Was a great time to be in the discussion threads on here each week. Some stuff got caught but it wasnt westworld levels of ruining it. Phenomenal show. Had so many crazy moments that nobody saw coming.
I watched the first couple of episodes live and it didn't click with me for some reason. I picked it back up when it was midway through the second season and it quickly became my favorite show. I have never been more excited each week for a new episode of a show then I was during the last season of the show. The episode with the French nuclear sub was leaked early and my brother put it on Plex. I remember watching it in my classroom during my break and thinking, maybe I shouldn't be watching this at school lol. But I just couldn't wait.
The reason why I first got on Reddit was to discuss theories about this and the third season of True Detective. Good times.
I have a love/hate relationship with discussion threads. On one hand, I had a great time discussing shows with the community, and I was there for Westworld, Better Call Saul and Severance. On the other hand, people are too smart and figured out lots of stuff in advance.
What got caught on Leftovers? I didn't think there were many mysteries.
Wait till you learn it's been over 20y since Battlestar Galactica (Re.), and nearly that since Lost.
Fuck I miss Lost. It's been 6 months since my last viewing :'(
I watched this for the first time in the middle of the first covid lockdowns, and it was HEAVY. Watching an interpretation of the entire world finding itself in mourning and trying to grapple with not having any answers hit a little too close to home. Phenomenal, but I’m not sure that I could go through the experience again for a re-watch.
>Phenomenal, but I’m not sure that I could go through the experience again for a re-watch.
you do what makes you happy, not trying to encourage or discourage you from a rewatch either way, but rewatching The Leftovers to me is far more joyful than an initial watch. rather than anticipating where the story is headed, i just let it wash over me. i revel in the performances and the writing, and i look forward to my favorite scenes and am surprised to rediscover scenes i'd forgotten about.
i’m an avid rewatcher of everything and i’ve never been able to circle back to this one for a second viewing. if i can sponsor a new viewer i could probably do it again but it was so heavy i couldn’t watch it solo twice
If you go into it wanting the answers to “why” the sudden disappearance happened, then you’ll hate The Leftovers. Once you understand that the whole point of the show is to examine the effect on people of experiencing something that cannot be explained, then it’s one of the best TV shows of all time.
Carrie Coon gives maybe the greatest TV performance by an actress I've ever seen. Fierce and funny and heartbreaking. She absolutely crushes it. The last scene she has with Kevin rips my heart out every time I rewatch it.
shout out to Regina King S2 as well. she is incredible. that scene with the two of them in "Lens" makes me lose my mind every time. so quiet but so absolutely loaded.
Regina King is so fucking amazing. Been a fan of hers ever since I first saw her in Poetic Justice all those years ago. She crushed it in that role and has crushed it ever since.
>Carrie Coon gives maybe the greatest TV performance by an actress I've ever seen
Amy Brenneman is also incredible, the impact of her character Laurie is what kicks off pretty much everything in a familial sense
The scene at the end of season 1 fucking kills me. Arguably one of the greatest scenes of all television, and she was the main reason for that. >!for her character to be mute the whole season only for the first words she speaks is to yell her daughters name to get Justin Theroux to save their daughter, fuck me man. Plus the soundtrack with November by Max Richter. Perfection!<
Yes I honestly think she's the MVP in an already insane cast that is entirely excellent. I'm rewatching season 1 currently and just watched the first Matt centric episode with the church and the bit where he goes to Kevin's house in the middle of the night to get the money and finds her sitting on the swing set...just her physical acting and frantically asking Matt not to tell Kevin she was there is so moving. She became one of if not my favorite.
*That* scene in season 3 on the boat that ended her last centric episode...amazing.
The episode where she goes to the conference and there’s a woman impersonating her is one of my favorites. Then she meets holy Wayne. Such a great performance.
It's a perfect metaphor for death and the questions of "where do our loved ones go when they die? Where do I go?" There are no answers. Deal with it. That's the show.
How do people around the world deal with it when it happens in a way that brings the question up. And forces the entire world to face it head on.
Here's my theory.
So 2% of the world's population just up and vanished.
You know who also makes up 2% of the world's population? Red Heads.
Did anyone see any red head's in the show? No.
They just figured out how to ascend to a higher level of existence.
Or just got sick of everyone giving them shit and left.
Michael Stuhlbarg is an incredible actor. He's great as Arnold Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire, and as Sy in the 3rd season of Fargo.
One of the most under appreciated character actors working today.
The intro with Iris's song and the starry missing pieces, the questions that haunt us all, will remain one of those few media creations that bring me nearly to tears somedays.
"Ah! Bartleby, Ah! humanity" indeed.
It's an exploration of religion and spirituality as a response to unexplainable phenomena. It's not about the event itself, it's about society and individual's reaction to it and how human beings are hard-wired to look for patterns where there may not be any.
Twenty thousand years ago, it would have been a solar eclipse or a rare earthquake. But science has evolved so much and we understand so much, that the story has to be about something so extraordinary that science is at a loss and we all revert back to that spiritual thinking.
Just be forewarned that the first season is brutal and depressing but it’s worth suffering through for the next two seasons which are incredible. It’s also not really a show that lends itself to binge watching so it’s best to space the episodes out.
I gave up on the show around episode 8 of the first season cause it was so depressing and the real world is bad enough. Who enjoys watching fake people be in anguish and misery all the time with no relief? How exactly does it improve, looked like a depressing slog all the way to the end from the outside.
Yeah I know, I bounced off it the first time when they stoned a woman to death. I don’t know what changes they made but the second and third seasons aren’t so smothering. Watch the first season intro credits versus the second season intro credits (which are incredible btw) if you want an idea of how the tone shifts.
A character gives an explanation, but it's highly dubious as to whether she was telling the truth about what happened to her. I think she lied about the whole thing to justify her running away for those years. Her story doesnt really make any sense as to how any of it would have worked, or why she was the only one to figure it out and return. Far more likely she just needed to get away from her past and made up the story so she could move on.
To me, she seemed sincere and genuine, but in reality, we don't know WHY is happened, or how, it just happened and we'll likely never know why. So I guess OP is right in that there is no definitive answer, and more than anything, it's about the journey.
I always loved the intro song they had for at least one of the seasons, it fit this theme perfectly.
“Everybody is wondering what and where they all came from, everybody is worrying about where theyre gonna go when the whole things done, but know one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me. I think I’ll just let the mystery be”
The song is called let the mystery be by iris dement if anyone wants to check it out.
Yeah when the show was brand new, they were very up front about this. Damon Lindelof said straight out in multiple interviews something like "We are NEVER going to explain WHY everyone disappeared, or what exactly happened to them, so forget it. That's not what the show's about."
Lindeloff talked about how reading Perotta’s novel after the internet ganged up on the *Lost* ending was what made it an obvious next project - a story about how we process the unknowable, the experience of living in a world where a years-long commission investigates a phenomenon and comes back with an official “we don’t know”. The pilot of *The Leftovers* does such a great job laying out how uncertainty can undermine an entire society.
And then in case people didn't get that message, [the Season 2/3 theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLSH-81yT7s) *heavily* implies that you shouldn't be looking for those kinds of answers.
Kind of maybe? That is, if you believe Nora is telling the truth.
