The Leftovers

[Drenk]

I didn't ask any questions. He signed my Blu-Ray of season 2 of The Leftovers at the end but a big crowd came at him, I felt embarrassed to be there too, I almost left. I just said that I'll never forget season 2 of The Leftovers.

But people who liked the end of LOST said it to him, so your message was sent, JB!

Even if I have to wait two weeks to know what the fuck happens next, I'm excited to watch the premiere again! IT'S BACK ON THE AIR!

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yes! This was a perfect premiere, just full of... everything. I'm so satisfied already. And yet I wanted to rewatch it immediately.

Seriously though, what did this episode not have?

SPOILERS

We know, of course, that police and/or national guard will be arriving soon to clear out the juggalos from the streets and the Guilty Remnant from the government buildings, certainly.

Boy did they. After tormenting us with the Guilty Remnant for so long, Lindelof literally blew them up. It was a fun bit of lampshading that also feels completely in-universe — we've seen how the government deals with cults when they get out of hand. I also love that they just left the crater there — as a warning. Ugh, so much subtext to be discovered here.

It was an extreme delight to see these characters who've suffered so much have a little bit of happiness. Another development that is satisfying because of how earned it is. Their happiness also works because we know we must be at the tail end of it. All the ominous notes were struck so perfectly.

That look on Matt's face when Kevin is baptized. He's like "oh God, I could not have written this better."

And that end. I don't even.

But people who liked the end of LOST said it to him, so your message was sent, JB!

Excellent!

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yep

[Drenk]

SPOILERS


After all the talk about Australia, I was expecting some immediate radical change, but it was pleasant to see how Miracle came together after the chaos of last year. It did blow up. Of course, you can sense that something is wrong beneath the surface...

About that ending: they wouldn't make that bold a choice if they hadn't the whole story so I'm confident (and a little bit scared because they only have eight episodes and it gets more confusing.)

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS


After all the talk about Australia, I was expecting some immediate radical change, but it was pleasant to see how Miracle came together after the chaos of last year. It did blow up. Of course, you can sense that something is wrong beneath the surface...

About that ending: they wouldn't make that bold a choice if they hadn't the whole story so I'm confident (and a little bit scared because they only have eight episodes and it gets more confusing.)

MORE SPOILERS!

I'm doing this without seeing the second episode, but it feels like that last bit could be from a divergent timeline. Perhaps the departure created it, or perhaps the coming event does.

Kevin told Tom that story from International Assassin as if were real. Maybe in a way it was. Maybe Kevin has an actual special connection to other dimensions. I think he has way more awareness of his own supernatural qualities than he lets on. Two more hints: When he said he "just knew" that the water was safe, and the fact that he might be "killing" himself with that plastic bag to travel to another world.

[Drenk]

You can watch the masterclass here if you want (the part where he tells the origin of LOST is interesting, television is a crazy world): http://series-mania.fr/en/video/rencontre-damon-lindelof/

[RegularKarate]

That opening was cool.
I was surprised to see this woman I know, Christina in the episode screaming at Kevin about the drone strike.
The rest of the episode felt like an in-betweener. I know that it's probably just catching us up and trying to get us used to things being "okay" before they make everything get shitty again, but it wasn't grabbing me in any way.

Still, as angry as I get about this series, I continue to watch it and will be in until the end.

[Drenk]

Beautiful episode. Re-watched it today, then watched some scenes again. Cried and cried and cried. Nora Durst: what a character. Carrie Coon: what an actress. That trampoline scene on a big screen was amazing...

SPOILERS
The theory part again...so...the scene in Australia isn't in the future. The seventh anniversary of October 14th is coming. The women have read The Book of Kevin. How? They come from the future? Kevin who is not our Kevin is leaving with Kevin's father (our Kevin)? What about Nora at the end of episode 1?

Six episodes left.

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS

The episode at first really threw me off. There was not a discernible forward-moving plot trajectory, and I was getting antsy because we're approaching the end. Nora's journey seemed like a side quest. And the story felt utterly conventional.

Then, at 22 minutes, when Mark Linn-Baker begins his pitch — "okay, there are a couple types of radiation" — I was fully on board. I expect my expectations to be upended, and that was certainly happening. I then had absolutely no idea what was going to happen from one minute to the next.

I am very strongly reminded of Lost episode 601 ("LAX"), which mercilessly trolls the audience in such a beautiful way — sly but also heartfelt.

The scene were Nora walks in on Kevin (46:40) is pure magic. One of the best scenes of the whole series. Carrie Coon's performance there is truly next-level. I didn't even realize I was crying until that scene was over because I was so utterly captured.

Australian Kevin is... interesting. When he hit the kangaroo, I felt strong parallels with Kevin and the dogs in season 1 ("they're not our roos anymore") and Laurie and the Guilty Remnant in season 2.

They did go a bit over the top with his characterization, though. We're supposed to hate him enough that we don't feel too bad when he dies. I would have been okay with most of that, but I think it crosses a line when he throws the keys. Really puts a button on it. A strange bit of lazy writing that felt out of place in this show.

Thankfully I loved what came next with the four horsewomen of the apocalypse. To your question, Drenk, this is my guess: Kevin's dad has been in communication with Kevin's apostles, and I'm sure they've shared an electronic version of the book. As Mark Linn-Baker told us, everything important is out there in the cloud.

