To the pub! Always a good place to start. And 10 years go
– that’s enough time for lots of drinking! Simon is the bassist in the band
that’s playing and he’s due to get married to Adèle, one of the bar staff. Everyone’s all happy,
they get a polaroid taken and a very young Léna plays with the drums, shown by
Simon (for another happy-happy polaroid).
The
next day, the day of the wedding, they’re both tired since they barely slept
(yes, for obvious reasons) they’re all lovey dovey and more saccharine joy so
Adèle ramps it higher and tells Simon she’s pregnant. He starts crying – I
think this is overcome by emotion but I’ve no idea if it’s happy or sad. Sad I
think, since she gets all sad as well.
That
may be why Simon doesn’t show up. The bride, the bridesmaid and a man I take to
be the best man (isn’t groom wrangling his job?) stand in an echoingly empty
church with the priest. Which is when the police arrive to deliver some bad
news. On the plus side, you’ve already hired the church so if you can get
someone to rush out for a big box… no? Probably not.
Move
to the present day and Adèle’s daughter and partner, Thomas, are having
breakfast and she’s having trouble getting up – which her daughter worries may
be a repeat of previous sleeplessness in the past (which, linked
to what was said last week, suggests Adèle had some problems after Simon’s death).
Upstairs Adèle is stressed, worn and not her best – and very apologetic, but
Thomas is calm and understanding.
Simon,
meanwhile, goes to an American theme diner with a pocket full of loose change –
apparently not enough to buy some food. He tries to beg which gets him nowhere
– so he smacks the bar tender round the head with a glass and then beats him
unconscious – all watched by a woman eating chips and being immensely
unconcerned about the whole thing, rather bored really. I feel she’s giving him
marks out of 10 and finding him lacking. Though the attack is caught on CCTV.
At
her house, Camille has her own problems – examining her unaged face in the
mirror and asking her twin – now older – sister Léna if she’s afraid of her. She says no – but leaves
when a scared and confused Camille tries to hug her.
At the breakfast table, Claire, Camille and Jérôme all play happy, normal families until Léna comes down and shatters the illusion, demanding to know who Camille is, how they can be sure she’s Camille and runs out when Jérôme tries to quiet her. He follows her and she protests, tearfully, how impossible it all is. He wants her to keep quiet but she points out they can hardly hide her. He tells her her sister needs her – and Léna tells him that Camille is dead.
At the police station, the poor battered diner employee makes his report – and Julie asks if there’s been any reports of a missing boy matching Creepy Kid’s description. There aren’t (why doesn’t she just hand in the Creepy Kid?) She makes up a ridiculous story for why she’s asking rather than tell the truth. I have no idea why, presumably she’s very very bored? Of course, then she has to give a statement about her lie.
In
his quest for Adèle, Simon goes to see Julie again and ask her about the last
tenant – but she doesn’t know Adèle and took over the flat 8 or 9 years ago. In
desperation he asks if she knows what happened to Simon – she says no and
closes the door on him. She has the more important task of questioning the
silent Creepy Kid. He ignores most of her questions and gives her a random hug.
She tells him she can’t keep him because she fears he may eat her skin – or
because it’s not legal. One of the two. Personally I’d fear the skin eating.
Adèle,
Thomas and her daughter are discussing something in the church – something
coming up (wedding perhaps?) which Adèle seems all distracted about, when
Thomas, the Police Captain (I thought he was fire brigade, my mistake) gets a
call. They’ve found Lucy’s body – and, unexpectedly, she’s still alive but in
critical condition. She’s been repeatedly stabbed and bitten – which Thomas and
his fellow officer recognise. Apparently a serial killer is back.
In
the church, Adèle’s daughter goes to the bathroom, but the taps don’t work.
Instead, water flows up from the drain. At the dam, the worried workers talk
about the water level of the lake still dropping. They decide on more
inspection – and keeping it quiet. Just because.
Camille
goes into her sister’s room and examines the posters and photographs of her
sister growing up without her – including photographs of her friends.
Downstairs Jérôme and Claire continue their slightly stunned, awkward life and
Jérôme intends to go home and change; to which Claire suggests he bring some of
his things back. For Camille, of course. Jérôme agrees but does wonder what
Pierre, Claire’s new boyfriend, will think. Claire goes to check on Camille and
sees that Léna’s
room has been trashed – Camille denies having gone in and Claire drops it with
that same stunned air about her.
