THE LEFTOVERS: HBO's nondenominational post-rapture series

AV Club likes it as well:

http://www.avclub.com/review/leftovers-bleak-brutal-brilliant-television-206204

was curious about this until i learned about the involvement of lindelof today - gonna wait a couple years before investigating

Yeah, I'm going nowhere near this or The Strain (how Lindelof hitched his train to two new shows, let alone why the people in charge didn't think it wiser to bury that particular lede, I'll never know) until they're over and people are still raving about what amazing shows they were.

gonna wait a couple years before investigating

If Lindelof is involved, it ain't going to get better as it goes along ...

Come on! The last season of Nash Bridges was the best of them!

Did it take place in the afterlife? Did it help to understand the fundamental questions of our very existence?

Nash and Joe discover that there's a portal in West Portal.

the trailers really hit a great ominous vibe, i hope they can hold that up over the course of a whole episode. True Blood doesn't seem close to what they're going for at all.

Lost was good TV for quite a while, i wouldn't really put it past Lindelof to do something worthwhile, especially since this show is based on a book and so there's already source material to draw backstory and an ending from so less of a chance for him to screw that up.

Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll quit after a couple of seasons and someone good will take over?

I'm probably going to watch this. Even if it sucks it'll be interesting to see Paterson Joseph in a dramatic role.

apparently it's very loosely based on the book some dude. Although Perotta is heavily involved

i dunno i thought anti-Lindelof sentiment was about writing himself into a corner with a bunch of unsolved mysteries and a crappy ending a la Lost? just saying this at least has a pre-existing roadmap of sorts. maybe the sentiment is coming from people who always hated Lost and everything he's done though.

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/compare-the-damon-lindelof-and-jon-spaihts-drafts-of-prometheus

So did someone read the original script before it was taken down by Fox? How do they compare? Anyway, it's really moot, because clearly Lindelof did not make it better enough to be good, so in many ways he failed even worse no matter what the original draft was like, because his sole job was to make it better, and it is inconceivable that the first version is so bad that Lindelof's is better.

Oh, I didn't click on the first link to the original script. It was quite different. The most obvious difference is that Lindelof added a lot of capitalized words and exclamation points.

lindelof is terrible and should be avoided like the plague by sensible people. not sure what the debate is

Last shot of the show: camera pulls out and we realize they're all sealed in a Tupperware container in a giant refrigerator.

his sole job was to make it better...

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, June 26, 2014

tbf we have no idea what his job was.

quite possibly his job was "please execute these specific story revs, address this set of production notes, and maybe while you're at it throw in some of that fluffy Faith Versus Science Type Stuff People Seem To Like to give it that damon lindelof feeling."

another more/less positive review: http://grantland.com/features/hbo-the-leftovers-lost-lindelof/

I can't imagine they hired inexplicably A-list screenwriter Lindelof to just make a couple of changes, but who knows? Clearly someone hired him to lend that Lindelof feeling to the last Star Trek movie and World War Z, and they both sucked, often for reasons shared with other shitty Lindelof projects. I kind of wish all he did was spell check or something rote. He could do less damage that way, though scripts would be rife with homophones.

Anyway, I like Tom Perrotta a lot, so hopefully the Perrotta feeling wins out.

hey man i am the last guy to defend lindelof as a writer.
i do think he's a professional who shows up sober and delivers clean drafts on time and would probably be totally fun to hang out with as long as he stuck to beer and pool and shooting the breeze and didn't start writing anything down on paper.

i dunno i thought anti-Lindelof sentiment was about writing himself into a corner with a bunch of unsolved mysteries and a crappy ending a la Lost? just saying this at least has a pre-existing roadmap of sorts. maybe the sentiment is coming from people who always hated Lost and everything he's done though.

― some dude, Thursday, June 26, 2014 5:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i liked lost's ending more than most people and i still hate lindelof

his writing is made entirely of crutches

sorry, *L O S T ' S

Lindelof seems like a good manager.

like i've never gotten the sense that he has any grasp on what he's doing, he just sits with a blank word processor endlessly screaming "AAAAHHH AAAAAHHH UUUUUUUHHHHHH DADDY ISSUES UUUUUUUUHHHH EVERYONE'S A SECRET MURDERER UHHHHHHHH MEANINGLESS CONFUSION AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH"

maybe smokebombs is a better word than crutches. he's got a whole utility belt of smokebombs that he uses to hide his literally nothing

he's got a whole utility belt of smokebombs that he uses to hide his literally nothing

― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Thursday, June 26, 2014

see, i think this actually does explain why he's in demand.

For sure, it's a lot easier to make movies where you don't have to explain anything to anyone's satisfaction. Maybe he's a Hollywood subversive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1YuvUQFJ0#t=24

needs more polar bears

would you guys shut up about this first episode already? you guys are talking about it too much, shut up

Anyway someone please fire whoever hired Max Richter and let him plonk away for the whole dang episode

i was about to watch this but i just read the thing lindelof wrote where he defends the lost finale by comparing himself to walter white

jk i wasn't about to watch this

Won't someone else please watch it. I feel like I watched it for nothing.

This reminds me of the time I watched The Cape.

i might watch it tonight unless I decide to watch s3 of the Killing

zing

There is an alternative. One can read the book, which I can attest with 100% certainly actually has an ending.

i watched it and I was really surprised by how much I like it!

i'm a sucker for peter berg, he makes me feel all the feels, idk. i like that no-one was standing around blurting exposition like a lot of pilots. just enough backstory to want to know more, everyone's fucked up just enough to want to see it get worse/better

also theroux is hott :)

This was good. Maybe it will start sucking later on. But maybe not!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10454229_10152158254685079_4782378481178547287_o.jpg

lol

telling myself that having a book with a written ending might guard against lindelof lindelofing this thing up

to which mr veg said "a book is just a thing he gets names out of"

:(

i'm a sucker for peter berg, he makes me feel all the feels, idk.

--set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl)

always wondered who bought all those tickets to BATTLESHIP...

AND PROUD OF IT

actually i saw it for free lol

Yeah, not bad. Not great, but not bad. Lead actress is Whoah nelly hotness. Theroux maybe overacting a bit. White clothes people creepy.

join a cult, chainsmoke

Pilot is ok, disconcerting American Beauty vibe will hopefully wear off.

Went to bed halfway through, it seemed all kinds of turgid.

This shit is no better than Under The Dome, it has been a watershed moment for me in that I have happily/apathetically watched tons of garbage series' over the last couple of years. But this one has lead me to an epiphany event hereafter I can't even switch off any more and accept shit like this as background ambience when I am on the exercise bike.

Every reviewer has pointed to episode 3 being far better than the first two, so I'll check that one out. And I liked the first few episodes, though the American Beauty vibe is pretty annoying.

That seems to be a thing for prestige U.S. cable: the first two or three episodes are often kinda eh. Which would be more tolerable if they weren't 10 or 13 ep seasons. Not a lot of room for slack.

Better than network, though, where the first one or two seasons often suck before a show hits its stride.

definitely watch

The seriousness of S1 bothered me too the first time, but the second time it didn't at all, probably because I viewed it through the prism of right now. One thing I really loved--the first time was different; hard to recall, but I think I felt more frustrated--was the litany of MacGuffins, which I won't detail here in deference to AIXTC. I remember how, first time, with every one them I thought, "Ah, that must be the key."

yeah my only advice for watching S1 is dont try to figure it out - just float along with it down the river

I think this show does everything Lost probably wanted to do, but succeeded

agree

i remember being struck by the nihilism of season 1 and frequently asking myself "why am i watching this?" and yet continuing to watch because it was such powerful, well-made television. in seasons 2 & 3, the series really found its voice and its humanity. i'm sure i've said this elsewhere in this thread, but my favorite tv series ever, period.

first season was p average. hoping it kicks up a gear in the next

Oh it does

Season 1 is brutally depressing. Can’t imagine watching it right now.

I'm predicting that S1 gives a good picture of where the world will be in another 18 months: divided into people who are still vigilantly following every bit of COVID news (the town's "Heroes Day," more or less), those who are bored and want to move on (Kevin), and weird outliers who push back hard (far from perfect, but I felt like there was an analogy between the Guilty Remnants and all these protesters).

Yeah we nearly didn't carry on after season 1 - good premise and lots of great ideas and performances floating around, but it's so oppressively miserable. Season 2, right from the revamped credits, is such a breath of fresh air! Still at heart a weighty, serious story, but painted in tones of irony and black absurdism rather than stifling angst. 2 & 3 really are excellent, and you could maaaybe get away with skipping 1 (my memory might be being too harsh to it through).

Another good gag in the first series is to do with the disappearing celebs which has a great payoff in s2

idk why but the mention of the s2 credits reminded me of that

odd tonal shift in season 2

fwiw I watched this whole series and wouldn't really say I liked it. It's ambitiously weird and sometimes compelling, Carrie Coon is excellent, but everything is always amped up so much. It never really gelled with me. Also hate hate hate that "let the avocadies be" song

yes you definitely need to be down for, or ideally in pursuit of, up-to-11 emotions at all times

Don't read this unless you're finished.

Moved onto S2. I've talked about ghost Patty lots in this thread, but her first line ("What the fuck was that?" after they let Kevin walk after he turns himself in) and her last line ("Uh-oh") in the second episode are both series' highlights.

holy wayne's scene in the final episode of season 1 was intense

we've done season 2 now. definitely an improvement on the first but not sure I quite understand all the hosannas. do enjoy how overwrought everything is all the time though, and the relationship between kevin and nora is genuinely kinda moving

season 2 also actually funny in places

justin theroux really levels up his performance in the second series too, kinda has to given his character's pretty incredible storyline

Has anyone read the novel? I'm wondering if it's all there in the novel, or if, when they got to the second season, they had to start adding stuff just for the series. When a TV series goes on the air, they have no way of knowing if they're going to be around for a second season.

My wife read the novel. It’s only the first season and there’s less there. That affected my watching if the series, she told me in the beginning that the book offers no explanations.

