Summary: Kevin remembers that he saw Evie and the other girls fake their departure. John discovers that the handprint is Kevin's. Kevin talks to John and John shoots him. Mary wakes up. Meg brings the trailer containing the girls onto the bridge to Miracle with a bomb threat. Erika and John see their daughter alive. No bomb goes off and a ton of GR members reveal themselves and enter Miracle along with the outsiders from the camp. Kevin is back in the hotel and sings Homeward Bound to leave. He returns home where his entire family is waiting for him.
The Good: This was a phenomenal finale, just like the first season's, and there were so many scenes to love here. The opening sequence was very strong and gave us some insight on exactly how Evie and the other girls left and what their mentality was. It also served to confirm to us that Evie has been a member o the GR for quite some time as she was communicating with her friends through writing. This also provided an answer for some of the odd shots from "Axis Mundi" where the girls ran naked and drove home in total silence. They were readying to leave their families for the GR. There were a ton of small character scenes that absolutely delivered in this episode too. Erika and John, Mary and Matt, Jill and Laurie and of course John and Kevin were all highlights and I will go in depth with the more interesting ones. Erika and John's relationship falls apart in this episode, which felt like a long time coming after we learned about Erika's conflict back in "Lens". It was emotional to finally see what Evie's gift was and it really fit spectacularly well with the story that she would give him the cricket which was such a major plot point for John back in "Axis Mundi". Erika telling John about his inability to let things go felt like a long time coming and John rebuffing Erika mirrored Kevin with Laurie back in "The Garveys at their Best". Mary waking up again was another great scene that pays off the build up in this season. It's a satisfying conclusion for Matt's arc as we get it confirmed that he wasn't imagining Mary waking up and that it actually happened. Their reunion was very poignant as expected and Christopher Eccleston does a great job of portraying an extremely likeable man to make us glad that things finally worked out for him. John and Kevin's scenes were also standouts. The first was great because it portrayed John as a broken man who just wants some answers and there was a great deal of tension building up to the conversation and even throughout the conversation. Kevin suggesting that Evie didn't love John was cold but after the episode, it seems like a very real possibility because of what we learn, and John is forced to deal with that truth throughout the episode. It makes their reunion in the medical room just as powerful as we get to see two broken people trying to keep their lives together interacting as actual friends and feeling sympathy for each other. The bridge scenes were also extremely powerful. It was dramatic to see Meg bring Evie and the girls onto the bridge and it was very emotional to see both John and then Erika see their daughter alive. The use of music and lack of dialogue only added to the emotion and overall effect of the scenes making them all the more painful. The fact that the bomb threat was a fake out was a pleasant surprise and also mirrored what Meg did in the school bus back in "Ten Thirteen". For Meg it's all about creating reminders by suggesting a dramatic explosion but there never seems to be an actual explosion. The final sequence with the GR members going over the bridge into Miracle was very strong and provided a very powerful sequence. Michael's speech in the church was incredible (see: Best Moment). There was so much emotion to that scene and it wonderfully bought in a seemingly filler story we heard several times before and turned it into a very important story and thematic point, delivering emotional impact and driving home the overall story of this whole season, that a place like Miracle is no safer from feelings of loss and pain than anywhere else. It was great to see a return to the hotel. It was smart to have this scene as it not only provided a spectacular karaoke scene, but it also confirmed some mysteries going into season 3. By seeing it again, we are confirmed that the afterlife is real and not a hallucination. Also, we get to see the man from the bridge again, who I believe is David Burton who was mentioned in the past. I may be wrong though and perhaps this man is some sort of god in the world as he seems to be self-aware of where he is unlike anyone else. But aside from the mystery elements, this return worked so well because it created a wonderful story for Kevin. It seems that upon arriving in the hotel everyone has to choose their occupation and we see a clear difference with Kevin choosing to be a cop which is what he truly is on the inside. It signifies that to go home he has to be himself and accept who he is instead of going grand and becoming an international assassin. The actual karaoke scene was incredible and very emotional as Kevin sings about how he desperately wants to go back to his family. It was definitely a highlight of the episode and was very close to being the best moment too. The story paid off wonderfully in the last scene as Kevin gets to see everyone important in his life all together and waiting for him. It was a wonderful happy ending just like in season 1. Speaking of the season 1 finale, this episode felt very similar to that. The overtaking of Miracle felt very similar to the destruction of Mapleton and we got even more scenes that were mirrored. The hopeful ending, Kevin's want to go back to his family and Kevin crying while doing something simplistic felt very familiar too. But this isn't bad. Why? Because somehow the show presented something very similar to what it was before and yet made it feel different and new and I thought this episode was actually more well done than last season's stellar finale. how intense was that scene where the GR sang the "Miracle" song in the Visitor's Centre to Kevin? I got chills. The Bad: Nora, Laurie and Tommy's storylines didn't feel like they properly paid off in the end. They had rather tame closing arcs that didn't really resolve anything about them. Sure Nora was desperate to keep her child and Tommy did ultimately help Nora and Laurie got to speak to Jill but it didn't feel like the spectacular closure we deserved. This is a forgivable flaw though as there was a lot of ground that needed to be covered with this episode. The Unknown: Only a few questions, this episode wrapped up a lot of loose ends. How long was Evie a GR member for before she left? Who is the man who Kevin keeps encountering in the afterlife? Did Michael and Erika end up going back to meet John in his house or has he alienated them now? Best Moment: Michael in the church was spectacular. His story highlighted the themes of this season so well and packed one hell of a punch. It was an easy way to show Evie's displeasure in her life and how John's inability to move on and to continue to ruin other people's lives has now destroyed his family. I suppose he and Kevin had a lot more in common than we thought as both of them ended up destroying their families. Character of the Episode: Tough choice once again as so many different characters shone in this episode. I'm going with John for impacting the story in a lot of ways, even when he wasn't actually in some of the scenes. His character arc ended up closing out in such an impressive and organized manner that it was impossible not to be satisfied. Conclusion: Season 2 concluded on a perfect note. This episode delivered what I had hoped for and then some, making it one of the most satisfying and easily enjoyable episodes of the show so far. Regarding the season as a whole, it was absolutely spectacular television that will be very hard to top. Like in season 1, emotion and feelings were the primary force of this season which is why I think it succeeds so well because emotion is the key to next level television. This season provided an emotional response with every single episode this season and quite literally every episode this season was a winner. It's telling that the lowest score I gave to an episode this season was a 68. This is must-watch television, and this season has cemented The Leftovers as an all-time great TV show. Score: 80
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Summary: Earlier in time, Meg visits Isaac in Miracle with hopes of learning what her mother wanted to tell her before she died. She meets Evie. Back in the present, Meg visits Tommy and scares him out of hugging people's pain away. Tommy and Laurie have a fight and Tommy runs to the GR to meet Meg again. Meg is planning to do something in Miracle and Tommy wants to help. He is taken to her camp and after some investigating he finds Evie and the other girls hidden away in GR clothes.
The Good: Leave it to The Leftovers to introduce a totally new story arc and danger just one episode away from the finale. And they did so in a very strong episode in a season that has been full of them. Meg takes the focus in this episode and we receive a ton of development an motivation for her. The opening scene as a whole lets us know everything we need to know about Meg. Her mother tells her that she is relentless and that when she has a goal she will see it done. That ties in to her current antics as she clearly has something violent and memorable planned for the people in Miracle. My theory is that she will blow up the bridge into Miracle, cutting off the town from the outside world but I could be wrong (see: The Unknown). Since we know Meg is ruthless, we know that she won't give up until the job is done and with that shocking reveal at the episode's end, we know that she has planned this for a while. How big was that ending scene? We got an answer for where Evie and the girls went and it was not what I think anyone was expecting. This sets us up for a heartbreaking reunion next episode and I'm very excited to see how the Murphy family reacts to this and whatever Evie is going to do for Meg's plan. Back to Meg for a bit, the story of her trying to get over the loss of her mom was classic The Leftovers. This show is still about loss at its heart and it was great to see some more of the show's signature grief without the show going into absolute misery. The psychic story felt very real and I love that Isaac said that her mom wanted to talk about walnuts, it really highlights the idea that you can't ever get proper closure after losing someone. Meg meeting Evie after was another great scene with Evie trying her best to awkwardly help Meg feel better. It was more excellent examination of loss. Tommy's scenes were enjoyable as well despite one problem (see: The Bad). It's clear that he's hurting from everything that happened to him and he doesn't want to help others anymore. His situation is relatable and it's understandable that Tommy would go to Meg with hopes of feeling better. But now it seems like Tommy may need to stop whatever Meg is planning for the next episode. The Bad: Like "The Garveys at their Best" in the last season, the penultimate episode departs from the main story to catch us up with other things. While that episode provided us some much needed character development, this didn't quite do the same so it may be a frustrating episode for some people. Especially since last episode we saw Kevin rise from the dead; it would have been nice to see the follow up from that. I wasn't a huge fan of the follow-up with Tommy and Meg. She raped him and that should have been a bigger deal than it was treated as. I am willing to overlook it somewhat because the focus of this episode was enjoyable, but I definitely think there should have been more scenes with Tommy and Meg addressing their situation. It felt strange to have all these romantic scenes instead of proper character scenes. The Unknown: What is Meg planning and why is she doing it? What does she want to accomplish? I suppose she wants to violently make the people o Miracle remember. What did Meg mean when she said she wanted to make Tommy pregnant? Best Moment: I loved the Meg and Matt scene. It was a great reunion and really hinted at what Meg is going to do and gave a sense of foreboding to the residents of Miracle. Now I'm wondering if Matt is going to have to do something to stop her. Aside from the foreboding, the scene also did highlight Matt's goodwill as he joyfully reunited with a former acquaintance. Character of the Episode: Meg for introducing herself as a big new threat in just a single episode. Conclusion: This was another really strong episode that included some big set up for the finale. This was a little bit short on emotional scenes compared to other episodes this season and it had one notable flaw, but I still think the storytelling was as brilliant as always. Score: 67 Summary: Kevin wakes up in the bathroom of a hotel, presumably in the afterlife. He meets Virgil who tells him where he is and that to leave he has to kill Patti. Virgil sets up Kevin to shoot Patti. Kevin does so but doesn't escape. He sees his dad on a TV, telling him to throw Patti into a well. He finds 0ut that a little girl is Patti and he takes her to a well in Jarden and throws her in, drowning her. Kevin leaves the afterlife and crawls out of the ground alive and well.
