OT: Any fans of The Leftovers?

[Virginia Lion]

Don't think I've seen a thread on this show, but been travelling quite a bit, so may have missed it.

Season and series finale Sunday night. 2% of the world's population suddenly disappear at the same time, over 140 million people. No one can explain it, and no one knows where they went.
Some of the departed had been driving cars, working, walking or playing with their kids, and they suddenly vanish. Some families are town apart.
Some very religious people lose their faith, others join cults, still others give in to shysters, who promise to "renunite" them with their departed family members through devices that incinerate them (apparently).
Thought the scripts, plots and acting have been great. Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon and Pittsburgh's own Scott Glenn (played Alan Shepherd in The Right Stuff) all have been great.
For those who have watched, have you enjoyed the show? Any predictions on what happens in the Series Finale?

 

[Lionguy32]

I thought the first season was OK, the second season was great, and this season has been just weird. I can't say I'll miss it.

 

[tboyer]

Brilliant, one of the most interesting things on TV. If you like to watch something on Sunday night and still be haunted by it on Tuesday afternoon, going over it in your head -- it's that kind of show. It's the kind of TV that actually rises above mere entertainment and gets you thinking about life's big questions -- but it never stops being highly entertaining.

The final season of a series can sometimes be wonderful because the writers no longer are worried about being renewed -- so they have absolute freedom, they can go pedal to the metal, and that's what this season is. It's all the crazy twisted ideas they could come up with.

The writing is absolutely bizarre but the actors sell it and make it really hit home. Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Chris Eccleston and Amy Brennaman are all brilliant. I miss Liv Tyler this season -- she was a tremendously interesting villain.

 

[anon_is9z1n0h3zblb]

Justin Theroux singing Homeward Bound last year was some of the best TV I've ever seen. But I do agree that this season has been weirder than the other seasons. However that's part of it's fascination. We'll see if they can pull a satisfying finale. Those are hard to do. Hopefully this one will be closer to the series finale of The Shield than Dexter.

 

[tboyer]

Justin Theroux singing Homeward Bound last year was some of the best TV I've ever seen. But I do agree that this season has been weirder than the other seasons. However that's part of it's fascination. We'll see if they can pull a satisfying finale. Those are hard to do. Hopefully this one will be closer to the series finale of The Shield than Dexter.

One that still haunts me was the episode that focused on Eccleston/preacher Matt. He's spent his whole rather sad painful life as a devout believer, doing what he thought God was calling him to do, and then he actually encounters God on an Australian cruise ship and as it turns out God is just a crude redneck who likes to beat people up and absolutely does not give a s--- about anything human beings are up to. God turns out to be a cold-blooded A-hole, who informs Matt he's just been listening to himself his whole life. Pretty devastating, though Matt is resilient. Tremendously interesting allegory, kind of like the Book of Job turned inside out. I'm sure there are pastors out there using this in Sunday school classes because it raises such interesting questions.

 

[Virginia Lion]

One that still haunts me was the episode that focused on Eccleston/preacher Matt. He's spent his whole rather sad painful life as a devout believer, doing what he thought God was calling him to do, and then he actually encounters God on an Australian cruise ship and as it turns out God is just a crude redneck who likes to beat people up and absolutely does not give a s--- about anything human beings are up to. God turns out to be a cold-blooded A-hole. And as it turns out Matt was just listening to himself his whole life. Pretty devastating, though Matt is resilient. Tremendously interesting allegory, kind of like the Book of Job turned inside out. I'm sure there are pastors out there using this in Sunday school classes because it raises such interesting questions.

That was a weird one. The Homeward Bound comment made me think of the assassination episode when Kevin was in the surreal world. They tell him he has to assassinate the politician (the Guilty Remnant leader in a redux) but he can't take a gun in since he'll be frisked. So they tell him he has to find the gun they hid behind the toilet. Kevin nods and says, "Like in the Godfather?" I laughed so hard. The mix of drama and funny lines is well done. I had never seen or remember seeing Eccleston in anything before, but he is a superb actor. You see and feel the grit and sweat, like when Matt was in the camp outside Miracle Texas last season.

 

[Virginia Lion]

So ...... thoughts on the series finale? you have to suspend your disbelief with theater, movies etc, and tonight was no exception. Nora crossed over to the departed world, apparently a parallel universe with lots of abandoned buildings, houses overgrown with weeds and hedges, few pilots and long haul trips between continents by boat, all per Nora. But Nora finds the physicist who created the machine that took her and others to the departed world, and he makes one to send her back to the real world. Hmmnnn. Won't most of the departed want to use that new machine to go back to the real world? More pilots, so more flights and better frequent flyer opportunities. Kevin and Nora end up together, back in the real world. Laurie was last seen in an apparent scuba suicide, but nope, she is back in Miracle and is Nora's by phone therapist
I liked the series. Quirky, weird, unpredictable but TB above aptly summed it up about making you think about life's big questions.

