The Returned

Why do we as Americans feel it necessary to remake every good show or movie. The vast majority of movies made today are remakes, reboots or sequels. Many of today's popular American shows have been appropriated from foreign titles. Homeland, Real Humans, Mad Dogs, and now The Returned just to name a few recently remade titles. I fear we will soon see an American take on Orphan Black and Black Mirror. Do the studios really feel that their target demo is too dumb to enjoy foreign TV? Would it not suffice to simply purchase these shows in syndication and broadcast them stateside? It's not like we are bringing anything new to these shows. Some of them are literal remakes of the original scripts. Where have all the original story ideas gone? If this were truly a golden age of television, one would expect to see our studios teeming with top notch original content. Game of Thrones and Walking Dead are unquestionably high quality American productions, but they're adapted stories. Many of the foreign TV shows brought to America prove to be successful. I'm sure it's easier to break a show when half the work has been done for you. I like a lot of our American adaptations, but by and large I prefer the originals. The American adaptation often kills the original production. If we would bring them over here instead of remaking them, they would probably last longer. By remaking rather than importing these shows, we are stunting the growth of foreign television and dumbing down the average American TV viewer. I'm going to get off my soap box now and try to put my money where my mouth is. Thank you for reading this. /rant.

I don't know what some of the people here want, but that show is fabulous, and so are the actors... I was stunned reading some of the reviews, and to think I almost did not watch it based upon those reviews.. I say people, watch it and decide for yourselves, everyone has their own taste and opinion.. I am so looking forward to the next episode. I especially like how there are a few characters in different areas and it is not focusing on the one, plus the story lines are great.. I never realized how hard it is to write a review without putting in a spoiler or two, so I am not chancing it.. As I said, watch it for yourself and decide from there, if you are into these kind of shows and movies, I'm sure you will like it..

I feel so inferior for not realizing that this show was as horrible as some other, wiser and more informed viewers, found it to be. Fool that I am, I loved it, and thought it one of the most imaginative and entertaining offerings I've ever seen. I watched all ten episodes over a three or four day period, forgetting all about my usual T.V. fare in the meantime. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of what it is that should be entertaining for me and in my ignorance, I didn't have the acumen necessary to realize that I was watching a very inferior product and was finding it as entertaining as the European offering upon which "The Returning" is based. Perhaps someday, I'll become as informed and aware of what entertains me as many of the wiser expert critics who have already condemned this series, and when I do, I'll stay away from offerings such as this. In the meantime, it looks like I'll continue floating blissfully along, unaware of how unentertained I am while hallucinating that I am actually being entertained.

I didn't know that this was a remake of the french original. so it didn't bother me, it was the original show to me, and it was really interesting. I'm just sorry that it ends suddenly after 10 episodes and they've canceled the season 2 so we'll never know what happened.

such a pity

I can't believe they'll just leave it like this. if they followed the same plot as the french one maybe I would have tried to switch to the original in french, but as they differ I can't and I don't want to watch the french version with different characters etc now that I have watched 10 episodes of this show...

I loved the first few episodes, the opener in particular, it was fantastic, absorbing, interesting, and it had you asking a load of questions, such as, 'were the returned back to punish?' 'What would you do if you came face to face with somebody you'd grieved for? and 'Why was that kid so creepy?

I must admit my interest did fall off a little towards the end, some things were dragged out a little too much, some of the characters became a little uninteresting.

It shouldn't have been cancelled, up until about part six you're treated to some compelling viewing, there was definitely more material in this show, Jeremy Sisto's character Peter was very interesting.

I'm sure fans feel short changed by its early finish, but honestly, half way through it ran out of steam after a hugely promising start. 6/10