Archive

“The Returned” recap (1.3): The Lesbians We Were Promised

This episode opens seven years in the past. A woman dressed like Catwoman approaches a woman dressed like Batman outside. Batman tries to persuade Catwoman to stay at the party. But the promise of sleep after a long work shift is no match for Batman. Plus she saw Snow White eyeing her upstairs, so Batman won’t be alone. Before they go their separate ways they kiss.

Finally, it took two whole episodes to get to the lesbians we have all been promised. As Catwoman walks away, Batman tries one last time, “Come on, Julie.” But alas, her lover ditches her and heads home. Batman takes off her mask to reveal it is Laure, Thomas’s right hand lady. Julie walks home along the same path as the ill-fated Lucy. The exact same scene plays out as she is approached by a hooded stranger and stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen as fireworks go off in the distance.

Back to present day, Julie is attending Mr. Costa’s funeral. Mademoiselle Payet, aka Miss Nosy, runs up to her and asks if she brought Victor. Sure lady, it would be totally normal to bring a kid who has no affiliation with the deceased to his funeral. As Julie tries her best to walk away from her, she passes Thomas and Laure as they speak to Pierre. Pierre proceeds to make the rounds like he is the town’s mayor. He talks to the pastor then congratulates Adele on her recent nuptials. He then heads over to Lena and Claire to see how Camille has been doing. They discuss the possibility that there may be more like Camille. Lena shares that she thinks she met “one” at The Lake Pub. Pierre promises to try and get some dirt on Simon and warns Claire that Camille should still remain in hiding. Her best attempts failed, Julie stands next to Mademoiselle Payet as she yammers on and on. Suddenly she brings up Lucy’s attack and how she was brutally stabbed just like the incident seven years ago. Julie, sickened, runs away right past Laure and Thomas. The service begins and the pastor talks about, Vivian, the love of Mr. Costa’s life and how she parted this world too soon. As he speaks Viviane watches the service from behind her own tombstone which states she died in 1978 at the age of 45.

Camille asks Jerome for a cigarette. After a brief pause and an always funny joke about cancer, he gives in to her request. They discuss his separation from Claire, which Camille has known about even with their lame attempts to cover it up. He tells her things were complicated after the accident and Lena was especially affected. With that, Camille goes upstairs to visit with her sister. She enters the room as Lena is changing and sits on her bed. Camille then delivers what appears to be a backhanded compliment about how pretty Lena is and how the boys must love her. Without skipping a beat, she then asks if she slept with Frederic. Lena says they aren’t together and Camille asks her why not since you both like each other. Lena brings up an agreement between them, but Camille tells her she was free from abiding to it after the accident. I am sensing a love triangle. Lena changes the subject and offers to go to the pub after school to try and locate Simon. Come on now, Lena, like you need an excuse to go to the pub. As Lena turns to put on a shirt, Camille notices a large scar between her shoulder blades. She questions how it came to be and Lena asks her to leave.

Back at the dam, the water level has dropped another two meters within one day. They send a robot with a camera down into the reservoir to see if they can find the cause. I have a feeling they will regret doing this and will find something freaky in a future episode.

Meanwhile Simon talks to Bruno, the detective that took his victim’s statement. He tells Simon he could be out of there faster if he gives a real name and address. Simon says he does not have an address to give and before returning him to his cell, Bruno lets him know that he cannot leave town until this is settled. Bruno then calls Pierre and tells him he has a lost sheep named Simon for him to help. Pierre eagerly agrees, knowing this is the man Lena spoke about.

Jerome discusses with Claire moving somewhere that Camille can be in the open. As Lena comes downstairs they stop talking and Jerome offers her a ride. Lena reluctantly accepts. Should be a fun ride to school. Back at the police station, Thomas is at his computer looking at surveillance video of his own home. I wonder if Adele is aware he can spy on her. She better be careful during her meetings with her favorite ghost. Laure and Alcide enter to tell Thomas they have nothing on Lucy’s case. They propose speaking to Julie and Alcide refers to her as “The Appetizer” then begins to explain why. Thomas interrupts and says he is familiar with the case. Well we are not, Thomas, so keep quiet. I would like to know why she is a starter course. Laure volunteers to question her and leaves for Julie’s apartment alone.