The Good: Wow this was one of the most unique and most genius episodes of television I have ever seen. This was so original and creative and will surely polarize everyone. This is truly something special. First of all, this was so unique and ambitious. This episode is basically Kevin as an assassin trying to assassinate Patti who is running for president. Who would have expected an episode focused on this after last episode's stunning ending? But it works so beautifully somehow and has an overall magical effect. It's hard to explain why but everything that happened in this episode just worked and worked so well. It accomplished some kind of "TV magic" that had me so interested and engaged throughout to the point where my eyes just couldn't leave the screen. I can't explain any more than that as to why this approach worked; just watch it for yourself and you will see why it all works. The main emotional point of this episode is something I can explain though. What we were treated to is a really good look at Patti as a sympathetic character. And this episode did a superb episode of turning Patti into someone we care about. Not only do we get a better understanding of her but also a better understanding of the GR. My take is that Patti and the GR were never strong or anything, they were just too afraid to move on. We learn in this episode that Patti was always scared and that she was always being hated and underappreciated to the point where she didn't enjoy life. And yet she was always too scared to pull the trigger and to move on to something new with a fresh start. it lets us, like Kevin, truly feel some pity and sympathy for Patti and we can get a little more understanding about her suicide. Kevin's scenes with her were highlights (see: Best Moment). Seeing little girl Patti blabbing to Kevin from the passenger seat mirrored ghost Patti doing the same in real life. And it had a completely different affect as instead of her being annoying, she ended up being really sympathetic. Justin Theroux and Ann Dowd really nailed these scenes as usual. This episode did a good job of providing mystery, tension and excitement. We are put into a totally new world and our reactions mirror Kevin's as we wonder just what the hell this world will contain. The mystery is amplified and we have absolutely no clue what to expect, which led to me being genuinely surprised and impressed with the amount of world building being put into this afterlife. But the overall feeling of not knowing what to expect is so rare in television and I really enjoyed being able to feel so intrigued and excited for an entire episode. The Kevin and Neil scene was really great. It helped start our feelings of sympathy for Patti and also gave us a greater understanding of this world and all but confirmed it as the afterlife. If we ever hear in the real world that Neil died after choking on food, that would pretty much confirm that this was real. The scene was also effective at creating somebody for Kevin to talk to since he has literally nobody he can speak to now that Virgil drank the water. It was also great to see so many familiar faces. I loved seeing Wayne and Gladys appearing as Patti's secretary, and there was a really great nod to Wayne's final scene with Kevin on the toilet. The Bad: Nothing as such. This episode was magical. The Unknown: So much of this review will be here. This episode opened the door to thinking about the supernatural and I will gladly do it. So much to digest here. I'll start with the question we are all asking: was this real? It's entirely possible there was no hotel and all of this is a hallucination, though Kevin crawling out of the ground and Virgil's presence in the other world despite Kevin not knowing he died does suggest it was real. But with Kevin Sr. introducing the concept of a drug called "God's Tongue", it does offer some doubt. Was this God's Tongue the thing that Virgil gave Kevin? Who was that man at the beginning that tried to kill Kevin? Why was the elevator gone? Was that Patti's way of trying to kill Kevin? Was her in the pool an attempt to make Kevin drink the water (more on that later)? How does the entire battle concept work anyways? Was Patti supposed to try to kill Kevin? Or was it only like that because Kevin picked the occupation of international assassin? How does the occupation thing work? Does everyone get to choose? Do the occupations represent possible paths for Kevin himself to take? He could have been what looked to be a priest, cop or assassin which could each represent parts of his personality. What did the flying bird signify? Why did it matter that Virgil killed it? How about the water? I presume that drinking the water makes you forget your memories from when you were human. But is that the full story? I also presume that Neil had his memories because he didn't drink water, only booze. There was a bit of interesting mystery in one of the earlier episodes, I believe "Off Ramp" regarding a man named David Burton who claimed he was resurrected after going into a cave. What's interesting is that he claimed to have been in a hotel. Even more interestingly, the pillar man, who Virgil said went through the same thing, sent a letter out to David Burton back in "Axis Mundi". Could this man become important in the story? Have we already met him as one of the people in this world? Perhaps the man on the bridge was him? Why is Mary in the afterlife world? Is it because of her catatonic state or does it confirm that she will never wake up again? What was with the fake Patti? Did she have any other significance, or was she just meant to be a metaphor? The metaphor being that the woman Patti acts like on the outside isn't who she really is, with who she really is being the little girl Kevin had to throw in the well. Speaking of the well, what was its significance? Did it serve as a conduit (or an Axis Mundi to add another connection in this show) from the afterlife to the real world? Was the cave that David Burton went to another conduit? How did Kevin Sr. make contact with Kevin in the afterlife? Is he dead too? Or did he actually take a drug in Australia that brings him to the afterlife? What has he actually been doing in Australia? Best Moment: It's so hard to pick between the many Kevin and Patti scenes. I'll pick the moment when Kevin had to throw Patti into the well. It was so sad, and Patti trying to help really added to the pain, and Kevin trying to push himself to do it was equally heart-wrenching. This scene was The Leftovers at its heartbreaking best. Character of the Episode: I will say Kevin for this episode just because of how great it was to experience this episode from his perspective the entire time. I will give a small nod to Patti as well, it was a toss up between these 2. Conclusion: What a truly stellar episode. It's so hard to score because of how different and unique this is. I could give this anywhere from a 65 to a 90 honestly because it's so different and just very difficult to score. I will go with my gut though and say this was the best episode of the show so far for being so bold and daring and then succeeding in every possible way to make a truly special hour of television unlike anything else out there. Score: 87 Summary: Nora runs away from Kevin and Jill is upset by this. Kevin is growing tired of Patti. He gets his handprint taken from John. Michael meets Kevin and takes him to Virgil who tells him that to get rid of Patti he needs to die, and then come back after. Kevin initially doesn't listen and leaves. He meets Laurie who tells him the entire thing is in his head. He calls Nora who says she will return if Kevin gets rid of Patti. Kevin goes back to Virgil and drinks poison and dies, but Virgil kills himself instead of resuscitating Kevin.
The Good: This was a huge episode that covered more ground than any before it. There was so much to like about this. The big talking point of course is the stunning final scene. Virgil killing himself was shocking and raises so many questions about what happens next and I genuinely don't know what to expect next episode which is a wonderful feeling. I doubt that Kevin is dead, but I'm honestly confused as to how he's going to get out of this alive. It's wonderful when a cliffhanger leaves you so excited and open-minded about the next episode. There is more on this in The Unknown. Virgil as a whole was excellent. He felt a little tropic at first as a magical black man in a cabin at the edge of town, but the show earned my respect by not only making fun of it, but also giving him a proper character arc and story for how he ended up the way he is. And of course his "magic" is pretty unbelievable but is honestly one of the least supernatural things on this show because there is a bit of logic there. But more on that in The Unknown, which I feel will be a very large section this time around. I was glad to get a Kevin-centric episode and we were treated to a great story of Kevin trying to repair his life without taking the nuclear option (Virgil), but ultimately everything that happened led him to that final scene where he drank the poison. And what a scene that was. It brought everything full circle with Kevin Sr. too and how his words affected Kevin and made him think about how to actually beat Patti. It was some nice continuity and gave some purpose to a scene that just seemed kind of there in "A Matter of Geography". There were many wonderful scenes along the way to this big end scene too. Both of Kevin's scenes with Laurie were absolute highlights. The first was good at giving us some insight as to what Laurie is feeling now that we know Tommy left her for unknown reasons. It also gave some emotion for Kevin who is hearing the first of his son in over a year and wanted to know more. The second scene did a great job of offering the possibility that Patti isn't real. The past few episodes have made it seem like she is actually there but now after this conversation we are less sure. Could Kevin really just be crazy like his father? It's one of the most wonderful themes about this show, how things that we think may be supernatural also have a perfectly normal explanation. And this is also furthered by confirming that Tommy never had any of Wayne's powers, it was all just a story and people believed it because they had nothing better to believe in. Not only does this confirm a big mystery that existed since "Off Ramp", but it also stuck with the shows themes and helped us believe in the possibility that Patti isn't real. The other scenes with Kevin were really good too. I always enjoy seeing Kevin snap at Patti who just can't stop bugging him and acting like she's on his side, and the scenes with Jill and Nora were also good, though I did have some reservations with the latter (see: The Bad). We also got a really tense scene where Kevin was forced into giving his handprint to John. If Kevin does come back to life, I fear he won't be treated very well upon his return due to the existing print. I enjoyed seeing the angry and upset Jill again. Why wouldn't she be hurt by her family falling apart for a second time? Though I did have some problems with her scene with Michael (see: The Bad), I did like the overall message and use of her character. The Bad: This could have been one of the show's very best episodes, but unfortunately I think the main emotional point of this episode missed horribly. And that was Nora leaving Kevin. It's easy to understand Kevin's emotions and distress when Nora leaves but the problem is that it makes no character sense for Nora to have left him. They have worked worse things out before so why is this the thing that drives her away? And then on their next phone call Nora says she wants to come back and acts like Kevin being crazy is literally preventing her from being with him. Why does she feel this way? It makes little sense and really hurts this episode a lot, preventing it from being the classic it should have been. Jill and Michael's break up had little emotion because we never really got to see them together so I couldn't care about them. The scene did well at showing Jill's anger, but it completely failed to make me care. The Unknown: A whole ton to put in here this time. Is Kevin actually dead? Did Virgil leave him for dead or is it part of the plan? Will Virgil come back to life too? Or did Virgil kill himself to atone for his sins? Did he kill Kevin because Kevin is a bad person? Or is he actually helping Kevin and Kevin will actually come back without the syringe? Did Kevin even drink poison or was it just some kind of hallucinogen that will make Kevin imagine that he "defeated" Patti? What does Michael know about this? He seemed pretty unsurprised upon entering the house. Is Patti real? We were led to believe that she is but that very well may not be the case? Is Kevin about to "do battle" with her for real, or will it just be all in his head? So much evidence points both ways, making this one of the most fascinating questions to ask. We should get an answer by next episode or at least by the end of the season. Can we trust what Patti said before? She lied about Virgil so does that mean she has lied about other things? Like perhaps the girls' disappearance? Perhaps Kevin did have something to do with it. What did Virgil do to John? Patti implied that he sexually abused him but Virgil never confirmed it. What happened between Laurie and Tommy? Where did Tommy go? Best Moment: The ending scene was shocking and provides a lot to speculate going forwards. It's always great to have a real hook to come in for the next episode. Conclusion: This was a really good episode, but one key flaw is preventing it from being great. But I do think this one slip up is forgivable as this has been a really superb season thus far and I'm sure the final episodes will still deliver. Score: 70 Summary: Nora lets out her frustrations by throwing a rock through the Murphys window. Nora meets an agent of the DSD who makes her believe that she is responsible for some of the departures. Erika is facing the same struggles and she comes to blows with Nora. Erika throws a rock into the Garvey household. Kevin tells Nora about Patti.
The Good: This was another really powerful episode. The Leftovers always excels when it has character focused episodes, and it does once more by giving the focus to Nora and Erika who are in a deep state of self-blame in this episode. Nora had a wonderful storyline as she faces off against multiple Departure agents who try to talk to her. Her insecurity is made obvious in the first scene when she snaps at the scientist, and that anger is shown throughout the episode while she talks to the doctor over the phone. And we are never told why she's angry, we are expected to figure it out ourselves. I love to see smart television like this that lets us figure things out ourselves. We are never told that Nora is blaming herself for the departure of her family and Evie, but her behaviour strongly implies it, letting us come to that conclusion. And then it becomes a fascinating episode to watch as we get to see Nora attempt to prove to herself that she wasn't responsible and that here in Miracle she is actually safe despite the evidence pointing to the contrary. It's great to see the lengths that Nora went to try to prove to herself that she is safe. She is most bothered by Erika who is dealing with Evie's departure in an eerily similar way. This leads to an amazing scene where Nora tries to tell Erika that she wasn't responsible for the departure but then her plan backfires horribly on her (see: Best Moment). Another thing that bothered her was the whole "lens" theory that she was introduced to which culminated in another amazing scene where Nora finally listens to what the doctor on the phone says. The scene makes us believe that she may be onto something before going into the absolutely ridiculous suggesting that Nora is being controlled by the demon Azrael. Nora's exhaustive laugh afterwards definitely helped communicate the emotions of the scene as well making it affecting and comedic. Erika was another highlight of this episode. We are treated to her story which at first feels a little similar to Nora's, including a scene where she lets her frustrations out on Jerry, but it doesn't take away from the emotions of the scene. But even though it's familiar, that is the purpose as Erika is supposed to feel familiar to Nora in how she is dealing with her loss. Both are self-destructing due to the pressure of blaming themselves for the departure. But Erika got to really shine in her own story once she talked to Nora. Her reveal about the bird in the box and how she wished that Evie would be okay after she left the day she departed was really powerful and depressing stuff, making for the fantastic television this show is becoming known for. It was good to see her return the favour to Nora by throwing a rock through her window. It seems that the 2 of them are enemies now. It was good to get some progression with Kevin's storyline too, though I didn't like all of it (see: The Bad). I was happy to see him decide to tell Nora about Patti and I'm very excited to see where it leads to. Surprisingly, this episode contained a ton of answers for once. We learned everything that we didn't know about Erika and we also got tons of information about mysterious people in Miracle, like Jerry, Virgil and the woman in the wedding dress (I didn't catch her name). The Bad: I thought the final Kevin seen was poorly written. By Kevin saying "I'm seeing someone" he made it sound like he was having an affair and I thought that Nora would think that too but apparently she realized that Kevin was hallucinating someone and I was wrong. The confusing nature of this scene took away a lot of the emotion and I didn't feel as much as I should have. This scene was vastly overshadowed by the Nora/Erika scene preceding it. The Unknown: A few questions. Is Nora actually a lens and does that theory have anything to it? I doubt that this will be answered. Virgil sent the pie so we got that answer but why? Was it really because he knew they were in pain, and if so, how? Or is it just him trying to reconcile with the Murphys? What did Virgil do that turned him away from the Murphys? Was that why John shot him? I would assume that shooting Virgil was what put John in prison. What happened between Laurie and Tommy that scared Tommy away? I presume that we will see this in a later episode. Best Moment: The conversation between Nora and Erika was fantastic. Regina King and Carrie Coon really delivered in this episode and absolutely provided the necessary emotion for this conversation. I love how the camera was fixated on the 2 of them assuring that our immersion would be with what they are saying too each other and nothing else. Character of the Episode: It's tough between Erika and Nora, but I think I choose Nora because her story was gripping all the way through and Erika's wasn't until that wonderful conversation. Conclusion: This episode was spectacular just like all of the other character-focused episodes but unfortunately there was one poor scene that hurt the score overall. Other than that, this was more of the usual excellence from The Leftovers. Score: 74 Summary: Matt lives every day similar to the first day he arrived in Miracle with hopes that it will cause Mary to wake up again. Matt leaves town to see a doctor for Mary and learns that she is pregnant and he realizes he needs to be in Miracle for the child to survive. Matt's wristbands are taken by a man and he is trapped outside of Miracle. Nora eventually comes to get him but Matt only lets her take Mary inside and he stays outside of the town.
