Episode Rankings: The Leftovers

The Leftovers is a pretty brilliant show, though it's not for everyone. It's incredibly ambiguous, with every single episode and plot point left just vague enough for you to come to your own conclusion. But even if you're not a fan of that, there's still a lot to love in the great acting and writing, and the great way it explorers grief. I also liked how episodic The Leftovers is, each episode feels like it stands as its own individual film. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. International Assassin (S2.08)
2. The Book Of Nora (S3.08)
3. The Prodigal Son Returns (S1.10)
4. A Most Powerful Adversary (S2.07)
5. I Live Here Now (S2.10)
6. The Most Powerful Man In The World (And His Identical Twin Brother) (S3.07)
7. The Garveys At Their Best (S1.09)
8. Two Boats And A Helicopter (S1.03)
9. It's A Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World (S3.05)
10. Lens (S2.06)
11. Certified (S3.06)
12. Guest (S1.06)
13. Cairo (S1.07)
14. Off Ramp (S2.03)
15. G'Day Melbourne (S3.04)
16. Gladys (S1.05)
17. A Matter Of Geography (S2.02)
18. Pilot (S1.01)
19. Orange Sticker (S2.04)
20. The Book Of Kevin (S3.01)
21. Ten Thirteen (S2.09)
22. Solace For Tired Feet (S1.07)
23. Axis Mundi (S2.01)
24. Don't Be Ridiculous (S3.02)
25. Penguin One, Us Zero (S1.02)
26. No Room At The Inn (S2.05)
27. BJ And The AC (S1.04)
28. Crazy Whitefella Thinking (S3.03)

The Leftovers (Season 3)

I can't believe I'm already done with The Leftovers, it's such a short show! But to be perfectly honest, I didn't love Season 3 as much as its predecessors. It's still a great season of television and a satisfying resolution to the show's story, but it wasn't as cohesive as the first or as successful in its experimentation as the second.

Season 3 takes place three years after the events of Season 2. The world is scared that yet another supernatural event is going to happen on the looming 7th anniversary of the Departure, Kevin is unsure if his immortality makes him a/the Messiah, and Nora goes to Australia where she learns about a machine that can take her to where the Departed went. I'm going to be honest here, this season didn't make the best first impression on me. If you know me, you know I dislike time-jumps for skipping past potentially interesting developments and leading to exposition-filled openers, and the one that kicked off Season 3 is no different. The premiere spent a lot of time catching us up everything that had happened off-screen (most infuriatingly the abrupt deaths of the Guilty Remnant), which bogged down an otherwise pretty solid. It also didn't help that the religious symbolism was cranked up to eleven this season, reminding me a lot of Lost's own final season, which I pretty vocally didn't like. Add in an episode entirely focused on Henry Sr, the character I care the least about, aimlessly wandering around doing tribal dances, and it started to feel like the show was losing me.

However, Season 3 did have a lot of elements I really liked, even early on. Nora, who was easily one of my favorite characters, got a lot of focus here and her storyline about the machine lead to that same kind of ambiguity and philosophical discussion that made the Miracle storyline from last season so great. The writing, acting, and visuals are still as on-point as always, and the second episode in particular had a pretty stellar trampoline-related scene. And just like in its predecessor, I think the second half of Season 3 was far superior to the first. The storyline about Kevin thinking he's a Messiah gets a bit more depth when it's made clear that other people are projecting that onto him, It's A Matt, Matt World and The Most Powerful Man In The World were two of the most brilliant weird episodes in the show, Certified was a devastating depiction of what brings someone to kill themselves, and the series finale, while as ambiguous as I expected and fairly small in scale, was a great summation of the show's themes and a satisfying farewell for Kevin and Nora. Unfortunately, unlike in Season 2 where the payoff retroactively made the slow start better in hindsight, Season 3's ending wasn't really able to make the time-jump feel less intrusive. And even with the better second half, I still had some gripes with the season like Henry Sr's increased role, Laurie's farewell being slightly mishandled, and a decent chunk of the cast not showing up in the finale.

Highlights:

It's A Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World: This episode was surreal as hell, and I adored it. The way it distorted religious symbols and then threw Matt head-first into those distortions, from a ark filled with sex freaks to a "God" that committed a murder, was as darkly funny as it was cruel, and yet Matt came out of it with a better sense of clarity than before. I also like how it crammed some of the cast in a single location and made them reveal some secrets, like how the Murphys learn Kevin thought he saw Evie, and Matt revealing his cancer was back.

The Most Powerful Man In The World (And His Identical Twin Brother): On one hand, it's hard not to feel like Lindelof noticed people loved International Assassin and decided to do it again with this episode. On the other hand, International Assassin slapped and so does this. The premise of Kevin trying to kill his twin brother who he repeatedly body swaps with is so weird but also really fun to watch, and while it's not as emotionally impactful as Assassin, between Kevin realizing he regrets screwing up his relationship with Nora and the long-awaited rainstorm that predictably wasn't actually apocalyptic, this was a fitting climax for the season.

The Book Of Nora: I have my gripes with this ending. It's a bit overlong, some of the cast members didn't show up, and Laurie's ambiguous fate in Certified isn't ambiguous anymore, but it's hard to complain too much. Because just like with Lost's divisive finale, The Book Of Nora works on a fundamental and emotional level. As mentioned above, Nora was always the strongest character, and the simplest example of someone affected by the Departure. Having her finally figure to move on felt like the perfect end of the show, and with Kevin having done similarly in the previous episode, seeing them end up back together is heart-warming. And just as I was hoping, the ending is ambiguous as hell. Nothing is confirmed, yet all of the pieces are there for you to make your own conclusion. 

