The Leftovers (HBO) TV Show • Page 61

I remember the clip of that they showed in the trailer made me think Matt’s own cult has turned on him and was about to kill him or something

 

They put that clip in the trailer? Gross.

 

I was just reading back in the thread to see our reactions to the trailers and S3E1. What an exciting time in our lives.

 

Just the part where they wrap something around his throat I think. Made it seem like he was about to get got

 

Ah ok.

That may be my least favorite episode since like S1.

 

I loved matt matt world! Matt getting increasingly annoying to even his friends due to his evangelicalism about Kevin, the encounter with the Australian dude from the news in S1/2 and the hotel in S2 who calls himself God (along with the return of my favorite score from the series for that scene), and watching Matt realize he doesn't really believe in God anymore, etc....Also love the "That's the guy I was telling you about."

 

“That’s the guy I was telling you about” is one of my favorite quotes. A while back I was talking to a friend of mine about my childhood in the church I grew up in and my rocky relationship with religion. A lot of bad stuff happened over the years and I went through a very angry phase before I circled back around in my life to loving that people have something to believe in so long as it isn’t harming anyone. I talked for a while about how sometimes I still miss it, that truly alive feeling I had in my childhood church before my family left. I spoke to him about how the pastor back then remained my favorite speaker over the years, no matter how many others came and went, and how if I close my eyes sometimes I can still hear his exact cadence and the warmth he radiated. Near the end of our conversation my friend asked me about my loss and reconciliation with all of it. I said a few more things and then I showed him a news article about my childhood pastor being arrested for fraud. I looked at him and kind of smiled sadly to myself as I knowingly copied the line.

“That’s the guy I was telling you about.”

 

David Burton was the most interesting part of the episode and he got eaten by a lion.

I’m still just so let down by the lack of focus on the characters in favor of super far reaching plot points. No Tom and no Jill and most of the other characters being pushed to the background has taken almost all of my investment away. I really miss the show being about normal people in an unknowable and unfathomable situation.

 

Think you'll finish it today?

 

One thing I realized upon my rewatch was how Season 3 for the first 5-6 episodes was almost systemically building up and then tearing down a lot of the supernatural elements of the show, almost like saying “no, these people were actually just extremely mentally fucked up by the departure”. Dog killer guy? Just a psycho. Matt’s theory about Kevin being the new Jesus? Nope. Can’t remember them all off the top of my head but i remember some of the smaller ones being addressed too, if indirectly.

And all that set up makes you really wonder what’s real and what isnt in the last two epidodes.

 

“Lack of focus on the characters”

Woof do I disagree with that take on s3 lol.

 

Tbf, it did kind of brush aside a lot of the side characters in favor of a core 4-5, namely Kevin, Nora, Matt, Laurie, and Kevin Sr. I loved everythingthey did with them in S3 but I don’t blame anyone who thought the kids or the Murphy’s would have a bigger role after season 2 for being a little let down at their shelving.

I do wonder how much that had to do with needing to wrap up with a shorter season 3.

 

Tom, Jill, Laurie, John, Michael (especially), Erika, Evie, and Mary have all either been killed, written off totally, or pushed to the background. All to focus on Kevin being Jesus and the world ending. This was a full on ensemble for two seasons, and now most of that good work has been brushed aside.

 

I do wish it had found something to do with he Murphy’s but I get that it wasn’t their story. I think they give Michael and Erika their moments in s3.

Fire Tom and Jill into the sun tbh, bad reminders of s1.

I don’t think you’ll feel that way about Laurie soon.

 

Yeah I saw that she has an episode next and I’m looking forward to that. Tom I never really liked but he was SO important that dropping him sucks. Jill I always loved and I cared about her story a lot.

I keep thinking about Ghost Patti saying, “Are they in your story or are you in theirs?” early in S2 and there was a time when that question was justified. This season they have totally existed orbiting around Kevin and it sucks. I especially miss Erika.

 

Oh and no, I won’t be able to finish tonight. I’m volunteering at a brewery all week basically so it’s mostly one a day for me. Only three left though so that’s not a problem. I’m sure the arcs for most of the main characters will feel satisfying, but it would take a looooooooot to push this up above, “Oh yeah I really liked that, loved some of it,” territory up to favorites of all time contention.

 

Ahahahaha Nora and Matt and Laurie in the van is the best scene this season. It’s a shame the siblings didn’t interact more.

 

You know who had an arc? Noah.

 

Laurie never told him??? I thought that’s why they split apart because he didn’t come through for her with that! Nooooo!

 

Just finished. Liked the finale a lot. Nora is such a great character.

I really wish that I had known they ultimately drop the ensemble vibe for the most part, I might have been more into it if I had only focused on a few people. That dropping of characters (for time I’m assuming?) really made S3 way less satisfying and interesting overall to me. Nora and Kevin got worthy endings, but there was so much else going on earlier that I was super invested in and we didn’t get much closure or involvement there at all.

I can think back to a lot of moments that are satisfying now, but just as many entire episodes and threads that just took up time only to go nowhere. I would kill for more scenes of Nora and Matt or Laurie and Kevin or any of that group together if they are the only ones who actually mattered (Ghost Patti can tag along too.)

I loved that they brought back the S2 music and it was so comforting after the super jarring choices of the past few episodes. I was hoping for one last Simon & Garfunkel in the episode itself though...

At this point there are episodes I can see myself picking and choosing to watch randomly, but I don’t know if I will revisit the entire story.

 

I remember LIndelof saying at some point during the height of the Season 3 popularity that ultimately the show was a love story about Kevin and Nora, which prob explains why they focused on them/their ending so much.

I remember also thinking at the time like damn all those little side stories and threads that never got fully addressed I wanna know what happens!!!....but then I just kinda accepted it haha. But on re-watch I def noticed that more things were answered, or at least had an answer alluded to, than I initially realized.

 

The Murphys and extended family are really left unsaid. That’s a huge bummer.

It’s still absolutely better than GOT though.
This one had questionable moments that could at least be counted on one hand...

 

Starting a rewatch of this. Love the pilot. Max Richter being all over this immediately elevates the material and remains one of my favorite aspects of the show.

 

I still wouldn’t call it as flawless as anyone here, but I keep thinking about little things from the show and I may have to rewatch at some point after all. I hope knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore will change some of it in a positive way.

Wanting to see Nora again is a huge part of it. I rewatched Widows this weekend and I forgot how underutilized Carrie Coon is in it.

 

Between widows and infinity war it is almost criminal how little they used her in 2018.