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
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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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