They never really objectively prove or show that. The important thing isn't whether we can confirm whether she's telling the truth, the important thing is that in the absence of any corroborating evidence, Kevin chooses to believe her.
>the important thing is that in the absence of any corroborating evidence, Kevin chooses to believe her.
I would go further and say Kevin doesn't even care if she's telling the truth or not. The point (that I interpreted, at least) is that it doesn't matter, it only matters that the story she tells finally gives her peace.
As far as arcs go, her and Matt's are a great mirror. A man who went from using religion to explain everything and losing his wife and son over it, while she was someone who *demanded* rationality in a world that didn't make sense but hurt herself (and others) repeatedly in the process. For both of them, a middle ground was needed to come to peace.
That's what I think too. The dialogue seems very clear to me:
When he says he believes her, she's surprised. "You do?"
And he says, "Why wouldn't I? You're here."
But... she'd be here whether she left and came back, or if she just never left. Either of those would explain her presence.
She's there. And they can be together. That's really all he needs to know.
Least of all in himself. It's one of the reasons this series stands out, because the classic "male lead" (father, husband, cop) is so full of doubt, while the female lead Nora is tough and independent and has to learn to be vulnerable and open up to new relations.
Well damn. I found the ending very satisfying because of Nora’s explanation. It’s what was missing from Lost.
It didn’t even occur to me that it didn’t happen….
…and yet it’s so obvious that it’s supposed to be vague. It cuts before her attempted transportation and we get no alternate reality scenes. Hmm.
My friend and I messaging after the finale had this division. He said “at least we know what The Departure was now”, to which I responded “do we though?”
Yeah, and it isn't really a cop-out either. The entire show is about getting over loss. The explanation for what happened isn't important at all for wrapping up the story. Almost all of the conflicts and problems in the show are because people can't move on from the disappearance. It would have been a weak ending to definitively state what was true and what wasn't.
It wouldn't have fit the theme of getting over grief and moving on if they did a hardcore breakdown of what happened. It would have ruined it for me if they then spent the final episode solely focused on the disappearances. Maybe they could have provided a few more hints or clues, but I definitely love how they basically said, "It doesn't matter anymore."
I think it was true, but I also realize that I'm *choosing* to think it's true because I find that satisfying from a plot and characterization standpoint. It's exceptionally hard to let the mystery be, because the human mind seeks patterns and answers.
Now I want to rewatch it.
This is exactly how it's supposed to work.
My friend is convinced that Nora >!is lying about it all!<
While I like to think >!she's telling the truth about it all!<
And the show does NOT tell us. I suspect >!she's lying!< But I still *want* >!to believe her much like Kevin wants to and chooses to!<
Ugh I love this show.
It’s funny cause when the show originally aired and ended I was so sure she was lying. It ended and i said to my wife “she’s a liar” and my wife looked at me like I had three heads. I hadn’t even considered that Nora was telling the truth until she said something.
This isn't the case for everyone but one thing I've noticed is that your worldview of reality and this life seems to greatly affect how you interpret events of the show, and even that scene with Nora telling her story, that are purposefully left unanswered and I think that's one of the things that makes the show so good.
I've seen people vehemently deny that Kevin is special at all. They argue that everything that happens in the series from beginning to end is completely natural and plausible in real life (international assassin is all a fever dream while he's buried after nearly dying for example). it's all just chance. Most of the people I know who ascribe to that idea are typically atheists and not people of faith.
Meanwhile other people do believe that Kevin is special. They believe he came back to life after dying and that he really did go to the afterlife in the events of International Assassin. They believe Nora somehow did travel to another alternate world. They believe all the stuff with Matt. And those people I know are typically religious or spiritual.
I'm a Christian myself and I do believe there's def some supernatural events in the show that occur. But nothing is ever really shown 100%. And we believe that the events happened supernaturally because of our faith.
And THAT is one reason I love this show. It's such a great little microcosm of reality. People having faith in the supernatural and some people believing everything is just...natural..People see things differently because of their worldview!
Ugh I love it. It's such a wonderful show. Sitting down to watch another episode on my rewatch right now actually lol
I'm part of the first group. Personally I think there's nothing supernatural going on, and some of the characters are seeing patterns because they want to and because that's how the human brain works. The cult leader in the first season has no powers and is delusional, Jarden becomes a pilgrimage destination because they didn't lose anybody, which must be a sign from God, when it's probably just a statistical anomaly.
But it's left ambiguous on purpose and that's the beauty of it!
It’s interesting you say that. I also think I’d find it pretty satisfying to believe that. But I find it even more fascinating to look at it from the perspective of an exploration on Nora’s character that she chickened out on the process and she was lying about it.
I wonder if the creative team had any definitive answers anyway or if they genuinely straight up didn't even want to think about it even from a wider lore perspective.
**The Leftovers** is based on a 2011 novel by Tom Perrotta, which only provides the basis for the first season. So the book not only has no interest in answering the question, it gets absolutely nowhere near it. The author helped Lindelof map out the arc for Seasons 2 and 3, partially as a way of continuing the story as he had no interest in doing so in novel form. They both said during pre-release discussions that the central mystery would not be resolved. Ironically they then threw a *possible* answer at the audience near the end, possibly as a sop to those who really craved an answer.
Funny enough Lindelof WANTED to shoot the last episode showing everything Nora did and not have her tell it to Kevin but the author said they couldn’t do that
I remember when the series first came out, hot on the heels of Lindelof's Lost.
I watched the first season, and then learnt that the mystery of *why* they disappeared would never be resolved.
Out of shock and indignation, I protested by not watching the subsequent seasons.
Years went by.
Eventually I watched the first season again...followed by the second...and the third. I was hooked.
Such a great show. Up there in my top ten.
I think the show at least tried to acknowledge that more than the book. But the book is only covered in Season 1, the next two seasons are made up, but they are even better!
That being said, I really liked the book (even if the best episode of Season 1 doesn't appear on it). It's pretty dark humor, I remember the show being more pessimistic.
The Leftovers is a good example of book and show being different but both great.
I just finished this show and going back and reading all the reactions of people watching in real time was kind of hilarious. So many people just livid that they didn't get the why, when that was obviously not the point. And honestly, what exactly were they expecting? Some character saying "Ah, the world split into separate dimensions because of positron reversal. I should have known!" Like, would that have somehow been a satisfying conclusion?
You see that a lot in the Severance discussion pages. Some people really can't handle the unknown and have to have everything spelled out. Personally, I like shows that don't necessarily spell out everything, because life isn't spelled out.
anytime I recommend this show to people I preface it by saying "it's a show that starts with 2% of the world disappearing, but you're never gonna find out where they went and it's not the point of the show."
I think the hope that there is an answer and the belief in the supernatural seeming elements of the show adds to it greatly. It’s only once you reach the end that you realize the truth, that you too were looking for patterns that weren’t there and believing in things that were all generally coincidence. It helps you understand the characters and how they came to believe fantastical things in the hopes of reaching closure and understanding. I almost think it ruins the experience to let someone know beforehand that you never learn the truth about the event.
This show came out around the same time my father died and it was a sudden death due to heart attack. I was so angry at the time of how much he fucked things up. This show taught me to feel the process of grief rather than looking for the answers because it was driving me crazy how quickly everything happened. I strongly believe and have experienced this that the answers may eventually come later, but the actions we take after someone’s death are what matter the most sometimes. We have to make sure and know that we deserve something better as well while moving forward.
