‘The Returned’ Season 2 Spoilers: ‘Les Revenants’ Episode 2 Reveals Victor’s Backstory, What Happened To The Police Officers [RECAP]

SundanceTV’s “The Returned” is full of mysteries -- from Adèle’s (Clotilde Hesme) baby to Lucy’s (Ana Girardot) involvement with the dead. But one mystery that has been plaguing fans was finally answered Saturday night during episode 2 of Season 2. The show, also known as “Les Revenants” in France, cleared up the history of Victor (Swann Nambotin) and his family.

Episode 2, titled “Milan,” starts off with a flashback to 35 years ago. Pierre (Jean-François Sivadier) arrives at a meeting where a group of people tell him that he was “chosen.” But chosen for what? He gets in a car with other men -- including Mr. Costa (Claude Lévèque) who killed himself during Season 1 when his wife, Madame Costa (Laetitia de Fombelle), returned from the dead. They tell Pierre that they just need him to “frighten” the people in the house they’re in front of. But then they hand him a gun.

The people that Pierre, Mr. Costa and the others are “frightening” are actually Victor’s parents. “Leave and don’t come back,” they warn Victor’s mom after they knock out his dad. “You’ve been warned.”

But the warning turns deadly when Victor’s father gets back up. The men quickly shoot him and then turn the gun on Victor’s mom (Alice Butaud). The flashback ends with a child calling out for his mom. As “Les Revenants” viewers already know, both Victor -- whose real name is actually Louis -- and his brother were killed by the intruders. But now fans know that they didn’t die during a robbery.

Cut to current day and Julie (Céline Sallette) is questioning Victor’s mother about what happened. But just like the others, she doesn’t remember how she died. When she asks Julie if she is like them, Julie explains that she was simply looking out for Victor because he was on his own. Victor’s mom thanks her for watching out for her son. But does that mean Julie is no longer needed by Victor?

Elsewhere in the new village of the dead, Serge (Guillaume Gouix) returns home to find his father, Milan (Michaël Abiteboul), has also returned from the dead. In a shocking twist, Milan was one of the men involved in killing Victor’s parents in the flashback. He hugs Serge, but Serge appears to be frightened of him.

Meanwhile at the hospital in town, Adèle is equally frightened. The doctors tell her that the baby is fine and that nurses will bring him to her room once she gets some rest. However, Adèle is not interested in seeing her son. She tells the doctor no and that she wants to go home.

But Adèle might not want to return home. At Lucy’s request, Simon (Pierre Perrier) goes back to the side of the living to check on the baby and his ex. He doesn’t go to the hospital though. Instead he visits with Chloé (Brune Martin), who promises her father that the baby is fine. Like Adèle, it doesn’t sound like he wants to see his son either. He asks Chloé to watch over her baby brother because he can’t.

The questions in town continue to pile up as the military searches for Audrey Sabatini (Armande Boulanger), the young girl that ran off into the woods after being found by the dam. The soldiers bring her parents in for questioning. And while Sandrine (Constance Dollé) and her husband know that Audrey must have returned from the dead, the soldiers believe that somebody is impersonating their daughter. They don’t let the soldiers in on the town’s biggest secret.

Audrey doesn’t even know that she died and came back to life. Camille (Yara Pilartz) wants to tell her, but Claire (Anne Consigny) insists that they don’t scare her anymore than she already is. Camille doesn’t like that her mom is babying a girl she doesn’t even consider to be a friend. She takes out her frustrations on Claire, telling her that she should have stayed with the living and that she regrets her following her.

Victor and his mother are also having issues. His mother thinks that he’s changed. Meanwhile, Victor tells Julie that his mother scares him. Suspicious of the woman, Julie questions Mrs. Costa about whether Victor’s mother was good with her kids. She claims she doesn’t know, but explains that Victor was picked on at school before he died.

The relationship between Victor and his mother is still up in the air, but one thing is certain about Serge’s dad -- he’s not a good man. Serge lies to Milan, telling him that his mother and Toni (Grégory Gadebois) were evacuated from the area due to the flood. As to why he’s still there? He claims that he hid.

