Article first published as THE LEFTOVERS Review at Seat42F.
HBO’s THE LEFTOVERS is unlike anything
I’ve ever seen on television. It’s based around a huge, whopping mystery
that the writers have no plans to answer. In these modern days, viewers
tend to want answers, and most shows are happy enough to give them.
Many fail to satisfy with those answers, and it makes for angry fans.
THE LEFTOVERS takes a different tact by saying life is uncertain and
people don’t always know what’s going on, and if you can’t handle that,
it’s probably better you don’t watch this series.
The pilot begins with an unexpected
event in which 2% of the world’s population disappears in the blink of
an eye, then immediately jumps three years into the future. The easy
explanation, the one many have been touting when talking about the
premise, is that the Rapture occurred. Yet, not all of the characters
agree, as some of the people who disappear are not good people, nor
religious. One TV anchor says, to paraphrase, I get why the pope is
gone, but Gary Busey?
This one paragraph gives you an idea of
what the characters that populate THE LEFTOVERS are dealing with.
Neither scientists, who lack evidence, nor religious leaders, many of
whom want to deny a rapture because they have been left behind, have any
understanding of what happened. Which means the population as a whole
has this very uneasy sense that not only do they not know where their
loved ones are, but also may worry that it could happen again, to anyone
at any time.
Who can live in a world like that? Well,
to be blunt, us. Tom Perrotta, the author of the source material who
also works on the show, wanted to tell a story in our world, examining
parts of the human condition we often ignore. None of us knows when our
time will be up, or what disaster could strike, causing untold death and
destruction. THE LEFTOVERS takes those nagging feelings and pushes them
to the forefront, forcing people to deal with them.
This is a really cool idea, but will it
work for a television show? As I said, viewers want answers, and I’m not
sure how many will tune in for a show that doesn’t promise to give any.
I can see what would attract Damon Lindelof to this project, having
been burned by mixed reviews of the finale of his popular drama, Lost
(personally, I loved it), but because he knows first-hand what happens
when fans don’t feel like a series has fulfilled its obligations, does
he also worry that no one will show up if he says right out of the gate
he doesn’t acknowledge those obligations this time around?
Setting aside that fundamental debate,
which I posed up front because it’s really one that should be dealt with
on an individual basis before deciding to tune in, THE LEFTOVERS, like
most HBO fare, is a solid program. It’s full of disparate individuals
who each see the situation in their own way, and have differing views on
how to deal with it.
There’s: Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux,
The District), the local cop whose wife is gone and he’s left raising
two boundary-pushing teens; Tom Garvey (Chris Zylka, The Secret Circle),
Kevin’s son who is turning to what appears to be a wise sage, Wayne
(Paterson Joseph, Law & Order: UK); Jill (Margaret Qualley, Palo
Alto), Kevin’s daughter who escapes into partying; Matt Jamison
(Christopher Eccleston, Doctor Who), a religious leader trying to make
others face what he thinks is the truth; Dean (Michael Gaston, Turn,
Jericho), a man with a gun and a plan; Meg (Liv Tyler, The Lord of the
Rings), a bride with cold feet; Laurie (Amy Brenneman, Private
Practice), who has joined a silent, creepy cult; and others.
It seems THE LEFTOVERS will deal with
spirituality and belief a lot, both in group form and on a personal
level. I suppose it would be natural to turn to a higher power when
things move beyond human knowledge, the birth of religion in our past.
In this series, many take differing paths to get to a place where they
can accept what has happened, not an easy task, and certainly not one
that a wide majority will come to agreement on.
I think three years after the event is a
good time frame to set the series in. It’s long enough that the shock
has worn off, but short enough that the ramifications are still being
felt. People have returned to a new normal in their activities, but not
in their thoughts and emotions. This is an intriguing idea, and this one
town is a microcosm of the larger world.
Of course, there are also some twists
and unexpected familial connections. That part of conventional
storytelling does remain and is welcome. We need some level of comfort
at the base in order to open our minds to the challenges of THE
LEFTOVERS. It’s a show about being, not a show about actions, and so is
designed to make us think. If it surprises us along the way with a few
reveals at key moments, well, that may just keep some casual viewers
interested enough to return, exposing them to more of the bigger issues.
THE LEFTOVERS is weird, to be sure, and
many may not know if they like it right off the bat. But I urge you to
give it a try when it premieres this Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.
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