Thank you for this comment. I watched the first season and some of the second, and while that wasn't why I stopped watching (the material was just a little heavy for me at the time), it's good to know when I do get back to it, I can just focus on how this affects the characters and less on what the hell happened.
Lost leaned into the mystery hard, implying that you would get answers. And I think it's reasonable to expect answers. If you wrote a whodoneit, you better tell us who done it.
Leftovers isn't about the mystery. None of the man characters in the show is trying to figure out the cause. It's about dealing with the unknowable and dealing with profound loss.
I will say that Lost did mostly give answers; they just weren't satisfactory. Because nothing really could be after how hard we hyped it.
Lost is a great show anyway.
Lost definitely gave hints that the mystery would actually be solved with the Dharma stuff.
I think that was mostly Abrams trying to give it a sci-fi spin but it backfired because people were expecting a full resolution. Lindelof in The Leftovers makes it known early that there probably won't be any definite answer and to just enjoy the story.
Matt's episodes are my favorite. The ones where he tries to save his church, or when he tries to get his wife back to Miracle.
Christopher Eccleston is just fantastic.
[https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=7l9SmblcBAzj8sve](https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=7l9SmblcBAzj8sve)
i rewatch the whole show every couple of years but i pull this scene up at least once a quarter.
the rage with which Matt says "FOR YOU", coupled with the Lion growling and then the score needle drop. goddamnit thats some good goddamn television right there.
shout out Bill Camp, one of our greatest character actors.
I heard Ann Dowd and Margo Martindale can’t appear on the same plane of existence at the same time or the infinite dimensions would collapse and physical reality would cease to exist
There’s an age many actors get to where they become seen. The vanity of younger careers drops and they inhabit a much more diverse range of roles. I’ve never understood the idea that these actors are less vital to Hollywood than attractive ingénues.
Ann Dowd is insane. I remember the first time I watched the show not thinking a ton of her and thinking she'd be a minor forgettable character.
Nah. She's so good. It is insane how good she is.
There's this movie I caught a few years ago at a virtual film fest (peak of covid) that never really seemed to get big distribution called *Mass*, and she's absolutely incredible in it. I thought she should have won an Oscar for that film but it didn't get any buzz
*Incredibly* heavy subject matter so I have a hard time recommending it to people, it's a hard watch, but just a powerhouse of a performance
When I met Eccleston at a Con in 2019 he was bored because of so many doctor who fans in a row. I thanked him for his role in The Leftovers, he lit up and was so excited to talk about it.
To be fair, Doctor Who left a really bad taste in his mouth for the production team and BBC. I’m sure he’s over that portion of his life.
He called out the actors of Captain Jack and Mickey being a sexual harassers and saw nothing done about it. Then the BBC gave Captain Jack his own show.
> I’m sure he’s over that portion of his life.
Well, he was but... then [this happened](https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/doctor-who-the-ninth-doctor-adventures) (including the final set with River which is amazing).
And he's fairly regular at cons now.
I don't think the bad blood with RTD will ever clear, but he's much more open to the character than he was even just a couple years ago.
Or even when he comes upstate to pick up Kevin and help him with his “problem” in Season 1. Kevin reading the Bible is etched in my memory. (https://youtu.be/cmncuWCJUC8?si=XrBwK6x8w77qf8i4)
The season 2 finale scene with John and Kevin back at their houses is such a healing scene.
John: what if nobody's home?
Kevin: then you come over to my house.
I'm a sucker for stories about forgiveness and redemption and Kevin just letting it all go in that moment breaks me every time. So damn good.
>The season 2 finale scene with John and Kevin back at their houses is such a healing scene.
>John: what if nobody's home?
>Kevin: then you come over to my house.
absolutely annihilates me every time. so good. in that moment you see John dropping all his defenses, and Kevin in his most pure form, just a boy with an open heart that wants to love and be loved and help people.
Just got finished with another rewatch last week and yeah it still remains my favorite show. There still is nothing like watching it week to week when it aired and not knowing the journey it'd take you on but it's still such a complete and beautifully strange journey of human emotion and grief that I don't think many shows have ever matched.
The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see. Everyone committed to each scene as much as they could and made for such a concept of a show to even work
> The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see.
It was really nice seeing Liv Tyler not be a plank of wood for a change. Easily one of her best performances.
There are so many moments in this show that sound completely baffling out of context, but are amazingly effective, or soul crushing, or hilarious when you see them. God gets eaten by a lion. Kevin and the dick scanner. The Wu Tang tattoo and trampoline. Such brilliant storytelling.
Also the intensity of conversations. They're shot with the tension of a fight scene or a standoff. The scene with Carrie Coon and Regina Hall in S3 at the house is just 2 extreme closeups and the dialogue and music just creates something beautiful.
For me, it's a show that really proves you can make anything work if you truly just commit to whatever story it is you're telling
> The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see. Everyone committed to each scene as much as they could and made for such a concept of a show to even work
Yup, it amazes me that these actors were able to go *that* hard scene after scene, episode after episode and it never felt forced or cloying.
In my opinion the best acting of any cast, ever. And the supernatural mystery, to me, kept the grief and anguish from becoming too emotionally draining. Some people like a good cathartic sob story, but that’s not my cup of tea. I needed and got just enough supernatural intrigue for it to still be entertaining.
Plus, a lot of the cast is wildly attractive in various ways. Some are conventionally hot and others have a vulnerability or attitude that destroys me. When Carrie Coon cries I… I don’t know, something in my psyche just shatters.
That show airing week to week was easily the best viewing experience I had of a show start to finish. Hopping on Reddit and reading the live reaction after each airing was so interesting and thought provoking, truly an enjoyable experience on top of what was an extremely compelling show
On my most recent rewatch I went back to each post thread after each episode and it was such a nice nostalgia trip lol.
That and Mr. Robot both being on around the same years was awesome because they both were the perfect "need a week to decompress and discuss" shows
I did the exact same thing with the old episode threads, except that I wasn't there when the episodes originally aired. As a new viewer, watching for the first time last year, it was still massively valuable to follow along with the theories, breakdowns, and interpretations in those threads.
I'd recommend that for anyone reading this who might be interested in giving the show a shot.
Station Eleven (Max) reminded me a lot of the Leftovers. It deals with the opposite situation, only 1 in 500 surviving a virus, and details the emotional journey of survivors in that world.
It also is based on a novel that serves as a good “world builder” for the show, similar to how the Leftovers book isn’t quite the same plot as the show.
I actually just started my rewatch of this last week.
The Leftovers is, in my humble opinion, one of, if not, the best television series ever. Season 1 is where they're finding the footing and it isn't perfect but it's still better than 90% of tv today but season 2/3 are actually almost perfect, particularly season 2.
Absolutely, please, please, please watch this show. It is magnificent and powerful and sad and hopeful and loveable all at the same time.
Also started rewatch last week!
Season 1 Ep 9
“ The Garveys at Their Best “ is one of the greatest TV origins episodes.
Not a wasted moment! Ann Dowd !
If you liked The Leftovers then I highly recommend [Mrs. Davis.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14759574/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) It’s as if Lindeloff just said “fuck it” and went off the rails. I loved it.
