I don't even know where to begin with this show. You check any online rankings for the best TV programs of the year, and undoubtably you'll find The Leftovers sitting near the top of the list. It's clear the show has a following. A strong following. But this isn't a following that I understand. For that matter, this isn't really a show I understand. Sure, at its core it's about family. Families that comes together. That drift apart. And that's a powerful, simple concept to grasp. But that's about all I can grasp within the show's concept. All these visions, prophets, trips to the afterlife... I think they're lost on me.
All that said, rather than me sitting here complaining how much I didn't get this show, let me do the opposite. Let me try and understand it. Maybe... even try to like it? Weirder things have happened.
Kevin's life in the afterlife
Right, so I take it that we're intended to believe that Kevin does actually "die" when he visits the afterlife. My question is whether or not this afterlife is a communal space where all people converge, or is this just his own personal interpretation of an afterlife? It seems to always be weirdly specific to Kevin's life and events, and he seems to have complete control over the area whether he realizes it or not. I feel like if it were THE afterlife where we all go when we pass on, then there should have been more purpose to his presence there. I mean was there purpose? For all I can gather, the only thing that resulted in his visitations to the afterlife is that he eventually achieves personal enlightenment. Basically, he understands that he loves Nora. It's a powerful sentiment... but seems insignificant if he's trying to speak with something tantamount to God and keep all humanity safe or some shit.
Matt's Relationship with God
I did really enjoy Matt's standalone episode where he's on the ferry with the crazy Lion sex party. When he finally has the conversation with God at the end (although I think it's clear he's just talking to a crazy guy who's masquerading as God), Matt reaches some sense of enlightenment. Was he doing shit this whole time in God's name, or was he just doing it for himself? Clearly, it was for himself. But after reaching this epiphany, it doesn't seem as though he achieves the same level of awareness as Kevin, meaning, he never goes home to see his wife and kid. Sure, he buries the hatchet with Nora, but it would have seemed like a more definite conclusion of his arc if we saw him repair his family. Yes? No?
Meg and the Guilty Remnant
What the fuck was Meg's deal? She somehow comes into ranking power within the GR, but she clearly never really believed in it (as in she breaks her silence all the time; sort of seems to mock them; etc.). Then she knowingly sacrifices herself at the beginning of the season killing off that group of GR members. Was that her master plan? Did she hate the GR and want them gone? Seems like a foolish plan because it's not like that was the only group in the country. Right? I don't understand this character at all. When she rapes Tom in the previous season, I always thought that event would have come full circle and she would have given birth to his kid, bringing a whole new wrench into this show. Yet, that's never fucking touched upon again! I dunno. Seems like lazy writing just to wipe out a slew of characters they didn't know what to do with.
The rest of the gang
The show seems to wrap up really fast at the end. I think if you look hard enough, most main characters' arcs are brought to an end. Maybe not a satisfying end, but an end nonetheless. However, this lack of satisfaction really bothers me. Am I the only that feels that way?
Kevin senior seems to have his brief moment on the roof after the flood never happens and he recognizes not really some important biblical figure that he'd hoped he would be. On the plus, he realizes he's got his son and loves him. I guess that's it? That's his whole reaction to something he was at first fighting so hard for. A short minute conversation on the roof. I don't buy it.
Laurie doesn't kill herself, but she abandons her family. Like, what? So... I'm guessing she learned nothing. Not to mention it doesn't seem like Kevin or the kids were ever that concerned about her disappearance since they don't mention looking for her.
We don't talk about John anymore after Laurie is out of the picture. I guess, fuck him. Right? They don't even show him with his son at end. Meaning he at least has that family going for him. Ugh...
Then there's the bald dude who shot the dogs with Kevin (Dean was it?). So he goes all crazy and thinks dogs are taking over the world. What the fuck is that suppose to represent? I understand there's this whole balance between what's real and what's not in this show. After all, when 2% of the population just disappears, couldn't anything be possible? But I have no idea what this character is suppose to represent. Not a clue. Nor do I grasp what his presence in Kevin's afterlife is suppose to signified as well.
And don't get me started on the openers to seasons two and three. Those weird vignettes. I guess they both establish the theme of families throughout human history, and maybe what blind faith can do to hurt or help them. But, I dunno... it's another weird ingredient in this strange, unsatisfying concoction.
Some of this show was really great. I loved the ending. Nora's monologue. It was riveting. Or Matt's misadventures on the ferry. Even Kevin talking to Kevin in the afterlife was super intriguing. Those individual moments are great. But when I try to connect all the dots, I'm left with a mess of nonsensical dogshit. So, please... If you're super into the show, help me understand what's to get. Because I certainly don't.
Meg and the Guilty Remnant
What the fuck was Meg's deal? She somehow comes into ranking power within the GR, but she clearly never really believed in it (as in she breaks her silence all the time; sort of seems to mock them; etc.). Then she knowingly sacrifices herself at the beginning of the season killing off that group of GR members. Was that her master plan? Did she hate the GR and want them gone? Seems like a foolish plan because it's not like that was the only group in the country. Right? I don't understand this character at all. When she rapes Tom in the previous season, I always thought that event would have come full circle and she would have given birth to his kid, bringing a whole new wrench into this show. Yet, that's never fucking touched upon again! I dunno. Seems like lazy writing just to wipe out a slew of characters they didn't know what to do with.
