Little late at submitting this as I was nearly done watching season 2 when I was writing the post for season 1. Let's be completely honest. The only real reason I've been watching this show is out of respect for dear fellow Back-Blogger, Sween. He seems to have a true appreciation and love for this show. After catching up on both seasons currently available I can definitively say... I don't share the same love for The Leftovers.
It's very much "ok" for me.
Season 2 continues Kevin Garvey's journey in picking up the pieces to his life after the Rapture-like event that the whole show revolves around. This season primarily focuses on the Garvey's moving to the small Texas town called Miracle -- known for having zero disappearances during the Sudden Departure -- as a new start for both him and his family.
And, of course, just about everything goes completely wrong for them.
Let's start with the things I did like about this season. I really liked the build-ups. Seeing how Tom and Laurie move on after the Guilty Remnants and Holy Wayne, respectively. Or following Meg's climb to power within the Guilty Remnants, wondering what her masterplan might be as she marches down her dark, demented path. And watching Kevin struggle with his inner-demons all under the suspicious watch of his menacing neighbor. Aside from these set-ups that the majority of the season revolves around, I was also thoroughly intrigued by the episode where Kevin ventures into the afterlife to battle his inner-demon, Patti. Easily the best episode of the season. But I commend all these set-ups and build-ups in making the season both intriguing and fun.
Then things go horribly wrong by the end.
Most of these set-ups fizzle out to weird, unsatisfying conclusions near the end of the season. Tom and Laurie just sort of fart around half the season when they were initially on this cool path to start a new cult or Tom possibly joining the Guilty Remnants. Then I thought Meg's story would culminate in some ballsy, violent attack making the Guilty Remnants into more of a radical-terrorist organization. Instead, they bluff their big attack yet somehow still manage to cause such a massive riot in Miracle. Then, we have Kevin. Despite having Kevin struggle so hard to return back to the land of the living, he almost instantly gets shot and killed again, plunging him back to the underworld. Despite Kevin having to struggle with all his might to leave the afterlife the first time around, he escapes the second time by... singing Karaoke? No. I don't buy it. I don't buy any of it.
Is this the curse of Damon Lindelof all over again? To be able to kick stories off in strong, compelling ways, but then never being able to conclude them? This is the same thing that happened for me with Lost. Loved the first three seasons of it, then it just sort of fell apart after that. And the finale? Ugh... Don't get me started.
Point is, I found this show generally fun, interesting, and engaging through the majority of the season, but the ending seemed so sloppily put together, I struggled to maintain my interest. I hope season 3 (the final season) is able to pull this show together -- especially now that they confirmed a few supernatural elements/plot lines -- better than Lindelof was able to do with Lost.
Looking back at our TV Rank & File for 2015, Sween and Marissa both had this at #2, I had it at #6, and Keith had it at #9 - top tens all around and good enough for #4 overall. I'm sorry you don't like it very much, but for me this is very much a "journey" show and not a "destination" show. Lindelof already proved with Lost that he could make some tremendously satisfying episodes of television based on mystique and character beats, but also that he wasn't really capable of or interested in tying everything together with a bow. For me this has always been a show about grief and loss and coping and attempting to move forward without really knowing how. I actually preferred the first season to the second, which seems to be a minority opinion - did you?
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