I'm thinking about this mobile radiation unit that Nora is going to "investigate" in Australia, and I can't help but think of the last few episodes of Lost Season 6. There are actually two possible reference points: the electromagnetic energy in "the heart of the island" or the machine that Widmore uses on Desmond, blasting him with said energy. In both cases, it's an experience that no normal human being can possibly survive, but Desmond does, because of his unique properties. What if this radiation unit leads to a similar scenario? Kevin, after all, has some unique properties of his own.

[Jeremy Blackman]

On Rotten Tomatoes I could only find one negative review of this season. It's from MTV. Here's the subhead:

"IN ITS FINAL SEASON, THE CHARACTERS ARE YET AGAIN MIRED IN THEIR DEPRESSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND SELF-MUTILATIONS. AND IT’S LIKE, JUST GET OVER IT ALREADY."

LOL. If you have any interest in reading the full review, beware that it appears to have spoilers for upcoming episodes...

http://www.mtv.com/news/3003475/the-leftovers-season-3-its-the-end-of-the-world-and-were-not-allowed-to-forget-it/

[Jeremy Blackman]

Heard an interesting theory from this podcast...

SPECULATION SPOILERS

Here's their prediction. Nora goes into this radiation device and gets blasted — but, being a lens, she deflects the energy and kills everyone in the room.

My addition: maybe this destruction goes beyond "the room" and is even apocalyptic in scope. This would go with her being called a demon in Season 2. Of course, if such a thing happens, it could be attributed to a flaw in the radiation machine... a horrible accident. Admittedly this is all a bit crazy, but I won't rule anything out.

[Drenk]

SPOILERS

I don't like this theory because it takes many theories within the shows to make one coherent system. What I like is the fact that they're separated from one another. I think something crazy will happen, but something new.

[modage]

I'm behind but just barely. I watched Season 1 when it was on and was rooting for Lindelof but found it kind of a slog to get through. I mostly hated the characters (save Nora and Jill) and thought it had the same kind of 'trying-too-hard' thing that Breaking Bad S1 had where something was not quite gelling naturally yet between the writing/performances/production. So when Season 2 came on I skipped out on it, even as the glowing reviews pilled up, I still thought 'I'm not sure I have any interest in going back into that world or how much they can even salvage that I would be interested in, quasi-reboot or no.' But I was wrong.

I finally watched Season 2 this week and just fucking loved it. This is the show I wanted Lindelof to make post-LOST but felt like he was afraid to make in Season 1. Like he was trying to run from some of his storytelling instincts for fear of finding himself in another LOST-like situation, but in 2 he lightened up a bit, let some of the weirdness in and figured out just how to play each instrument in the cast just right. Characters I hated were minimized or reconfigured, others like Kevin who were kind of a blank to me in Season 1 were filled out here. I loved the song choices to end the episodes, some of the dark irony of I Am A Rock, the naked emotionalism of the karaoke moment, the twist with the girls, how they brought the Guilty Remnant back into the story, everything. I'm not at all a religious person but the way the show handles questions of faith and how these things get started, how prophets and false ones are made, if there is a God at all, is fascinating and unlike S1 which felt heavyhanded and just, heavy at times, it's now playful but still totally committed.

If I had watched it last year it would've probably been my favorite show of that year. Super excited to join in on Season 3.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Excellent! I'm happy to report that Season 3 feels pretty much just like Season 2.

I mostly agree about Season 1. Jill's skeezy friend was the worst. The Guilty Remnant were absolutely maddening... Obviously they were supposed to be, and the magnitude of their annoyingness is necessary to set up the season finale and beyond. But the actual viewing experience of Season 1 is somewhat sacrificed for that purpose. When I recommend this show to people, I still have to warn them about Season 1. "Some characters are really annoying, but they're supposed to be, trust me."

[Fernando]

Finally caught up, like you guys S1 was good but not quite great and then S2 came and was/is one of the best seasons ever, and S3 looks to be heading in the same direction.

S3. The final scene of episode one is so great, I love that I have no clue where this is going and while many things don't make sense I can't wait to see where it ends.

Carrie Coon is so great (she looks like a young Annette Bening), there's a good article at Vulture about her, here's a sample of it:

There's an image in Sonali Triangle's memoir, Wave, that's stuck in Carrie Coon's brain. The author returns to her home in London for the first time after a tsunami swept away her entire family — her husband, her two sons, and her parents — while they were vacationing on a beach in Sri Lanka. She's rummaging through a pile of papers on her husband's desk when she realizes her home is like a time capsule, frozen in the moment before tragedy. “I thumbed through Steve's checkbook, which was in the drawer. He'd written three checks on our last day in London, for the gardener and the milkman and for the boys’ school dinners,” Deraniyagala writes. “Those two words, school dinners, were all it took. I shattered.”

Carrie Coon carried the book around with her during the three years she spent on the set of The Leftovers. “That book became my Nora Bible,” Coon says. “I always had it available for the really challenging moments.”

http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/carrie-coon-profile.html


guys, what's the episode where Laurie finally talks and yells to Kevin Jill's name because she's in the burning house? Love that scene.