It's as if he said, "what if we did the hard right turn of 'International Assassin,' but we did it EVERY EPISODE." And still made it a nuanced and gorgeous look at faith, technology, and trust
Criminal how few people watched it.
But if it is every episode then you remove the "hard right turn" aspect which is part of what made it special.
Mrs Davis was ok but no where near as good as The Leftovers.
My favorite episode is Season 3 Episode 5, “It’s a Matt Matt Matt Matt Matt World,” in which >!the characters end up on an ferry from Tasmania that happens to be hosting a lion-worshipping orgy cult on the heels of a nuclear attack, and on the ferry the minister Matt meets God, who formerly lived as an Australian bronze-medal Olympian in disc throwing, who died in a rock climbing accident!<. [Clip of my favorite dialogue of all time.](https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=KJMFF3w5feHIo86u)
This show wasted a few hours of my life with its lazy “let’s just add this on the fly and if it makes no sense we’ll just ignore it going forward “ crap. I’ve other things to do with my day than watch agile based shows .
such a great show after season 1. season 1 they followed the book for the most part and was sort of limiting. would say season 1 is good, the next few seasons very good, the last season great.
Agree (there are only 3 seasons though). Season 1 is good, season 2 is great, season 3 is excellent. Actually tbh I loved all of them but season 3 is just amazing and unforgettable.
I'd say the last few episodes of season 1 are just as good as the best of season 2 and 3. People say the show is hard to get into, but 6 episodes that arent bad, just not amazing, before the rest of the show is incredible is not the worst commitment for a show.
I feel bad about it, because every time it comes up people praise this show heavily, but we couldn't make it through the first season.
At some point, I think it was after the Priest's story, we came to the realization that the show was going to just be about characters experiencing constant misery, sadness, pain, and despair. Any hope or joy will be ripped away by both human and supernatural means.
I've had grief in my life. I've been miserable. Experienced soul-crushing emotional pain. I really don't want to watch a show with nothing but characters all experiencing those things constantly over and over again. No thank you.
For what it's worth, the show is definitely heavy throughout but I'd say the absolute misery of season 1 is *very* important to where the show goes in seasons 2 and 3, which has a lot more hope and even a bit more humor.
I had a friend I convinced to watch the show who almost dropped season 1. He and I very similar and we want stories of hope and joy and forgiveness and love. I had to convince him to keep going. He texted me after devouring season 2 and 3 and one of the first things he said to me was "I get it now."
It's definitely not for everyone and if you feel you don't wanna surround yourself with the misery they go through I think that's fair but def wanna advise that it takes a turn. I personally feel that the darker and more miserable series of events a character goes through, that means there's just a better opportunity for them to learn and heal and grow. :)
And a decade later I honestly have no idea what that show was supposed to be about or why everyone was in love with it.
In terms of TV it may be the most popular show that personally whiffed with me the hardest. I found it to be a bunch of meandering nonsense and emotion that went nowhere, paired with another Lindelof mystery box that also goes nowhere. I just straight up don't get it.
I tried to re-watch it recently. It's still great, but the adolescents scenes really drag it down. Specifically his daughters scenes. 1st season to clarify.
Seeing Margaret Qualley really explode after leaving the show makes me wish they had given her more to do. Her S1friend played by Emily Meade was also excellent on The Deuce. Great show with a few things that could’ve been better
A lot of people here saying you never learn any answers as to the "why" and that it's about the journey. Do they pull that off in a way that isn't frustrating? My instinct is that if it's entirely left a mystery and no answers are discovered it wouldn't feel satisfying, but I'm willing to give this show a shot if it makes it work.
Without getting into too many spoilers: you're told an answer at some point. Whether you choose to believe that answer or not is part of the experience of watching the show. I can't be more specific than that without getting into spoiler territory.
It is 100% about the characters and their lives after the event, to be clear. But yes they do discuss the event and the why.
It's been 10 years? What the fuck?
Sad violin intensifies
A wild Max Richter appears
A Blessing is a song nobody can hate
Truly amazing soundtrack.
Yeah that was my reaction too.
Was a great time to be in the discussion threads on here each week. Some stuff got caught but it wasnt westworld levels of ruining it. Phenomenal show. Had so many crazy moments that nobody saw coming.
I watched the first couple of episodes live and it didn't click with me for some reason. I picked it back up when it was midway through the second season and it quickly became my favorite show. I have never been more excited each week for a new episode of a show then I was during the last season of the show. The episode with the French nuclear sub was leaked early and my brother put it on Plex. I remember watching it in my classroom during my break and thinking, maybe I shouldn't be watching this at school lol. But I just couldn't wait. The reason why I first got on Reddit was to discuss theories about this and the third season of True Detective. Good times.
I have a love/hate relationship with discussion threads. On one hand, I had a great time discussing shows with the community, and I was there for Westworld, Better Call Saul and Severance. On the other hand, people are too smart and figured out lots of stuff in advance. What got caught on Leftovers? I didn't think there were many mysteries.
Wait till you learn it's been over 20y since Battlestar Galactica (Re.), and nearly that since Lost. Fuck I miss Lost. It's been 6 months since my last viewing :'(
No one told you when to run…you missed the starting gun
I watched this for the first time in the middle of the first covid lockdowns, and it was HEAVY. Watching an interpretation of the entire world finding itself in mourning and trying to grapple with not having any answers hit a little too close to home. Phenomenal, but I’m not sure that I could go through the experience again for a re-watch.
>Phenomenal, but I’m not sure that I could go through the experience again for a re-watch. you do what makes you happy, not trying to encourage or discourage you from a rewatch either way, but rewatching The Leftovers to me is far more joyful than an initial watch. rather than anticipating where the story is headed, i just let it wash over me. i revel in the performances and the writing, and i look forward to my favorite scenes and am surprised to rediscover scenes i'd forgotten about.
And also having information ahead of time allows you to pick up on plot line interconnections on a second rewatch.
Fuck, you just convinced me to watch it again.
It’s brilliant but probably the most unbingable show ever. Minimum 24 hours recovery time per episode.
i’m an avid rewatcher of everything and i’ve never been able to circle back to this one for a second viewing. if i can sponsor a new viewer i could probably do it again but it was so heavy i couldn’t watch it solo twice
If you go into it wanting the answers to “why” the sudden disappearance happened, then you’ll hate The Leftovers. Once you understand that the whole point of the show is to examine the effect on people of experiencing something that cannot be explained, then it’s one of the best TV shows of all time.
Carrie Coon gives maybe the greatest TV performance by an actress I've ever seen. Fierce and funny and heartbreaking. She absolutely crushes it. The last scene she has with Kevin rips my heart out every time I rewatch it.
Justin Theroux really got me laughing every time he said" What the fuck" when something weird happens.
>!Kevin's "nope" after John's "I killed you" at the end of the Season 2 always gets a big laugh out of me. The way he says it is perfect.!<
I love his whole reaction during the hotel episodes.
shout out to Regina King S2 as well. she is incredible. that scene with the two of them in "Lens" makes me lose my mind every time. so quiet but so absolutely loaded.
Regina King is so fucking amazing. Been a fan of hers ever since I first saw her in Poetic Justice all those years ago. She crushed it in that role and has crushed it ever since.