The Good: We get another Matt-centric episode and much like the previous one this delivered in spades. The Leftovers always seems to bring its A-game with Matt episodes and they did it again. The opening sequence was truly wonderful. It showed the same thing over and over again to make us realize what Matt does every day, and then we quickly realize why Matt is doing this: he wants his wife to wake up again by doing similar things. It's sad stuff and culminates in a tremendous and emotional speech from Matt who just begs Mary to wake up and come back to him. Much like "Two Boats and a Helicopter" Matt is instantly likeable and we want to see him get what he is working so hard for. One of the things that makes this episode so powerful, just like "Two Boats and a Helicopter" is the usage of the viewers' sympathy. We feel for Matt's struggle and we want him to succeed because these episodes really show how great a person Matt is. He has all these terrible things happen to him and yet he retains his faith and good-nature which earns him our sympathy, making us root for him to succeed in his mission. And thankfully he succeeds this time and Mary is now safe in Miracle even if he isn't. Mary's pregnancy was an excellent twist that helped reinforce Matt's fate and led into a spectacular conflict between Matt and John. John, like any regular person, would suspect that Matt was fooling around with Mary in her catatonic state since he was hiding the pregnancy papers but of course we know Matt and we know he wouldn't do something like that. However John doesn't know this and we learned in the previous episode that he doesn't believe in miracles so it makes perfect sense that he would oppose Matt's claims. Their 2 confrontations were superb and delivered powerful scenes in the way that only this show can do. I loved this episode's focus on those outside of Miracle in the camp. It emphasized how terrible of a place that is and how these people badly just want to enter the city and have turned into truly cruel, strange and creepy human beings in their desperation. I'm sure these people will come into play later on at some point and this was a fitting introduction for them. Another great bit of writing was the man who stole Matt's wristband. Obviously we wouldn't like him for taking advantage of a good person for his own gains, but that storyline came to an unexpected and brutally sad closure as the man died in a car accident and left his son orphaned. It was a sad image to see the boy hand over his wristband to Matt, and gave the storyline some very emotional closure. The ending sequence was very good too. The way I'm interpreting it is that Matt has to pay for his sins, in the possibility that he did impregnate Mary while she was in a coma and so he will pay the price until he can prove it to the world that he is innocent. The music that was being played also really delivered as Matt put himself into the stocks completely naked and ready to - as the stocks said- repent. This episode was also a little bit lighthearted at all of the right times. Things like Matt dropping his phone in the toilet, Matt and Mary getting swept away in the sewage pipe and more delivered some well timed laughs and provided some moments of levity to make this episode easier to watch for those who were bothered by this show's very depressing themes. It's good to see The Leftovers trying to embrace a new aspect with good success to make the show have a greater appeal. The Bad: This episode feels very familiar to "Two Boats and a Helicopter" because both episodes show Matt struggling through desperate measures to accomplish something with things going wrong at every turn and his own good will screwing him over. It still works as a story but it doesn't let the episode rise to the same heights that "Two Boats" reached. But that doesn't change the fact that this was an awesome episode. The Unknown: A few things this time. Did Mary actually wake up like Matt said or did he perhaps hallucinate her? We saw him hallucinate Mary waking up once in this episode so is it possible that it happened before? That would be the only way it could make sense if Mary didn't wake up because we know Matt is a good person that wouldn't have sex with his wife while she is in a coma. How did the Visitor's Centre man know to tell Matt to get Mary inside or his child would die? It seems something supernatural is at play unless Matt imagined that as well. What's the story of the man that Matt had to hit with the oar? It was very strange that Matt had to hit him and scream "Brian!" with so many people watching. What was that man's story? This question doesn't need to be answered though as it could easily work as just a way for us to understand how messed up the people outside of Miracle are. Best Moment: Tough to choose, there were many good scenes. I'll pick Matt and John's first conversation. Really tense and emotional stuff and both characters behaved realistically. Character of the Episode: Matt of course. f there is a Matt-centric episode on this show, how can it not be Matt? Conclusion: Another stellar episode this season, with this one being the best episode of the season for sure. Matt's story captivated once more and delivered another memorable hour. This show is on fire and I can't wait to see what other emotional stories will be told in the next half of this season. Score: 77 Summary: Nora wakes up without Kevin and panics but is relieved when he returns. The next morning, Nora and Kevin go to help search for Evie. Kevin tells Nor about where he woke up at night. John and Kevin go for a drive and John attacks Isaac, suspecting that he did something to Evie. Kevin stops anyone from killing each other but John is shot and has to be operated on by Erika. Kevin is stuck dealing with the imaginary Patti who tells him that he tried to kill himself last night. She also reveals that the missing girls vanished.
The Good: This was a faster paced episode and was more exciting than usual while still containing several emotional and powerful scenes. The Leftovers continues its hot streak in the second season. After 3 episodes we finally get to see the fallout from Evie's disappearance and it does satisfy. As expected there is instantly a manhunt to look for the girls. Kevin does manage to escape the scene but he did leave some evidence so it's clear that there will soon be a conflict between Kevin and the Murphys which should be very interesting. It was great to see a tense sequence in this show when Kevin was at the search site. we never knew when someone may turn against him or if some evidence would be found to incriminate him. We were then treated to an even more tense scene where Kevin rode in a car with John and we didn't know what was going to happen. It was an excellent example of tension as we were left at the edge of our seat because we didn't know what John knew and if he was going to kill or torture Kevin or something along those lines. I also heavily enjoyed the opening sequence and Nora's story in this episode. She came to Miracle to feel safe, that was established back in "A Matter of Geography" and yet after the first night she ended up having to face the possibility of another Departure, which was a concept introduced to her right before leaving Mapleton. Her panic is wonderfully done and Carrie Coon was sublime as always. It also led to a great episode story as we see Nora come face to face with her fears that Miracle is no different from the outer world; a theme that was examined prominently in John's story as well. Speaking of John's story, it was a highlight in this episode. We get to see his grief take control of him as he violently goes after Isaac with a wonderful story continuation from "Axis Mundi". It fits what we know of John's character to be so impulsive but he remains sympathetic due to having lost his daughter. This show does a very good job of making all the main characters sympathetic in some way. Other than those main stories, we also have Kevin's story but I will explain what I enjoyed in detail later (see: Best Moment). Kevin's story was wonderfully interwoven with all the others and as such it featured several prominent emotional moments with characters. And those were present outside of the Kevin story too. The best scenes for sure were Nora/Jill, Kevin/Patti, Kevin/John, Kevin/Erika, John/Erika and Nora/Matt. All of these scenes had emotional resonance to them which made them really stand out. The Bad: Nothing was actually bad. The Jill and Michael story left a lot to be desired but I wouldn't call it bad and it could very well become more interesting later on. The Unknown: There were a fair amount of questions from this episode. Did the girls actually vanish as Patti said? Can we trust what Patti says? Is Patti actually real? How else does she remember what Kevin saw? Unless she is Kevin's inner self for his blackouts. Who is Virgil? What does he mean about Nora's loss? He said he could help Kevin before so does he try to help Kevin directly or just anyone? Is he even sane? Why did Kevin try to kill himself? Is he actually that unhappy? How will Isaac play into the rest of the story? Did he have something to do with Evie's disappearance? Did Mary actually wake up or did Matt imagine it? Could the pillar man see Patti at the end of the episode? Does that mean she is real? Best Moment: The Kevin story built up so nicely to that end scene with Patti. Patti's presence delivered throughout the episode and kept pushing Kevin to a breaking point where he finally started to talk to her a little about the suicide attempt which hung over the episode almost like the elephant in the room. Kevin clearly wanted to pretend like it never happened but he's forced to face it at the end. Justin Theroux acted superbly and delivered a very powerful "I don't want to kill myself" at the end of the episode and Ann Dowd delivered a great performance in pressuring Kevin. The scene came together so well. Character of the Episode: Kevin for his wonderful storyline that culminated in a great scene. Conclusion: This was another powerful episode that delivered on my expectations for sure. This season hasn't hit the high points of last season so far but it has been much more consistent and every episode has been a winner. This episode was more of the same enjoyment and I look forward to seeing more from this season. Score: 71 Summary: Laurie and Tommy have created a sort of cult to free people of the GR and let them return to their lives. Tommy has infiltrated the GR to do this. Laurie is writing a book about what happened to her to try and get some money. Tommy is discovered by the GR and is taken away and raped by Meg who threatens him. Laurie's book fails after she attacks Peter, a potential publisher. Tommy ultimately tells his cult that he is the next Holy Wayne and can take peoples pain away.
The Good: This was really good and I enjoyed most of it. Tommy and Laurie's new cult was a logical step for them to take having both just escaped from their own cults. It made sense for Laurie to use her therapist skills to try to free the people of the GR so they can move on with their lives like she did. It's a good thing that she's doing which makes us support her and want for her to. Engaging with and supporting characters can be the key between good and great television, as evidenced by the riveting success of "Two Boats and a Helicopter" so it's nice to see the writers are still focused on keeping the characters gripping. Laurie's arc in this episode was also really well done. She kept trying to do things the right way, but the stress of her situation forced her hand and we slowly see her getting more angry with every scene she's in. It starts with the robbery of her laptop and culminates with her attacking Peter for making her face her feelings again. It's sad and a mini tragedy of sorts to see Laurie fall so far, and in the end she has to rely on Tommy to keep her organization together. A highlight scene of the Laurie arc was her scene with Peter when she attacks him. She had just received news about Susan's accident a moment before so she was obviously under some stress already but then when Peter tried to get her to face her emotions again she snapped. When watching the scene, you can see Laurie get more and more annoyed when Peter keeps suggesting things that clearly missed the point she was trying to make in the book, but when Laurie was placed back into the tragedy she witnessed last season it was clearly too much for her to handle. This scene also led to a nice scene between Laurie and Tommy where Laurie cries out in his arms. I also really enjoyed this episode's story about Susan who joined the GR. It proves a point that people's pain is often caused by many things and it can't be dealt with in as simple of a way as Laurie was trying. As Tommy said at the end of the episode, they have to give something back to fill in the holes that are in these people. Susan's story was a hash way of getting Laurie to realize this as we see Susan get taken out of the GR and back to her family. But her problems and pains persist and she is only able to get rid of them by killing herself along with her family. It's a really sad scene that serves as a wake up call not only to Laurie but to us as well. Lastly, Holy Tommy was a wonderful development. It's unclear if Tommy is saying the truth or not (see: The Unknown), but that only adds to the wonder of this scene. What is made clear is that it doesn't matter if Tommy is telling the truth or not, but people believe him and this can be a big change for Laurie's cult. I'm glad that the Holy Wayne storyline has now paid off in a big way since I thought it was the weakest storyline in the previous season. But now it seems we can really connect to Tommy this season if he's lying or not as we can understand how he feels about what he's doing. The Bad: Two episodes later and there is still no continuation of the cliffhanger at the end of "Axis Mundi". Sure, this episode was definitely outstanding and was a worthy episode to hold off the cliffhanger's resolution, but it's still frustrating to wait so long to see what happens next. I wasn't a fan of Laurie's robbery. It seemed way too easy and it was ridiculous that it was shown in such a flippant manner without any consequences to it at all. I didn't like that there was a very limited follow up to Tommy's rape. That scene should have been treated like a bigger deal than it was but instead we only get one scene of Tommy being angry. The Unknown: Not as many questions in this episode, but we had 2 really big ones. I will start with Meg. There was so much intrigue in that storyline that I was tempted to put it in the good, but there are too many mysteries for me to put it there. And of course I wasn't a fan of the rape. What has Meg been up to since season 1? Has she been promoted in the GR? She does seem to have much more control than she did before. Why did she rape Tommy? Will she oppose Laurie directly? Does Tommy really have Holy Wayne's powers? Does Laurie believe he has these powers? Or is this all just a hoax for Laurie and Tommy to give the former GR members something to replace what they have taken away? Either way it works, which is the great thing about this show. Every answer you can come up with satisfies from a storytelling perspective. Best Moment: Tommy's speech at the end of the episode was excellent. It gave us a reason to finally care for his character and also gave us a very interesting mystery to think about for the future episodes. Character of the Episode: Laurie for having to go through so much before finally having some success. Conclusion: This was a very strong episode, though it did have a few flaws. But outside of the flaws, the quality was damn good which earns this episode a fairly high score. Score: 72 Summary: In Mapleton, Kevin and Nora officially start a family and adopt their baby. Kevin decides to leave Mapleton and the family moves to a rental in Miracle. However the rental burns down and Nora is forced to buy a house for $3 million. Kevin isn't happy with the new house but he decides to try to make it work for Nora. Kevin goes to sleep and suddenly wakes up in the spring where Evie disappeared with a cinderblock tied to his leg.
