By: Chris Young
Three years ago, The Leftovers premiered with an unusual but not exactly original premise. A "sudden departure" occurred - three years earlier, no less - resulting in the disappearance of around 2% of the world's population. Sound familiar? It may.
The series - based on the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name - focuses on Mapleton, New York Police chief Kevin Garvey, played by Justin Theroux, and the Garvey family, mostly. As you can imagine the departure has left the world in a state of confusion and, at times, anger. Kevin's wife joins a cult, his step-son follows a man who calls himself Holy Wayne, and he has to take over for his father (veteran actor Scott Glenn) as chief once the latter begins hearing voices. His daughter is the only one who appears to not be crazy only because she's losing her shit on the inside. Everybody's got their something.
Throughout the first season, you get to see what I believe is a close representation of what life would be after a rapture-type happening. There's a government agency created to survey individuals in order to find any commonalities or links between the departed and the event (and to sniff out frauds). The aforementioned cult, the Guilty Remnant, is formed with the basic message that life has pretty much ended. False prophets are fabricated and worshiped. But, for the most part, life continues and new relationships form along the way.
Reverend Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) has his own hang-ups, believing that he and his wife, Mary, are good so those taken must have been...well...not good. He goes to war with the GR (literally) but can never truly accept his current fate. His sister Nora works for the government agency, the Department of Sudden Departure, and lost her husband and two children to the event. She is recognized both as a local hero, and as a rare departure case. She meets Kevin, and they enter into a pretty damn weird situationship. In her spare time, she hires prostitutes to shoot her in the chest, while she wears a bulletproof vest. Like I said, everybody's got their something.
Three years ago, The Leftovers premiered with an unusual but not exactly original premise. A "sudden departure" occurred - three years earlier, no less - resulting in the disappearance of around 2% of the world's population. Sound familiar? It may.
The series - based on the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name - focuses on Mapleton, New York Police chief Kevin Garvey, played by Justin Theroux, and the Garvey family, mostly. As you can imagine the departure has left the world in a state of confusion and, at times, anger. Kevin's wife joins a cult, his step-son follows a man who calls himself Holy Wayne, and he has to take over for his father (veteran actor Scott Glenn) as chief once the latter begins hearing voices. His daughter is the only one who appears to not be crazy only because she's losing her shit on the inside. Everybody's got their something.
Throughout the first season, you get to see what I believe is a close representation of what life would be after a rapture-type happening. There's a government agency created to survey individuals in order to find any commonalities or links between the departed and the event (and to sniff out frauds). The aforementioned cult, the Guilty Remnant, is formed with the basic message that life has pretty much ended. False prophets are fabricated and worshiped. But, for the most part, life continues and new relationships form along the way.
Reverend Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) has his own hang-ups, believing that he and his wife, Mary, are good so those taken must have been...well...not good. He goes to war with the GR (literally) but can never truly accept his current fate. His sister Nora works for the government agency, the Department of Sudden Departure, and lost her husband and two children to the event. She is recognized both as a local hero, and as a rare departure case. She meets Kevin, and they enter into a pretty damn weird situationship. In her spare time, she hires prostitutes to shoot her in the chest, while she wears a bulletproof vest. Like I said, everybody's got their something.
As most of the world is trying to forget that they lost loved ones/were not taken, the GR's only aim is to make everyone remember, and to remind them that there's a reason they were "left behind." This results in a violent clash in Mapleton, sending our main characters to the "Miracle" city of Jarden, Texas. It is referred to as Miracle, because the town had zero (0) departures. That is, until the daughter of John and Erika Murphy (played by Kevin Carroll and Regina King, respectively) disappears with two of her high school friends.
We soon learn that Kevin may have the same affliction as his father, and we venture into the ubernatural throughout the second half of season two. I've talked to people who watched a few episodes of season one and threw in the towel. By the time we reach this point of the show, it has you. There are far more downs than ups, and they aren't just for the sake of drama, which makes for a compelling series. Our protagonist/possible savior even dies. Twice. I bet you can guess how many times he "resurrected."
If closely watched The Leftovers' themes range from religious to atheist, and from scientific to superstitious. One moment there is a general sense that everything has purpose, the next you wonder if any of it means anything. Such is life. Each character is easy to relate to because it's very easy to imagine a "sudden departure" flipping the world on its ear. What would you do if you were the only main cast member from a TV show who did not depart? It would drive you insane!
We are now in the third and final season, and in the series we are approaching the seventh anniversary of the departure. Creator Damon Lindelof stated he needed at least three seasons to tell the full story, and it seems like we are in for a hell of a finale. Season one covered the entirety of the book, and two and three are original products, so it's safe to say that I don't know what to expect from these last two episodes. For this season, they've abandoned the standard opening theme and are using songs that relate to each episode; they used the Perfect Strangers theme Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now for a fantastic episode featuring Mark Linn-Baker. I think that's an awesome way to help wrap up the feel of the last three years.
There are two more weeks until Departure Day, when we will become the Leftovers. I've truly enjoyed watching this show for three seasons. It, again, begs the question of whether or not something is being taken away because it is simply too good for this world.
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% (98% for season 3)
iMdB: 8.1/10
I won't give a standard verdict since it isn't a movie, however, I strongly recommend watching this show.
We soon learn that Kevin may have the same affliction as his father, and we venture into the ubernatural throughout the second half of season two. I've talked to people who watched a few episodes of season one and threw in the towel. By the time we reach this point of the show, it has you. There are far more downs than ups, and they aren't just for the sake of drama, which makes for a compelling series. Our protagonist/possible savior even dies. Twice. I bet you can guess how many times he "resurrected."
If closely watched The Leftovers' themes range from religious to atheist, and from scientific to superstitious. One moment there is a general sense that everything has purpose, the next you wonder if any of it means anything. Such is life. Each character is easy to relate to because it's very easy to imagine a "sudden departure" flipping the world on its ear. What would you do if you were the only main cast member from a TV show who did not depart? It would drive you insane!
We are now in the third and final season, and in the series we are approaching the seventh anniversary of the departure. Creator Damon Lindelof stated he needed at least three seasons to tell the full story, and it seems like we are in for a hell of a finale. Season one covered the entirety of the book, and two and three are original products, so it's safe to say that I don't know what to expect from these last two episodes. For this season, they've abandoned the standard opening theme and are using songs that relate to each episode; they used the Perfect Strangers theme Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now for a fantastic episode featuring Mark Linn-Baker. I think that's an awesome way to help wrap up the feel of the last three years.
There are two more weeks until Departure Day, when we will become the Leftovers. I've truly enjoyed watching this show for three seasons. It, again, begs the question of whether or not something is being taken away because it is simply too good for this world.
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% (98% for season 3)
iMdB: 8.1/10
I won't give a standard verdict since it isn't a movie, however, I strongly recommend watching this show.