Jerome drops Lena off at school and he makes her promise to keep quiet about Camille. He tells her about his plans to move the family for her sister’s sake. Lena instantly becomes enraged and leaves the car. She passes Frederic on the stairs as he fails in his attempt to make small talk.

Julie is taking a bubble bath while listening to music on headphones. Victor opens the door and lightly touches her on the shoulders then leaves. Startled by his ongoing creepiness, she leaves the bath and gives us all a show. She realizes the encounter was his strange way of letting her know someone is at the door. Dressed only in a towel, she opens the door to find Laure standing there. Julie is very short with her and asks what she wants. Laure tells her she needs to speak with her about Lucy. This fills Julie with rage and she asks why Laure hasn’t come by in the past seven years.When Laure tells her it is because she knew Julie didn’t want her to, she gets a door slammed in her face. And of course, Miss Nosey has been watching the whole thing through her peephole.

Pierre and Simon drive together after leaving the police station. Pierre suggests they go to his shelter where there will be food and a warm bed. Ignoring his suggestion, Simon asks if he knows Adele. Pierre says everyone here knows her and her story. When Simon asks for details, he is told that her fiancé died on their wedding day when he was hit by a car. Pierre asks if he knew him and ponders why he has never seen Simon before today. Simon asks to be let out and walks off as Pierre pulls away.

Claire cleans the kitchen. As she opens the cabinet to throw away trash, a large amount of flies cover the bin. She looks inside and sees the carcass of a dead animal. She goes upstairs and finds Camille trying on Lena’s clothes and makeup. Claire offers to get her new clothes and Camille begs to come along on the shopping trip. She promises to be discreet, At the same time, Lena stares at her scar in the gym locker room then quickly covers up when classmates enter.

Thomas and Alcide review security footage of Lucy entering the underpass. Fast forwarding to 20 minutes later reveals a man in a dark hoodie leaving the area. Thomas asks where Simon is when he happens to notice the cell is empty on another monitor. He rushes over to Bruno and is told there was nothing they had him on to continue to hold him. Thomas loudly tells him that he freed their only murder suspect. He leaves to go see Pierre to find Simon’s whereabouts. Pierre says that he refused to come to the shelter and that he mentioned Adele before they parted ways. Pierre asks what Thomas’s interests are in Simon any way. Thomas ignores his question and tells him he better reach out if he comes across him again. Meanwhile Adele is approached by Simon at work. He plays into the idea that he is a ghost and asks if Thomas has been good to her. Adele says he has, but more importantly she has someone she wants Simon to meet.

Mademoiselle Payette is at Julie’s door and is looking for answers as to why the police had made a visit. Julie tells her it is none of her damn business. Payette assumes it has to do with the boy and tells Julie she will report her for adopting him illegally if he is still around tomorrow. Julie slams the door in another woman’s face. It has been a rough day for her. Back to Adele and her outing with her friendly ghost. They approach a school which is holding a tribute to the bus crash victims outside. Children stand in a line dressed in sweatshirts with the departed printed on the front and call out each person’s name. Not weird at all and surely it won’t scar these children for life. Adele points out their daughter much to Simon’s delight.

Camille and Claire are out shopping for the new clothes she was promised. As Camille goes in the dressing room Sandrine approaches and Claire looks at her with fear. She asks Claire if Pierre told her the news of her pregnancy and wants to know why she hasn’t been coming to the support group. Camille appears and Sadrine stands frozen. She introduces herself as Lena’s cousin, Alice. Sadrine seems to only half believe this and departs. Camille asks her Mother if that is Audrey’s mom. Claire silently shakes her head in the affirmative.

