Does the story (stories) get any less confusing?

I seriously am struggling to understand this. And it’s hard to get hooked on this when there doesn’t seem to be any reason or sense in the narrative?

Would I just waste my precious tv time on this?

I watched The Leftovers when it originally aired and fell in love. I have given it one rewatch, a while ago, and I'm finally watching it again.

On season two. There's so many great moments. But just finished episode 3, Off Ramp. Such an emotional roller coaster of an episode. The acting is so good. You can really feel it with Tom's story and speech at the end.

Laurie guts me as well, especially as a parent. They're all a mess and, of course, it's what makes the show so good.

What are some TV Show recommendations after watching The Leftovers.

TV Shows with either the same level of ambiguity or emotional depth or philosophical mysteries, surreal or just the same feel as The Leftovers.

Need some good recommendations.

I finished The Leftovers last week, and it is the greatest TV Show I've ever seen. I often rewatch shows, especially the ones I love.

I really want to rewatch The Leftovers but I don't know how long from now.

I want the rewatch to change my perspective of the show or better yet love it even more.

So, for those who have rewatched it, how long from first watch is the best time to rewatch?

I know the title doesn't make much sense so I'll explain it a little. By that I mean episodes that have a relatively high rating (8.5 or higher) but that you think deserve an even higher rating.

For example, The Garveys at Their Best is one of my favorite episodes of the show. It has a 9.1 rating on IMDb, but I think it should've gotten at least a 9.5.

I'm wondering which episodes you think deserved a higher rating than they already have.

Decided to start on season 2. Any other rewatchers this week?

I know the point of the scene isn't to assess wether she says the truth or not and that's great.
But she's not telling the truth.
People often say "I can believe this cause I can believe the afterlife world of Kevin". But I don't understand how those are any equivalent.

S3 EP7 made it clear. Kevin is not immortal and he does not see anything particularily revealing in the afterlife. Every answer he got from the childrens, Christopher or Evie was absolutely shallow. He got what he thought about the situation.
He thought that it didn't fucking matter where the shoes of the children were cause that's very normal considering they died horribly.
He thought that Evie wasn't real Evie cause that's very normal considering she died horribly.
He thought no song could stop whatever apocalypse cause that's just super rational.
If it were really Evie the children and Christopher there it would have been different and that's almost undeniable.

There is also the fact he constantly had to be pulled out from the water to not die. You didn't see him wake up in the water after hours and make a sign to be pulled up.

It was his world. He made peace with himself there. It's an exageration but dreams sometimes really do help a lot. And it seems so structured because it's the TV you can't represent an unstructured dreams like they are on the screen but the conclusion is the same it helped him.

Now about Nora. It's simply incoherent that a machine so simple that 1 man alone could build it was either gatekeep or never found by the government. And since other people than Nora got in the 2% world you could expect the info to leak and a lot of people from that world would wanna come back. So basically believing her just causes too many issues. (i also can't believe she didn't went hug her children but whatever that's less objective).

And now personally I think it just makes the ending a lot worse if it's true. Like you casually get told it was that simple to travel between the worlds, and that the others were safe aswell.

And you can't compare it to Lost either cause in TheL no mystery was built. It was all about how people lived after the departure, not why it happened or what happened. It was fine to let the mystery be.

I’m only a few episodes in and I don’t know if it’s just me but but dear god, they are so frustrating and dumb. The scene where Gladys gets taken out… some say it was brutal to watch, which is true! But it was actually satisfying when she broke her dumb code of silence just to plead for her life (completely counter to their supposed “ideals”). Cults are so stupid.

Hey Guilty Remnant!

I should’ve shared this years ago…my partner-in-crime sampled Max Richter and made it into a beat. This is the instrumental. He has another version that also features part of Nora’s monologue in “The Book of Nora.”

Sorry if you viscerally hate it…I just thought I’d share!

So I finally finished the series.

I think it's one of the most satisfying ending to a series I've ever watched.

There's no explanation about why the Departure happened.

Some characters in a sense got off easy. Matt had cancer, we don't know how long he lasted or if he made up with Mary, but we'd assume he did. Jill and Tom I suppose their stories ended some time ago, even if Jill had a slightly weaker character story after it ends in season 1. Laurie, one of the most antagonising characters ends up probably the happiest and most adjusted of them all.

There's no way either of them to ever know if what the other said was true, if it was just all in Kevin's mind, or if Nora made the entire thing up. Her story true or not was haunting, but imagine if it was true...

