What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 1, Episode 5 “Gladys” (A-)

This was a very strong and seriously disturbing hour. The initial scene with the stoning of silent, stoic Gladys, who finally spoke to plead for them to stop before that final throw of the rock, was immensely difficult to watch, mostly because all of the violence was shown on screen. What it represents, however, is a redefining of the Guilty Remnant, since now Kevin is advocating for them and making sure that he can keep them safe when previously he just tried to arrest them for any infraction he could find. It was particularly jarring to see how Patti reacted to the situation, spiriting Laurie away to a motel and then shocking her by speaking to her over breakfast. What she did worked in a big way, since Laurie was compelled enough to go outside while Matt was preaching and whistle at him repeatedly to tell him to leave. Meg too seems ready to embrace the nature of what they’re doing. Matt’s desire to see Gladys’ body even while he was being interviewed as a suspect was a sign of his good nature, and his attempt at a funeral, however unsuccessful, was noble. It’s eerie in a great way to see small things unravel on this show, like Kevin’s repeated calls to the ATF agent and his search for his missing shirts, which he managed to get when he was ready to go on a rampage into the dry cleaning shop. Dean being present during the discovery of Gladys’ body and at the town meeting was also interesting, specifically because of how he can get a rise out of Kevin with no one noticing. The end of the episode was very powerful, concluding with the burning of Gladys’ body.