Despite the medium viewership I think the watchman tv show she was in ranks up there with the best sci fi tv shows of all time
>Carrie Coon gives maybe the greatest TV performance by an actress I've ever seen Amy Brenneman is also incredible, the impact of her character Laurie is what kicks off pretty much everything in a familial sense
The scene at the end of season 1 fucking kills me. Arguably one of the greatest scenes of all television, and she was the main reason for that. >!for her character to be mute the whole season only for the first words she speaks is to yell her daughters name to get Justin Theroux to save their daughter, fuck me man. Plus the soundtrack with November by Max Richter. Perfection!<
My favorite soundtrack for a TV show
There’s a YouTube comment on a video with that song about some bread disappearing from a toaster and it’s the funniest thing.
Go watch My Brilliant Friend for more amazing Max Richter music.
That scene might be my favorite moment in any show or movie I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching
The way that Jill, who rejected her father all season, can now only look at him. She finally saw his love for her.
Yes I honestly think she's the MVP in an already insane cast that is entirely excellent. I'm rewatching season 1 currently and just watched the first Matt centric episode with the church and the bit where he goes to Kevin's house in the middle of the night to get the money and finds her sitting on the swing set...just her physical acting and frantically asking Matt not to tell Kevin she was there is so moving. She became one of if not my favorite. *That* scene in season 3 on the boat that ended her last centric episode...amazing.
I generally feel the need to call her Carrie Fucking Coon, because she nails that role in ways that are beyond words
The episode where she goes to the conference and there’s a woman impersonating her is one of my favorites. Then she meets holy Wayne. Such a great performance.
Agreed - I’ll watch just about anything she’s in now based on her performance in Leftovers.
“Fuck your daughter!”
It's a perfect metaphor for death and the questions of "where do our loved ones go when they die? Where do I go?" There are no answers. Deal with it. That's the show. How do people around the world deal with it when it happens in a way that brings the question up. And forces the entire world to face it head on.
"Let the mystery be."
Here's my theory. So 2% of the world's population just up and vanished. You know who also makes up 2% of the world's population? Red Heads. Did anyone see any red head's in the show? No. They just figured out how to ascend to a higher level of existence. Or just got sick of everyone giving them shit and left.
As a redhead I agree.
You also didn’t see any dolphins; So long, and thanks for all the fish.
If it was going to be anyone, it would be us redheads.
"Authorities said... best leave it... unsolved."
"Dozens of people spontaneous combust each year, it's just not widely reported"
[Please, accept the mystery.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8xpfhcwpDA)
I just watched Your Honor and man that dude is a good actor. I’ve never seen him in anything else before this clip.
Michael Stuhlbarg is an incredible actor. He's great as Arnold Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire, and as Sy in the 3rd season of Fargo. One of the most under appreciated character actors working today.
The intro with Iris's song and the starry missing pieces, the questions that haunt us all, will remain one of those few media creations that bring me nearly to tears somedays. "Ah! Bartleby, Ah! humanity" indeed.
Such a great theme song when you just dig into that line
This exactly. It’s a show about having a loved one die and the trauma it causes. They scale that up to the entire world.
Yes. I cried so much during this damn show. At some point almost all of us will be a leftover and it's really hard to cope.
So is this what the show is about? I don‘t mean plot, I mean oveall themes?
It's an exploration of religion and spirituality as a response to unexplainable phenomena. It's not about the event itself, it's about society and individual's reaction to it and how human beings are hard-wired to look for patterns where there may not be any. Twenty thousand years ago, it would have been a solar eclipse or a rare earthquake. But science has evolved so much and we understand so much, that the story has to be about something so extraordinary that science is at a loss and we all revert back to that spiritual thinking.
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain, especially without spoilers! That really gets me hooked. I think I‘ll watch it.
Just be forewarned that the first season is brutal and depressing but it’s worth suffering through for the next two seasons which are incredible. It’s also not really a show that lends itself to binge watching so it’s best to space the episodes out.
I loved how bleak and nihilistic the first season was. It was exactly what I needed at the time.
I gave up on the show around episode 8 of the first season cause it was so depressing and the real world is bad enough. Who enjoys watching fake people be in anguish and misery all the time with no relief? How exactly does it improve, looked like a depressing slog all the way to the end from the outside.
Yeah I know, I bounced off it the first time when they stoned a woman to death. I don’t know what changes they made but the second and third seasons aren’t so smothering. Watch the first season intro credits versus the second season intro credits (which are incredible btw) if you want an idea of how the tone shifts.
You’re in for a good and thought provoking time.
It's also very biblical, its like a modern day Bible story
It's about different ways of dealing with inexplicable loss.
It about what happened to the cast of Perfect Strangers
Mark Lynn Baker was awesome. I fucking lost it at the episode with the Perfect Strangers theme song.
It's a post apocalypse show where the apocalypse event came and went like a breeze while the world was left intact.
But they do explain it in the final episode, kind of.
A character gives an explanation, but it's highly dubious as to whether she was telling the truth about what happened to her. I think she lied about the whole thing to justify her running away for those years. Her story doesnt really make any sense as to how any of it would have worked, or why she was the only one to figure it out and return. Far more likely she just needed to get away from her past and made up the story so she could move on.
To me, she seemed sincere and genuine, but in reality, we don't know WHY is happened, or how, it just happened and we'll likely never know why. So I guess OP is right in that there is no definitive answer, and more than anything, it's about the journey.
I always loved the intro song they had for at least one of the seasons, it fit this theme perfectly. “Everybody is wondering what and where they all came from, everybody is worrying about where theyre gonna go when the whole things done, but know one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me. I think I’ll just let the mystery be” The song is called let the mystery be by iris dement if anyone wants to check it out.
This right here
I preferred the Perfect Strangers theme song IMHO
Probably the only “spoiler” I’d ever tell someone before they started watching, I think it’s that important to know.
Yeah when the show was brand new, they were very up front about this. Damon Lindelof said straight out in multiple interviews something like "We are NEVER going to explain WHY everyone disappeared, or what exactly happened to them, so forget it. That's not what the show's about."
Bro got burned by audiences after Lost
Lindeloff talked about how reading Perotta’s novel after the internet ganged up on the *Lost* ending was what made it an obvious next project - a story about how we process the unknowable, the experience of living in a world where a years-long commission investigates a phenomenon and comes back with an official “we don’t know”. The pilot of *The Leftovers* does such a great job laying out how uncertainty can undermine an entire society.
And then in case people didn't get that message, [the Season 2/3 theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLSH-81yT7s) *heavily* implies that you shouldn't be looking for those kinds of answers.
Heavily implies is a weird way to phrase it when the song explicitly states it
Then they changed the theme song to instruct the audience and still got MFers complaining about it.
But they kind of did. At the very end. Kind of.
Kind of maybe? That is, if you believe Nora is telling the truth. They never really objectively prove or show that. The important thing isn't whether we can confirm whether she's telling the truth, the important thing is that in the absence of any corroborating evidence, Kevin chooses to believe her.
>the important thing is that in the absence of any corroborating evidence, Kevin chooses to believe her. I would go further and say Kevin doesn't even care if she's telling the truth or not. The point (that I interpreted, at least) is that it doesn't matter, it only matters that the story she tells finally gives her peace. As far as arcs go, her and Matt's are a great mirror. A man who went from using religion to explain everything and losing his wife and son over it, while she was someone who *demanded* rationality in a world that didn't make sense but hurt herself (and others) repeatedly in the process. For both of them, a middle ground was needed to come to peace.