The rest of the gang
The show seems to wrap up really fast at the end. I think if you look hard enough, most main characters' arcs are brought to an end. Maybe not a satisfying end, but an end nonetheless. However, this lack of satisfaction really bothers me. Am I the only that feels that way?
Kevin senior seems to have his brief moment on the roof after the flood never happens and he recognizes not really some important biblical figure that he'd hoped he would be. On the plus, he realizes he's got his son and loves him. I guess that's it? That's his whole reaction to something he was at first fighting so hard for. A short minute conversation on the roof. I don't buy it.
Laurie doesn't kill herself, but she abandons her family. Like, what? So... I'm guessing she learned nothing. Not to mention it doesn't seem like Kevin or the kids were ever that concerned about her disappearance since they don't mention looking for her.
We don't talk about John anymore after Laurie is out of the picture. I guess, fuck him. Right? They don't even show him with his son at end. Meaning he at least has that family going for him. Ugh...
Then there's the bald dude who shot the dogs with Kevin (Dean was it?). So he goes all crazy and thinks dogs are taking over the world. What the fuck is that suppose to represent? I understand there's this whole balance between what's real and what's not in this show. After all, when 2% of the population just disappears, couldn't anything be possible? But I have no idea what this character is suppose to represent. Not a clue. Nor do I grasp what his presence in Kevin's afterlife is suppose to signified as well.
And don't get me started on the openers to seasons two and three. Those weird vignettes. I guess they both establish the theme of families throughout human history, and maybe what blind faith can do to hurt or help them. But, I dunno... it's another weird ingredient in this strange, unsatisfying concoction.
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Some of this show was really great. I loved the ending. Nora's monologue. It was riveting. Or Matt's misadventures on the ferry. Even Kevin talking to Kevin in the afterlife was super intriguing. Those individual moments are great. But when I try to connect all the dots, I'm left with a mess of nonsensical dogshit. So, please... If you're super into the show, help me understand what's to get. Because I certainly don't.
Credit to you, I think you've put more thought into trying to understand this show than I have - and I'm definitely among the "yep it's awesome" crowd.
ReplyDeleteYou watched Lost, right? Did you like Lost? I absolutely loved Lost, right up until the fifth season or so, when it really started to get bogged down in its own inability to answer the bajillion questions it had set up, and instead did this weird time-travelly thing just to put everyone in the '70s. And like a lot of people I was completely underwhelmed by the final season, the purgatory season that they'd sworn back in the first season would never happen. None of it fit together or made any goddamn sense, and if anything about the finale was redeeming it was the emotional human beats - the stuff Lost had usually really excelled at, but that ended up getting buried more often than not in the back half of the series by shit like, "Sayid is dead but a weird Japanese man with a baseball who we've never seen can bring him back to life," or, "the water turns the wheel, and the cork seals the bottle, and this is the only explanation we are going to give for the long-teased conflict between Jacob and the smoke monster we've teased for so long."
I think Lindelof learned from this. How could you not? And I think we, the TV audience at large, did too. On his end: it's perfectly fine to get weird and "go there," but don't promise that everything will ultimately make sense like a sci-fi puzzle we're all trying to figure out. On our end: just try to enjoy the ride without worrying about solving the puzzle. (I think this is why I think Westworld sucks so much ass, by the way. Almost everyone is a robot, no one's motivations are clear, and the Internet had the whole thing "figured out" three or four weeks in advance. But I digress.)
(Holy shit, I went and wrote a dang comment too long for one reply! Let me continue...)
DeleteI didn't love every Leftovers episode - thought some were total duds, in fact, including the early ones this season - but God damn could this show floor me with its memorable moments, its characters too confused to know how to grieve, too broken to just move on, all looking for answers or numbly accepting the cold indifference of the universe. Laurie's near suicide? Floored me. Matt's ongoing crisis of faith? Probably the best depiction of a doubtful religious man I've seen on any medium in ages. Kevin's... uh, issues, all of them, combined? Repeatedly compelling and often fascinating. Not every character worked for me, and certainly not every story. Kevin, Sr., never did much for me for instance, and Meg? Yeesh, no. I'm with you in receiving her whole arc with a bewildered shrug. But Patti? Particularly, the one in Kevin's purgatory? Loved every minute she was on screen, loved every line she delivered. Kevin pushing a not-real girl down a well? Oddly heartbreaking. Kevin singing karaoke in order to go home? Oddly heartwarming. Evie's death? Completely tragic. Kevin's search for Evie afterward? Engrossing and intriguing.
I could go on and on, and I haven't even touched on Nora yet, probably the main character by the series' end - Kevin's maybe always been a little broken and confused and lost, but her arc's been about exploring, solving, fixing, and accepting the Departure since the very beginning. What did you make of her story in the finale? I can't even make up my own mind on whether or not I believe her, but I've always leaned "no."
You asked me to help you understand the show, and, well, I can't. Because I don't understand it all either. But after Lost, that doesn't really bother me. This was a show that would captivate me more often than not and it seemed to stay true to itself from start to finish.
One thing I'm sure of - we're not supposed to understand it all. It's not a puzzle that just fits together. So much is left open for you to interpret as you see fit - whether or not Nora's final story was a fabrication, whether the guy on the boat was a sign from God for Matt or just a crazy asshole, whether Kevin's purgatory scenes are an actual limbo or just a personal lucid dream. After all, the whole crux of the show rests on the idea of the unexplainable, of faith vs. cynicism, of how to grieve. As the opening theme says in its final lyrics - "think I'll just... let the mystery be..."