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The Leftovers

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Drenk

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Reply #90 on: April 28, 2017, 12:25:38 PM
It's in the last episode of the first season.
Ascension.

Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #91 on: May 07, 2017, 11:13:30 PM
I really liked last week's episode, but this one was absolutely sublime. I was getting chills all the way through. This felt like one of the best episodes of Season 2 — it was totally in that mode again.

SPOILERS

The depth of Nora and Kevin's dysfunction is actually clear throughout the episode. I'm scrolling back to random scenes, and you can see it on their faces the whole time.

Their fight in the hotel room strongly reminded me of Jack and Kate's fight in Lost 410: "Something Nice Back Home." It takes place in the flash-forward. Jack, drunk and losing his temper, delivers a similar gut-punch line that is so intimately hurtful that it ends the fight. It's also about motherhood.

(This episode also feels quite Losty because everyone has a mission.)

Just so we're clear: Self-immolating guy in the last episode answered no and got rejected. Nora answered yes and got rejected. Theories abound...

My guess is that the test is simply rigged. (Occam's Razor, right?) But if it's legit, maybe it's all about your reasoning, not the answer itself. Nora's reasoning lacked compassion: "what's one more?"
"Hunger is the purest sin"

Drenk

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Reply #92 on: May 08, 2017, 09:12:44 AM
SPOILERS


Theories abound and I think the storyline of the device ends there. It might be a scam (but a weird one since they don't take any money) or it is real. Who knows.

I would have nod, by the way.

Their dysfunction is clear since a long time, they were pretending to tell each other everything but they never really talked, they were supportive of each other in the worst way possible. I love how they seem to be in a different space even when they are together at the beginning of the episode. The sense of emergency throughout was well done.
Ascension.

RegularKarate

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Reply #93 on: May 12, 2017, 12:38:30 PM
This episode and the last episode both leaned hard into what I love and what I hate about this show.

The execution is great! These are well-directed episodes with flare. They capture the immediate feelings very well and in interesting ways.

The big-picture is bullshit. Going back and forth between where Kevin stands with everything and whether or not he's crazy is fucking boring.
I get sucked into an episode for the first half and then pissed off during the second when it is revealed that once again, they don't give a fuck about where things go as long as you are curious. It's infuriating and makes the characters very shallow in the long-run because they're just delivering samples of mystery and emotion that don't fit into an overall real character.

Nora is the only major character I think is well written.

It would take some majorly clever writing to bring everything together and make this story worth having watched.

Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #94 on: May 12, 2017, 12:50:36 PM
I mean, I think the show is largely about uncertainty. For example, the writers apparently went to great lengths to make sure the things that happened late last season (Kevin being buried, and then surviving that gunshot) were scientifically possible. You're supposed to constantly wonder whether these are magical/fated things or just coincidences. The joy and pain of that tension is part of the pleasure of The Leftovers. You'd have to be on board with that.
"Hunger is the purest sin"

Tictacbk

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Reply #95 on: May 12, 2017, 01:55:31 PM
Yeah, I think this story is already worth having watched. It's a daring, fun, devastating, other adjectives, show no matter how cleverly the ending is wrapped up. You gotta just Let The Mystery Be.

Drenk

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Reply #96 on: May 12, 2017, 02:18:59 PM
Who is supersitious here? I mean, I often know that the twisted logics I create are just that, twisted logics, but I think we're built to believe in things we can't grasp or prove even if we're not religious or very aware of science. This is what the show is about. They don't really let the mystery be, do they? They can't. Every character creates his own world around the mystery. In our lives, we don't even need a Departure to go almost as far as them...
Ascension.

RegularKarate

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Reply #97 on: May 12, 2017, 05:23:29 PM
Quote from: Tictacbk on May 12, 2017, 01:55:31 PM
You gotta just Let The Mystery Be.

And that's the problem (for me). The show is nothing but empty mystery. Its biggest problem is what it thinks is its biggest strength and the real problem with Lindelof.

"The show is about uncertainty" sounds like a cop-out to me, but also, I get why people like this show. There's definitely talent being poured into it and I respect that. It just makes me upset because it's so close to great. It's rare I don't enjoy at least PART of each episode.

Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #98 on: May 12, 2017, 05:29:37 PM
I could rephrase that: The Leftovers is about existential confusion and trying to find meaning to resolve it. Do we find meaning in random events and try to make a story in our minds, or do we have an actual destiny that can be discovered? The show itself has been fiercely agnostic on that question. It may choose one side in the end, or it may not.
"Hunger is the purest sin"

polkablues

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Reply #99 on: May 12, 2017, 09:25:28 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on May 07, 2017, 11:13:30 PM
Just so we're clear: Self-immolating guy in the last episode answered no and got rejected. Nora answered yes and got rejected. Theories abound...

My guess is that the test is simply rigged. (Occam's Razor, right?) But if it's legit, maybe it's all about your reasoning, not the answer itself. Nora's reasoning lacked compassion: "what's one more?"

My theory is that no matter what the answer to the question, it results in rejection. It's another part of their evaluation process, just like the lady with the baby at the bus stop. They're looking for people who truly want it badly enough to take the risk, and when they tell a person no, they find out for sure how badly that person wants it. And holy shit, looks like Nora wants it very very badly.

p.s. The only way this show could be better at this point is if Carrie Coon played every role.
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Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #100 on: May 12, 2017, 11:43:23 PM
I love that theory.  :yabbse-thumbup:
"Hunger is the purest sin"

Drenk

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Reply #101 on: May 15, 2017, 12:20:53 AM
SPOILERS:

I thought this episode was not as well directed as previous episodes, I don't know if you've felt that way. Anyway: even if it was often not subtle at all I thought it was very effective because it made you feel ill.

Matt lost his faith and is relieved. He is dying. But he is relieved. His faith has always been, yes, selfish...He was always hurting people. Even in this episode he doesn't care about John...


During the credits, the french dude (who sounds more like a canadian trying to speak like a frenchman in a weird translated french) talks about destroying a demon living in volcano, if I understand correctly. "Thanks for the technology", he says.
Ascension.

Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #102 on: May 15, 2017, 01:00:12 AM
Totally agreed. Something didn't quite click in the production of this episode. But it still worked.

I was going to ask about the French intro. That's interesting.

David Burton has actually been a part of the show for a while. I knew I recognized him from somewhere in the show, then I read this comment:

Quote
He's mentioned and has to do with all three seasons. In season one they talk about a guy killed in a rock climbing accident in Australia, guides kevin through the hotel twice, stands on bridge before kevin pushes girl in well, and the latest mention is when the man in the tower died there was an envelope addressed to a David Burton.
"Hunger is the purest sin"

Fuzzy Dunlop

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Reply #103 on: May 15, 2017, 01:51:08 PM
Apparently this week's episode was inspired by Matt Zoller Seitz, according to this Vulture piece, "Why Sunday Night’s Episode of The Leftovers Was Inspired by Matt Zoller Seitz", by Matt Zoller Seitz.

http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/leftovers-episode-inspired-by-matt-zoller-seitz.html

Jeremy Blackman

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Reply #104 on: May 15, 2017, 09:59:42 PM
Two of my favorite people having a deep conversation... great stuff. Thank you for that.

I love how Damon has no false modesty.
"Hunger is the purest sin"

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