The Leftovers - HBO Series

Mikha'El

Jedi
Recently a new dramatic series began on HBO. The first episode aired on June 29, 2014.

The series is called "The Leftovers" (wikipedia link), it is written by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta. David Lindelof is known for his work on the Lost series and Tom Perrotta is the author of the book that this series is based on. Along with Lindelof, Perrotta is also a lead writer for the show, which alone makes the show awesome in the simple fact that the original author's ideas and concepts are faithfully represented.

The premise of the show is that on October 14, 2% of the world's population vanishes without a trace and without any fanfare. They simply disappear, this event is dubbed "The Sudden Departure".

The show focuses on the people that are left behind and their reactions to this unexplainable event. The first episode begins just prior to the third year anniversary of this disappearance.

I do not want to give too much away, as the show leaves a lot to be discovered as you watch, but in the first episode the social and political situation that has come about in reaction to the disappearance of these people is already in full swing.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the disappearance of these people, with some believing that the event was "The Rapture" as believed by the Christian faith. The main problem that the Rapture believers must deal with is that all kinds of people disappeared, not just the good people.

There are many who struggle to reconcile their feelings of loss, many who just want to move on and many who believe that there is more to come.

Then there is the "Guilty Remnant". The "Guilty Remnant" is a quasi-cult that was formed shortly after 'The Sudden Departure'. At this point in the show, episode 6 is the most recently aired episode at the time that I write this, the motives and beliefs of this group are still mostly a mystery.

This group has a peculiar set of operative rules, they always dress in white, they are required to smoke cigarettes at all times when in public and they never speak. At this point in the show they have had confrontations with the public over the general public's inability to let go of their losses and these confrontations have galvanized the public's opinion of them. They are seen as instigators with a cruel streak and no sympathy for the losses that the regular folk have experienced.

The way it seems to me is that they believe that the world was fundamentally altered when those people disappeared and that to cling to the old ways is a mistake and invites negativity. I believe that their goal is to bring about a new paradigm that is based on living in the moment and always to look forward, never dwelling on the past and yet never trying to forget what happened.

One of the concepts of "The Remnants" philosophy was revealed in a recent episode which lends insight into why these people left everything behind to join this group. They feel that the relationships that existed before the disappearance are no longer relevant, that the old ways are no longer effective and that a new way needs to be discovered. The leader of the group in the town in which the show is focused replies to a question about one of the group members' family, she writes on a pad, "There is no family".

There is a lot more occurring than what I have revealed here. There is a "Holy Man" named Wayne, of all things, that has a special ability to remove people's emotional pain and who has a penchant for young asian girls. He has a following of his own and it is becoming apparent that he has some serious hidden motives. His story is just beginning to unfold as episode 6 aired.

The thing that really strikes me is how this show correlates with a lot of the ideas and concepts that are expressed here in this forum. 'The Departure' is similar to how I think the Wave will affect us, the unexplainable disappearance of a seemingly random group of people. The concepts that are explored deal a lot with the mysteries of what life is and what it means to us living it. The "Guilty Remnant" seems to be an enlightened group that can see the truth of the situation while most people attempt to return to the life they had before the event. The "Holy Man" relates to those who would seek profit or fame in the wake of such a global event.

I will leave it to you to watch the show, if you are able and draw your own conclusions. I look forward to discussing the show here and anyone who has an opinion on the show is welcome to share it here.

Be aware that there may be spoilers involved and you probably want to watch it before reading on.
 
Thank you for the review, Mikha'el. I just discovered this show via a post on another forum. It looks like it could be interesting. I've only watched the pilot so far. What caught my interest early on, in the scene in the dining room of the Guilty Remnant, was the large sign proclaiming:

"We don't smoke for enjoyment. We smoke to proclaim our faith." And chain smoke they do.

Stephen King states, “The Leftovers is, simply put, the best Twilight Zone episode you never saw.”

The conversation on the forum that made me aware of this show concurred that the first season moves slowly, but kicks into overdrive in the second season. I'll need to see a few more episodes. The rapture event seems to have triggered a lot of cult activity, which would most likely happen in a real event of this type. Will the writers address the 411-type mystery of where the departed went - and why? No dice... Wait and see...
 
I will check out the show. I had caught the end of this season by mistake, kind of startled to see Liv Tyler as she was. She actually looked more attractive without the dolled up look... someone who is real.
 
This is a really odd tv show overall.

I can't say it's bad, I do like it but I do have conflicting emotions about the whole point of the plot.
Personally I don't think you can expect any big revelation about the disappearences.
It feels heavily drenched in the kind of "god judged us & now we're paying for it" kind of mentality.
Perhaps in the third and final season there might be some closure but that remains to be seen.

For those who haven't seen the show, I do think that the guilty remnants will make you think of the ideas talked about on the forum, especially the smoking part but that's it. Can't say they're a bunch of nice people. Not really respecting free will to make their point come across. It does not give a positive outlook of such communities imho.

You can join them here if you want :D

_http://guiltyremnant.com

_http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/answers-to-10-burning-questions-we-have-about-the-guilty-remnant-from-the-leftovers.php

It never really explains anything at all, seems like there is a willingness to leave things open as to give it an aura of strangeness, which is risky and sometimes unecessary.
 
In reading more, it's kind of weird that they isolated the mayhem to small areas. This "rapture" also happens to a very small % of the population, so it's not really as extreme as I thought it was.

Tigersoap, you seem to sum it up well that they're selling strangeness more than anything. Maybe that's why despite seeing previews last year, I wasn't feeling it.
 
Took a bite and watched the first episode trying to get a hold on the premises and finding out about the weird "chain-smokers cult" was hilarious.
 
