Jack Lonergan

The Leftovers is an incredible television program that starts incredibly well and loses its way by the seasons end. The first season is often said to be too dark for consumption. I disagree, in fact, its refreshing to see a television show be so courageous in its exploration of loss. The best episode of the series, in my opinion, is Season 1, episode 6. Carrie Coon's Nora delivers a career performance as a grieving mother, bureaucrat, and representative of a broader community. The way this show portrays each individual in the context of corporate loss provides the best content that this show has to offer and separates it from any other TV show I've ever seen. Unfortunately as the show goes on some of the dynamics change, leading the narrative quality of the show to decline. In an effort to bring the characters together, probably to reap the dramatic rewards such an effort would bring, the show shoots itself in the foot. Season 1 presents a world in which loss creates distance. That's what makes the show work. However in the second and third season this distance is gradually drawn closer and closer until it feels like a family drama with supernatural elements. That being said, both the second and third seasons have solid quality.

This show has its moments. Those moments will leave you feeling many familiar feelings if you are acquainted with the post-apocalyptic genre. The style of this show is constantly obfuscating its own meaning or intention of its symbols and relationships while playing out in a straightforward manner. On its face its a show about a post-apocalyptic society of traveling troubadours. Another plot focuses on how that world and those troubadours were developed through surviving a pandemic. The broader purpose of this show seems to be to explore the themes presented in the titular text. The issue is that the formulaic narrative of the show (post-apocalyptic survival story) isn't actually broken or subverted. Instead its played very straightforward with a strange bad guy (the prophet), a wayward survivor (Kirsten) and a surviving community (the museum). None of these elements are explored beyond their base level of familiarity within the genre. Where the narrative tries to subvert is in the exploration of the family dynamics that dictate the basis of the relationships in the show. But again, these relationships are presented in such a straightforward way that there is little drama or surprise. So while its gratifying to see the dynamics play out, the viewer will be left unsatisfied as the show presents deeper meaning without actually delivering. Perhaps the best example of this is the Miranda storyline, which gives the most allusion to something more significant before playing out in a conventional way. If you like a stylized but pretty basic post-apocalyptic story then check this one out.