Season 2 of The Leftovers is a drastically different beast from the first. In terms of its pacing, cast, tone, location, structure, it felt like an entirely different show. And at first, not one that I was really vibing with. Emphasis on "at first".
Season 2 starts with Kevin, Nora, Jill, and their new kid Lily moving in next door to a family called the Murphys in a new town called Miracle, upon hearing from Matt that it's magical. When an earthquake and causes the disappearance of the Murphys' kid, they're left unsure if Miracle is actually magical. Meanwhile, there's also a subplot about Laurie and Tom trying to take down the Guilty Remnant, which is now being led by the sadistic Meg. It's a solid basis for a season. The Guilty Remnant subplot, while not as prevalent than in Season 1, is probably even more gripping than before, and I really like the philosophical arguments about Miracle. Coupled with the season's more light tone, it poses an interesting question about whether or not the cast can ever be hopeful again after the Departure. However, all of that interesting potential isn't immediately apparent because the pacing in the first half of Season 2 is kind of off. The premiere focuses almost entirely on the Murphys, entirely new characters who I had no attachment to, and the next two episodes would cover the exact same time period with different casts. While these are great episodes on their own and I'm glad we've been getting more experimental and character-driven stuff, I was a third into the season and realized that I still had trouble fully getting a grasp on what it was supposed to be about. By the fifth episode, once again a character study, I was wondering if I was going to end up preferring the more grounded and assured first season.
It's not until the halfway point in the episode Lens where Season 2 started to really take shape for me, though, and I began to really get hooked to The Leftovers all over again. It took all of the season's disparate threads like the GR and Matt's own quest and started to bring them together, it explored the Miracle conflict a lot more thoroughly, and with Erika's great development, it was the point where I really started to like the Murphys as characters as well as parallels to the Garveys. And things just kept getting better, between Kevin's trippy and emotionally-crushing storyline making up for the first half's relatively lighter tone, Liv Tyler getting to go gloriously evil with a Guilty Remnant plan that massively raises the stakes, and a finale that brings together every single character and plot point in immensely satisfying fashion. It all just made me realize how deliberately things were paced in this season, the slow and disjointed start that I initially found offputting was part of the point. Season 2's slow start was meant to set up all of the characters and themes, which ended up leading to a pretty phenomenal second half that far surpassed Season 1.
Highlights:
A Most Powerful Adversary: While Season 2 was mostly more light-hearted than its predecessor, A More Powerful Adversary is a massive exception. This is easily the most emotionally exhausting episode in the whole show, so much so that I had to take a breather after finishing it. While Kevin dying was meant so that he'd able to get rid of Patti, seeing him hastily tie loose ends with the few people he had left throughout that final third gave an entirely different feeling. Laurie showing up was a pleasant surprise, and I'm very glad we finally got to see her share dialogue with Kevin, and that cliffhanger was so fucked up that it put Die Me, Dichotomy to shame.
International Assassin: It's funny how coincidences work. Just a few weeks ago, I was watching The Prisoner and commenting on how it reminded me of Lost, only to watch an episode by Lost's co-creator that feels heavily inspired by The Prisoner. International Assassin is a riff on spy thrillers that also happens to be an unnerving mindfuck character study that leaves everything as ambiguous as possible. So yeah, big surprise, I liked International Assassin. I wouldn't call it one of the "all-time great TV episodes" like so many people seem to do, but it was a fun, visually-stunning, and trippy dream sequence episode with a very emotional sendoff for who I originally found to be a very annoying character. It doesn't just feel like an episode of The Leftovers, it feels like it could be its own standalone film.
What I really loved about International Assassin, though, was all the hidden details and implications. I loved the nods to other movies. I love how that clothes thing felt like choosing a class in an RPG. I love what Kevin picking the assassin clothes implies about his self-image. I love how almost all the reoccurring characters in Kevin's death dream were characters who had died (or in the case of Mary, was in a coma), with the exception of Henry Sr, who definitely isn't dead. I love how that leaves the existence of the death world entirely ambiguous. Lindelof is just a master at not confirming or deconfirming anything, and instead giving you enough evidence for either stance. As a pretty massive skeptic, I mostly chalked the events of the episode up to being some sort of dream sequence, but there's plenty of evidence to the contrary if you disagree.
I Live Here Now: To be perfectly honest, I liked Season 1's finale a bit better. I Live Here Now borrowed a bit too much from its predecessor, and all the thematic resonance in the world can't change the Kevin = Messianic figure thing from feeling a bit tropey, but even with those flaws, I Live Here Now was still super satisfying and powerful. The GR's riot was way more devastating than the one in TPSR, Erika's reunion with Evie was absolutely gut-wrenching, and the return to purgatory, awkward karaoke scene included, was an absolute joy. But best of all, it did a phenomenal job of bringing together all of the characters and plot points into a relatively satisfying ending.
Overall, though Season 2's drastic changes may be a bit tough to come to grips with at first, it all feels incredibly purposeful. The slow purposeful first half sets up easily the most emotionally-crushing, satisfying, inventive, thematically interesting, and flat-out weird stretch of episodes in the show to date. From the many experimental character studies, to the constant shifts in perspective, to whatever the hell International Assassin was, Season 2 is weird and imperfect, but it's also kinda beautiful in its own way.
5/5 Stars
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