The Good: This was the kind of episode that I expected in the premier. That's not to say the premier was bad, but this is more like what I was expecting which is good. I liked the change shown in Kevin and Nora's relationship as it shows that they are both really trying to make things work. The scene early on where Kevin and Nora tell each other their deepest secrets was really good and made sense considering the state of their relationship. It gets them started on the right boat and shows us that they want to prevent anything from getting in the way of their relationship. Jill's presence was good too as it helped show that she is starting to get back to how she was before. More on that later though. I really loved the contrast between Kevin and Nora's relationship and Kevin and Laurie's. Kevin faces predicaments similar to ones we have already seen him face back in season 1 and he is very different in his response to Nora and he is catching himself because he so desperately wants everything to work out. Kevin having to go somewhere earlier than he thought mirrors the scene in "Pilot" when Kevin has to go to the meeting and then Nora buying the house mirrors Laurie wanting the dog from "The Garveys at their Best". This is a very effective way of showing the change in Kevin's mindset and how different this relationship is from what came before. But it also shows that Kevin is usually a worse guy than this, and if the real him comes out then the relationship may be over. I loved that the events of last season still loom over Kevin in this episode. Watching Patti kill herself was pretty traumatic for him and I'm glad to see that he's not going to be freed of that guilt any time soon. The choice to have Patti appear to him in a hallucination was wonderful as it draws on Kevin's possible craziness which he showed in season 1 and it also serves as an effective reminder for the past Kevin can't leave behind. Looks like Patti is still doing her job as a member of the GR. I also really liked that Kevin had to dig up Patti and tried to face some penance for what he did. Kevin says he doesn't want to blow his life up, but is that really true? Kevin may have imagined Patti in his life because he didn't face proper justice for what he did. And perhaps him waking up in the spring (see: The Unknown) was after he tried to kill himself in an attempt to face up to killing Patti. The best part of this episode (see: Best Moment) was Jill speaking with Tommy at the diner. It was a short and easy way for us to touch base with Tommy and Laurie since they weren't the focus of this episode and it let us know that they are doing something together now. It was great to see that Tommy and Jill still had a good amount of love and affection for each other as siblings despite what went down and it was nice to see them meeting together. Furthermore this scene gave us a subtle and very satisfying conclusion to Jill's season 1 arc as she finally tells Tommy that she is okay. Now it seems her main storyline will involve her broken relationship with her mother. Kevin and Nora officially adopting Lily was a nice scene and opened up this episode with a lot of hope, something that's pretty rare on The Leftovers. The Bad: I wasn't happy with Nora buying the house with all of her money. It didn't feel very realistic and it felt like the writers were just trying too hard to make us understand that Nora really wants Miracle to work for her. It's a little annoying to get no follow up to last episode's cliffhanger. This reminds me of episodes of Lost where they have a cliffhanger but then spend another episode without progressing through the cliffhanger because we need to see other characters' perspective. I didn't like it on Lost and I don't like it now. The Unknown: Lots of questions again, but not as many as last episode. What research has the government done on the Sudden Departure and what do they know about it? Is it possible that the Sudden Departure could happen again? Did we just witness it happen again with Evie? Is Patti real? We still don't know if Kevin Sr.'s voices are genuine. It does seem more likely that she's an imagination of Kevin's though. How did Kevin Sr. get released? Why is he going to Australia? Why do so many people live outside of Miracle? Are they trying to get inside? Who is that man that Kevin encountered at the visitors centre? What did he mean with what he said? Does he say that to everybody? Why is the house so broke a destroyed? Did John evict somebody from that house too? Did Kevin try to kill himself at the end of the episode? Did he cause the water to disappear and also cause whatever happened to Evie? What happened to all of the other characters in Mapleton like Lucy, Aimee and Dean? What are Laurie and Tommy up to? Best Moment: The Jill scene was excellent and did a good job of closing out on storyline and opening up another. I hope we get to catch up with Tommy and Laurie soon. Character of the Episode: Kevin for trying to make things work in his new family. Conclusion: This was another solid and enjoyable episode. There wasn't as much mystery as the previous episode but this did provide some effective catch up with what our main characters have been up to and the problems they are experiencing. Score: 68 Summary: The Murphy family lives in Miracle, Texas a place where the entire population of a town was spared from the Sudden Departure. Kevin, Nora and Jill move in next door to the Murphys. The daughter of the Murphy family Evie, mysteriously vanishes when going for a swim along with several friends.
The Good: This was a very good premier that set up the season very nicely. First of all, this episode was very ambitious and set up the season in a bold and unpredictable way. By sticking with a family who we are not acquainted with at all we get to see the show with fresh eyes and open up the season with a total blank slate, instead of treating it as a continuation of season 1's story. This is unique and very risky and yet it somehow works and makes this episode a very fun experience. It introduces a new setting and batch of characters in an almost flawless way. The opening scene was another example of this risky and bold approach. The focus goes to a very random cave woman from many years ago. It sets up the story well and asks several questions about the significance of the scene (see: The Unknown), as well as providing a wonderful short story that contains a similar theme to the one being examined in The Leftovers as a whole. The cavewoman lost everything important to her in an unexplained tragedy (the earthquake) and is forced to continue on with her grief, but even with new life (her child) she can't leave her past behind (the cave). It's an excellent example of symbolism, and it works to open up this season by reminding us of the overall theme and tone of the show. One of the best things this episode does is that it makes you care for 4 new characters and a family as a whole in the span of a single episode. It's really impressively done and also shows that the writers learned from showing "The Garveys at their Best" so late in the first season. Now we are set up to watch this family in suffering after the surprise ending and we will care because we understand how each member of the family functions and what their relationships are with each other. Of all the characters we saw, John stood out the most. Each character's storyline raised plenty of questions, but John's story did have some emotion and tension. His confrontation with Isaac did have some emotion since it's hard to see a man get evicted out of his house. And Isaac's prediction that something bad will happen did loom over the episode and provided a really tense moment when John was reaching into the garbage disposal. And of course everything came full circle at the end of the episode when it seemed like Evie just vanished into thin air along with her friends and the town's springwater. I also really liked the comedy with Mark Linn-Baker faking his departure and being discovered. Of course there would be at least somebody who would fake their departure. I really like the new intro. It has less of a serious vibe but still has a bit of a sad and eerie take to it with the shadow figures representing those who departed. The song of "Let the Mystery be" was an excellent choice as it reinforced that we won't get a concrete answer and that we just have to let it be. The Bad: As much as I liked this episode for being very bold, it still does kind of suck to hardly see any familiar faces. At least we did get to see Kevin's family a little bit and the appearance from Matt was also very welcome. The Unknown: What was the significance of the cavewoman in the first scene? Did she in some way make Miracle the special place it appears to be? Is Miracle even special or just lucky? What does the cricket symbolize? Does it have any significance in the story? What were those cracks in the road that were blocked off? Was it caused by another earthquake? Who was the woman with the wedding dress? Why is she wearing it? Who was the man on the pillar and why is he there? What was the significance of the letter to David Burton in Australia? Is Isaac a genuine psychic because he predicted something bad would happen? Or is he a fake like John thinks? It seems like Isaac has become the new Holy Wayne. Why does John make it his job to expose frauds? Who did John attempt to kill? John says the Murphys have no friends, is that true? John's work may have alienated the town. What was the significance of the bird in the box that Erika dug up? Why was Matt in Miracle? He seemed to imply that something magical happened to him? What was it? Who was the man who killed the goat and why did he kill the goat? Why was nobody bothered by it? Who was the man Michael went to visit on the outskirts of town? Who gave John the pie? Why did the Garveys move to Miracle? A fresh start? Where are Laurie and Tommy? What was Kevin's head wound? what happened? Why did he stare at the couch? Is he still a little crazy? Did Evie's seizures have any significance? How about her and her friends streaking in the forest? Where did she and her friends go? Were they in the water and it made them vanish somewhere? Did they depart? Will there be more of these departures? Why is the water gone? Was it something supernatural or did the earthquake cause it? Best Moment: Michael biking through Miracle was an excellent moment. It set up the new setting in a brilliant way and some expertly ordered shots, we got to understand the significance of the location and what was so special about it. Character of the Episode: John for standing out the most out of all the new family members. Conclusion: This was a unique and bold premier but it worked and set up the season very well. I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes and I hope it can hit the emotion highs of next season. Some answers would be very nice as well. Score: 67 Summary: Tommy is left with Christine's baby when she abandons him. Kevin calls Matt and they bury Patti before returning to Mapleton. On the way, Kevin finds a dying Wayne in the bathroom of a diner and Wayne grants him a wish before he dies. The GR place Loved Ones dolls of the departed all over the town and the townspeople destroy Mapleton in an attempt to get back at them. Kevin saves Jill from a burning house that the townspeople lit on fire. Tommy brings the baby to Kevin's house where Nora finds it.