Overall, Season 3 was easily the weakest of the three for me, between the fairly frustrating time jump and the extra focus on Kevin Jr. However, with a great final batch of episodes, some of the weirdest experiments in the series, a strong farewell to Kevin and Nora, and a fairly satisfying ending that solidfies the show's themes.

4/5 Stars

My ranking of the seasons of The Leftovers is:

1. Season 2: Has a bit of a slow start but the payoff in the second half is masterful, a weird and wonderful season filled with experimental and strange thematic conflicts 
2. Season 1: While a bit dark and not as experimental as the other seasons, Season 1 is a fantastic exploration of a small town dealing with grief, with the strongest overall narrative
3. Season 3: The time jump makes it really hard to adjust but the final few episodes brings it back home for a very satisfying ending

My ranking of the finales of The Leftovers is:

1. The Book Of Nora: Flawed at points but emotionally and thematically satisfying, and the final sequence is perfection
2. The Prodigal Son Returns: A very satisfying and rewarding ending that takes Season 1's disparate threads and ties them in a neat bow
3. I Live Here Now: Very similar to Season 1's finale, equal parts satisfying and derivative

Favorite Episode: International Assassin

The Leftovers (Season 2)

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

The Leftovers (Season 1)

Damon Lindelof is increasingly becoming one of my favorite TV writers ever. Yeah, I know, hot take considering how controversial the Lost finale is, but as a sucker for ambiguity, his style just works for me. Lindelof is a master at using unexplained supernatural events to tell personal, human stories, as shown in all-timer TV episodes like The Constant. The Leftovers feels like an evolution of his craft.

The Leftovers has a simple premise. One random day, 2% of the world's population suddenly and permanently disappears in an event later dubbed the Departure. If you've followed the MCU, it's like a less extreme but a no less crippling version of "The Snap". Unlike in the MCU, however, The Leftovers doesn't focus on how people disappeared or how they could be brought back. The Departure happened, no one understands why, and there's no reversing it. Instead, The Leftovers focuses on a small town called Mapleton as we watch them process their grief over the event. As you might expect given my other reviews, I think this premise is brilliant. The fact that The Departure is a wholly ambiguous and unexplained event allows The Leftovers to explore how people reconcile things that don't make sense. Some people may try to find a scientific explanation, even if nothing necessarily adds up, while others may try to find a religious explanation, even if The Departure was too random to be a rapture. Lost had this "Man Of Science, Man Of Faith" theme that I found really interesting even if it ended up settling for the faith side by the end. The Leftovers further explores that same exact theme but doesn't settle for an answer, at least not in this season.

But more than faith, The Leftovers is primarily a story about grief. I've always found episodes in TV shows where the characters deal with grief to be fascinating, because you can tell a lot about a person by the way they process a traumatic event. The Leftovers is well aware of this, so Mapleton is filled with a wide variety of people dealing with the Departure in their own different ways, and you learn more about them by watching their actions. A testament to the cast's variety is the parallel between lead Kevin and side character Nora, the latter losing everyone to the Departure and the former losing no one, and yet they're both struggling immensely. It's actually really hard to watch considering that there's a single character who's not miserable or rage-filled, but I also can't say any of these characters are not incredibly interesting. The main "plot" of the season involves a nihilistic cult called the Guilty Remnant harassing the town and trying to remind them of the Departure, and while they annoy me to no end, I think they're a good exploration of toxic nihilism. Still, it's unmistakable that the best thing about The Leftovers is the characters, so most of its best episodes focus entirely on a single character. Lost did a similar thing and I think it's for the best considering that the episodes that focus on the entire town can feel like they're spread a bit thin.

Highlights:

Two Boats And A Helicopter: I'm kind of surprised I liked this episode as much as I did. Matt's story here is borderline misery porn, every brief moment of hope ripped from him in the cruelest way possible. I think what makes it manageable is that Matt is an incredibly morally gray character. His noble motivations and Christopher Eccleston's tender performance do a good job at eliciting sympathy, yet he repeatedly makes the wrong decisions to the point where it's hard not to feel he doesn't deserve some of the stuff that happens to him. What's most thought-provoking is the parallels between him and the Guilty Remnant, both forcing the town to remember the Departure for their own reasons.

The Garveys At Their Best: Yet another character-exploration episode, though this time it's a flashback to pre-Departure Mapleton. Most of the episode was honestly pretty predictable, with most of the characters being noticeably happier than they are now, but I did like the hints to Nora's family issues and the fact that the Garveys "at their best" still isn't really all that great. And the real highlight was that final scene anyway, where we see everyone's reactions to the events of the Departure.

The Prodigal Son Returns: With all of its experimental episodes and more slice of life-y moments, I went into this finale a bit wary of what this season of The Leftovers was building towards. I'm really happy with what we got though, The Prodigal Son Returns gives pretty much everything a satisfying, or even hopeful, resolution. The Guilty Remnant pulls off its more controversial protest yet, and subsequently suffers its greatest defeat. Wayne dies for something he probably deserved, but he managed to grant one last bit of hope for Kevin. Nora reaches rock bottom, only to find Christine's child and end the season with more of a reason to live than ever before.

To be perfectly honest, I went into The Leftovers a bit skeptical. I thought maybe it'd be too depressing or too prestige-y for me, but instead it showed me that I shouldn't underestimate Lindelof a bit. While the first season has its rough edges in terms of pacing, The Leftovers has so far been a fantastic character study that takes what Lost did well and expands on it even further.

4/5 Stars