I just saw the two seasons, and I have to say , I think its the best series. Is it because it's the latest? I do not know. I can not even properly explain the story, as there seems to be an esoteric and Hermetic inteligence. The work on human relations are very strong, either on friends, parents and children, brothers and sisters, men and women relations and those of strangers. Beyond the screenplay spell, the music seems to take us where we will not have the courage to explore. Also, at the end of the credits, we can see the famous White Rabbit logo and the figure 44, of Warner Bros. I leave you with the music of Max Richter ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTgEdghAOA
 
Kisito said:
I just saw the two seasons, and I have to say , I think its the best series. Is it because it's the latest? I do not know. I can not even properly explain the story, as there seems to be an esoteric and Hermetic inteligence. The work on human relations are very strong, either on friends, parents and children, brothers and sisters, men and women relations and those of strangers. Beyond the screenplay spell, the music seems to take us where we will not have the courage to explore. Also, at the end of the credits, we can see the famous White Rabbit logo and the figure 44, of Warner Bros. I leave you with the music of Max Richter ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTgEdghAOA
Maybe I was influenced by the book Laura and Peter, but the feeling of this television series, made me think of the anthropocosmiques situations. Or maybe, I want to believe. But this seems like a kind of karmic judgment.
 
This is quite a bizarre show, but so far seemingly well-written and engaging. It's certainly an interesting platform for human drama. I'm curious on a personal level what the writers think about tobacco, since the white-wearing group smokes, and the main character of the "mystery man" always has a chew in his lip.

Just watching through the first season, quite interesting so far... It's definitely not a fast-paced show, but is well-written in my opinion...
 
Mikha'el said:
The premise of the show is that on October 14, 2% of the world's population vanishes without a trace and without any fanfare. They simply disappear, this event is dubbed "The Sudden Departure".

The C's mentioned just prior to Kantek's destruction, a large group of inhabitants were evacuated to earth ... by the Lizzies. A sudden departure of sorts.

So there seems to have been a real life occurrence after all. With subsequent art imitating life.

FWIW.
 
sitting said:
Mikha'el said:
The premise of the show is that on October 14, 2% of the world's population vanishes without a trace and without any fanfare. They simply disappear, this event is dubbed "The Sudden Departure".

The C's mentioned just prior to Kantek's destruction, a large group of inhabitants were evacuated to earth ... by the Lizzies. A sudden departure of sorts.

So there seems to have been a real life occurrence after all. With subsequent art imitating life.

FWIW.

I think it is a long stretch to say this, because the C's said Kantek was destroyed, so no "guilty remanent". But maybe it has more similarities with what the C's said of the fate of Mayans.
 
I got to catch up on the show and finished it today.

It was pretty good, the characters were well done (consistent) and the story had a decent ending.


Spoiler warning:

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It was pretty interesting to see how Kevin dealt with his guilt and schizophrenia (seeing the dead). Even though Laurie made the best case for it not being real, he decided to go to the other side- by dying. He came back to life quite a few times, getting addicted to the feeling of dying.

This world of the dead had some interesting mythology at first, like the well where you dispose of things you want to get rid of. It later develops into him trying to help others who believe he could see the dead there. The information the dead give isn't so objective, so it could all be in his head, but still it was something he needed to process in that manner to face his own guilt/emotional demons.

The ending could be interpreted in 2 ways. Kevin's past love, Nora who lost all her family decided to take a scientific group on their offer to send her to the other side. She says she went there and that world had 98% leave with 2% remaining. She describes their world having more cohesion between people, because of the hard reality of losing so many people- they stuck together and helped eachother. Interesting if we think of the wave as a split and a 1000 year period of peace the C's described where people can better choose STO or STS without the STS control system.

There is also a theory that she either made it up or hallucinated her time in the other world. That wasn't clear on purpose.
 
Hmmm. Must watch the latest season. I enjoyed the series, what I saw of it. The scenes on 'the other side' are particularly interesting. These bring to mind the challenge of sorcerers in slaying monsters on the other side.
I worked with Ann Dowd in a restaurant many years ago. She was an interesting character then, and now.
 
Yupo said:
Hmmm. Must watch the latest season. I enjoyed the series, what I saw of it. The scenes on 'the other side' are particularly interesting. These bring to mind the challenge of sorcerers in slaying monsters on the other side.
I worked with Ann Dowd in a restaurant many years ago. She was an interesting character then, and now.

That's interesting Yupo. She played a hard character in the show I thought, as in stubborn, unflinching. I had watched a few episode originally and lost interest. Came back to it some time later and became hooked. I think it was just wanting to know where it was all going. I found it interesting enough that I bought one of Tom Perrotta's books; Little Children. He's a very good writer although I haven't finished it yet.
 
Yupo said:
Hmmm. Must watch the latest season. I enjoyed the series, what I saw of it. The scenes on 'the other side' are particularly interesting. These bring to mind the challenge of sorcerers in slaying monsters on the other side.
I worked with Ann Dowd in a restaurant many years ago. She was an interesting character then, and now.

When I think of the sorcerers slaying monsters on the other side, I think it was their belief systems that lead them to see monsters. Our subconscious talks in archetypes/images it seems. The book Operators and Things by Barbara O Brien had a very interesting story of how her subconscious "took over" to get her to heal herself mentally.

In the show, Kevin's father was battling schizophrenia and approached it in a different way.

The scenes on the other side show Kevin facing his own "myth" to try to come to terms with who he is. Without the other side, he wasn't able to stop his hallucinations and sleep walking, both of which probably come from his subconscious not being in sync with his conscious side.

In Kevin's "underworld", he faced people both nice and harsh and had to work on finding clues to what to do. But when he was confused and lost, the answers would show up. It was very well done, like a small movie in itself with undertones that connect to the real world of the show.
 
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