The Good: This season has had ups and downs but the last episode delivered big-time and my interest for the show has never been bigger going into season 2. Part of what made this episode work so damn well was the fact that there were a tremendous amount of emotional scenes. Every couple minutes it seemed there was another scene that really affected me and hit me hard and that made this episode top-tier television. Where to begin with all the scenes? I'll start with the Tommy storyline since it wrapped up surprisingly quickly. It was a surprise to see Christine just abandon Tommy and leave him with the baby, but that also did make Tommy's predicament easy to relate to. I bought Tommy's final decision to bring the baby to Kevin's house as well. It fit because Tommy is bringing the child to a man who Tommy knows will raise a kid even if the kid isn't his own. Kevin did it to Tommy so he can do it for another child. It's good storytelling and brings Tommy's relationship with Kevin to a nice bit of closure this season. Next is the Nora storyline which was incredible. Carrie Coon's acting was amazing as always and she really captivated once again as Nora. The scene where Nora walked into the dining room and saw the dolls of her family sitting right where they departed was utterly heartbreaking and the acting only made it that much better. The scene had no sound and yet Nora's devastation reached us through Carrie Coon's spectacular acting. This was really shockingly sad stuff. Then we go to the closing moments of the episode where Nora is writing what I presumed to be a suicide note. It is really powerful television and with the image of Nora sitting with her family before tucking in her children to accompany it, it's one of the most depressing scenes in this episode. But thankfully, there is no suicide and the episode ends on a surprising, but very welcome moment of hope once Nora picks up the baby. I couldn't think of a better way to close out the season. Now onto the main Kevin storyline, and wow was it impressive. Justin Theroux delivered a next level performance in this episode and really made all of Kevin's scenes hit home. He has breathed life into this character in a brilliant way. Now as for the actual story, it was excellent from the get go. Including Matt in the story was smart as it let Kevin just release all of his emotions. It started with a lovely scene of Kevin reading Job 23 out of the Bible before they buried Patti. It was a remarkably touching scene that was acted to perfection which made the moment a lot more poignant than I would have expected. And yet that moment was one-upped just a few scenes later after Kevin's spectacular speech to Matt in the diner. This scene finally showed to us what Kevin took from Patti's suicide back in "Cairo" which cleared up one of the more confusing elements of that episode. But more importantly, the scene let Kevin release what he has been holding in ever since the first episode of this show. This was the catharsis of Kevin's character arc as he comes to terms with everything that's happened to him since the Sudden Departure and how he has caused his family to fracture. It's powerful and affecting television at its finest as we see Kevin come clean to Matt about everything that has been bothering him and it makes for wonderful television. Next is the Wayne stuff which was also great. It was surprising to see the character die already as there was still a lot of mystery around him but we were given one heck of a death scene that closed out Wayne's story in a brilliantly vague fashion. To me there are 2 different stories possible for his character, depending on if he's real or a fraud. If he's real then the story is one about a man who had legitimate powers but nobody believed him or gave him anything for it and he was left so alone that he started to believe himself to be a fraud and wanted to grant Kevin's wish to try to see if he was actually real. On the other hand it could also be the story of a man so disillusioned that he convinced himself he was magical and it was only when he faced death that he started to realize he had no powers, but he refused to believe it an ultimately tried to convince himself he was real by "granting" Kevin's wish. The fascinating thing is that we may never have a concrete answer abut Wayne since he's now dead and we will just have to find our own answer. Now finally we are onto the big climax of the episode in Mapleton. The scenes of chaos in Mapleton were stunning to watch as we were just as disoriented as Kevin while moving through the town, watching all of the uncontrollable destruction. It's tough to watch all the carnage and it's all eerily explained through Meg's brilliant "we made them remember". I was very happy to see a callback to "Pilot" with Lucy telling Kevin he was right about the people wanting to explode instead of moving on. It adds some more emotion to the scene with the town being in an uncontrollable rage and all the officials being unable to help or stop it in any way. The scene where Kevin rescues Jill was also tremendous. It was brilliantly shot and I love the decision to remove the sound as we knew that all we would hear is Kevin shouting "Jill!" anyways. By amplifying the music it increased the immersion with the scene and also the emotion. A really superb sequence. And yet the stuff before and after the sequence was awesome as well. Laurie's first word in a year was tremendous as we understood how bad she would feel for being unable to protect Jill when she needed her. And with Kevin ultimately saving Jill and taking her away, it may be the perfect moment for Laurie to re-evaluate her life and save herself. Though, as Kevin makes clear with his look towards Laurie, returning to the family will not be possible and it seems Laurie will have to find solace in Tommy to move on with her life. I was also really happy to here "Nothing Else Matters" played in this episode. The Bad: There were a few small things that made this episode miss out on a really high score however. It was very unclear how Wayne made it into the diner. It was explained on the radio that Wayne had just escaped a shootout with ATFEC agents, but I think that is a major detail that should have been incorporated better. I also don't see how Wayne could have made it into the bathroom without anyone noticing, which is pretty flawed. This episode was even more depressing than any before despite the hopeful ending. There's a fine line between depressing television and powerful television and this episode toed the line a few times too many for my liking, which took away from my enjoyment. The Unknown: A few questions from this finale. Where do the characters go now? Who do they go to and how do they get on with their lives? Does Wayne's baby have any powers due to being related to Wayne? Will they come into play next season? Will Wayne even play a role in later seasons? What was Kevin's wish and did it come true? I believe his wish was to rebuild his family because he had just finished talking about the state of his family a minute earlier. Will Tommy stay in Mapleton or will he leave? Will he stay with any other members of his family? Best Moment: So many to choose from. I will go with Kevin's confession in the end. Honestly it's such a hard decision with this episode. Too many scenes were fantastic. Character of the Episode: Kevin for finally baring his soul to Matt. Conclusion: This was outstanding. There was plenty of emotion and The Leftovers couldn't have ended the season on a stronger note. I am more than excited for the next season. Regarding the season as a whole, I think it had its ups and downs but it was overall very good. Definitely above average television and when the season was at its high points, it was must-watch. Really powerful season and I have faith that season 2 will fearlessly explore these dark themes in ways that are just as compelling. Score: 78 Summary: Three years ago, on the day before the Departure the Garvey family is still together and happy. Kevin and Laurie begin to have issues. Kevin cheats on Laurie. Laurie is pregnant with a baby she isn't sure she wants to keep. Jill and Tommy are very close and having a great time at a science fair. Nora is struggling at trying to get a new job while also taking care of her family. The departure occurs and everyone's happiness is gone.
The Good: I have waited this whole season for an episode to make me care about all of these characters and the tragedy they are going through. And just when I think it isn't coming, I watched this episode, and holy hell did this episode satisfy my hopes. I care for the characters and their relationships and I am far more excited for the show now than I ever was before. This is how to do a flashback episode. I was very happy that the show was smart enough to show us the Garvey family together and happy. It made me care more about wanting to see them reunite in the future. More than that though, it made me care about each individual member of the family by seeing them so happy in the past; now I want nothing more than to see these characters find happiness again, and with this show being what it is I'm not sure if it will happen but I sure as hell will hope. Another touch about the Garvey family that I liked was that they were shown on the verge of falling apart with Kevin and Laurie's relationship starting to fracture. By showing us this, it makes it much more believable that the family would end up as broken as they are; they were hardly holding it together and the Sudden Departure was ultimately the driving force that split them apart. I loved that there were some continuation of a plot thread from "Pilot" with the appearance of the deer. Back then I thought the deer was a confusing piece of symbolism, but now that I've seen more of the show I can understand what it represents: it represents Kevin. Kevin saving the deer symbolizes him choosing to save himself instead of others because he is trapped and confused, just like the deer. It's really superb use of symbolism that helps put us more into Kevin's head to understand that he's not happy with his life. We also got some very important backstory on Laurie and a credible reason for her to join the GR. We see her relationships with Tommy and Jill which are very warm and loving and it makes us wonder why she would leave and join the GR. But then she has the fight scene with Kevin that would definitely hurt her, and then later that day she would watch her unborn child vanish from inside her. That tragedy makes her pain and her decision to leave her family more sensible and heartbreaking. It brings Laurie into a more sympathetic light for the viewers. The Departure was used expertly in this episode. They told us the date early on and we realized the Sudden Departure would be coming eventually and that gave a layer of tension and suspense to the episode. It was one of the best uses of dramatic irony that I have ever seen. We see the happiness in the characters, something we don't see very often at all in this show, and we don't want it to end.. But it has to end, and it did in a beautifully constructed sequence showcasing the Sudden Departure (see: Best Moment). It was great to see some appearances from Patti, Kevin Sr., Gladys and Mary before their lives were changed. The Bad: I won't call anything in this episode bad. Though I do question why it took so long to show this episode. Surely it would have been better to show this earlier to make us care for the characters more throughout the last few episodes. The Unknown: For once we got an episode filled with answers instead of questions! Though there are still a few things. When Kevin was sitting outside and smoking, who as the person who asked if he was ready? What was she talking about? Also what was with the manhole explosion? Best Moment: The moment of the Sudden Departure was spectacular. It was so beautifully shot and the use of music made it feel so emotional even though we knew what was coming. It hurt to see Nora look back at the table and see her family gone and it hurt even more to see the look on Laurie's face that confirmed our fears about what was going to happen to her baby. This was a stunningly good sequence that is one of the most affecting scenes on this show thus far. And on top of that it showed some strong messages. Jill and Tommy's is "even the best moments won't last forever", Kevin's is "a temporary pleasure won't help with your struggles" and both Laurie and Nora's is "don't take anything for granted". This scene had everything you could hope for from a scene in television and is a real master class of filmography. Character of the Episode: Laurie for finally revealing some possible reasons for joining the GR and for becoming more sympathetic. Conclusion: I've been asking for an episode like this, and when it finally happened it blew away my expectations. This was an enthralling hour with lots of emotion and storytelling that confirmed to me that this show is something special. Score: 76 Summary: Nora goes to Kevin's house for dinner and Jill asks her about her gun, but finds that Nora doesn't have it. Jill finds Nora's gun in her house the next day. Jill and Aimee fight and Aimee leaves. Jill decides to join the GR. Patti is organizing a plan for the GR involving Loved Ones dolls for Memorial Day which is the next day. Meg lets her anger get the best of her and she attacks Matt. Kevin blacks out and wakes up with Patti tied up in a cabin; he abducted her. He is encouraged to kill her by the mystery man, Dean who is also there. Kevin frees Patti but she kills herself.
The Good: This was the best of the non-character-focused episodes so far. There were several enjoyable and emotional scenes, though this episode was also probably the most confusing so far (see: The Unknown). But first I'll go through what I definitely liked. I enjoyed most of the Jill storyline though I do have to put a lot of it in The Unknown. It was a good take on her depression and inability to actually be okay after all that has happened. And because of that she believes others can't be okay either, especially Nora who lost her family. That explains why she was so focused on the gun since it symbolized the fact that Nora wasn't okay. Jill finding the gun was a powerful moment for her since it confirmed to her that everyone is still in pain but are moving on, hence why Nora has hidden the gun away. Jill has fallen far into her depression and by the end of the episode she is walking into the GR's doors and coming face to face with her mom. This is a great development and definitely sets the show up for something big. I really liked the Guilty Remnant in this episode because we learned a ton about them. Patti's speech to Kevin was powerful and exposed exactly what the GR are: the villains who like Jill, can't seem to move on with their lives so they don't let anyone else move on. This episode's strongest element is how it subtly showed how somebody (in this case Jill) would make the decision to join the GR, proving that in the end they are essentially just a bunch of selfish teenagers who want attention because they can't face their problems. It's a genuinely sad take on this group of people, but also one that feels incredibly real and incorporates the idea that moving on from a tragedy is an extremely difficult task. I also really liked Meg's anger in her few scenes. She doesn't fit in with the others because while the others are melancholy and depressed, Meg is bitter and angry and wants the people around her to suffer. She is quickly becoming a very dangerous individual and it's only a matter of time before she does something crazy. Speaking of crazy, Kevin is forced to come to terms with his declining mental state in this episode which made for good television. We get a truckload of answers about what has been happening with the blackouts, where the white shirts went and why Kevin brought home a dog. It makes sense and really implies that Kevin is losing it and can't keep himself sane anymore. He has a great scene when he finds the shirts where he has to come to terms with what he has done and what it means for him. Lastly, I really liked the conflict between Kevin and Patti. Kevin was ready to let everything go in the past, but Patti wasn't and was hell-bent on making Kevin understand that his attachments to life are driving him insane in an attempt to drive the GR's beliefs onto him. She talked a lot and it was really interesting to attempt to read the meaning behind her words and how they affected Kevin. I interpreted that Patti tried to make Kevin understand that attachments to life are driving him insane, but it's entirely possible that another person interpreted the scene as something else entirely. The Bad: This episode won't work for everybody. Majority of this episode provides big scenes that can be open for interpretation depending on how you read each scene. There is no real answer to what the characters were doing. If you were wanting a more straightforward and easy-to-follow story, this type of instalment will be very unsatisfying. I didn't like Patti's suicide at the end. it was painfully vague and a major scene like that needed to provide a proper reason for why Patti would do what she did. Was it the same thing like with Gladys? So she could be remembered? I'm genuinely unsure why she did it. Jill and Aimee's split wasn't emotional because I really didn't care about their relationship at all. At least the scene helped with the examination of Jill's character and her depression. The Unknown: Why did Jill do a lot of what she did? A lot of scenes in her storyline were tough to read. It took a lot of thinking for me to get an answer for her obsession with Nora's gun and decision to join the GR. But why did she free the dog or accuse Aimee of fooling around with her dad? And why did she say that she was fine? So many aspects of this episode were confusing and strange. How did Kevin interpret what Patti was saying? That was another scene I had to think about before I understood some of it. Did Kevin understand what Patti was telling him? Why did Patti kill herself? What will the consequences of her death be? What is the GR going to do on Memorial Day? I think they will use the stolen photos of departed people and dress up Loved Ones dolls according to what they were wearing and putting them in the homes of those who lost them. How did they get enough money to buy the dolls? How will the town react when they do this? What else has Kevin done in the forest? He had a bucket and several pairs of boots so clearly he's up to something else too. Is this related to Kevin Sr.'s craziness in any way? Best Moment: Tough to say. I'll go with Patti explaining the purpose of the GR since it gave a lot to think about and provided some answers on one of the show's most mysterious parts. Character of the Episode: Jill for her struggle with depression which provided some compelling television. Conclusion: As I've said before, The Leftovers is fascinating. This episode is more proof of that. It had good moments, but was quite literally unlike anything I have seen on television because of how ridiculously vague and open-ended it was. This is a really tough episode to score because of that, though I can safely say that it was the best of the non-Jamison sibling episodes so far. Score: 68 Summary: Kevin Sr. escapes from his psych ward and runs into Jill. Jill tells Kevin who goes hunting for his father. Kevin Sr. gets Matt to arrange a meeting with his son where Kevin Sr. tries to convince Kevin that he's not crazy and that Kevin needs to help him. Kevin refuses and puts Kevin Sr. back into the psych ward. After receiving a phone call from Wayne, Tommy discovers that he's not the only guy who has to take care of an Asian woman who is pregnant with Wayne's child. He destroys Wayne's phone and returns to Christine, only to find that she's given birth to a girl.
