What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Series Finale)

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 8 “The Book of Nora”

I wasn’t happy at the start of this episode. I didn’t like the fact that events seem to be playing out in an only half-imagined world where things didn’t quite make sense. It also addressed what we had seen at the start of the season with a woman who looked just like Nora named Sarah in Australia as a complete lie since obviously this person does know exactly who Kevin is. After Kevin spun a story about barely knowing who Nora was, claiming that they never actually met, they did have a good moment together while dancing at the wedding that Kevin tricked Nora into coming to. When he showed up, completely out of character and back as the Kevin we know, swearing and all, to yell at her for abandoning him, everything became much clearer in a way that tied it all together. It’s brave for a series finale to feature only two characters, but this show has always made tremendous use of its music and of intimate, immensely meaningful conversations to truly drive its points home. The idea that Nora traveled to a world where everyone who disappeared remained and everyone else wasn’t there is incredibly interesting, and her discovery that they were so much happier with so much less says a lot about what satisfaction and fulfillment mean in a world where bad things do happen. Her decision to come back and isolate herself from anything as a punishment of sort was moving, and I love that Kevin used his two weeks of vacation every year to trek through Australia showing Nora’s picture to everyone he saw in the hopes of finding her. We didn’t get any answers about how or why this happened, but this was a truly powerful and compelling note on which to end. I still contend that season one was awe-inspiring and leagues better than both seasons two and three, but this show will still leave a mark as a whole for truly capturing the art of devastation.

Series finale: B+
Series grade: B+
Season MVP: Amy Brenneman as Laurie
Season grade: B
Series MVP: Carrie Coon as Nora
Best Season: Season 1
Best Episode: “The Garveys at Their Best”

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Penultimate Episode)

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 7 “The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother)” (B+)

Let’s be honest – we’re not going to get a lot of closure in the upcoming series finale. Even if a few questions are answered, this show will forever be shrouded in mystery. As a result, an installment like this, similar to and continuing the plotline of “International Assassin,” is about the best we’ll get, highlighting this show’s themes and the search for some kind of fulfillment in an uncertain world. I’m sure this was true last time too, but I found it very powerful that everyone within the world Kevin goes to when he dies briefly is dead. It was a welcome opportunity for a handful of former regulars and recurring guest stars to show up again, including Ann Dowd, Liv Tyler, and Michael Gaston. Casting Kevin as both the man hired to kill the president and the president himself was intriguing, leading to a very layered scene at the end where he literally cut himself open. Kevin’s president being a member of a more normalized Guilty Remnant was extremely interesting, and Evie showing up as a protester was meaningful. There were some funny moments, like Kevin asking which defcon they were at and whether it was worse and then reacting to the absurdity of the penis scan. Having to look in a reflective surface to switch places with himself also had plenty to say about what it means to really see yourself, and ending with Kevin joining his father on the roof, unsure of what will come next, made this a very poignant and effective hour. Let’s hope the series finale can return to the world of the living in just as strong a way.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 6 “Certified” (B)

This show seems intent on spending the last of its hours devoted to on major character, looking earlier this season at Matt and Kevin Sr., and now it’s time for Laurie, one of the most complicated personalities on this show, to take center stage. I still contend that the Guilty Remnant was one of the most fascinating and disturbing aspects of this show, and the cult’s absence in this final season has been very felt. Opening with the flashback to her lack of interest in a session that resulted in her donning the white clothing was powerful, as was Nora’s angry reference to her actions while she was part of that cult, but I still feel that this show used to be much more focused, taking its plot points somewhere devastating and immensely powerful. Ending with Laurie ready to scuba dive to her death as she got a call from Jill was thought-provoking but didn’t do enough to address the other things that we learned in this hour, like Kevin’s willingness to be killed and John’s belief that Evie is still alive somewhere. It’s very likely that this show will end the way it started, with some experiencing what they believe to be a cathartic experience that only serves to defend everything that they’ve theorized and others left behind with no more knowledge as to what’s going on in their world. With just two episodes left, I’d like to zoom out a bit more and see what’s going on with everyone as the seventh anniversary approaches.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 5 “It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World” (B)

