It kind of felt like a parallel to Nora hiring prostitutes to shoot her in the bulletproof vest. A way to deal with the grief and wtf craziness while having to keep it together and present a composed, professional face to the world.
This show has turned me into a Carrie Coon fan.
That was Regina Spektor in Season 2, Episode 5: Laughing With God. The song is Laughing With.
Thank you!
Whoa… like seriously… whoa… What an episode! Based on the first ep, Nora survives (as Sara, was it?) so this was likely not the end for her, but that scene on the cliff had all the emotions. Especially when Matt said it was important to be with family and Nora had this thankful, tearful “okay” in response. And then Laurie, who had been the ball popper as well decided to let that go when she speaks to Kevin (though, interestingly, popping the ball regarding Kevin’s death & resurrection wouldn’t be to snuff out a delusion, but something that actually happened). I will say that food poisoning the stew with sleeping pills was a bit of a dramatic way to go about it - then again, the Leftovers loves the dramatic way to go about things.
2 more episodes left. I’m not really ready for this show to end!
Ohhh…I hadn’t thought of that. Although some people have speculated that we were seeing the “other side” where people went on Oct. 14 (and also through that machine). But it looked a little too “normal” for that.
It was so sad to see Laurie (presumably) take her own life, in that “no one can prove it” way.
How bizarre is it that when we last saw Kevin, there were roughly 4 hours of Leftovers remaining and now the next time we see him, almost half of that is gone?
For that matter, he was nowhere to be seen in the third episode either, and only appeared for five minutes in episode two. So in four out of the last five episodes, he has either not appeared at all, or just for a few minutes near the end of the episode.
I know there were standalone character episodes in past seasons, but was there ever a stretch like that where Kevin appeared so little?
I have to admit after seeing the latest episode that some of the characters are beginning to grate on me. Especially Nora. I’m beginning to think her family didn’t ‘depart’ at all, they’re just hiding.
I don’t think so. But they are likely doing so on purpose. This has mostly been Kevin’s story and we are seeing how that affects everyone else in his life. It’ll probably end with Kevin as well… though the title for the final episode is pretty intriguing.
Yeah, the lighter thing especially pissed me off.
Full disclosure, I loved “Lost” and I didn’t hate the ending. But I have an uneven feeling about “The Leftovers”. The acting is excellent, the cinematography spot on and it has deep emotional depth. At the same time it makes no sense at all. The show likes to keep the objective sanity of the characters involved a vague as possible to make the viewers question what is real and what is imagined. I suppose the intent is to make the viewer reflect on their own beliefs and what sacred cows one might irrationally cling too. At the same time though it keeps one from investing much care into the fate of the individual characters if we can’t trust the narrative we’ve been given. I fully expect the ending to not deliver. But the ride has been an entertaining one.
Well, that scene was just another way to show us how these people are slowly breaking apart and breaking down. They’re each in absolute crisis, and are reacting differently to it. It’s a huge reason why it’s important to watch the entire series, to refer back to a discussion earlier in the thread. It’s about seeing the slow and painful progression of their grief and trauma to understand the implosions that are happening now.
…Kevin was barely in the first episode of season 2, nor the Meg centric one or the Matt centric one. Or the Tom and Laurie centric one. While he is the main character: the series has always spent long stretches focused on other characters. Which is one of the reasons why this series is so unique, and IMHO so compelling to watch. Its so damn hypnotic. I remember being a bit disappointed to find out that “Crazy Whitefella Thinking” was going to be from the point-of-view of a character we hardly knew: but my eyes were glued to the screen for the entire episode. I laughed, I cried, I cringed. I’m Maori: and the episode captured crazy whitefella thinking perfectly.
I think that raises much to high a barrier to entry, to insist that people need to watch the entire first season. There are a couple important episodes in that season I advise people to watch, but otherwise to go ahead to the far superior second season.
And I’d completely disagree with that. I don’t think you can fully understand Kevin, Nora, or Matt without watching the first season (which I loved… but I understand some folks may find it too heavy).
Agree 100%. I can’t imagine watching these last few episodes without the backstory from season one and getting as much out of them.
But I’m not saying to skip the entire first season.
Even Lindelof acknowledges that he needed to course correct in the second season.
…and what a wonderful course correction it was.
I think the second series is television genius: truly one of the best things I have ever seen on TV. But it doesn’t quite work if you haven’t seen how fundamentally broken everybody is from the events in season one. I don’t think I could watch anything from season one again. (But I watch episodes from season 2 all the time.) But if you start from season two you really aren’t getting the whole story.
Course correct is different than a completely different show or just forget most of it happened. They had to add some humor to counter the darkness, but the 1st season while quite amazing IMO and it really shows you the depths of the grief of the main characters.
I tried to look at what episodes were completely essential in the 1st season if one was to attempt to cut it down… I got 6 out of 10 (Pilot, Two Boats and a Helicopter, Guest, Cairo [at least just for Patti’s death], The Garveys At Their Best, and The Prodigal Son Returns). If you are watching 60% season already, might as well watch all of it (which would at least fill you in on the Holy Wayne storyline which is important for Laurie and Tom’s future development… esp what they do in Season 2).
People keep banging on this straw man. I have never said to just start from season two.
But I find everything to do with Tommy, Holy Wayne (other than in “Guest”), and the Guilty Remnant* indefensible. Flat out bad TV, that I would never try to subject anyone to, much less ask them to slog through it so they can get to the good stuff. (Maybe that’s the disconnect, if people think I’m anti-season one because it’s too dark and dour. Rather, for me at least, it’s because parts of it are so dumb, eye-rollingly risible.)
I would be happy to sit next to a new viewer with a remote and my finger poised above the fast-forward button.
*Genius move, to get rid of them once and for all in the first post-teaser moments of the third season.
Eh… The Guilty Remnant is something I found to be absolutely brilliant. A masterful way of demonstrating how people respond to unimaginable grief (takes “Never Forget” to a crazy level, in both senses of the word). And then Holy Wayne is a bit of a counter to that - not everyone is in despair, but they do need healing. Without the GR and the effects it has on people, I don’t think I like this show nearly as much.
Clearly MMV. But I was far from the only one who found the GR (or Tommy) by far the weakest parts of the series. I wish I could remember who said it, but back during the first season, I read a comment that the GR resembles “a 12-year-old’s idea of what a cult would be like”. I found that a brilliant, and hilarious, insight. Obviously you would tend to disagree.
So were you disappointed, then, that they got wiped out by the missile right away to start this season?