What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 2 “A Matter of Geography” (B)

Filling in the blanks is an important thing for this show, but I’m still not feeling the intense gravity of what I experienced watching this show last season. Barely showing anything of the town of Miracle was effective, and it’s interesting to see just how Kevin and his new family made it down to Texas. What was staggering was the sight of Kevin going back to where he buried Patti and digging up her body with the aggressive intention of getting pulled over and hauled in for covering up her death. The immediate dismissal of its importance was intense, and it’s clear that justice isn’t a priority when there are more pressing otherworldly matters to deal with in this new society. His little happy family is also something to behold given how miserable they were before. Kevin and Nora confessing their secret misdeeds to each other while an amused Jill listened and played with her new adopted half-sister made for a very blunt, honest, and refreshing scene. Kevin’s decision to suggest a move at his birthday dinner was a welcome one, and despite the apparent non-availability of their house, the three million dollars that Nora got paid to turn her house into a research lab was more than enough to cover a nice new one. I’m not always a fan of having hallucinated characters, but it seems clear that Patti’s presence in Kevin’s mind is more of a symptom of his inability to let his past go. The revelation that he’s losing time again and that he may have had something to do with the latest disappearance is unsettling to say the least, and definitely won’t make him a welcome arrival to town.