This is what counts as a typical episode of this show lately, focused on one character and the way that they interact with the universe in this imagined future. I really don’t know what’s going to come of finding Kevin in Australia and bringing him home in time for the anniversary, and it seems that Matt has, to a degree, lost his faith in the process. It was jarring to hear Matt tell a dirty joke about a priest in order to get onto the ferry from Tasmania when the plane got diverted, and everything aboard the ship was just plain strange if not excessively disturbing. I guess that’s the kind of thing that’s normal in this show’s world, but it still seems like an unnecessary diversion, one point on which Matt and I agree. I knew I recognized David Burton from somewhere, but the accent threw me off, and I now see that I know Bill Camp from his performance on “The Night Of.” Contending that he was God somehow managed to win Matt over in the end, yet he still got trampled by a lion as he tried to run from the police when he was called to account for his actions. The most unexpected part of this episode for me was the Hebrew liturgical music that played, including “Avinu Malkeinu” from the High Holidays and “Ashrei” from each daily service, meant to deepen the deeply religious nature of Matt’s quest in this episode. It was intriguing but I’d like to get back to what’s most focused about this show in the next episode.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 4 “G’day Melbourne” (B)

Well, at least this episode was a bit more focused than the last hour. There did seem to be something sketchy about Nora wanting to go through global entry other than the factual inconsistency that usually the TSA agent checks your ID once you’re already in the appropriate line, and her nonchalance about having gone through security with twenty thousand dollars duct-taped to her body was quite disconcerting. Trying to bust the frauds she believes that she’s meeting with seems like a foolish enterprise, and I think she was actually more interested in proving that it was real. When they wouldn’t take her because she failed the question about what to do with the twins, she was furious, and now it seems that she stayed in a burning hotel because there wasn’t any reason to move, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen to her. Kevin, meanwhile, encountered Evie and got confirmation that she was real, only to have Laurie go along with it and then help him notice at just the right moment that she didn’t look anything like Evie. I’m not sure how to reconcile the discrepancy between this being a hallucination and Nora actually being an Australian woman at the end of the first episode, but I guess we’re getting closer to finding out. The excitement Kevin Sr. displayed when he showed up with Grace to pick Kevin up from the hotel was genuine, and I suspect that Kevin is about to make some big realizations on the other side of the world.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 3 “Crazy Whitefella Thinking” (B-)

I’m not all that fond of isolationist episodes like this that follow just one character on a long search for something, interacting only infrequently with other series regulars. I’ve already preferred the deeply devastating moments that this show offers rather than the episodic journeys that the characters take to get to them. What I did like was that we didn’t waste any time offering some clarification from the end of last episode after we saw Kevin Sr. when the women who had just killed Chief of Police Kevin. Getting to that moment took a very long time, and the obvious problem in this universe is that everyone believes something but it’s hard to find more than one person who believes exactly the same thing. Matt was understandably furious with Kevin for throwing out the photocopy of his book, and Kevin was so busy being obsessed with learning the aboriginal songs. That search didn’t interest me all that much, though there was a sort of powerful nostalgia to hearing a young Kevin Jr. excitedly narrating their Niagara adventures on the tape. What made the episode worthwhile was the final scene featuring Lindsay Duncan, recently seen in a very brief but memorable role in “Birdman,” as Grace, the woman who killed the other Kevin in the previous episode. Her story about losing her family and then finding Kevin Jr. with a page from the book in his hand, which led to her drowning Kevin because she thought he was testing her, was incredibly compelling. Kevin’s response was even better, telling her that he didn’t think she was crazy at all, rather that she just got the wrong Kevin. I wonder how relevant all this will prove in episode four and beyond.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 2 “Don’t Be Ridiculous” (B)

