What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 1, Episode 6 “Guest” (A-)

I’m not usually a fan of shows doing episodes that feature only one fraction of the overall plotline or one player of the ensemble, but this episode knocked it out of the park in a big way. Seeing life through Nora’s eyes after examining it through Matt’s just a few weeks ago is enormously powerful, and helps to anchor this whole post-apocalyptic world in a new light. Starting with Nora calling the prostitute to shoot her set things off on a pretty dismal tone, underlining just how alone Nora feels that she needs to be shot by a stranger to feel anything. Her chance run-in with Kevin as they were both filing divorce papers was fortuitous, but her aggressive comment about his daughter made things incredibly awkward. While it would have been enlightening to see them take a spontaneous trip to Miami, her conference in New York proved interesting enough. Her inability to get her badge because someone else already picked up felt a lot like Kevin’s search for his missing shirts, but it turned out to be far more ordinary than that with an impostor trying to expose the corrupt ways of the Department of Sudden Departure (a fascinating concept) and other similar organizations). Her time at the hotel was nothing short of captivating, very dreamlike during the party and then just as mesmerizing when she followed Tom Noonan’s mystery man to be healed by Holy Wayne. Ending on the question that she always got a “yes” and hearing a “no” answer demonstrated her own potential for change, and I am eager to see more of the new her, especially in a romantic setting opposite Kevin.