Much like Jerome’s wall of mysteries filled with question marks and curious connections, the second season of The Returned is all about answers that only raise more questions. The Returned has become more of a mystery to uncover than an individual character study from week to week, like the first season, but the show has progressed into this new style beautifully. An episode like “Madame Costa” proves, The Returned is excellent at adding new depth and layers to the characters we’ve already been watching for almost two seasons.
This is surely true of poor, creepy Victor. Last week, we learned that the town found Victor to be a threat 35 years ago, when the dam broke and they blamed him for all of the town’s tragedies. This episode shows us how, maybe, they had a good point to respond in such a harsh way. Victor’s nightmares, well, they always come true, and his drawings of the town’s tragedies are predictions that he seems to be getting from his head. These aren’t vague visions either, as we finally see the death of Madame Costa, who dies falling through the ice while taking her dog out, immediately after spending time with Victor. Watching Costa fall, and then disappear completely, with her dog waiting on the ice is chilling enough, but cutting back to Victor’s drawing and see the detailed prediction of this exact moment adds an extra bit of creepiness.
Once again, this season offers a huge reveal, which only makes me wonder even more about the unknown—which is this show’s exact wheelhouse. Is Victor witnessing the future, or is he actively creating it? Does the drawing of these incidents make them occur and is that why his mother demands he quit drawing? And why exactly doesn’t Victor warn these people? Is there no escaping the inevitable? Not only does this revelation make Victor even more fascinating, it makes him even more tragic. One starts to sympathize with the rest of the town for being afraid of Victor, especially in this time of heightened fear. It’s hard to imagine not being freaked out by a boy who has 100% accuracy in his horrific visions.
In the first season of The Returned there also seemed to be two very distinct factions: the living and the returned. This season, especially with “Madame Costa,” breaks these groups down even further, which splinters the town even more. When Aubrey escapes back to her home, her mother refuses to look at her, and can’t accept the daughter that is clearly in front of her. Instead, she leaves Aubrey kicking and screaming in the arms of the Helping Hand. For the living there are now two separate groups as well: those who are ready to accept the truth about what is happening, and those who want to live in a world of ignorance.