the season progressed.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the premise of this show. Does it scare you? What would it be like if a dead loved one suddenly returned? Would you be glad? Scared? Both?

  • All the returned characters are young. Why? What is different or more dramatic about the death of a young person vs. an older person? Why would this show choose to focus on young returned people?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended tv lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate