Dec 07, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
The season 2 finale –and perhaps the entire second season – of The Leftovers can be summed up in one quote from Meg: “Family is everything.”
Since the first episode, we’ve been centered around this new family, The Murphys, who have secrets and issues, but seem to be a family that loves each other regardless. As their story unspools, we learn this family is not as wholesome and put-together as it seemed: Erika wanted to leave John; John’s been in prison for attempted murder (and is sort of a whack job anyway); Michael goes behind his parents back to visit his grandfather, Virgil; Virgil molested John; and Evie staged her disappearance in an elaborate plot to break down the walls (so to speak) of Miracle, so the Guilty Remnant... Read More
Dec 01, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
The best part about a season of television coming to an end is things start to come full circle. I’ve been wondering all season what Meg was up to and now we finally have some answers.
We know Meg is planning something big for the October 14th anniversary, much like the end of last season when she and Laurie set out the body replicas of the departed in the leftovers' homes. We also find out she has Evie and her two friends locked up in a barn on the Guilty Remnant base in Texas. What’s curious – and alarming, frankly – is Tommy broke open the trailer and could’ve set them free but they weren’t interested. They were dressed in all white and scribbling on paper. This is both good... Read More
Nov 24, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
I had to watch this episode a couple of times in order to articulate some sort of cohesive thought about what happened, and I’m still not sure I succeeded.
This episode gave us a few answers, and it found a way to bring Kevin back to life without totally ruining the credibility of the show, which is really a credit the writing and complexity of the show to begin with.
I’ve been talking about the significance of water all season and it’s importance to our character’s story. Well, we’ve got our answer – at least part of it, for sure.
As it usually seems to do, water marked rebirth for Kevin, much like a baptism. When you decide to be baptized, it usually means you’ve accepted Christ into your... Read More
Nov 17, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
This is my one and only spoiler warning!!!!!!
I have to constantly remind myself that this show (any show, really) is not Game of Thrones; not everyone you like dies and those that do die don’t really have the chance to come back. But surely Kevin, the main character and biggest driving force – though, an argument could be made for Patti – is not dead?! But then again, this is HBO and they are the honey badgers of television. They didn’t just kill Ned Stark, they beheaded him. So, is Kevin actually dead?
I say yes, he’s dead. He has to be. There’s no obvious way they can bring him back to life and not ruin the integrity of the show. But I’m getting ahead of myself.... Read More
Nov 10, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
As much as I love this show, I found this week’s episode incredibly frustrating to watch. Want to know why? Maybe I’ll just let you ponder on that for a couple of weeks and then give you an answer but then make you second-guess that answer by raising new questions for you to puzzle over.
That’s how they do it on The Leftovers. Don’t get me wrong, I love this show and all the questions it invites you to ask yourself, your friends, and the Internet. But I need just, like, one answer I can hold firm to and not have it be completely debunked in the following episode.
Ok, rant over. On to this episode, which did give us some answers. I think.
If you recall in the... Read More
Nov 03, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
This was a monumental episode and one of my favorites so far this season, and not just because it proved my theory of Rev. Matt Jamison being an important vessel of information; it also showed how vital the idea of religion, or lack thereof, is to this entire series.
In last week’s episode, Matt told Nora what he was presumably trying to tell the congregation back in episode 1 of this season: that his wife Mary briefly woke from her comatose state the night they arrived in Miracle and they laughed and cried and made love. Again, we find ourselves playing “real or fake?” We know at least part of it was real, since Mary is – Ruh-roh! – pregnant.
Now Matt has to explain why his... Read More
Oct 27, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
I was sort of bummed to return back to Miracle after such a course-altering episode last week in Laurie and Tommy’s world, but the search for Evie proved to be almost as interesting.
After being jolted awake by an earthquake, Nora runs outside to see what’s going on, just in time to see John and Michael getting in the car and driving away. Erika is standing on the porch looking concerned, and tells Nora their daughter and her friends are “gone.” Nora loses it and faints just as a dog runs by that looks an awfully lot like their dog that’s still supposed to be in quarantine. Are we seeing animals mimicking their owners again?
When Nora wakes up and can’t get a hold of Kevin on his... Read More
Oct 19, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
Holy magical hugs, Batman!
This week’s episode of The Leftovers took a quick left turn, am I right?
When we last saw Tommy and Laurie, they had met up in Mapleton after the riots last season. Now, Laurie has left the Guilty Remnant, is speaking, wearing non-white clothes, and chomping nicotine gum like nobody’s business. At this point, we can assume she left the GR because of the fire that almost killed Jill in the season 1 finale. Because of said fire, she has done a total 180 on the GR: she hates them.
Laurie has recruited Tommy to help her get people out who want out, which, apparently, is no easy feat. Tommy goes undercover as a lost soul looking to join the GR to find those who seem... Read More
Oct 12, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
This week finally supplied some answers about what happened between last season’s finale and this season’s premiere. Kevin, Jill, Nora and baby Lily’s move to Miracle seemed to come right after the season 1 finale, but we now learn it was actually several months.
After Nora finds the baby, there is a visible shift (sudden onset hope, perhaps?) in Kevin, Nora and Jill. Jill asks if they are keeping the baby and Nora sort of looks to Kevin with puppy dog eyes for the answer. Kevin uncomfortably reminds her they really don’t know each other, and tells her about his sleepwalking and kidnapping Patti, how she killed herself and how Rev. Jamison helped him bury her body. He pointedly does not mention the whole hearing and seeing Ghost Patti... Read More
Oct 05, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
If you haven’t caught up on the first season of The Leftovers, I suggest you do that before proceeding as this article includes several season one spoilers and will be extremely confusing.
Before season two started, we already knew a few important things: We knew that apart from the return of Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), Jill Garvey (Margaret Qualley), Nora (Carrie Coon), baby Lily, and Rev. Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) and his wife, Mary (Janel Moloney), season two would feature a new cast. We also knew the Garveys and Rev. Jamison were moving to a new town in Texas called Jarden, which is part of Miracle National Park, a place that claims they had no departures.
Throughout this episode, I couldn’t help but notice the several references to water. If... Read More
Oct 01, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
A lot of viewers, myself included, didn’t give The Leftovers much of a chance as the first season aired. To be honest, it was filled to the brim with darkness, despair and too many unanswered questions for me to feel connected. But, after I heard they were picked up for season 2 (premiering this Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO) I decided to give it another chance. There are too many unknowns and yet-to-be-determined things to say anything definite, so it would be an injustice for me to give you a blow-by-blow rundown of season one (plus this article would never end), so I won’t. Instead, I’ll share what kept me coming back after each episode.
Here’s a little background:
The first season of The Leftovers is based on... Read More
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