Like most 21st Century texts, The Returned has something to say about religion. As a show about love, live and death, The Returned has a lot to say about religion. But, it can seem a little confusing trying to navigate and eventually dictate what the producers are saying about religion; is there cynicism, optimism, even criticism or encouragement
As there is an open air of discussion around this, it could be any. However, I think that there are criticisms of religion made be many characters, though the show in itself is rather the antithesis, or at least at times it can be. An example of this would be Jerome's stark atheism, and his brash, abrasive and sometimes abusive personality which presents him as less than respectable. He is set up as a binary opposite to Pierre, or to simplified morality terms, good and bad. Their social statuses emphasise this as Jerome is a dead-beat dad who's hit his daughter before, and whilst we make excuses that he's grieving, there's certainly a judgement the show imposes on us to make for his overt doubts in religion, and to an extent, Pierre.
On the other hand, Pierre is a commendable community member with leadership and authorial roles in the church and the Helping Hand community, which is also a Christian organisation, and so naturally we take his moral high-ground as opposed to Jerome's petty squabbles.
Whilst it could be said that The Returned is a judgement on atheism, and the disillusionment of freedom, there are also readings that may infer that the 'returned' are represented as negative are due to how they blindly follow one leader unquestionably, and heed to their every command. I think it shifts to focalise those who follow out the ethos and teachings of religion, such as kindness and fairness without necessarily being attached to a particular catechism. The whole equilibrium is that something has happened so that the natural order has been upturned; the associations between Jerome's secularity and Pierre's religion allow the audience to see how the two could work in tandem (ie. 'When God said there was a resurrection of the dead, this isn't what I had in mind') and that it's not necessarily that God doesn't exist, it's just that our interpretation is off-key and in contemporary society where our Christian teachings seem out-of-touch, it may take a disaster for us to begin practicing the main principes of any religion again.
However, Pierre doesn't exactly follow this either.
Pierre's involvement in Victor's death, though he attempted to spare him but failed to save Victor's life, is far from the Christian teachings he preaches about. 'Coup de grace' excuses aside, Pierre's character has an unquestionable authority whilst his secret remains concealed and has an eerie resemblance to the Catholic Church scandals that also involve young boys. Victor's death, perhaps signifying the public death of the innate innocence and holiness of the Church, is unexpected from a man of such high-standing and could be the producers of The Returned acknowledging that true Christianity is in the smaller deeds and teachings we carry out, and that the actual institution of the Church is corrupt and deceitful.
Characters like Adele manifest what can be described as the updated Biblical stories, as though Chloe was born out of wedlock due to Simon's untimely (and in the eyes of church, sinful) death by suicide, Adele remains connected with her innocence as she settles into a life with Thomas. This sense of innocence is prompted by her not initially knowing Simon comitted suicide, and the white clothing she typically dons to allude to this template of femininity she adheres to be finally abandoning the gung-ho life she had before, and sinking into her quiet library job. Her hair cut obviously signals that time has passed and that she is more mature, however this also may be allegorical for the tame, mundane life she now leads and how religion can pressure people to fit a certain mould, far from who they actually are, or want to be.
The reunion with Simon as a 'returned' offers her a new chance, to have her own immaculate conception (and Chosen One), and therefore a second chance at hope. The 'returned' horde can be seen in two ways; in keeping with traditional religion, they could be King Herod, but they could also be society and how their anticipation and possessiveness over Adele's unborn baby mimics that we've taken away the wrong meaning of religion, destroyed the helpfulness and warped it into binary opposites, and that it's clear cut between right and wrong, Heaven and Hell.
Perhaps the town is Purgatory, where even after the body of the characters is dead, a metaphysical existence lives on. Life after death is a topic many religions provide answers for, and The Returned renders this as implausible; death is merely a temporary transfix from which we can return and resume, though his proves to be a hard cohesion for living and dead. This is particularly significant in terms of religions relevance in contemporary society as for example, big changes within sexual politcs over the past few decades behooves the binary opposition traditional and modern. Are old ideologies, predominantly instated by religion, able to intergrate successfully with the new way of life. Whilst this can seem very reminiscent of Darwin and religion, it's an argument that never truly went away as it's still not been answered, and so The Returned may be making a judgement on how we cannot truly accept bigger changes in the world if we still have hang-ups about things that are ultimately out of our control.
The impossibility to distinguish dead and living before their flesh start decaying may emulate the power of religion in the sense there's a dedication to and disruption of reality. And, whilst this may want us to ask more and more questions, I feel again that this is taking a leaf out of religions book by leaving them all unanswered, leaving the laws of life and death, evolution and progress take their natural courses. Just until they die, and then return.
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