That's what I suspected--which to me makes the second season even more impressive, that they had to create that from scratch. I assume Tom Perrotta continued to stay involved in the second and third seasons.

Perotta did stay on and is heavily credited.

Great scene at the end of S2, E5 (the one where Matt and Mary are locked out of Miracle): Matt headed back to the encampment with the kid, explaining to John that yes, Mary did wake up, and that if he makes it back to town again, he'll sit down with John and have a talk. The contrast between Matt's restored assurance and John's anger/befuddlement is memorable. (I'm sure there are, in addition, specific biblical analogies that are lost on me...I get the crucifixion part--I'm not that much of a pagan.)

"the one where Matt and Mary are locked out of Miracle"--and if that doesn't jog your memory, the Bellamy Brothers episode.

Anyone rewatching or watching S2 onwards, definitely check Reza Aslan’s recaps & explainer pieces he wrote for Vulture at the time

He gives great insight into the religious/spiritual angles of the show (he was an adviser for s2 and s3)

This is the first one he did for s2e1
https://www.vulture.com/2015/10/leftovers-mysteries-religion-reza-aslan.html

Behind a paywall, but I'll use that Google trick to access it. Found the next episode--rocks through the window, the fundraiser, Freddie Rumsen, Simon & Garfunkel--very absorbing.

I've mentioned how you can see imperfect but clear pandemic parallels in The Leftovers. I'm surprised there hasn't been a Miracle pop up the past month in the news--a city or town that COVID has completely passed by. My own town feels a little like that--two positives and holding for two months--but I don't see a caravan of people flocking here, and nobody's slitting any goats yet in the town square.

When Kevin asks Patti "What do you want me to do?" and she launches into her Egyptian story, that has to be the funniest thing in the whole series. I burst out laughing knowing what was coming.

Found the next episode--rocks through the window, the fundraiser, Freddie Rumsen, Simon & Garfunkel--very absorbing.

This was the first episode when it explicitly occured to be me how delighted and fascinated I was by this show.

Here's the Egyptian thing I referred to above--obviously, don't watch if you haven't already seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRQEzVaNw8

The look on Kevin's face as he takes this all in brings me to tears of laughter. Unfortunately, the poster cut the clip before the punchline: Patti bursts out laughing and says "How the fuck should I know what you're supposed to do?"

Finished S2 last night. I'll stand by my admiration for S1, not a favourite on this thread--I didn't mind the extreme somberness at all this time, and still give it a slight edge. But I loved S2, too, more than the first time; everything just fit together. Meg dancing with Tommy at that roadside bar was great--maybe the only time Meg transforms into a humane, open person in the entire first two seasons, and wow, Liv Tyler was so beautiful for those 10 minutes. (Obviously she always is, but I think they photographed her with a hard edge the rest of the time.)

Now, the hard part: S3, almost none of which I remember, and which I really didn't care for the first time (a few moments, yes).

s3 rules! too short, tho

Finished S3--I'll get some thoughts down later. I had to laugh at this, though (from a piece on CNN's site this morning), having been talking about COVID parallels I kept finding second time around.

Boosting markets' optimism Tuesday, US biotechnology company Novavax (NVAX) announced that it is starting a human trial for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate in Australia.

Kevin stepping up to save the world one more time.

All you have to do is step into this little pod here...

What I wrote three years ago about S3:

THE LEFTOVERS: HBO's nondenominational post-rapture series

Removed from high expectations, it did improve a lot. I don't like it better than the first two seasons. My favourite episode remains E8 in the first season (life just before the departure), and the single scene I find most moving would be Kevin singing "Homeward Bound" in S2, not Nora's monologue at the end. But it didn't seem nearly as arbitrary (if that's the right word) this time--it held together and meshed with the first two seasons.

I think I was really thrown by the two most out-there episodes the first time, the Kevin Sr. episode and the one on the cruise ship. I can now see (especially with the first) how some of the reviews I've been sampling experienced them as tour-de-forces. The two things I did love initially--that wild Aboriginal music ("Rain Dance," an obvious tribute to the Guess Who) and Matt's episode-closing line aboard the ship ("That was the guy I was telling you about")--were as great as ever. I appreciated the humour more in Kevin Sr.'s episode (loved "Are you kidding me?" when he gets hit with the dart), and the he-says-he's-god subplot aboard the ship, that felt more meaningful this time, not just a clever joke.

I'm normally an against-interpretation kind of person, but ultimately it all felt very much like Six Feet Under from a different angle: carpe diem, because you never know when it will all end. You can't miss that in Six Feet Under, where you have all those freak accidents to start each episode. With The Leftovers, it's three seasons of false leads and fake prophets and self-serving explanations. I really liked Nora's description of the other side: all the departures wondering where 98% of the world has gone.

Was really glad they returned to familiar opening-them music for the last two episodes. Except for the one hip-hop song, those rotating opening themes in S3 were pretty bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhPENXCcK9A

Couldn't find it on Soulseek, so I downloaded the video and converted it to an mp3.

The alternate world where 98% of people disappeared sounds pretty cool.

pvmic