Based on Jason Mott's 2013 novel The Returned. The series follows the residents of Arcadia, Missouri, whose lives are upended when their loved ones return from the dead, unaged since their deaths. Among the returned is Jacob Langston (Landon Gimenez), an eight-year-old boy who drowned in 1982. Having been found alive in China, Jacob is brought back to the United States by an immigration agent named Martin ("Marty") Bellamy (Omar Epps), who defies orders and returns Jacob to his parents, Henry (Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille (Frances Fisher). Jacob's surprise return inspires his uncle, Arcadia Sheriff Fred Langston (Matt Craven), and Fred's daughter Dr. Maggie Langston (Devin Kelley), whose wife/mother drowned while allegedly trying to rescue the boy, to learn more about this mystery. Caleb Richards (Sam Hazeldine), the father of Maggie's best friend Elaine Richards (Samaire Armstrong), becomes the second Arcadia resident to return, and he warns that there are many more to follow.