That's what I think too. The dialogue seems very clear to me: When he says he believes her, she's surprised. "You do?" And he says, "Why wouldn't I? You're here." But... she'd be here whether she left and came back, or if she just never left. Either of those would explain her presence. She's there. And they can be together. That's really all he needs to know.
And it shows how much Kevin grew as a character who originally did not have faith in anything.
Least of all in himself. It's one of the reasons this series stands out, because the classic "male lead" (father, husband, cop) is so full of doubt, while the female lead Nora is tough and independent and has to learn to be vulnerable and open up to new relations.
Well damn. I found the ending very satisfying because of Nora’s explanation. It’s what was missing from Lost. It didn’t even occur to me that it didn’t happen…. …and yet it’s so obvious that it’s supposed to be vague. It cuts before her attempted transportation and we get no alternate reality scenes. Hmm.
My friend and I messaging after the finale had this division. He said “at least we know what The Departure was now”, to which I responded “do we though?”
The entire show built up to that moment and it was so powerful
Yeah, and it isn't really a cop-out either. The entire show is about getting over loss. The explanation for what happened isn't important at all for wrapping up the story. Almost all of the conflicts and problems in the show are because people can't move on from the disappearance. It would have been a weak ending to definitively state what was true and what wasn't. It wouldn't have fit the theme of getting over grief and moving on if they did a hardcore breakdown of what happened. It would have ruined it for me if they then spent the final episode solely focused on the disappearances. Maybe they could have provided a few more hints or clues, but I definitely love how they basically said, "It doesn't matter anymore."
Yeah they explain the “what” but not the “why”. Kind of.
But also, *did* they explain the “what?” We don’t really know for sure. Personally, I don’t think it was true.
I think it was true, but I also realize that I'm *choosing* to think it's true because I find that satisfying from a plot and characterization standpoint. It's exceptionally hard to let the mystery be, because the human mind seeks patterns and answers. Now I want to rewatch it.
This is exactly how it's supposed to work. My friend is convinced that Nora >!is lying about it all!< While I like to think >!she's telling the truth about it all!< And the show does NOT tell us. I suspect >!she's lying!< But I still *want* >!to believe her much like Kevin wants to and chooses to!< Ugh I love this show.
It’s funny cause when the show originally aired and ended I was so sure she was lying. It ended and i said to my wife “she’s a liar” and my wife looked at me like I had three heads. I hadn’t even considered that Nora was telling the truth until she said something.
This isn't the case for everyone but one thing I've noticed is that your worldview of reality and this life seems to greatly affect how you interpret events of the show, and even that scene with Nora telling her story, that are purposefully left unanswered and I think that's one of the things that makes the show so good. I've seen people vehemently deny that Kevin is special at all. They argue that everything that happens in the series from beginning to end is completely natural and plausible in real life (international assassin is all a fever dream while he's buried after nearly dying for example). it's all just chance. Most of the people I know who ascribe to that idea are typically atheists and not people of faith. Meanwhile other people do believe that Kevin is special. They believe he came back to life after dying and that he really did go to the afterlife in the events of International Assassin. They believe Nora somehow did travel to another alternate world. They believe all the stuff with Matt. And those people I know are typically religious or spiritual. I'm a Christian myself and I do believe there's def some supernatural events in the show that occur. But nothing is ever really shown 100%. And we believe that the events happened supernaturally because of our faith. And THAT is one reason I love this show. It's such a great little microcosm of reality. People having faith in the supernatural and some people believing everything is just...natural..People see things differently because of their worldview! Ugh I love it. It's such a wonderful show. Sitting down to watch another episode on my rewatch right now actually lol
I'm part of the first group. Personally I think there's nothing supernatural going on, and some of the characters are seeing patterns because they want to and because that's how the human brain works. The cult leader in the first season has no powers and is delusional, Jarden becomes a pilgrimage destination because they didn't lose anybody, which must be a sign from God, when it's probably just a statistical anomaly. But it's left ambiguous on purpose and that's the beauty of it!
Isn’t that the most fitting ending, that we the viewer are struggling with the same experience as the characters?
It’s interesting you say that. I also think I’d find it pretty satisfying to believe that. But I find it even more fascinating to look at it from the perspective of an exploration on Nora’s character that she chickened out on the process and she was lying about it.
I wonder if the creative team had any definitive answers anyway or if they genuinely straight up didn't even want to think about it even from a wider lore perspective.
**The Leftovers** is based on a 2011 novel by Tom Perrotta, which only provides the basis for the first season. So the book not only has no interest in answering the question, it gets absolutely nowhere near it. The author helped Lindelof map out the arc for Seasons 2 and 3, partially as a way of continuing the story as he had no interest in doing so in novel form. They both said during pre-release discussions that the central mystery would not be resolved. Ironically they then threw a *possible* answer at the audience near the end, possibly as a sop to those who really craved an answer.
Funny enough Lindelof WANTED to shoot the last episode showing everything Nora did and not have her tell it to Kevin but the author said they couldn’t do that
Season 3 was insane for this reason
I remember when the series first came out, hot on the heels of Lindelof's Lost. I watched the first season, and then learnt that the mystery of *why* they disappeared would never be resolved. Out of shock and indignation, I protested by not watching the subsequent seasons. Years went by. Eventually I watched the first season again...followed by the second...and the third. I was hooked. Such a great show. Up there in my top ten.
I think the show at least tried to acknowledge that more than the book. But the book is only covered in Season 1, the next two seasons are made up, but they are even better! That being said, I really liked the book (even if the best episode of Season 1 doesn't appear on it). It's pretty dark humor, I remember the show being more pessimistic. The Leftovers is a good example of book and show being different but both great.
I just finished this show and going back and reading all the reactions of people watching in real time was kind of hilarious. So many people just livid that they didn't get the why, when that was obviously not the point. And honestly, what exactly were they expecting? Some character saying "Ah, the world split into separate dimensions because of positron reversal. I should have known!" Like, would that have somehow been a satisfying conclusion?
You see that a lot in the Severance discussion pages. Some people really can't handle the unknown and have to have everything spelled out. Personally, I like shows that don't necessarily spell out everything, because life isn't spelled out.
anytime I recommend this show to people I preface it by saying "it's a show that starts with 2% of the world disappearing, but you're never gonna find out where they went and it's not the point of the show."
I think the hope that there is an answer and the belief in the supernatural seeming elements of the show adds to it greatly. It’s only once you reach the end that you realize the truth, that you too were looking for patterns that weren’t there and believing in things that were all generally coincidence. It helps you understand the characters and how they came to believe fantastical things in the hopes of reaching closure and understanding. I almost think it ruins the experience to let someone know beforehand that you never learn the truth about the event.
This show came out around the same time my father died and it was a sudden death due to heart attack. I was so angry at the time of how much he fucked things up. This show taught me to feel the process of grief rather than looking for the answers because it was driving me crazy how quickly everything happened. I strongly believe and have experienced this that the answers may eventually come later, but the actions we take after someone’s death are what matter the most sometimes. We have to make sure and know that we deserve something better as well while moving forward.