Julie
takes Creepy Kid out – and her nosy neighbour who really really needs a hobby
swoops out on them. Y’know, if Creepy Kid’s head was going to spin and he was
going to start eating souls or anything now would be a good time to start.
Completely ignoring Julie’s really unsubtle “sod off” body language and tone,
Nosy neighbour follows her and asks her about Mr. Costas – taking the chance to
tell Julie about his suicide.
At
the church the priest asks Adèle what is wrong with her (in a roundabout way and with
extra guilt for not trusting him) and she tells him she thought Simon had come
back. She mentions it happening before – apparently Adèle has hallucinated in
the past (which rather explains her reaction to ghosts of fiancés past
appearing on the doorstep). He tells her of another parishioner who had her
husband come back – 20 years after he died. But he doesn’t believe either of
them REALLY came back, it’s just love and missing them and being reminded close
to her wedding to Thomas. Not zombies. Honest. And ghosts mean her no harm, she
just has to make peace with them. Yeah, this guy is going to get eaten by a
zombie, possessed by a ghost or have his skin eaten by Creepy kid. He ends
telling her not to turn Simon away, but talk to him
Y’know,
if she was hallucinating it may be best she talk to a psychiatrist rather than
a priest who encourages her to have a nice chat with the voices in her head.
Simon
goes to the pub where he sees Léna who is very very very carefully displaying the
Kronenbourg 1664 label on her beer glass so they get their money’s worth from
the product placement. He asks where Adèle works and she tells him the multimedia library
– he heads out again.
At
home Camille comes down to find Claire and Pierre talking about her and her
memories and when they stop. She tells him that she hasn’t slept for a second
still and why is that. He tells her everything has an explanation. Which is
wonderfully helpful. She decides to go out, tired of being stuck in and Pierre
tries to stop her – to which she demands to know who this man is, anyway.
Claire assures Camille she can trust him so she asks what she is – a zombie? He
says not a zombie (“then why do I want to eat your brain? Nom nom nom”. Ok it’d
break the tone of the show but I still vaguely hoped for it). He’s full of
religious joy over her return because he did go to her funeral and see her
coffin so knows she died. She’s more upset by the fact she was chosen and the
other 40 people on the bus were not. She just wants a normal life.
2
police go to the pub to ask Toni, the barman to come with them to inform him
about Lucy and ask him about her. Léna tries to ask one of them what’s going on – who she
knows, Alcide – but he can’t talk about it with her. They leave and Léna spots
the photograph on the wall of her being taught how to play the drums by Simon
when she was a child – and recognises him – and that he hasn’t aged.
Simon
heads to the library to find Adèle – but on the way he is spotted on CCTV and reported
to the police. He finds Adèle and she’s stunned by how young and handsome he
is. Taking the priest’s advice, she tells him that just because she’s marrying
Thomas doesn’t mean she’ll forget him, she talks to him as a ghost and that
she’s not scared and how wonderful it is he came back. Well, if he weren’t
confused before, he should be now. She thinks he’s in her head – and when a
crowd of screaming kids come in the room and distract her, he’s gone by the time
she looks back. So her belief is probably going to continue. My she’s going to
be surprised when her hallucination is arrested. He leaves the library – and is
picked up by the police.
At
the police station, Thomas is given the files by his assistant, Laure. She
shows him Lucy was stabbed 17 times by someone who tried to eat her liver –
exactly the same as murders 7 years ago. Alcide brings in Toni and Thomas
questions him about what Lucy was doing, when she left work, if she had any
family, etc. Laure questions him as a suspect – since he was a suspect in the
last murder 7 years ago. She accuses him until Thomas tells her to back off and
leave (nicely).
A
dishevelled man, Serge, goes to some houses in the forest outside of town –
they’re boarded up, which surprises him. He breaks in, calling for his mother.
At
the bar Léna
looks even more shellshocked and asks her friend if it’s possible to come back
from the dead. He’s pretty confused by this and makes something of a joke of it
– and she leaves in tears.