The Good: After the superb "Guest", the quality dipped this episode as expected. But pleasingly, this was the best of the episodes that centre around several storylines. It had more of a purpose to it and didn't just produce a bunch of vague dialogue and attempted emotional scenes. There was a dedicated A-plot and B-plot which were given the right amount of time to make an impact and provide some decent, if unspectacular, television. I liked Kevin Sr.'s return. He was a proper character in this episode and was given chances to shine in his scenes with Kevin and Jill. He felt real and I did understand where he was coming from with his crazy claims and attempts to get the book. Without going into if Kevin Sr. is crazy or not (see: The Unknown), I thought that he still had enough character to make me care at least a little about him and the relationship he has with his family. Justin Theroux did a good job portraying Kevin's struggle in this episode as well. With the mysterious dream (see: The Unknown) and his quest to find his father affecting him, Kevin was under a lot of pressure and Justin Theroux showed that very well in every scene he was in. I was also happy with Kevin's relationship with Nora. They are still careful around each other and a little awkward, but they can talk to each other which is definitely something the two of them need. And after this episode we can see that Kevin needs this a lot more than he may have expected. The few small scenes we had with Laurie were good. It was consistent to see her moving on from Kevin. I also really liked seeing Nora hose down the GR members. They really do deserve it. I enjoyed the Tommy story a lot for once. Though it is yet to have an emotional moment, the impact of Wayne on these characters was enjoying to watch in this episode. It was quite surprising to see that Tommy wasn't the only man who has to take care of a pregnant girl and told u a lot about Wayne. Though I'm still unsure about Wayne's superpowers, it is made clear that he is not a good person after what we see. He has used all these women and doesn't care enough about them to even see them and talk to them. This explains Tommy's phone call from earlier in the episode when Wayne didn't know who he was. At first I thought Wayne may be going a little crazy, but it's far more likely that he was just trying to remember which person he was calling since he clearly has many. The Bad: I still hate the teenagers in this show. The refrigerator scene was idiotic in the same way all of the other scenes were so I guess at least it's consistent. It still annoys me to see that though. And did we really need that random butt shot? Also, Aimee is still annoying to me and I can't be bothered to care about her, so her relationship with Kevin does absolutely nothing for me. Episodes like these still can't seem to engage me in the way "Two Boats and a Helicopter" and "Guest" did. Now that we have been introduced to most characters, I'm a little worried that this level of quality may be par for the course, with the show being unable to hit the highs that it already reached. I do hope I'm wrong though. The Unknown: Lots of things to put in here again. What was Kevin's dream? What is its significance? We have confirmation that Kevin is blacking out and doing things at night. Why is he blacking out? What is he doing at night? Why did Kevin get the dog? And what is it meant to symbolize? Is it supposed to represent the angry side of Kevin? Tommy and Kevin had an unusual amount of connections in this episode. They both wounded their hands, had some experience at a mailbox and broke cell phones. Is this supposed to mean something or am I overthinking? What is with Aimee? Does she just live at Kevin's because that's what is implied? How many other girls does Wayne have? Why was he calling Tommy the second time? Is Kevin Sr. actually sane and is hearing some guidance or is he crazy? This show continues to do a great job of blending supernatural with the ordinary. Also what is the significance of the National Geographic? What did Kevin Sr. mean when he said to accept it? Or is it all nothing and he's just crazy. Best Moment: The restaurant scene between the 2 Kevins was very good. Kevin Sr.'s acting was also great as he could be read as both legitimate and crazy at the same time depending on how you want to watch the scene. I was glad to see Kevin refuse his offer since Kevin most definitely wouldn't believe the story just like that. The end of that scene was very well done with Kevin restraining his father. The music score added plenty to it. Character of the Episode: Kevin Sr. for being so curiously mysterious and giving us plenty to think about after this episode ended. Conclusion: A good episode. This show remains fascinating, even if it's inconsistent with its quality and I continue to enjoy it. While this episode didn't provide anything spectacular, it is still an easy hour to enjoy. Score: 65 Summary: Nora lives her life unable to move on from the departure of her family and is in pain. She divorces her husband and runs into Kevin who has also divorced Laurie. Nora goes to a conference in Manhattan and discovers somebody is impersonating her. After a lengthy process, she exposes the impersonator who says that the DSD is a fraud and is wrong. Nora goes to a bar where she meets a book writer who wrote a book about what is next. Nora accuses him of not being in pain loudly and draws the attention of an acolyte of Holy Wayne. Nora is taken to Wayne who takes her pain away with a hug. Back in Mapleton, Nora meets Kevin again who invites her to dinner.
The Good: This was a much stronger episode than the last 2. Like "Two Boats and a Helicopter", this episode revolves around a single character which gives it a similar impact to that episode though I don't think it reached the heights that "Two Boats" did. However that's not a fault in the episode as what we got was still excellent storytelling. I'll start at the beginning with that opening sequence which was tremendous. Nora has been an almost mysterious person in the past few episodes since she appears but we don't know a whole ton about her. This opening sequence showed us the daily life of Nora in a couple minutes, providing all the necessary details and answering many of the questions we had about the character. The sequence shows us the pain she is in and how she goes about her life knowing that her family is gone. It's really well done and tells us everything we need to know about the character in quick time. And on top of that, this opening sequence mirrors the end of the episode really well which helps demonstrate how Nora has changed after this episode's events. This leads me to the next thing I liked, which was the transformation Nora went through in the episode. It's not very often in a TV show that an episode focuses on a character changing as it goes on which made this a fairly unique viewing experience. The events throughout the episode made me buy that Nora would want to change which was very important to show prior to her big scene with Wayne (see: best Moment). The decision to let Wayne take her pain away was huge and thankfully the show understood that and made us understand how the pain Nora has been in has been destroying her. From the scene with Margaret in the bathroom to Nora getting a prostitute to shoot her, it was clear that Nora's life wasn't good and desperately needed change. And Carrie Coon's performance made me really buy into her suffering as well. After all that we saw prior to the Wayne scene, it was completely logical for Nora to decide to lose her pain. One scene in particular that stood out to me in this episode was the bar scene with Patrick Johansson. Nora's pain going into that scene was understandable after listening to what her impersonator screamed at the world about the DSD and seeing this man talk about moving on and being happy like it was that simple really got on her nerves, which led to a really emotional scene with Nora practically forcing Patrick out of the bar with accusations that he's not in pain. One of the strongest aspects of this episode was really Carrie Coon's performance as Nora. She brought the character to life in a fantastic way, showing her pain and attempts to continue with life with superb facial expressions and execution of her character's dialogue. And of course she absolutely killed it with her final scene with Wayne by letting everything out slowly in a single scene. I was also really glad to see Matt calling to apologize, which he has apparently done several times. It made sense following what he said to Nora a few episodes ago and definitely kept his character as mostly likeable overall. I thought it was a great touch to have Nora save the message instead of deleting it; he is the only family she has left and she does still love him all the same. There were some nice small scenes in this episode too. I was happy to see Kevin and Nora get drawn too each other. I'm interested to see what their relationship will bring to the show. I liked the whole "question 121" subplot as it was a good metaphor to help us determine the change in Nora. The Bad: Nothing from this episode was bad. Though I do feel this is the place where I must clarify why I think this episode didn't reach the heights of "Two Boats and a Helicopter" despite having a similar format and a lot of emotional scenes. Personally, I think this episode didn't do as good of a job at making us empathize with Nora as we did with Matt. Matt's story let us personally feel his struggles and gave us his extremely tense quest to keep something he cares deeply about. Nora's story didn't quite do that. It showed us her struggles, but it didn't have the same stakes as that episode and didn't make me care as much. As I said before, this isn't anything against the episode itself; it's just stating that the structure was different and didn't make for as satisfying of an experience as "Two Boats". The Unknown: Not that any questions this week for once. The GR existing outside of Mapleton was confirmed in this episode. How big is the cult worldwide and what is their impact on the world as a whole? Does Wayne actually have powers to take the pain of others? He knew a lot about Nora from just looking at her. If he s a fraud how would he know that? Or is he just masterful at reading people and using the placebo effect to take their pain away? Best Moment: The Wayne scene was television at its very best. Wayne slowly described what was bothering Nora after meeting her and Carrie Coon delivered a spectacular acting performance as she emotes that Wayne is correct about everything he is saying. The patient delivery of Wayne's lines, Carrie Coon's phenomenal acting, the superb music score, and the intrigue of seeing Wayne at work all came together to make this what I think is the best scene The Leftovers has provided so far. Excellent stuff. Character of the Episode: It has to be Nora. No doubt about it. Conclusion: This was gripping and powerful stuff chronicling a major change in a character. It was excellent to watch and while it's not as well put together as "Two Boats and a Helicopter", it is still better than 90% of what is on TV. The Leftovers has returned to form in brilliant fashion after a couple weaker episodes. Score: 75 Summary: A member of the GR, Gladys, is stoned to her death by unknown assailants. Kevin tries to help the GR but risks alienating the townspeople. He ultimately lets them go and decides to divorce Laurie. Laurie is distressed by Gladys' death and Patti has to talk to her 1 on 1 to reaffirm her faith.