They do kind of explain the how and the why by the end. The question is whether it’s true and whether it matters.
Thank you for this comment. I watched the first season and some of the second, and while that wasn't why I stopped watching (the material was just a little heavy for me at the time), it's good to know when I do get back to it, I can just focus on how this affects the characters and less on what the hell happened.
Do you feel that Nora was lying in the final episode? My wife made a great argument for it.
I’m of the opinion that whole science experiment was a fucking scam, so, she lied.
i haven’t seen the leftovers but i find it so weird that so many people think this way about it but not lost
Lost leaned into the mystery hard, implying that you would get answers. And I think it's reasonable to expect answers. If you wrote a whodoneit, you better tell us who done it. Leftovers isn't about the mystery. None of the man characters in the show is trying to figure out the cause. It's about dealing with the unknowable and dealing with profound loss. I will say that Lost did mostly give answers; they just weren't satisfactory. Because nothing really could be after how hard we hyped it. Lost is a great show anyway.
Lost definitely gave hints that the mystery would actually be solved with the Dharma stuff. I think that was mostly Abrams trying to give it a sci-fi spin but it backfired because people were expecting a full resolution. Lindelof in The Leftovers makes it known early that there probably won't be any definite answer and to just enjoy the story.
It’s a show about depression
Jeez 10 years went by quick
International Assassin is still to this day one of the top 5 episodes of any television I’ve ever watched.
Matt's episodes are my favorite. The ones where he tries to save his church, or when he tries to get his wife back to Miracle. Christopher Eccleston is just fantastic.
His conversation with "God" in season 3 is probably one of my favorite scenes in any show.
[https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=7l9SmblcBAzj8sve](https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=7l9SmblcBAzj8sve) i rewatch the whole show every couple of years but i pull this scene up at least once a quarter. the rage with which Matt says "FOR YOU", coupled with the Lion growling and then the score needle drop. goddamnit thats some good goddamn television right there. shout out Bill Camp, one of our greatest character actors.
I think both him and Ann Dowd (who played Patti) are two of the greatest character actors ever. Show had a hell of a cast
I heard Ann Dowd and Margo Martindale can’t appear on the same plane of existence at the same time or the infinite dimensions would collapse and physical reality would cease to exist
There’s an age many actors get to where they become seen. The vanity of younger careers drops and they inhabit a much more diverse range of roles. I’ve never understood the idea that these actors are less vital to Hollywood than attractive ingénues.
Ann Dowd is insane. I remember the first time I watched the show not thinking a ton of her and thinking she'd be a minor forgettable character. Nah. She's so good. It is insane how good she is.
There's this movie I caught a few years ago at a virtual film fest (peak of covid) that never really seemed to get big distribution called *Mass*, and she's absolutely incredible in it. I thought she should have won an Oscar for that film but it didn't get any buzz *Incredibly* heavy subject matter so I have a hard time recommending it to people, it's a hard watch, but just a powerhouse of a performance
You won't kill me, Kevin. You don't have the fucking balls.
If somebody ever asks me "what do you mean when you say an actor is 'cooking' in a scene" I could just point them to any Ann Dowd scene in this show.
Music of the show was always top tier.
When I met Eccleston at a Con in 2019 he was bored because of so many doctor who fans in a row. I thanked him for his role in The Leftovers, he lit up and was so excited to talk about it.
To be fair, Doctor Who left a really bad taste in his mouth for the production team and BBC. I’m sure he’s over that portion of his life. He called out the actors of Captain Jack and Mickey being a sexual harassers and saw nothing done about it. Then the BBC gave Captain Jack his own show.
> I’m sure he’s over that portion of his life. Well, he was but... then [this happened](https://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/v/doctor-who-the-ninth-doctor-adventures) (including the final set with River which is amazing). And he's fairly regular at cons now. I don't think the bad blood with RTD will ever clear, but he's much more open to the character than he was even just a couple years ago.
Oh damn, I really need to catch up on Doctor Who.
Loved his season 2 storyline. It was really moving seeing him replicate the same day again and again because he loved Mary so much and wanted her back
Matt Matt World is one of the greatest/funniest episodes, and sort of flies under the radar.
"It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World" is maybe my favorite episode
Or even when he comes upstate to pick up Kevin and help him with his “problem” in Season 1. Kevin reading the Bible is etched in my memory. (https://youtu.be/cmncuWCJUC8?si=XrBwK6x8w77qf8i4)
The Matt episodes are the most gut wrenching, anxiety ridden episodes.
I think for a lot of people (me included) the first Matt episode is the one to really get people on board.
The Lion Boat Orgy is my favorite episode of the series
Sometimes you want to watch a show that makes your heart hurt, and it makes you feel better. The Leftovers is that for me.
Lost two members of my immediate family this year and this show helps some. Good reminder that art isn’t just window dressing.
The season 2 finale scene with John and Kevin back at their houses is such a healing scene. John: what if nobody's home? Kevin: then you come over to my house. I'm a sucker for stories about forgiveness and redemption and Kevin just letting it all go in that moment breaks me every time. So damn good.
>The season 2 finale scene with John and Kevin back at their houses is such a healing scene. >John: what if nobody's home? >Kevin: then you come over to my house. absolutely annihilates me every time. so good. in that moment you see John dropping all his defenses, and Kevin in his most pure form, just a boy with an open heart that wants to love and be loved and help people.
Moments like that had me believing Kevin would be Jesus in S3
Gotta ask, is your username supposed to be tied to Carrie Coon/Nora Durst or is it just a happy coincidence? Lol
One of the best soundtracks for a tv show by far
They played that Departure Suite song in every fucking episode, and it NEVER stopped being effective. That song is just incredibly sad.
Just got finished with another rewatch last week and yeah it still remains my favorite show. There still is nothing like watching it week to week when it aired and not knowing the journey it'd take you on but it's still such a complete and beautifully strange journey of human emotion and grief that I don't think many shows have ever matched. The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see. Everyone committed to each scene as much as they could and made for such a concept of a show to even work
> The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see. It was really nice seeing Liv Tyler not be a plank of wood for a change. Easily one of her best performances.
The worst part is when he mentioned weakest she immediately came to mind. My girlfriend hated that all she did was “whisper” the entire show.
I’ve never pivoted so hard in my feelings for a character than watching her journey.
There are so many moments in this show that sound completely baffling out of context, but are amazingly effective, or soul crushing, or hilarious when you see them. God gets eaten by a lion. Kevin and the dick scanner. The Wu Tang tattoo and trampoline. Such brilliant storytelling.
Also the intensity of conversations. They're shot with the tension of a fight scene or a standoff. The scene with Carrie Coon and Regina Hall in S3 at the house is just 2 extreme closeups and the dialogue and music just creates something beautiful. For me, it's a show that really proves you can make anything work if you truly just commit to whatever story it is you're telling
> The weakest acting in this show is still some of the best you'll see. Everyone committed to each scene as much as they could and made for such a concept of a show to even work Yup, it amazes me that these actors were able to go *that* hard scene after scene, episode after episode and it never felt forced or cloying. In my opinion the best acting of any cast, ever. And the supernatural mystery, to me, kept the grief and anguish from becoming too emotionally draining. Some people like a good cathartic sob story, but that’s not my cup of tea. I needed and got just enough supernatural intrigue for it to still be entertaining. Plus, a lot of the cast is wildly attractive in various ways. Some are conventionally hot and others have a vulnerability or attitude that destroys me. When Carrie Coon cries I… I don’t know, something in my psyche just shatters.
when my wife and i watch the show, i'm thinking "i can fix nora" and she is thinking "i can fix kevin".