I wasn’t as into this episode as I was the premiere, and I’m not sure how all of this is going to play out with the expansion of the plot to Australia, where apparently Kevin is already revered as a messiah, perhaps because what we’re experiencing is the future after Nora arrives there with a copy of the book and it gets picked up by some eager disciple. The sight of Kevin’s father there, apparently living with the women who drowned the sheriff who, awful as he was, didn’t deserve the fate he got, was just as strange and puzzling as it was intriguing. This show has asked its viewers to believe a lot of things, and many of them have been worthwhile, but I just don’t understand where all this is going. Nora has lost almost all feeling, not even remotely bothered by the sight of Kevin with a bag over his head and uninterested enough in her brother’s book to chastise him about it. She’s also so callous that she would bring a picture of a dead man and throw it in the face of his wife just to prove that she was lying about him being taken. The notion of being reunited with her children is definitely intriguing, but she’s probably right that, if such a thing existed, it would instead just vaporize the person who thought they were headed somewhere better. I think that it’s more likely to erase their personality and have them become someone else, which would make sense given that we’ve already seen Sara, who looks just like Nora but doesn’t sound like her. I wasn’t initially into Miracle as a setting, but now that it’s come into its own, I think it would be best if the majority of future episodes took place within its walls.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Season Premiere)

The Leftovers: Season 3, Episode 1 “The Book of Kevin” (B+)

The first season of this show was simply incredible, and while season two wasn’t quite as terrific, it was also pretty great. I’m sad that this show is ending after just three seasons with only eight episodes for this year, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing where it goes. Starting with rapture preparation in the 1800s was extremely effective, and that signature music kicking in just a few minutes in is enough to remind me of how much I love this show. Skipping ahead three years to relative tranquility was a smart idea, and it only took about half the episode for things to start turning south again. I like the instances of newfound stability with Tommy as a cop, John and Laurie happily together and conning people as a motivational tool, and Matt back to a calmer, more normative preaching with Michael as his loyal apprentice. Under the surface, however, there are some problems, like the return of Michael Gaston’s hunter, who seemed crazy at first and then actually got himself killed trying to gun down Kevin and Tommy. With just fourteen days to go until another potentially world-changing event, Mary is thinking of leaving Jasper for good, and for good reason, since Matt is still obsessive. Not only that, he’s writing a new gospel with Kevin as the immortal heir to Jesus of sorts. I have no idea what to make of the final scene with Carrie Coon in Australia as a woman named Sarah, but I’m definitely ready for the final seven episodes of this show.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Season Finale)

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 10 “I Live Here Now” (A-)

I’ll still argue that the first season was much better in my mind, but it’s hard not to find some aspects of this episode incredible. That scene on the bridge with Erika running towards Evie, hugging her nonresponsive child, and then defiantly staying there while the clock ticked down was supremely intense, and it makes me think that maybe Regina King could have been recognized by awards bodies for this show and not for “American Crime” (though admittedly I stopped watching that show after episode one). Once again, the Guilty Remnant have done something worse than killing or physically hurting people – they have devastated any sense of peace or tranquility. Blowing up the bridge would have kept the residents of Jarden cut off from the rest of the world, but instead they made it just like any place, robbed of any wonder or specialness. Meg and Evie singing the town anthem was especially harsh, and I think the residents of Jarden may be too heartbroken to stand up to the cult newly in their midst. Nora having the baby taken out of her arms only to find her seemingly shielded from the horde of people trampling over each other was powerful, and Tom swooping in to choose the right side was a promising development. Kevin was bold to tell John that he thought his daughter might not have loved him, and that getting shot sent him right back into purgatory was so fascinating. Coming home to find his entire extended family, including a miraculously awake Mary, smiling at him in the dark provided a wholly unexpected happy ending, one that could well end this grim show on a weirdly positive note. Since I wrote this review, this show has been renewed for a third and final season, which I think is probably fitting, though I think it could go on for longer than that.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Regina King as Erika

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 9 “Ten Thirteen” (B+)