Camille
sneaks out of her house. And, while Julie is distracted, Creepy Kid jumps out
the window she hurries downstairs (it’s either the second or third floor) but
doesn’t find him splattered on the floor – she doesn’t see him at all. Then she
hears a knock – she turns and Creepy Kid is back inside the lobby. Creepy Kid
is Creepy.
Released
by the police, Toni goes to the boarded up houses where we saw Serge. He goes
through unshuttering windows and finds a recently butchered small furry animal.
And a wolf strung up in the taxidermy room. Yes, it has a taxidermy room. The
only thing creepier than this place is the Creepy Kid. Toni hears a noise and
goes and rechecks the taxidermy room rather than jumping out the window and
running whimpering to town (which is what I’d be doing at this point). The meat
hook from the ceiling is empty – because the dead, taxidermy wolf is now alive
again. And not happy. He reaches for a gun and it leaps on him – he manages to
hold it off, kick it away and shoot it. And then shoot it again – sensible man.
Don’t trust the zombie wolf.
He
buries the wolf outside and Serge arrives, asking what it did to him. Toni gets
that familiar shellshocked look on his face. Then hits Serge in the head with
his shovel. See! There’s one man in this town who knows what to do with
zombies! While Serge groans on the floor, a confused and stunned Toni goes back
to the house and closes the door. See? This guy has watched his zombie movies.
He holds the door close and begins praying while Serge bangs on it and asks why
Toni hit him. At the end of the prayer, Serge stops banging on the door. Toni
opens it and gets clonked on the head with a spade.
Oh
Toni, you were doing so well.
Claire
notices that Camille is gone and calls Jérôme, horrified that Camille is gone
and may not come back. Again. Camille has gone to the pub, to look in the
window and spy on the boy who was her friend when they were both young. She
runs when she’s spotted. At the house Léna returns home to join Claire and Jérôme in horrified “oh
god she’s out!”
At
the police station, Laure presents Thomas with a report on who attacked the
diner worker – except his file shows him dead. Dead for 10 years no less; they
checked his finger prints and they match Simon Delaître. She’s impressed he
tricked the system, Thomas is far more shocked because, of course, he
recognises Simon. They go to question Simon, Thomas getting that very familiar
shellshocked look and Laure starting her aggressive questioning, until Thomas
asks him if he knows Adèle – Simon says he does and Thomas tells Simon that
Simon Delaître is dead. Simon has a brief silence before asking Thomas what he
is to Adèle. Thomas doesn’t answer and puts Simon in custody.
At
the serial killer house, Toni wakes up and Serge points a gun at him, asking
why the house was locked and where is mother is. Toni tells him his mother died
3 years ago. Serge asks why he doesn’t remember, rather agitated, and Toni says
because he wasn’t there – Serge was with his mother. Serge slowly lowers the
gun, shellshocked face in place.
Thomas
goes home to Adèle and she’s bright and chipper (having made peace with her
not!ghost) and Thomas is the shellshocked one now.
Camille
returns home to find the whole house worried and relieved to have her back. She
asks what could happen – she’s already dead. She tells them she went to the pub
to see Frédéric (the friend) but bumped into Lucho. Who didn’t recognise her.
She bursts into tears
That
night Léna
goes to Camille’s room and tells her she’s seen someone like her – someone else
who is dead
Thomas
goes through Adèle’s old photos and finds one of Simon. More shellshock
In
the cell, Alcide asks Simon if he wants to call anyone – he doesn’t answer
At
the serial killer houses, Serge cries, held by Toni
And
Creepy Kid spends another night with Julie – who then goes into the bathroom
and cries. As she undresses for the shower, we see her abdomen is covered in
scars.
Much
of what I said in the last episode applies here – there’s a really well
maintained sense of theme and atmosphere. There’s a lot of really good acting.
And while I joke about the patented shellshocked look, how else would you look
in those circumstances? It’s really well done, never loses its sense of creepy
or sinister and I get the feeling there’s something big coming. Especially with
odd things like the lake water falling.
The
pacing is… ok. It feels kind of slow but it’s not boring because of that
crescendo, that sense of something lurking and about to burst out over
everything.
More
troubling is that, despite a veritably huge cast of characters, I think Serge
is the only minority. It’s only the second episode so more may be forthcoming.