The Good: The opening sequence was really well done. It was a shock to see Gladys stoned so suddenly and the scene itself was brutal, disgusting and depressing which is exactly what the show was going for. It started the episode on a really high note. I liked the effect of Gladys' death on the GR. Laurie went into a full-on panic and had an attack, probably spurred on by the worry of her dying and leaving her family behind. I love the touch that while long-time member Laurie questions her beliefs after the stoning, the newbie Meg gets her beliefs reaffirmed and becomes entirely committed to the GR and finally dresses in white and stops speaking. The highlight of the episode was easily Patti talking to Laurie (see: Best Moment). It raises some more questions about the GR (see: The Unknown), but it also adds some much needed humanity to Patti and clarity for what the GR stands for. A scene that I really liked was Jill's reaction when Kevin arrived in her school. She assumes the worst and can't control her emotions, and when Kevin tells her everything is okay she shows that while she still cares about her mom, she is angry at her for leaving them. It was a good scene that shows the many emotions that loss puts you through. Kevin deciding to divorce Laurie and give up on the GR was a logical next step for his story arc after this episode. His final scene was good, though I didn't connect as much as I think I was meant to (see: The Bad). Matt saying "I say fuck too" was easily the funniest moment on this show. The Bad: This show isn't clicking as well as it should be. There are plenty of scenes that I feel were made to draw an emotional response but they did nothing for me. I'm sure that the reason for this is because I don't care about ay of the characters individually with the exception of Matt. In the previous episodes we have been primed to care about the relationships between characters, but when a character's individual story arc is taking place I'm finding it hard to care because the show hasn't given us a reason to care about the character as a whole; instead we can only care about the character's relationships with others. This show desperately needs a flashback or more focused episodes like "Two Boats and a Helicopter" to make us care. Kevin had an interesting story this week as he was tested to choose between the townspeople and the GR. On paper it's a good conflict, but I thought the execution was fairly sloppy. In almost every scene Kevin comes off as an asshole and is hard to like. The part where he stormed the Indian guys at the dry cleaners was a good example of this; it was just difficult to root for Kevin when he's literally threatening some businessmen. I understand that Kevin is going through a tough time with all the pressure he's under, but I need to see what he's like without that pressure so that I can actually sympathize with him. The GR has the same issue too. It's hard to care about the characters because we don't know why they joined the GR. Laurie should be likeable but since we have no idea why she left her family (especially since she lost nobody close to her), we can't understand her decisions and what motivates her. This flaw is taking away from all of the scenes that Laurie is in. What happened with the whole mystery man shooting dogs storyline? It's clear that the man does exist and isn't in Kevin's mind after this episode, but why was there no mention of the dog shootings? It feels like the entire storyline was just dropped which makes all the setup in "Penguin One, us Zero" feel rather pointless since the story has led absolutely nowhere. There seems to be a conflict between Kevin and the man but I have no clue what the conflict is about if not about the dogs and where it's going to lead to. The Unknown: What is Patti and Laurie's relationship? Their conversation seems to hint that Laurie was Patti's therapist or possibly the other way around. Also who is Neil and what did Patti give him in the bag? Why is Patti allowed to speak on some days? How do these "days off" work? The GR apparently make you not feel anything anymore. How does that work and how is it possible? Surely you can't lose all feelings, something still has to be there. Why did the alarm never seem to work for Kevin? What's with the green lights suddenly turning to red? What happened to Kevin's white shirts? If they weren't at the dry cleaners, where are they? Who is the mystery man and what is his motivation? What was with the whole Killainey dispute? There were so many vague problems in Kevin's way that prevented him from keeping Gladys' body and we need an explanation for those. What was with Killainey's final phone call too? What did he plan to do to remove the GR? Best Moment: Laurie and Patti's discussion in the restaurant was the best part. A lot was revealed about the GR which helps us understand them more. It's nice to get to know Patti more as she seems to be an important character, so we need to understand who she is and where she comes from. Character of the Episode: Patti for speaking and giving us some much needed answers to our questions about the GR. Conclusion: This was another disappointing episode but for different reasons than the previous one. This show wants to tell an emotional story but without making us care about the characters it is very tough to do that and we desperately need to be given a reason to care or this show risks being unable to hit any of the high points it hit in "Two Boats and a Helicopter" again. Score: 60 Summary: The town's Baby Jesus doll goes missing and Kevin hunts for it. Jill and her friends stole it but they return it to Kevin. Laurie gives Kevin papers for a divorce. Christine is pregnant with Wayne's baby and Tommy is stuck protecting her for weeks without any contact with Wayne. The Guilty Remnant steals photos of departed family members from the homes of citizens of Mapleton.
The Good: Justin Theroux puts in a solid performance as Kevin. Though I had some issues with the storyline (see: the Bad), I thought that Kevin was enjoyable throughout. I enjoyed parts of the Tommy story this time around, but the storyline as a whole still remains the weakest part of the show (see: The Bad). I enjoyed the scene with Tommy waiting for the bus and questioning his faith. It was logical for him to almost lose his faith after Wayne refused to call him and I'm glad that was examined since it added some emotion to his story, if only a little. I did like the phone call Tommy received, and Chris Zylka finally did something above average when he reacted to the call. The best storyline in this episode was Laurie's. It started with the great divorce scene (see: Best Moment). One thing that I have grown to care about is the Kevin/Laurie relationship, mostly due to the brilliant acting of both characters. It was heart-wrenching to hear Meg read the divorce letter and Kevin's refusal to listen and to stand up to Laurie was as sad as anything on this show. While Jill's interruption felt a bit clichéd, her gift of the lighter was wonderful and created more emotional scenes for Laurie as she threw it down the gutter but ultimately went back to grab it; she's not ready to leave her family yet. Kevin and Nora's scene was pretty nice as well. It's the first time we have seen them interact and they had a nice scene between two hurting people. It's good to check in with how Nora is doing after the bombshell Matt dropped on her in the previous episode. The GR taking the pictures provided a good haunting visual. The Bad: There were several things wrong with this episode that make it the weakest yet. I'll start with my usual complaint: the Tommy story is still lacking. It still only seems to be providing mystery and action which doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the show. This episode also gave me another complaint in Christine. She was downright annoying throughout the episode and her telling Tommy it wasn't her fault and not letting go of that was very annoying and it made me really loathe her character. If I was Tommy I would have just left her. It's hard to understand why Tommy thinks she is important enough to protect and that ruins any chance of me sympathizing with him. My next complaint is the Baby Jesus story. It's pretty dull to centre a story around a missing doll and that in turn made this episode far weaker and less engaging than the previous three. I never cared about the Baby Jesus like Kevin and I was honestly confused as to why it was focused on so much throughout the episode. I'm sure there is some symbolism with the Baby Jesus, but that isn't enough to justify using it as a major storyline for an entire episode. I remain annoyed by this show's take on teenagers. Sure the brothers provided a couple of laughs but other than that the teenagers just seem stupid and unrealistic. The idea that they stole the Baby Jesus and tried to destroy it was even worse than the scenes from "Pilot" and made me groan out of the stupidity. The GR stealing pictures was pretty haunting but it didn't feel like as big of a scene as I feel like it was intended to be. I just never emotionally connected to what was happening. There is also a plausibility issue. I can't buy that they didn't get caught by anybody when they went through the homes and it's ridiculous that Kevin wouldn't suspect that the other GR members were doing other things when he only found a handful of them near the school. Aimee appears to have a crush on Kevin judging by her stares. I really don't care about that since her character has been totally bland so far. The Unknown: Far fewer questions from this episode. How did Christine appear in the naked guy's dream? Is something supernatural happening or is he just insane? What's with the Loved Ones dolls? Apparently they can be ordered by those who lost someone to bury them, but what was the point of showing them in the Tommy story? We also learn that Tommy is not Kevin's biological son and that he was abused as a kid which explains the scars on his back. What happened to his biological father? Where is he now? Best Moment: I really liked the divorce scene. There was real emotion delivered from Kevin, and the scene overall helps examine the theme of loss which this show loves to explore. It was nice to use Meg to read Laurie's letter since it made the divorce seem all the more unfair for Kevin. Character of the Episode: Nobody really stood out this week. I will give it to Tommy for finally doing something interesting in his storyline. Conclusion: This was a lot weaker. It was always going to be tough to follow up "Two Boats and a Helicopter" but this was flat out disappointing. I expect a better quality than this. Score: 56 Summary: Matt's church proceedings are bringing in less and less people and he's making enemies by exposing the wrongdoings of those who departed. His wife is in a catatonic state and now the bank is going to take away his church unless he brings them over $135,000 by the next day. Believing in faith and using signs from god, Matt acquires the required money and starts heading to the bank but he's knocked out after trying to help a member of the Guilty Remnant. When he wakes up he heads back to the bank but discovers that he was unconscious for a long while and has missed the deadline. The Guilty Remnant has bought out the church.
The Good: Wow, what an incredible episode! After some interesting but fairly ordinary opening episodes, The Leftovers went all in with an ambitious and powerful episode that delivered on just about every level. I love the format of this episode. The Leftovers went full-on Lost with a character-centric episode and the focus given to Matt Jamison allowed for a complete story to be told with no interruptions or detours. By telling a simple story without cutting away, the episode kept my interest and had me completely gripped and engaged with Matt's story, hoping it would have a happy ending. This kind of immersion is so very rare in television, but this episode did it so effortlessly and had me totally suckered in after about 10 minutes and never lost me. That takes some real skill to pull off and I have never seen it done to such a degree before. The biggest thing this episode does right is get us attached to Matt. he has only briefly appeared in previous episodes, so this episode had the tough task of making us grow attached to him and root for him while still telling an emotional story. And somehow this was pulled off just as easily as the immersion which is what really made this episode work so well. I cared for everything Matt was going through. I found myself feeling sad when his life was slowly revealed, I rooted for him when he attempted to get the money for his church, and I was angry at the GR after they bought out Matt's church. I don't mean to compare this show too much to Lost, but this episode did for Matt what "Walkabout" did for Locke and both of those episodes were what let me know that I was watching a truly special show. Another thing that was executed so, so well was the use of tension. The story of the episode with Matt trying to save the church was so incredibly tense because we were given a deadline, a sense that Matt has to do something miraculous to achieve his goal. He had to go from 0 to 135,000 in one day and that very idea produced a heap of tension and excitement for the episode. And the writers were careful as well. They let us know in the first 20 to 30 minutes of the episode that the church is all that Matt has right now so they ensured that we not only knew that Matt wanted the church, but that we wanted him to keep the church as well. And then there was the excellent edge of your seat gambling scene which was just so gripping. It took full advantage of the rule of 3 (the third time is when the change happens) to make us wonder if Matt could actually succeed and get the money he needed. The smile on his face afterwards was shared by me and probably other viewers as we got the relief in knowing that Matt did it. But we knew he wasn't safe yet and the writers knew that we knew that. So they gave us a fake out that made us believe Matt was safe when he beat up the man trying to steal his money. He overcame that and it gave me the sense that he would actually succeed, but then the writers took his success away from him in an absolutely brutal matter. The reveal that Matt had failed was absolutely heartbreaking. I had accepted the possibility that Matt may have slept for several days since that is a trick that is used very often, but it was still awful to see Matt go to the bank with such a hope that he would ultimately save his church only for the truth to be revealed at the end in a devastating matter: he was 2 days too late. And to make matters worth it was the GR that bought the church; the very same people that were indirectly responsible for Matt being knocked out. What a painful twist. But all of this wouldn't have worked if Matt's character wasn't so compelling. We get his story told in pieces and the show smartly lets us, the audience, piece together his story from the little details that were given to us. It lets us understand him better and feel like we discovered him ourselves. And his story is sad. His wife's vegetative state was really disheartening to see (see: Best Moment) and it earned Matt a ton of sympathy from me. Matt's adherence to what he believes was also a fantastic element of his character and what made him so easy to like and to support. He has so many pains and struggles to deal with on a daily basis and yet he still admirably holds onto his faith. Matt and Nora's scene was also well done for the most part (see: the Bad), but it wasn't as intricately put together as the rest of the episode. We get to see the extent of their relationship and also the conflicts that have arisen between them both after the Departure. Nora laying into Matt for holding onto the church and not moving on showed us how broken she is and how the loss of her family has really affected her. Despite her not agreeing with Matt who we now have a liking to, she still comes off as relatable because of what she has been through and it also lets us know that Matt isn't perfect as he asks her for her money which understandably isn't taken very well by Nora. It was pretty sad to see Laurie hanging out behind Kevin's house at night. We saw the swing moving when Matt returned as well, so does Laurie go there every night? That does humanize her more and helps us relate to her as she can't seem to let go of her past like the other GR members. Lastly I will highlight the performances in this episode which were great. Carrie Coon was outstanding in her single scene with Matt while Christopher Eccleston was incredible throughout the episode. The Bad: there were a couple things I didn't like. For one, I didn't really buy into Matt telling Nora that were husband was having an affair. It was a powerful moment and Carrie Coon played Nora's reaction very well, but it seemed uncharacteristically cruel for Matt to say that to the sister that he loves. I also wasn't a fan of Matt attacking and possibly killing the man outside the casino. That should have been treated like a bigger moment since a reverend just attacked and maybe killed a man but there are no repercussions to that scene. Perhaps from a storytelling perspective, Matt was knocked out and lost the church because he brutally attacked somebody, but I'm not sure about that since the tone of the episode doesn't suggest it. The Unknown: Lots of questions once again. Was there really a god helping Matt out with the casino? Or was it just dumb luck? One of the most fascinating aspects of this show so far has been the blurring of the line between supernatural and normal. There were a lot of mentions of a judge in the episode. Apparently Matt started his anti-departures campaign with a judge according to Nora. Later in the episode, we see a flyer for Judge Roy Hader and we see Matt taking off the sign of a street which was named after him. Why did Matt start by going after Judge Hader? Did Judge Hader do something to Matt? He was departed though so I wonder what he could have done. Was it something when the Judge was still alive? Was the Judge the person in the car who disappeared and caused Mary's paralysis? And how does Kevin Sr.'s money factor into this? Speaking of Kevin Sr.'s money, why did he give the money to Matt? What was the purpose of Matt's dream? Why did Laurie appear? Were they having an affair at some point? Why did the GR buy the church? Best Moment: We are truly spoiled for choice. Matt comes home to see Mary, who is incapable of even talking. He says a pretty sad "hey sweetheart" and then proceeds to give her a baptism in the tub. The music swells up and we see Matt pulling up to sleep in a pitiful little cot next to Mary's bed. He bursts into tears and prays to the lord saying "help me" and just moments later he has an epiphany. This scene was extremely powerful and really made me feel sympathy for Matt. Character of the Episode: Matt of course. There is no possible other choice. Conclusion: What an episode. There were so many layers to this story that I didn't get to talk about and all of it was truly excellent. This engaged my emotions to the next level and delivered something truly special, something much better than the previous episodes we have seen. Score: 86 Summary: While attempting to find the man shooting the dogs, Kevin faces with the idea that he's going crazy. Jill tails Nora Durst after she notices a gun in her purse. Holy Wayne's compound is attacked by the government and he is forced to go undercover. Tommy is tasked to protect Christine and has to disconnect from his life to do it. Laurie tries to help Meg join the Guilty Remnant.
