The Leftovers

[Jeremy Blackman]

Best episode yet? Maybe. This definitely happened:

specifically it's the elevation characteristic of each episode is what REALLY draws me in each week. Things just build and build and BOOM.

SPOILERS

I guess I let myself get sucked in, because I didn't have any sense of when the episode was going to end and didn't see all the pieces being set up for that final sequence. But it was glorious. First time I've had any comprehension of Laurie's character. Even understood Jill's depressiveness a bit... and what a perfect tidy metaphor that was — the circuit being broken, the light being extinguished. That could mess you up pretty good.

I think I missed it; did Jill's braces get raptured?

Anyway, for me that sequence was redemption for this:

I was not on board at all with that final woodchopping scene. As the music swelled, I  honestly tried to get into it, but it just didn't take.

It was the obvious climax, but it was powerful. I legitimately got chills.

I actually deeply admire the decision to hold off on this until now. A bold choice that worked.

Oh, that "It's A Girl" balloon ended up taking on some significance now didn't it?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Nora yet. I think she is by far the best character and best actor on the show. Her storyline is the best. She has an incredible sense of humor but when she tries to make a joke they don't land. She is just so full of pain that people can see it.

Agreed. I neglected to comment on her episode, but I agree with the general consensus that it was one of the best. I think Matt is a slightly more compelling character, but yeah they're both up there.

Next episode needs to focus on Holy Wayne, the most neglected and strung-along storyline, which also has the most potential for disappointment, which is not a good combination.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Deeply annoyed that the season finale is airing next Sunday, the 7th. I guess that means I like this show.

[Drenk]

I cried like a baby during the finale. Yes, it's over-dramatic, the music just doesn't stop, but when the show hits you it hits. Hard.

Like Jeremy said: I guess that means I like this show.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I didn't get emotional per se, and I did notice the music loudly swelling and twinkling at me, but it was powerful in a different way. The entire episode was profoundly disorienting in a way that genuinely frightened me. Lindelof produced more horror in this episode than anything I've seen Carlton Cuse do with The Strain. It nailed that foreboding season finale vibe pretty flawlessly. It was deeply weird and wildly unpredictable, yet the plot developments felt exactly right. I'm going to miss that feeling. The show has a voice.

In retrospect, it's insane how closely my experience of The Leftovers Season 1 mirrored my experience of Lost Season 1. Intrigued, then a little bored, not sure if I should stick with it, then certifiably hooked at the end of the season.

I sort of can't wait for Season 2 now. This is completely unfair and perhaps unwise, but I'm hoping for more supernatural elements to surface. There's just been too much accurate prophecy and crazy coincidence. It feels like the lid is about to burst off the jar of Lindelofian mystery. Let it out!

[Brando]

It was a really good finale for a really good season. It wasn't surprising how the end of the episode played out. I was expecting the dolls then a backlash against the GR after episode 8. It didn't hurt the finale cause entire season was building towards the confrontation.

I was initially worried about how the show was going to deal with the GR. I don't have those concerns after this episode. They are nothing more than a cult. Their goal of making people remember is bullshit. Trying to get others to remember is nothing but their own distraction so they don't have to remember. I think some of the GR, including Laurie, will be conflicted over what happened and question the point. I think others from the GR, including Meg, will become more radicalized.

I think it was for the best to keep Wayne on the periphery. I'm glad they didn't do a Wayne episode or have any flashbacks/backstory. It just adds to the mystery of his character to have him show up randomly in an abandoned apartment, sleeping on the ground in a basement or on a toilet with a gut wound.

I look forward to the next season with Kevin and his new family. I hope they keep the mystery to the show. I hope they keep it focused on this town. With these type of shows, they seem to feel the need to make things overly complicated in the second season. A need to amplify things by 100 when a little will do.

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

nothin' like a li'l orchesteral metallica to get yer drama on

[Jeremy Blackman]

[Jeremy Blackman]

FYI, The Leftovers is nailing it right now. Two of the three episodes that have aired are totally masterful. So much punch, so well executed. Even skeptics of Season 1 are getting on board. I think Season 2 is at least 50% improved.

There is not a better show airing on television right now. If there is, I'd like to see it. Even Fargo will need to pull off a miracle to keep up.

Lindelof must have the biggest grin right now. He deserves it.

Speaking of which: I've gone from being maddened by the collective psychosis of Lost hate to being amused by it. Not talking about legitimate critiques or personal preferences; I'm talking about the people who literally didn't understand the show or what happened, who complain about not getting enough answers, and who often actually say things like "it was so dumb how they were dead on the island all along." I've come to pity these people and relish their torment as they watch The Leftovers. There are even moments (especially in this season's premier) specifically designed to troll them.

[Drenk]

It's the best show on TV right now. It's a show with a rare thing: episodes—or mini-movies or short-stories episodes. The world is solid. The characters are solid. It's a surprising show. It's really surprising. And not in a Game of Thrones way—a show that's not really surprising, when a character die everything I think is: "Okay. You're dead. It was your turn".