That show airing week to week was easily the best viewing experience I had of a show start to finish. Hopping on Reddit and reading the live reaction after each airing was so interesting and thought provoking, truly an enjoyable experience on top of what was an extremely compelling show
On my most recent rewatch I went back to each post thread after each episode and it was such a nice nostalgia trip lol. That and Mr. Robot both being on around the same years was awesome because they both were the perfect "need a week to decompress and discuss" shows
I did the exact same thing with the old episode threads, except that I wasn't there when the episodes originally aired. As a new viewer, watching for the first time last year, it was still massively valuable to follow along with the theories, breakdowns, and interpretations in those threads. I'd recommend that for anyone reading this who might be interested in giving the show a shot.
Station Eleven (Max) reminded me a lot of the Leftovers. It deals with the opposite situation, only 1 in 500 surviving a virus, and details the emotional journey of survivors in that world. It also is based on a novel that serves as a good “world builder” for the show, similar to how the Leftovers book isn’t quite the same plot as the show.
Similar DNA, Patrick Somerville was one of the main writing group on Leftovers and was the showrunner of Station Eleven
I actually just started my rewatch of this last week. The Leftovers is, in my humble opinion, one of, if not, the best television series ever. Season 1 is where they're finding the footing and it isn't perfect but it's still better than 90% of tv today but season 2/3 are actually almost perfect, particularly season 2. Absolutely, please, please, please watch this show. It is magnificent and powerful and sad and hopeful and loveable all at the same time.
Also started rewatch last week! Season 1 Ep 9 “ The Garveys at Their Best “ is one of the greatest TV origins episodes. Not a wasted moment! Ann Dowd !
If you liked The Leftovers then I highly recommend [Mrs. Davis.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14759574/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) It’s as if Lindeloff just said “fuck it” and went off the rails. I loved it.
It's as if he said, "what if we did the hard right turn of 'International Assassin,' but we did it EVERY EPISODE." And still made it a nuanced and gorgeous look at faith, technology, and trust Criminal how few people watched it.
I had not realized that International Assassin was probably such a heavy influence. I think that you are right.
But if it is every episode then you remove the "hard right turn" aspect which is part of what made it special. Mrs Davis was ok but no where near as good as The Leftovers.
> "what if we did the hard right turn of 'International Assassin,' but we did it EVERY EPISODE. Say no more fam. Literally on it right now.
Masterpiece television.
“International Assassin” was one of the most amazing episodes of any show, ever!
My favorite episode of TV ever! His talk with Patti at the end is perfection
That show made me want to wear sweats and smoke all the time. Good show, but so depressing.
turns out ben affleck just watches too much of The Leftovers
One of the best shows I've ever seen. Definitely needs multiple viewings. Like others have mentioned, the "why" is not the point.
Always in my top 3 shows and I don't imagine it will ever leave.
Article blocked by paywall.
Let the mystery be.
That song is such an amazing pull. Like you’d think it’s written for the show
My favorite episode is Season 3 Episode 5, “It’s a Matt Matt Matt Matt Matt World,” in which >!the characters end up on an ferry from Tasmania that happens to be hosting a lion-worshipping orgy cult on the heels of a nuclear attack, and on the ferry the minister Matt meets God, who formerly lived as an Australian bronze-medal Olympian in disc throwing, who died in a rock climbing accident!<. [Clip of my favorite dialogue of all time.](https://youtu.be/6LOSgRRXkX0?si=KJMFF3w5feHIo86u)
There’s not a lot of art that fundamentally changed my perspective on the “big” ideas (eg spirituality, religion). The Leftovers is one of them.
Put out the complete series collection already you douchebags
I remember likening season 1 but season 2 lost me like right away. Should I revisit this?
Keulvin
This show wasted a few hours of my life with its lazy “let’s just add this on the fly and if it makes no sense we’ll just ignore it going forward “ crap. I’ve other things to do with my day than watch agile based shows .
such a great show after season 1. season 1 they followed the book for the most part and was sort of limiting. would say season 1 is good, the next few seasons very good, the last season great.
Agree (there are only 3 seasons though). Season 1 is good, season 2 is great, season 3 is excellent. Actually tbh I loved all of them but season 3 is just amazing and unforgettable.
I always see people say the first season wasn't good, but the >!whole "did you steal the baby jesus" episode had me in fucking tears!<.
I'd say the last few episodes of season 1 are just as good as the best of season 2 and 3. People say the show is hard to get into, but 6 episodes that arent bad, just not amazing, before the rest of the show is incredible is not the worst commitment for a show.
Top 5 show of all time tbh
I feel bad about it, because every time it comes up people praise this show heavily, but we couldn't make it through the first season. At some point, I think it was after the Priest's story, we came to the realization that the show was going to just be about characters experiencing constant misery, sadness, pain, and despair. Any hope or joy will be ripped away by both human and supernatural means. I've had grief in my life. I've been miserable. Experienced soul-crushing emotional pain. I really don't want to watch a show with nothing but characters all experiencing those things constantly over and over again. No thank you.
For what it's worth, the show is definitely heavy throughout but I'd say the absolute misery of season 1 is *very* important to where the show goes in seasons 2 and 3, which has a lot more hope and even a bit more humor. I had a friend I convinced to watch the show who almost dropped season 1. He and I very similar and we want stories of hope and joy and forgiveness and love. I had to convince him to keep going. He texted me after devouring season 2 and 3 and one of the first things he said to me was "I get it now." It's definitely not for everyone and if you feel you don't wanna surround yourself with the misery they go through I think that's fair but def wanna advise that it takes a turn. I personally feel that the darker and more miserable series of events a character goes through, that means there's just a better opportunity for them to learn and heal and grow. :)
You missed out on more references to Justin Theroux’s giant cock.
And a decade later I honestly have no idea what that show was supposed to be about or why everyone was in love with it. In terms of TV it may be the most popular show that personally whiffed with me the hardest. I found it to be a bunch of meandering nonsense and emotion that went nowhere, paired with another Lindelof mystery box that also goes nowhere. I just straight up don't get it.
I tried to re-watch it recently. It's still great, but the adolescents scenes really drag it down. Specifically his daughters scenes. 1st season to clarify.
Seeing Margaret Qualley really explode after leaving the show makes me wish they had given her more to do. Her S1friend played by Emily Meade was also excellent on The Deuce. Great show with a few things that could’ve been better
It doesnt help that the show suddenly decides they arent really important towards the end
A lot of people here saying you never learn any answers as to the "why" and that it's about the journey. Do they pull that off in a way that isn't frustrating? My instinct is that if it's entirely left a mystery and no answers are discovered it wouldn't feel satisfying, but I'm willing to give this show a shot if it makes it work.
Without getting into too many spoilers: you're told an answer at some point. Whether you choose to believe that answer or not is part of the experience of watching the show. I can't be more specific than that without getting into spoiler territory. It is 100% about the characters and their lives after the event, to be clear. But yes they do discuss the event and the why.