The Good: This was a decent follow-up to the pilot. I liked the focus on Kevin contemplating the idea that he's going crazy. Justin Theroux played his paranoid desperation so well and made me believe that he thinks he might be going crazy but refuses to face up to it. I really enjoyed the input from his fellow cops that suggest he's going crazy followed by Kevin putting his foot down and swearing he isn't crazy. However, things like the mystery man, the bagel, the dream and the truck in his driveway lead to make us believe that he's crazy. And yet at the end of the episode there are a few hints dropped that suggest maybe he isn't crazy. Things like Jill seeing the man and the bagel being discovered try to lead us to believe that he is still sane. This provides a good mystery to the episode and makes us think afterwards to try to figure out if Kevin is crazy or not. I liked Kevin Sr., who at first seemed perfectly normal and caring, but quickly dissolved into craziness. The intriguing part is wondering if he is crazy or if he has been gifted. In a world where the Departure happened, anything is possible and I will be interested no matter which direction the story goes. While on the topic of the Departure, I really like the impact it has on the story. It questions us if the more supernatural elements are possible or if it's just humans trying to make sense of the tragedy. An example of this is the scene when Nora questioned the old couple about their departed son. She asks a few government validated questions, and it's hard to guess if the government is actually onto something or if they are just asking questions with hopes that they will find a common ground somewhere. I enjoyed seeing Meg get accustomed into the GR. We are learning more and more about how the GR functions in every episode and these week we learn how the new members are handled. Also through a wonderful "conversation" between Laurie and Meg (see: Best Moment) we begin to understand more about why someone would want to join the GR, which is good to humanize the organization. I'm always happy to hear a reference to The Wire. The Bad: This show has been fascinating thus far, but some of its storyline just aren't clicking too well. For one, the Tommy story has been quite poor and unengaging. I haven't been given any reason to care about Tommy and his story only provides vague details and action which doesn't fit in very well with the show. Sure I have been enjoying Wayne and he genuinely intrigues me, but Tommy's character really doesn't and we are being told his feelings instead of being shown his feelings. That aspect makes this story weaker than the other storylines which always show rather than tell. I also wasn't very happy with Tommy killing a man with practically no emotion except for him screaming once inside the car. I didn't really like Jill and her friends trailing Nora either. The storyline was pretty boring and didn't offer very much emotion like the Kevin and GR stories did. The Unknown: A truckload of questions again. Is Kevin going crazy? Does the mystery man even exist or has Kevin imagined him? How about his dream? What does that indicate? Is Kevin Sr. crazy or has he received some divine insight after the Departure? What did he mean when he told Kevin that someone was sent to see him? Was it the mystery man? Or are we overthinking all of this and the mystery man is just some creepy guy and Kevin Sr. is actually crazy? Why do the GR make people cut trees? Is it just to help them get their emotions and pain out of their system? Is Wayne real or is he a hoax? Apparently he can hug people and take their pain away. Is that an actual power or is he just a master of the placebo effect? Why does Nora carry around a gun? Why did she hug Matt, the man handing out the papers which claim that those who departed aren't heroes. Best Moment: Laurie and Meg talking was excellent. Meg asks if Laurie remembers how it feels to care and Laurie responds by letting Meg know that she does after mentioning Kevin. Meg soon follows up by saying she doesn't want to feel pain anymore. This exchange is fascinating because it highlights what brings people to join the GR and how they still retain their humanity despite shutting out their emotions from the world. Character of the Episode: Kevin stole the show with his story of trying to prove his sanity. Justin Theroux's performance was impressive. Conclusion: The Leftovers has its ups and downs for sure, but you can't deny that it is a fascinating show full of intriguing mystery. This episode continued to explore the feelings of pain, grief and misery that no other show properly does and it remains enjoyable despite some pretty bland storylines. Score: 62 Summary: Three years after The Sudden Departure, a day when 2% of the world's population mysteriously vanished, Kevin Garvey has estranged his family. His wife Laurie joined a cult called the Guilty Remnant who dress in white, don't speak and smoke. His son Tommy joined another cult which is led by one Holy Wayne who has mysterious powers. His daughter Jill still lives with him but is a very moody teenager. Kevin is a cop who tries to keep peace in the town, but the job is getting harder and harder as the Guilty Remnant provokes the townspeople. He also follows a mysterious man who is going around the town killing dogs.
The Good: I thought this was an effective pilot. The characters, setting, premise, story and conflict is developed a lot in just one episode and it leaves me curious to see more from this show. My favourite aspect of the episode was the Garvey family dynamic. Unlike most shows which would probably focus on why the Departure happened and where the people went, this show appears to focus on those who are left behind. In this case, we examine a family which wasn't even affected by the Departure, but one that has fallen apart ever since it happened. It's a unique and original take on this kind of story and has so far made for some compelling television. After watching this episode, I care about the Garvey family. This leads me to my next point, this show seems to utilize emotion a lot which is what makes it a very compelling show. Even in this pilot episode there were many scenes that engaged my emotions and made me feel something. Specifically the final few scenes with Kevin talking to Laurie (see: Best Moment), Kevin shooting the dogs and Jill looking at the destroyed family picture. It was powerful and sad stuff that left an impact. Another scene that was really powerful was the park sequence. It opens up with a sad story from Nora Durst who lost her entire family in the Departure. The follow-up appearance from the GR (Guilty Remnant) was also effective in showing us what they have been doing that has riled up the population. The riot that followed was superbly shot and showed us some more powerful scenes with people finally exploding as Kevin predicted and Kevin beating down the people to keep the peace. The music on this show is also superb. The scenes hit even harder than expected because the music that was being played helped get your emotions out by telling you how to feel while watching the show. This helped develop the tone of the show and let us know this wasn't going to be an easy show to watch (see: The Bad). I enjoy the subtle storytelling in this episode that rewards viewers who put all of their focus on the show. The deer scenes, Jill grabbing the picture that Kevin destroyed, us learning about the GR, and more were all shown in a subtle way. It's wonderful to see this kind of storytelling as it rewards the dedicated viewers and lets us piece things together ourselves. This also helps us get more immersed in the world of the show, which makes for a better viewing experience overall. Though the vague storytelling may turn off casual viewers, for a critic like me this kind of storytelling gives me more of a reason to watch the show. The Guilty Remnant has definitely gained my interest after this episode. It's interesting to examine a post-apocalyptic cult and this one seems to be different from any other one I've seen. Seeing "We are living reminders" written on the board where Laurie was brushing her teeth told us everything we needed to know about this group, and the rest of the episode gave us small details of how they work and also showed us their recruiting process as they seem to have earned a new recruit in Meg. Though we still don't know a whole lot about them (see: The Unknown), they have piqued my interest and I want to learn more about them. The Bad: There are still a few things that need to be ironed out. For one, we don't know the characters well enough to truly care yet. This will probably be fixed later in the season, but just dumping all of these emotional scenes on us can only be so effective when we only know the bare minimum about all of the characters. I wasn't a fan of the Tommy/Holy Wayne storyline. It had less emotion than the rest of the story and felt very disjointed when compared to the other storylines in the episode. It's a purely mystery storyline and I just don't know enough about the characters, story and conflict to really care about what is happening in that story. I'm interested to learn more about Wayne, but I don't care much about Tommy or Christine yet and I would much rather watch what is happening with Kevin, Laurie and Jill. I didn't like this shows take on teenagers. It was basic and just showed them as brain-dead idiots which isn't an accurate reflection of what teenagers are. I understand that the world changed after the Departure, but it makes no sense for all teenagers to just go crazy in the way the show is showing them. I also didn't really like Jill's moaning friend Aimee. A possible problem for this show is the tone. It doesn't bother me but it will most definitely bother some of the viewers. This show comes off as depressing, sad, and melancholy at all times which isn't everybody's cup of tea. As I said, I am fine with it, but it's easy to understand if somebody doesn't like the show for going all in on the feelings of pain, misery and loss. The Unknown: So many unknowns from this episode. Damon Lindelof seems to be doing an even better job of mystery on this show than with Lost. The big question of course is what happened with the Departure? Where did everyone go? Why were only those specific people taken away? What caused it? Who caused it? So many questions have risen up from it. However, we probably can't expect an answer for them. This show is about the people who are still here, and if they don't get an answer, then we shouldn't either. One of the biggest question marks for me was the man shooting the dogs. Who is he? Why is he shooting the dogs? And what did he mean by saying "they're not our dogs?" Does it have something to do with the rumour that dogs went crazy after the Departure? Why did Kevin start shooting the dogs at the end of the episode? Was it because of the deer? Speaking of the deer, what is with the deer? It seems to symbolize something but I'm not sure what. I hope to figure that out sometime soon. What happened to Kevin's kitchen? Was it the deer? Or was it him? I ask this because judging by the editing, it seems that Kevin had blanked out for a long while and suddenly woke up at home. Why did that happen? Has he had issues of blanking out before? Is he going crazy like his father before him? Who was Kevin's father? What happened to him? What was with the flashback of a man running through the city naked? Who is Holy Wayne? How did he magically make that congressman not feel burdened anymore? How does he have magic powers? What did he mean by saying "the grace period is over?" Why does Tommy have lash marks on his back? Was it from college or was it Wayne? Who created the GR? Why do they not speak and smoke? Do they exist outside of Mapleton? Is Patti their leader? How did they pick her as a leader? As Kevin asked, where did they come from? Why did Laurie join them? Best Moment: Kevin meeting Laurie near the end of the episode was powerful. It was a nice twist to reveal that Laurie didn't depart and that she just left the family. I assumed she departed after hearing the school coach talk to Jill about her mom leaving. It was a surprise to see she left the family and it was clearly not an easy move from her. Kevin yelling at her to come home was powerful and Amy Brenneman was superb at showing how she felt without saying even a single word. Very sad stuff. Character of the Episode: Hard to pick in this first episode. I would say Kevin since we got to know him better than anyone else in this episode. Conclusion: This was a brave and unusual pilot episode but I enjoyed it. There was lots of mystery, a powerful tone and mood that most shows don't explore, and a lot of emotion at play, aided by a superb soundtrack. Overall this was very good and definitely worth watching if the tone doesn't drive you away. I am very intrigued by this show and I am eager to see more. Score: 66 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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