About LOST: I hate the last season, I think I've written about it here before; the whole idea behind the flash-sideways was something interesting, but I thought it didn't work with the show. The Leftovers is the perfect story for Lindelof. Last episode wasn't a flash-back but was built around the way Lost managed to alienate the viewer with a character's background. It felt great. About the mystery: here, the mystery is a mystery, just a mystery. It's as if every character is linked to the universe. As if the universe reacts to them. Their mental state, etc. I love it. Because we all feel that way toward the universe, right? Even if we're not believers. Beyond faith, we often think or talk about signs. Superstition is a way to see more. To see beyond. It's universal, I think.

Off Ramp was all about giving something more to reality. Giving something to people. Something to surrender to. Because reality is unbearable. Infinite Jest also talks about the necessity of a Higher Being in AA. And it doesn't have to be God.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yeah. This show is operating on a whole other level. So glad I stuck with it through Season 1. You're so right about the way it's surprising. I love that feeling when something insane happens that feels completely earned, because it was actually developed. The Leftovers has definitely figured out how to do that.

I appreciate your Lost critique. I don't agree with it — Season 6 is my favorite — but I respect it. Also I think it's interesting how Lindelof is grappling with the concept of mystery now. It's as if he's internalized the Lost backlash and is spiritually unable to believe in answers anymore. Now he just doesn't care, and he's toying with everything. It's so dark and chaotic. "Let the mystery be," as the theme says.

I see this show being described as bleak, but it doesn't feel that way to me. It feels lost, for sure, but vibrant at the same time. Vibrant with the promise of solving the mystery, which will never be solved — but the promise can be enough.

Also, in general, I think people need to see The Killing Season 3 before they can accurately describe any television as "bleak."

[RegularKarate]

I'm intrigued. I absolutely hated the first episode of the first season. It was everything I hated about Lost and none of the things I loved.

JB doesn't do this show any favors by saying he liked the last season of Lost.

I think what a lot of Lost defenders don't get about people who were mad at where Lost ended up is that it's not about the answers (or lack thereof), but the fact that the goal of the show became making the viewer say "wow, what the hell is going on?". The first couple seasons were brilliant. I didn't really care as much about the answers because the characters were great and the "mystery" was pretty simple. Then everything became so complicated and the show was so proud of itself for keeping people guessing even though it didn't give a shit about what the answer was, just that people wanted to know.

But this isn't about Lost. How many episodes before season one gets better? I'm interested in Season 2 since it shot here in Austin.

[Drenk]

Season 1 has Episode 3, Episode 6, Episode 9 and 10 who are truly great. Episode 6 being one of my favorite episode of TV. The middle of the season is kind of weak. The last half is solid.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Given that Lindelof's history is very much a part of The Leftovers and the general discussion of it, I think Lost tangents are okay. I can move it to the Lost thread if it becomes too much.

I'm intrigued. I absolutely hated the first episode of the first season. It was everything I hated about Lost and none of the things I loved.

JB doesn't do this show any favors by saying he liked the last season of Lost.

I think what a lot of Lost defenders don't get about people who were mad at where Lost ended up is that it's not about the answers (or lack thereof), but the fact that the goal of the show became making the viewer say "wow, what the hell is going on?". The first couple seasons were brilliant. I didn't really care as much about the answers because the characters were great and the "mystery" was pretty simple. Then everything became so complicated and the show was so proud of itself for keeping people guessing even though it didn't give a shit about what the answer was, just that people wanted to know.

My experience of Lost was pretty much the inverse of yours. Season 1 didn't quite grab me until the end. You say that Lost became "what the hell is going on?" But from my perspective, that's how it started, and that's what made me dubious of much of Season 1 and even stretches of Season 2.

In retrospect, I think I was completely sold on Lost with Season 3. For me, Seasons 3 and 4 started a cascade of payoffs that continued through the end. They finally started answering some of the mysteries in concrete ways, while raising new questions that actually built on the existing story.

I acknowledge that things got complicated, but that was the fun — getting "lost" in all the minutia, watching the mythology build and build and finally crystallize. If that's not your thing, Lost was not for you.

Once you get through Season 5 and into Season 6, I feel like the big picture becomes very accessible. Season 6 is elegant and sincere and brings things into clearer focus as it moves along. (I'm not sure what guesswork is even left after Season 6.)

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS

This was a splendid episode. For that Rickroll if nothing else. Sublime.

If it wasn't obvious already, moments like that drive home that the frustration of mystery is the whole point of this show. It delights me that Lindelof is having fun with it.

The Leftovers has had this tension from the beginning. Magical things have definitely happened in this universe, but nothing can be proven, and most don't pan out. Matt's wife talking probably was a dream. The bagel from Season 1 was not raptured after all. Kevin's tobacco-chewing friend with the pickup truck turned out to be real.

Does the magic sometimes get so explicit that it can't be explained away? I think so. There have only been 2 or 3 of these at most, but I think one happened in this episode. We assume that Patty is a product of Kevin's mental illness, but is she? The story she told about her ex-husband being shat on is most likely true (i.e. not from Kevin's imagination). Remember that she left a bag of poop on his doorstep in Season 1?

[Drenk]

I love the way that the whole story is a puzzle but every episode/piece is independent and satisfying. You're watching something full. That's amazing. It becomes rare with TV...

SPOILER

The whole tension between reality/fantasy of all kind is done very well this season, because so much happened...I can't call them mystery, because even if I can wonder, for example, if Mary really woke, it ultimately doesn't matter. Matt thinks she did. You're watching the characters through their beliefs. The tension also exists between them.