Lena enters The Lake Pub before it opens looking for Toni. Serge sits at the bar and introduces himself as his big brother. Toni is in the bathroom trying to fix the toilets which are all backed up like the sink in the church. She asks if he knows anything about Simon. He says no, so she asks him to at least tell her when he returns to the bar. She asks why he never said he had a brother. Toni hurriedly gets up and follows her out. After she leaves, he asks Serge why is he here. Serge doesn’t answer and asks for details on Lena who may be rocking more scars in the future. Toni tells Serge he must stay at the farmhouse and refuses Serge’s offer to help with the pub.

Victor is in the process of drawing disturbing characters as Julie prepares to leave. She tells him to stay inside and keep the door locked. As soon as she leaves, he goes across the hall and knocks on Mademoiselle Payet’s door. She invites him in for a meal, an offer I am sure she will regret.

Adele drives home to find Lena standing in her driveway. She tells Lena it is nice to see her, but she does not tutor anymore. Lena says that is fine, she came to talk to her about someone that she may know who says his name is Simon. Adele asks how she knows Simon. Lena tells her how she met him at The Lake Pub the other day and Adele quickly brushes her off and goes inside. She stands motionless by her door as she comes to the realization that Simon may be real after all. At the shelter, Simon approaches Pierre and agrees to stay a few days. Pierre shows him a roomful of beds and turns to see Simon staring at a cross on the wall. Pierre asks if he believes in God and Simon tells him no. He then states that he must at least believe in resurrection, making it known that he is aware that Simon was once dead. He offers Simon help and tells him that one day everything will be made clear.

Julie rides the bus with her headphones on and sees a man in a dark hoodie walking down the street which sends her into a panic. She then comes home to find her door open and Victor missing. Meanwhile, Thomas looks through security footage and views Simon and Adele leaving the library together. Back at Julie’s, she sadly starts out window until she hears a sound in the hall. She leaves her apartment with a pair of scissors in hand and goes downstairs. The lights shut off and when they come back on Serge grabs her from behind. They struggle and slump to the floor. He manages to get the scissors from her and she stares up at him. Suddenly the scene changes, Victor is now holding her hands and removes the scissors from her grasp. What is going on? I have had enough of this kid and I think Julie is on acid or having some messed up PTSD hallucination. I am just glad they didn’t kill off one of the two lesbians yet.

Camille sneaks out of her room dressed in her new clothes as Claire washes up in the bathroom. Jerome arrives and Claire tells him she doesn’t want to leave. Jerome says its alright and that he loves her still. He begins kissing her neck when a cockroach pops out of the sink and scares Claire. She tells to Jerome it is too soon for his shenanigans. At The Lake Pub, Frederic asks Lena if she’ll come out for smoke. She says no and asks to be left alone. He goes outside and Camille shows up and introduces herself as Alice, Lena’s cousin. She asks for a cigarette and he gives her one. This kid has quite the smoking habit today. They both enter the pub together and Lena becomes very upset. She asks if her parents know that she is out and that she should go home since she is only 15. Her age is a surprise to Frederic and he stops protesting for her to stay. As Camille leaves he asks Lena why she is being such a downer and why she was so rude to her cousin. She walks away and doesn’t answer.

As this episode comes to a close, Adele sits with her daughter as she draws and Simon looks through the window behind them. Lena cries in the bathroom and when Frederic consoles her, they begin to have sex. He notices her scar in a mirror which causes Lena to run off. After putting her daughter to bed, Adele comes back downstairs and sees Simon outside. She goes to him and they kiss as Thomas watches from a security camera. Julie lays her head on Victor’s lap as he strokes her hair. The camera pans to Payet’s apartment. She lies dead on the floor with a large wound to her abdomen as her cats feed upon her corpse. Just one more reason why I am a dog person.

 

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button