I’ve complained when other shows, namely “The Walking Dead,” follow up one episode that asks so many questions about one character’s journey with an hour that omits him or her completely and focuses on another aspect of the plotline altogether. This show, on the other hand, makes up for that disappointment with a truly intense and surprising direction, recalling a character we haven’t seen much of over the course of the season and in many cases may have forgot existed. Meg was an outcast in season one who was just easing her way into the Guilty Remnant, and while she has a certain power within their ranks which allowed her to lord over and eviscerate Tom a few episodes back, she’s apparently a radical even within her cult. Watching her get on a bus full of children and drop a grenade and then casually order a passerby’s stoning in Jarden was immensely disturbing, and it gives the Guilty Remnant a whole new definition, since the group was big on upsetting people and closing them off from society but never in such an apologetically violent way. Having Meg miss out on her mother’s final words because she was snorting coke and then travel to Miracle pre-GR to talk to a psychic gives us some insight into her character, one who has clearly gone off the deep end trying to make sense of the world. Tom’s decision to come with her is a perplexing one, but his presence helped reveal a horrible secret: the missing girls are actually members of the Guilty Remnant, a fact that will surely destroy Jarden when it comes to light in the upcoming season finale.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 8 “International Assassin” (B+)

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of complete departures from the regular storyline and episodes that take place fully within a character’s imagination (or something of the sort, since who knows exactly what was really going on here). But it’s hard to deny that this episode was immeasurably compelling, with Kevin waking up as Kevin Harvey, a slightly modified version of himself, in an unknown hotel room with fancy clothes in the closet and euros in his wallet. Nearly getting killed was a ferocious start, and coming down to the lobby to find Virgil working as a concierge was a shock. Reintroducing Patti as a senator running for president was one thing, but seeing Gladys as a giddy chief of staff and Wayne as a joke-cracking bodyguard brought back much more serious characters in a more entertaining and subsequently disconcerting way. Seeing his father on the TV in his room was a trip, and there was too much about what happened to Kevin in this purgatory experience of sorts that felt like it had to be real in some way. The most impactful interaction he had was with the man who turned out to be Neil, Patti’s ex-husband, who was played by Gary Basaraba of “Boomtown” fame. Escorting a young Patti to the well and pushing her in, only to find the adult Patty sitting at the bottom, was intense and disturbing. Drowning her seems to have led to his own rising from the grave, startling Michael and leaving me and other viewers anxiously anticipating the final two episodes of this season.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 7 “A Most Powerful Adversary” (B+)

Did this show really just kill off its main character? It’s hard to be sure, but Michael arrived long enough after Kevin took the poison that him being resurrected seems unlikely, unless it was all part of Virgil’s plan to have his grandson come in, discover him dead, and act fast enough to save Kevin’s life. It would be a crazy thing if Kevin really did die and stay dead, and I’m not sure what I would make of that. As usual, what was most compelling about this hour was the way that lost time works. Kevin’s experience closely mirrors that of his father, and for him to find out from Michael that he shared the details about seeing Patti with Virgil once again stirred up the same disbelief that Kevin has expressed every time he realizes that he lives half of his life while he’s sleeping. I’m disappointed that Nora left, and I hope that, if Kevin’s still alive, she comes back, and if not, that she doesn’t blame herself for his suicide. Laurie showing up when Kevin was frantically searching for Nora was a shock, and I like just how honest she was with Kevin about what he’s currently going through and what’s real and what’s not. Jill was a standout of this episode, swearing her ass off in church and then reacting furiously to her mother’s arrival. Whether Kevin is still alive or not, his fingerprint coming back as a positive match will not be a good thing at all.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 6 “Lens” (B+)

I’ve always contended that Carrie Coon is the strongest player on this show, with Ann Dowd giving her a run for her money in season one. This was a tour de force showcase of Coon’s abilities, but it also presented someone who could play off her incredibly. Recent Emmy winner Regina King gave it her all in this hour as Erika, who has to deal with being second fiddle to her violence-prone husband and clean up his messes. Exploding at the man who came in to slaughter a scapegoat in the middle of the fundraiser was just the start of things, as she then got to be interrogated by Nora, who read off the new questions to determine whether her daughter had in fact departed. Turning the interview on her by asking her if she remembered the last thing her children said to her was harsh, and throwing a brick through Nora’s window was a cruel final note. Nora being scanned and called to figure out if she was a “lens” took a lot out of her, and there’s something about hearing that she is possessed by a demon that makes this whole world feel even more intense, since such religious fervor has seized people that it’s impossible to equate what’s happening with any logical explanation. Kevin picking that moment to confess that he had been seeing and was continuing to see Patti may not have been superb, but it’s a good thing that he’s decided to start being honest about it since it was going to eat him up inside. The most shocking moment of the episode was when Laurie called Nora, a chance to see two people who barely interacted confront each other at such a strange moment in time for both of them.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 5 “No Room at the Inn” (B+)