The secrets in town are beginning to unravel. Berg (Laurent Lucas), the new dam inspector in town, visits Jérôme (Frédéric Pierrot) to grill him about Camille, Audrey and the events that occurred at the Helping Hand. But while Jérôme tried to tell the truth in the past, he doesn’t even attempt to explain everything to Berg. Instead he closes the door on the inspector.

Sandrine appears to be in a similar spot. Despite grieving over her daughter in Season 1 of “The Returned,” Sandrine is not interested in reuniting with Audrey now that she’s back. She goes to Pierre to tell him that they’re not returning to the Helping Hand, however her husband feels differently. He wants to stay -- just like the others. You see, while some have left the flooded town, many folks have decided to stay and rebuild. And there are even more people arriving in the mountain village. The surprising part is that they know what happened at the Helping Hand.

But what do the people at the Helping Hand want? It’s not clear, but Pierre makes a mad dash to the Lake Pub when he finds out that Toni is there. However, Lena (Jenna Thiam) gets to Toni first. He knows that he’s dead, but when she asks him about Serge, Camille and the others, Toni says he doesn’t know where they are. There is no time for Lena to question him further. Pierre arrives with other members of the Helping Hand and convinces Toni that they can protect him. Lena begs Toni not to trust Pierre and the others, but Toni doesn’t listen. He leaves with Pierre.

But is Lena right about Pierre and the Helping Hand? Something is suspicious. When Sandrine asks Pierre if that’s Toni, he replies, “no, that’s not him anymore.”

“Toni is dead,” Pierre tells Sandrine.

Speaking of the dead -- another one of Camille and Audrey’s classmates, Esteban (Thomas Doret), also returns. Audrey spots him in the street and forces Claire to let him into the house. But once Esteban gets inside, Claire tries to hide him. She claims that “they” will come looking for him. Confused as to what’s happening, Esteban makes Claire let him out of the house. Audrey and Camille take the opportunity to run out as well, forcing Claire to run out after them -- but neither of them make it far.

Claire gets surrounded by “them” and get beat up. However, a man finds her and brings her back to her house.

Esteban tries to cross the water to get to the other side of town but is stopped by “them.” Who are they? Camille explains that they want to stop them from leaving. Esteban and Audrey still don’t get it, so Camille breaks the news to them -- they’re all dead.

Needless to say, Camille’s friends don’t believe her. She grabs a broken bottle and is about to cut her neck to prove it to them but is stopped by another member of the returned. He wants to show them something -- the crash site of the school bus that killed them. Esteban and Audrey are in shock, but believe Camille when they see the memorial site.

Things continue to get weird at Julie and Victor’s house. Victor’s mother yells at him to stop drawing, warning him that he knows that he shouldn’t be doing it. Julie tries to protect him, but Victor’s mom tells her that she doesn’t know her son. When Julie asks Victor about the drawings, he says that his mother doesn’t love him. He claims that she used to stop him from leaving the house. Julie asks about his dad, and Victor tells her that he was nicer. But don’t expect Victor’s dad to return like his mom -- he didn’t die that fateful night. Another flashback 35 years ago reveals that Pierre shot Milan before he could finish the job on Victor’s dad. Cut back to current times and Victor’s dad is an old man in the hospital on oxygen.

Back on the side of the living, Lena discovers her dad’s secret conspiracy theory room. Jérôme explains that he’s trying to find a pattern to figure out when Claire and Camille will return. But Lena’s not interested. She runs out of the house.

At the hospital, the baby’s health continues to deteriorate and he’s put on a ventilator. The doctor begs Adèle again to see her baby, but Adèle refuses -- she won’t even name him. However, when Chloé finds out that her baby brother is dying, she runs to her mother and begs her to do something. Adèle finally leaves her hospital room and touches her son for the first time -- seemingly helping him get better.

Meanwhile, Berg finds a giant hole in the ground. What does it mean? That remains a mystery for now, but the biggest jaw dropper of episode 2 came in the final moments. Dogs help the soldiers find the police officers that went missing in the Season 1 finale. They’re all dead and tied to trees.