[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B6tu3ziVJA]
HOLY SHIT!
The chills I just got watching this trailer for A&E’s The Returned! For those not in the know, The Returned is based off a 2012 original French show of the same name, which was, in turn, following a movie from 2004. In it a town that’s dead comes back to life. Hold your horses! This isn’t your average return of the dead show. This has a lot more heart than that. Instead, it focuses on the fallout when the dead return (I swear I’ll stop using that word for the rest of this post!) to their families and try to pick up their lives where they left off. They don’t remember dying and no one has any idea why they have come back.
Now about this trailer. It looked so much like a shot-for-shot remake of the French original it blew me away. The characters are cast so similar (though decidedly less French) and a lot of the imagery is the same. Underground walkways, farmhouses, a town by a dam. It’s doing such service to the original program that it’s both baffling and exciting. As of right now there are 10 episodes ordered — two more than the original series — to begin airing March 9th, 2015.
Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the original series. It was one of those late night finds on iTunes with the first episode free that quickly spiraled into “I’m buying all the episodes right now. And we’re watching 2-3 episodes a night until we finish.” Three days later and I was in so deep I bursting with emotion. It was, it is great.
Originally I was hesitant, hell I was down right antagonist, towards the idea of an American remake. It just didn’t seem necessary. So few remakes do of course, and I am one of those nerds who tends to be stuck in their way. That said, having watched that trailer from Carlton Cuse (that’s right, my main boy Carlton from LOST) and the folks at A&E has me hopeful, excited, and electrified by what I saw. It looks to do the original justice and bring it to a wider audience, and that’s something I can get behind.
The Returned airs March 9th. Look for our recaps (or just me gushing at length) shortly thereafter.
And before anyone says anything, yeah I’m pretty tickled by A&E’s slogan when paired with this show.
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