From the off-set, Pierre seems like a man we can trust. Though there seems to be something a little bit off about him, we are comforted by his pastoral, clerical efforts within the community in which he lives, providing leadership at the Helping Hand. He consciously makes an effort with the families of the bus crash victims, leading the sessions of comfort even if it means sometimes tackling Jerome, Claire's husband. This leadership, authorial role becomes questionable, particularly when we find out Pierre had an involvement with the death of Victor and his family. This could be a mouthpiece on the issues surrounding corrupt, or perhaps inexperienced leaders as after all, Pierre wasn't the leader of the mob that killed Victor, he was the fallible handyman with a weak-spot and loud voice, giving away the child's hiding place.
Returning to the obvious tension between them sources from something beyond Jerome's grief of his daughter; Claire and Pierre are now an item in the wake of Claire and Jerome's failed marriage and Pierre comes out the better, more level-headed man in the public eye. Contrary to Jerome, his critical comments are kept to their private conversations, where he lets his abrasive side shine a little more. This aids in the audience understanding that underneath Pierre's representation of himself, there is a modestly volatile and unpleasant side that he has complete control over and will perhaps use to provoke Jerome, so that he seems like a victim.
An interesting point is that particularly in the first episode, Pierre is captured coming towards Claire's house (with herself and Jerome inside) through a window, relying on the Symbolic Code that the ominous dam is also captured through the repetitious shots of a window, with it decreasing proficiently. As we know that there's something slightly askew about the dam, the link and association between the seemingly squeaky clean Pierre and the concerning dam signal to the audience that he is something to be wary of, and prefigure his future events. This also depicts him as an outsider, or perhaps someone who is not fully welcome. Though it can be argued the returned themselves may stand for this, I think the domesticated storyline of Claire and Jerome adds to the sense of familiarity that audiences may find relatable, and allow them to henceforth sympathise with him, despite his unsavoury acts.
Pierre begins to come into his own more when we see his reaction to 'returned' Camille, in which he assumes the role of a 'Doctor' perhaps a connotation to his beliefs, and that the returned are part of an illness that can be treated. This can also be shown through his clean-cut, friendly and helpful disposition to public eyes but brash attitude in private I mentioned before, which further reinforces the conflicted nature of his ideologies as he is also a man of God, which he furthermore believes gives him a superiority over characters like Jerome who don't believe. This can be seen in the conclusive episode of The Returned, in which he is adamant he is one of the spokesperson to the horde, emulating the sense Pierre's complex is the cause of his power struggles against Victor, Jerome and the horde. He speaks to them fairly, setting out fair conditions as he knows the same violence used on Victor or the same abrasiveness on Jerome would result in him fighting a losing battle. Pierre was clearly constructed as a character that knows his own worth, and when self assertion is appropriate.
The struggle for dominance is something of a motif within Pierre's storyline, a noteworthy shot would be when a community is established at the Helping Hand, and Pierre is walking up the stairs from the basement, with Victor pictured above him. Pierre often seems to the brunt of Jerome's jaunty jokes, but the sense of irony is heightened by the fear in his eyes when confronted with the small child. The difference in their size is emphasised and though we know Victor is much smaller than Pierre, he looks much taller and may allude to Pierre's grandest fears.
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