So TB, j3, others, your thoughts on the finale?

 

[tboyer]

I liked the last episode a lot. Completely unexpected. It ends like a romance of all things. Kevin finds Nora, and that makes sense -- the way it had ended with them before didn't seem right, or final. They lie to each other until they finally tell the truth (or at least the truth as each understands it). We actually get from Nora an explanation of the departures -- a parallel universe, and one that's a lot sadder than this one. But then you have to decide if Nora just imagined it.

Lindelof is ultimately compassionate with his characters. Laurie apparently survives the scuba suicide attempt. Nora survives the departure machine. Matt dies of the cancer that's been with him his whole life, but he dies as a good person, a person whose faith, at the end, was in humanity, not in some god of his own invention. Everybody's okay, even Kevin's dad. The job of the final episode is to resolve some things and bring some peace, and this one did that while telling some new stories and adding some new twists.

 

[psualumni2002]

I've been telling people they are missing out on the leftovers if they haven't watched it. In my top 5 shows of all time.

Season 2 is one of the all time greats in tv history. I thought season 3 was the weaker of the 3 but still better than most shows. The finale was fantastic. Super well written and wraps up the show in a simple and effective way. Spoiler I personally think she lied about her story to Kevin and I think he knows but he doesn't care anymore.

The people who watch this show just because they want to find out what the departure was will not get the point of the show. The point is how people deal and react with loss.

Great interview with Damon Lindelof here on the finale and the show as a whole http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/the-leftovers-finale-damon-lindelof-recap-review/

 

[Still in State College]

I enjoyed the series but it is something that does take some effort.

I am not sure what I think about the premise as a whole. If you believe Nora's story, there was no rhyme or reason to the departure. Just a bunch of people sent to a parallel world. You have the 2% that wonder what happened to the 98% and the 98% that wonder about the 2%.

Interesting stuff.

 

[Omar81]

I enjoyed the series but it is something that does take some effort.

I am not sure what I think about the premise as a whole. If you believe Nora's story, there was no rhyme or reason to the departure. Just a bunch of people sent to a parallel world. You have the 2% that wonder what happened to the 98% and the 98% that wonder about the 2%.

Interesting stuff.

My wife and I started watching the show in season 1 with great anticipation. I found it off-putting from the start, but stuck with it through (I think) the remainder of that season, and never watched it again. My wife has soldiered on, primarily due to the fact that she already had "invested time" in it. My chief complaint (among many) about the show as a whole was similar to your conclusion about the departure -- there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. The Leftovers started from some a bizarre but intriguing premise, but from there had no coherent plot at all -- like the creators just made it up completely as they went along. Conversely, I believe the creators of other shows that were "supernatural mysteries" (Lost, Heroes, etc.) had the entire series and its conclusion planned in their heads, and each episode filled in (and, most importantly, revealed to viewers) the details as if we were among the main characters, discovering more as we went along. I would characterize the Leftovers as a huge swing and a miss, and am glad I cut my losses after season 1.

 

[NewEra 2014]

The Leftovers started from some a bizarre but intriguing premise, but from there had no coherent plot at all -- like the creators just made it up completely as they went along. Conversely, I believe the creators of other shows that were "supernatural mysteries" (Lost, Heroes, etc.) had the entire series and its conclusion planned in their heads, and each episode filled in (and, most importantly, revealed to viewers) the details as if we were among the main characters, discovering more as we went along. I would characterize the Leftovers as a huge swing and a miss, and am glad I cut my losses after season 1.

FWIW Omar, Season 2 and 3 of the Leftovers were significantly better than Season 1, IMO. There is no question that Season 1 was a tough watch, but the show improved greatly once they moved to Texas.

As far as your other comment, one of the creators of the Leftovers was also a creator of Lost. He indicated that the Leftovers was not designed to be a puzzle series that was to be solved (like Lost), but was designed to show how people deal with grief and loss in their lives. The creators never intended to solve the puzzle as to why the departure occurred. I went into the Leftovers knowing that premise, so that may be why I found it to be a better show than you did.

Finally, Lost was originally structured to be Purgatory, and in the first seasons people got off the island (died on the island) as they successfully got over a hurdle that plagued them in their mortal life. Then, the show got successful and they had to drag out the premise. Furthermore, people started to correctly guess at the premise, so the creators denied that the island was Purgatory. Once the show wrapped up, it ended up being a sort of Purgatory anyway, but not the one the creators originally intended.