I do wish sometimes, if not all the time, that this show covered more ground in each episode, mainly in terms of featuring more of the ensemble. I can’t deny, however, the power of focusing just on one specific plotline and really drawing it out over the course of an hour. This wasn’t nearly as captivating or awe-inspiring as the first time we saw Matt trapped within a cycle of misery, highlighted by winning it big, getting mugged, and then losing time so that he ended up losing his church to the Guilty Remnant. The news that Mary is pregnant, however, is pretty startling, and Matt’s reaction to it definitely arouses suspicion about his state of mind. Getting attacked and having his wristband stolen on his way back into town was an unfortunate development, and he had a very tough time getting back in. The effort he went through to try to earn his way back, complete with a biblical flogging and a journey through water, were intense, but, as usual, the subtler moments of this show are what ring truest. Pushing back when John came to question him about what was going on was bold, and confronting him in the street to vow to return when his name was cleared was a commendable gesture that surely will not go unrewarded. Taking the place of the tormented man in the stocks was the ultimate noble gesture, and should bring about some of the penance Matt is seeking, especially since it helps him to spare innocents who might actually be worn down by that torture.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 4 “Orange Sticker” (B+)

Now that time has caught up to where we were at the end of the first episode, we’re back to following the show’s number one family in the face of the disappearance of John’s daughter and her friends. Nora panicking because she thinks that it’s happening again was a worrisome introduction since she has been so much happier recently. Telling Jill about her former assignment tracking down people who were pretending to have disappeared so that their families could collect death benefits helped to explain a lot of what she’s been through and how that was a perfect job for her since she had actually lost her whole family and they were just trying to pull a scam at the expense of others. Matt’s experience was a deeply disconcerting one, having a normal conversation with his wife and then waking up the next morning to find that she was back the way she had been before that. While it seemed that John was picking Kevin up in order to lead him to his interrogation and execution, having him come alone to beat up someone else was almost as bad. Erika’s cool reaction to John getting shot spoke volumes, but what Kevin saw wasn’t as impactful as what he hallucinated in his conversation with Patti. Realizing that he tried to kill himself in a way that wasn’t attention-seeking is deeply disturbing and worrisome, especially since he doesn’t remember doing it. Returning home to be literally connected to Nora by handcuffs provided some comfort, but that tranquility won’t last long.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 3 “Off Ramp” (B)

More than anything, this show has managed to preserve its tone, showcasing utter devastation in a modern-day setting. I wasn’t sure whether Laurie would continue to be a part of this story, but it turns out that she is actually quite central, and that hearing her talk is well worth it since she’s got a lot to say. Running a support group for those brainwashed by the Guilty Remnant is an excellent vocation for her, and the fact that she’s writing a book gives this show a much more grounded feel than a lot of its events since writing and publishing is a literal and specific way of getting the world to know what’s going on even if they’re not local and experiencing it. Going after her stolen laptop and deliberately hitting two Guilty Remnant emissaries with her car on her way home was an intense journey, and then hearing the publishers trying to sensationalize her just broke her. What’s much more disconcerting, however, is what’s left of the Guilty Remnant, as Chris’ attempts to infiltrate and extract people were brought to a swift end by a whistleblower and he was forced to experience an odd yet humiliating and terrifying punishment from Meg, who has now surpassed her recruiter to attain Patti-level status. Chris definitely doesn’t have the charisma of Holy Wayne, but it’s so true that most of the people in that room could use something to believe in, and a simple life-altering hug may be just the remedy they need.