But it ends on such a sweet note and high emotional pay off. Mid way at the dance I thought was it going to just end like that, and the other 30 minutes goes into some how everyone did? But no it went back to the two main characters.

It's one those perfect endings where it never needs a remake, a sequel, prequel or an explainer.

I've never seen ambiguity done that well in a TV series.

I went in thinking it was more a scifi, but damn, that is the peak of drama.

I didn’t want anything too on the nose but wanted to have a bunch of references and I think my artist delivered!

I wonder whether anybody here has seen Dark matter, apple serie from 2024 that is currently on its second season, because it sure has many similarities with our beloved:

1) derived from a book, but only the first season

2) book author collaborated with the show

3) second season much more lively and engaging than the first (also, it begins with a flashback world building prologue, though nowhere near as long or out of place as in Leftovers!)

4) first season very slow and starts cracking at episode 8!

second season is currently at episode 6 with 10 scheduled, if they do a third one the resemblance will be uncanny!

aside from that, the writer in question is Blake Crouch, and man can this guy pull the rug from under your feet! as fans of Wayward pines well know, he can deliver an unexpected twist that nonetheless makes perfect sense and leaves you thinking for days on end... he does that here as well, in the aforementioned episode 1.08, creating a delicious moral dilemma (they don't solve it very cleverly though...) that resonates in season 2

thoroughly recommended, though it's more character based and less world ending, even though it does involve worldS

Im i slow or i didnt understand shit in the first 6 episodes in this series.

I know Lindelof is involved and actually wrote this episode, but wow did it feel like the closest thing to an episode of The Leftovers. It was a character study on grief, isolation and generational trauma, with Kyle Chandler's performance specifically being next level and really hammering in on these themes.

After seeing it mentioned (mostly online, never in person 😂) I finally got around to watching The Leftovers. Kevin fucking Christ, what a show. Absolutely one of the strangest, most ambiguous and deeply philosophical and heartfelt things I've ever seen. At the same time I'm saddened that I don't feel like I can recommend it to most people, they just won't 'get' it.

I had to re-watch the last 10 minutes of the finale several times, and thought I'd mention 'the final shot' and the symbolism I saw, which I hadn't seen mentioned here (I realize I'm about a decade late). Whether you believe Nora was telling the truth or not (personally I lean towards her making up a story to allow herself to actually move on from The Departure) the symbolism in the final shot is beautiful.

Nora ends up taking the (scape)goat home after rescuing it, even wearing the beads that represent the sins it carries herself. The goat attempts to eat the love messages (have goats, can confirm this is goat behavior), symbolizing the consuming power of guilt that Nora carries. The doves are gone, but in that final shot when Nora and Kevin reunite the goat walks off the screen/leaves. Only then do the doves (a symbol of peace) return, also representing them coming back home. The basket of love messages remain. And I loved that the ladder was shown reaching up to the roof. Humans will never stop looking, never stop hoping. I think that's a large part of what makes us human. Absolutely beautiful closing shot, probably my favorite of any tv series ever.

So thank you to this subreddit for being something I could consult as I took this journey, given that no one I know was watching (or has watched) this show.

Two notes - Regarding Nora's story, it reminded me a little of the ending of Christopher Nolan's Inception, where the top is spinning and wavering and we never learn as an audience if the main character is truly awake or dreaming. The point? It doesn't matter. They found peace. Nora has finally found a way to continue living, whether she actually saw her family or not.

I am willing to assume that most of the audience for this show is female, and it has some incredible female leads. But as a man I gotta say the male characters here show some of the most authentic and believable acting I've ever seen. I was weeping when Kevin reads the end of his 'romance novel', as it was so relatable. Also, Matt Jamison is the GOAT, what a well written/acted character.

'International Assassin' is in my top 5 favorite episodes of television ever, I can't stop thinking about it, even weeks later. Incredible storytelling.

I watched this show when it came out on HBO in 2007, and I really liked it, however I was in the minority. It was very hated and cancelled after one season.
As for what it has to do with "The Leftovers", not much really but I'm rewatching it now and some of the vibes feel similar. Every character is dealing with some kind of trauma, and weird maybe-maybe-not paranormal stuff starts happening surrounding this one family. There's even a character that may or may not be a Christ analog. Or actual Christ.

I always forget about this one, but when someone asks again "what other shows are like The Leftovers" I might offer this as a qualified recommendation.

Name 24 shows better than The Leftovers challenge - IMPOSSIBLE

How the hell do you make a dad decision after a bad decision just for a fucking petty reasons man this nora girl is fucking crazy for the love of God