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“The Returned” recap (1.7): Zombie Eczema

This episode starts one year earlier and we learn why Thomas decided to wire the house with hidden cameras. After a shopping trip with Chloe he returns to find Adele with slit wrists on the bathroom floor. Still not the best reason to secretly surveil your loved ones without their knowledge, but we all deal in different ways.

Back in the present, Toni and Serge have been walking for hours through the woods to escape the police. Toni still won’t let go of the idea that his Mother may have returned and feeds off Serge’s lies. They come across the remains of a fire pit filled with animal carcasses covered in flies. Looks like the crew Lena happened upon were having a roadkill barbecue meet up.

Lena sits in the shower like a scene from The Crying Game, trying to wash away her bad decisions until Jerome arrives. Meanwhile, Pierre dreams of Victor bringing him to the lake to share its beauty until he is awakened by Claire. He takes her to the basement to show her a stockpile of food and weapons that would make any backwoods militia giddy with joy. Next on the tour is a full medical wing where Pierre starts spouting off about how the undead are a sign of the end of the world. Claire is definitely regretting following him into a subterranean room where no one can hear them.

Its morning at Laure’s place and the sight of her in her bra changes Julie’s mind about her. I definitely can’t fault her for that flip flop. They make out in bed and Laure reassuringly starts to kiss her abdomen, showing Julie she is cool with scars. Just then Victor, who always appears out of nowhere, shows up at the end of the bed. Laure tells him to scram but it is too late to get their groove back. He is such a little mood killer. When Laure tells Julie that she thinks he could be dangerous, Julie shares her hopes that she is “one of them.” Now downstairs, Victor is back at the window staring at Chloe and Adele. He is like a creepy version of that little dog from Frasier.

Simon wakes up from his weird sex with Lucy. She insists he has no place in Adele and his daughter’s life anymore and she has the answer to where he does belong. Back at the shelter, Camille dines with Ms Costa and proceeds to call her out on her multiple death stories she has been passing off to the others. Ms Costa thinks Camille is the last person who should be judging her for lying. She tells her to take a look in the storage house where the victims of her dishonesty are hanging from the ends of rope. Damn, Ms Costa is cold as ice. I would not mess with her.

Julie gives Laure a kiss as she heads out for work. She tells Julie to keep Victor inside, so of course she turns to find him gone and the back door wide open. He has made his way over to Adele’s and Julie reluctantly allows him to play with Chloe. They chit chat in the kitchen and Julie brings up that she knows Simon had given up on the whole being dead thing. Speaking of, Simon shows up at the church and is disappointed when the pastor isn’t surprised. Apparently he was expecting “someone like him” to pop in and has something to show him. I hope it’s a fun game like Cards Against Humanity. I always bust that out when I have guests.

Back at the shelter, Sandrine makes it known she is not a fan of Camille. She accuses her of influencing the recent suicides as Camille cries in Claire’s arms. I say give the kid a break. She was just trying to help and it is hard to get used to being undead. Walk a mile in another woman’s shoes, Sandrine.

Even though Toni and Serge have been walking in what they thought was one direction, they find themselves back at the fire pit. This trek has a very Twilight Zone feel to it and Mommy has arrived to add to the spooky. She disappears as fast as she appeared before Toni’s eyes.

Chloe decides to share her secret with Victor about her dead dad coming back for her. His response is to share the fact that he is dead as well than summon one of his fun little apparitions. Chloe sees Adele covered in blood from her cut wrists and faints from the shock. When Julie and the real Adele rush to her aid, he does his usual distant stare and ignores their questions. Maybe Laure was right, time to drop Victor off at the bus station with a ticket to anywhere but here.

Lena and Camille reunite at the shelter while Simon sits with the pastor at the church. As he tries to get info about his suicide, Thomas arrives with backup. The pastor wasn’t getting a fun game from the back room after all. He was ratting out Simon. Well, snitches get stitches. Remember that.

Serge and Toni have made their way to the reservoir and decide to swim across. Toni starts to give up on swimming and suddenly Serge gets pulled under and disappears. I say cut your losses and move on. Back at the shelter, Lena and Camille have a sisterly bonding moment until Lena notices something on Camille’s face. It appears she is starting to rot a bit like Victor. So Lena slaps on a little bit of cover up, problem solved. Jerome tells Claire he has a change of heart about Pierre and he doesn’t think he is as dangerous as he once assumed. Maybe he should take a look in the basement then reassess.

Victor stops Julie’s bothersome questions about Chloe by giving her a hug. She is such a pushover. She feels something funny under his sleeve and finds his rotting flesh wound which looks way worse. Thomas and Laure show up at Adele’s to check on Chloe. Once Laure hears Victor’s name she rushes home to confront Julie who begs Laure to take them away from the town. I suggest heading for colder temperatures. It may slow the decomposition.

A memorial for the suicide victims is a perfect forum for Debbie Downer aka Ms. Costa. She freaks Claire out by telling her it’s a shame that her pretty daughters won’t stay that way for long. What the hell does that mean? Oh yeah, the slowly decomposing thing.

Laure decides she is in it for the long haul and absconds with Julie and Victor. Julie snuggles up to her while she drives as a thanks for Laure’s eventual job loss. That should score some major points. She probably gave up a nice pension plan.

At the police station, Thomas feverishly itches at his zombie eczema on his abdomen. His wound wins the prize in ruining my night time snack, especially when he proceeds to pick at it and pull a chunk off. And if that wasn’t enough he eats it when Bruno retrieves him from his cell. Thomas wants Simon to divulge information on the other Returnees and ends the conversation with a warning about leaving Adele alone. It is pretty hard to scare a man who came back from the dead twice though.

It’s now dark and Toni has finally made it to shore. Pierre is ending the memorial and his speech hints at his views of the end being near. Sandrine stands than fumbles to the floor. As the group rushes to her side, she realizes she has miscarried. Julie awakens in the car and realizes they are once again traveling over the dam. This makes it perfectly clear that no one is leaving town. Lucy enters The Lake Pub to find a large group waiting for her in moonlit room.

I can’t wait to tune into the season finale next week. How many have returned? What will be left of those that have? But more importantly, will there be sex scene between Laure and Julie? Guess we will have to wait and see.

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