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.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Season Premiere)

The Leftovers: Season 2, Episode 1 “Axis Mundi” (B)

This drama was the best on television this past year, and I was extremely ready for an equally astounding season two. This premiere demonstrated that the show is headed in a very different direction, with opening credits just as haunting but far less dark. The caveman flashbacks were strange, and it was jarring not to see any familiar faces for the first half of the episode. I understand the appeal of incorporating new characters, and the Murphys are definitely a fascinating addition. What I can’t quite get on board with is why we needed a departure from familiar settings, since this miracle town is likely to be devoid of the Guilty Remnant and some of season one’s strongest elements. I’m still curious and excited to find out what awaits, since this episode did still nail the disturbing uncertainty of things this show has always done so well. The sight of firemen starting fires rather than putting them out was eerily reminiscent of “Fahrenheit 451,” and it’s disconcerting to see how the role of religion is being exploited and dominating so much of life in Jarden, Texas. I’m intrigued to see what Matt has seen in terms of a change in his wife’s status since their move, and to discover what troubling events have just occurred in this miracle town. The conversation between John and Kevin about his time in prison was electric, and I’m so curious to see how Kevin adjusts to his new family life in a town where no one knows him and he’s not the law.

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers (Season Finale)

The Leftovers: Season 1, Episode 10 “The Prodigal Son Returns” (B+)

After such a devastating and terrific season, it’s hard to expect that the finale would be able to resolve everything in a satisfying way. Fortunately, this is still a compelling hour that resolves a few important plotlines and lays the groundwork for what’s sure to be an equally involving second season. Patti’s death haunted the episode, particularly in the stark dream that Kevin had where he ended up I the mental institution with his father. The way this show conveys loss of time and the effect it has on each person experiencing it is simply mesmerizing. Matt is a fascinating character, and his willingness to come help Kevin out of his situation was great. Kevin meeting Wayne in his final moments bleeding out in a bathroom was a terrific intersection of storylines, and their private conversation was haunting. The Guilty Remnant promised something big and that’s exactly what they gave their town, with Nora seen bearing the brunt of the pain when she came downstairs to find lifelike recreations of her husband and children sitting at the kitchen table. This show has done a marvelous job of demonizing all of its characters and none of them to the point that there are no sides, particularly with Kevin, Matt, and the Guilty Remnant. Kevin springing into action to help save the GR when they were being attacked was noble, and fortunately he managed to save Jill, who had decided that she should join their ranks at exactly the wrong time. Tom’s return home, Laurie’s renewed look at life, and Nora’s departure turned baby discovery suggest that season two will be very different but I have no doubt that it’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait to see more of what to me has been the most impressive new show of the year.

Season grade: A
Season MVP: Ann Dowd as Patti

What I’m Watching: The Leftovers

The Leftovers: Season 1, Episode 9 “The Garveys at Their Best” (A-)

This episode was enormously effective, flashing back to before the rapture to showcase all of our favorite characters – excluding Meg and Dean – and to see what they were up to in their more normal lives. It’s most eerie to see both Laurie and Kevin Sr. interacting with people in a usual way. What’s very clear, of course, is that few of these people were actually happy, evidenced most in Laurie’s negative reaction to Kevin smoking and his desire to save the deer and Nora’s inability to retrieve a simple phone call while her husband sat completely distracted on his phone at the table with his kids. Seeing Jill happy with her brother at home was a real surprise, and Matt too seemed so full of positive energy with his non-comatose wife around. This episode managed to still incorporate a good degree of foreboding eeriness, particularly revolving around the deer and Patti’s prophetic visions of something bad on the way. What was most mesmerizing was the rapture event itself, since it seemed by the tail end of the episode that there wouldn’t be time left and this had to be a few years before the big day. Instead, it struck at the most devastating time possible, literally severing the link between Tom and Jill, disappearing Kevin’s adulterous mistake into thin air, removing Nora’s entire crazy family in an instant, and, most powerful of all, removing the baby in the sonogram Laurie was looking at. What a heart-wrenching hour which makes me incredibly excited and anxious for the finale.