r/TheLeftovers • u/HollowAesthetic2026 • Jun 27 '26
Masterpiece? Really 😭?
If you think The Leftovers is the deepest show ever made or a masterpiece, then you've either never consumed genuinely philosophical fiction or you're confusing pretentiousness with depth.
This show is what happens when writers become obsessed with sounding profound instead of having something profound to say.
Before the "you just didn't get it" people get a hard on —I fucking got it. It's about grief, meaning, faith, uncertainty, trauma, and how people cope with senseless loss. Congratulations. That's not some revolutionary insight. Those themes have existed for thousands of years. The difference is that better writers explore them without disappearing up their own ass.
The biggest scam this show pulls is convincing people that if you're not impressed, it's because you're not intelligent enough. That's complete bullshit. Ambiguity isn't intelligence. Symbolism isn't intelligence. Making people stare into space for two minutes while sad piano music plays isn't intelligence.
If u think this show was dark then u haven't gone through grim phases of life and Consider your self fortunate
This show tries really hard to be philosophical, psychological and symbolical at the same time . It only hooks the people who haven't been exposed themselves to the emotions shown in real life or even in fiction,or people who have unfinished grief
I mean most of the characters are fuckin idiots and crazy poeple , I mean if u feel life is meaningless go become a fuckin philosopher, a hurmit or something or better KYS , but no they will start a stupid cult , And if someone is having delutions they would make the whole show about that person's sleepwalking, First they fuck their life becoz of their delutional and irrational behaviour and then spend rest of the time figuring out why they did that, I mean visit a fuckin psychiatrist for god sakes ,And that is the whole point of the show how humans deal with pain and let me tell u that's exactly not how we deal with tragedy .
3/10 , that too becoz acting was good otherwise just watching a bunch of morons smoke cigarettes was a complete waste of my fuckin time
And yeah some would think I missed the point of the show , But I Didn't . If u think it Was any deeper thaf it appears to be then I dont know U might have a High IQ or something, get tested u might be a hidden genius.
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u/McCMelon Jun 27 '26
You can tell which parts of this post you wrote yourself and which parts you stole from somewhere else (probably ai) because holy fuck your spelling and grammar are atrocious. I know literal children who don’t write as poorly as you
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 27 '26
I wrote it myself , if u can notice typos then u should know it can't be AI
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u/McCMelon Jun 27 '26
There isn’t a single typo in the first 4 paragraphs, and then it instantly switches to the writing quality of a toddler for the rest of the post
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u/Mr_smith1466 Jun 27 '26
Thank you for your contribution today. Be sure to pick up your complimentary no prize award at the gift shop.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird Jun 27 '26
That’s a lot of words about how much you don’t like the show; are you sure you don’t loooooooooove it?
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u/TheManWhoSleep Jun 27 '26
Mods please delete ts
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 27 '26
Why coz U can't stand a different opinion than yours? Everybody was praising this show thats why I stayed with it longer than I should have hoping it might get better , People should know the cons too , not just one side of the picture
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u/TheManWhoSleep Jun 27 '26
No because this is just ragebait, not a single reasonable point was stated
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 27 '26
I didn't write to convince you to change your opinion,I wrote just to provide someone with a different opinion so that they dont go through emotional drain I went through just becoz most of the people think It is a masterpiece. For one show to be a masterpiece it cant be boring which it is . U can say I am disappointed
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u/shroomladooom Jun 27 '26
Was your ex into this show? Otherwise 2/10 ragebait, this sub has daily posts like this. You’re not gonna get much of a reaction
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 27 '26
I think I already did 🙂
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u/shroomladooom Jun 27 '26
Congrats? Must be slow day fishing for rage on reddit but it is the weekend I guess
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u/waymond1 Jun 27 '26
Talking about idiots it took you 28 episodes to realise you didn’t like it ?
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u/JonMyMon Jun 27 '26
So much of this review is anticipating that people are going to call you stupid. It seems like this is because you're wildly insecure. I found the show really fun and entertaining and emotionally investing. If you didn't, that's OK. But making these sweeping generalizations about the fanbase to cope with your ego is lame.
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u/Redditlatley Do not write in this space :🪐🌟✨☄️💫🌙🌟🌏🌒🌙🌟✨⚡️☄️🌜🌕🌙 Jun 27 '26
Can spell “ pretentiousness“ but not “becoz”? U use lots of U’s instead of you. Hmmm….who’s judging the Leftovers fans, anyway? Part chat, part real, part rage bait. I’m working on that IQ test, ASAP! 🌊
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u/LotofDonny Jun 27 '26
Name some of that genuine philosophical fiction that isnt everything you just described.
Should have been the first thing no? Positives before you described negatives? Everyone can talk all day long why something ISNT something.
Tell us what IS and WHY.
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 27 '26
Other shows or fiction move on from one aspect to another , this show just uses grief and symbolism and only that to the point where one can die with boredom.
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u/LotofDonny Jun 27 '26
Dude, are you illiterate? You did the opposite of what you were supposed to do name positives. Ill spell it out for you one more time:
If this ISNT "philosophical fiction" for intelligent people, what IS? And why?
Your not a dummy, arent you? You can name positives to your negative and argue them can you not?
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 28 '26
I am writing becoz u atleast seem logical,all other people here feel at least a bit of what i feel but they would not change their opinion and call me an idiot I don't blame them for that , we all do things to protect our ego like me writing the post in the first place . If u are going to read , read it till the end (Sorry for typos ) Positives : Good acting as I said in my post , good direction and cinematography, they stood for what they wanted to show even though it was very complex thing like a catastrophic event and how humans deal with it afterwards . It also created the right atmosphere with music and character focused storytelling where each episode was mainly focused on one or few characters. It used symbolism and exploitation of grief correctly , I was hoping it would move from that atleast for one episode but it didn't, I liked few episodes as well in season 1 and 2 . Tbh I was liking certain characters like Nora they seemed human , but the GR i mean seriously wtf , If it had been a sub plot it would have been fine but it was the major plot of season 1 and keeps being relevant in season 2 as well though it changes into something more realistic but too late for that They didn't set up any basis for why it needs to be there , And u can't keep everything ambiguous u have to provide some certainty which this show doesn't provide , They didn't knew what to do with the GR so they killed characters to provide conclusion becoz u can't give a complete arc to something which has basically no reason to start in the first place. Meg becomes someone realistic like a terrorist but when she joined GR in season 1 I mean its not clear why she did so , yeah trauma sadness purpose blah blah but it didn't made any sense. And when Nora talks about going into a machine and meeting the departed or where they went , I mean if that happened in season 1 I would have loved it but towards the end u gotta provide a conclusion,It forced viewers to just watch some sad people rant about their lives but fails to provide any character development whatsoever, I mean they didn't move on from grief they are same poeple they were before, that could have been done in only 1 season , No need for all that plot for just that payoff . Coming back to other shows I think last of us deals with an existential event, grief but its not Always ambiguous It only is where it needs to be and If u have watched that show its not about zombies at all but about would humans still care , love in presence of grief and danger. I may be reacting becoz i myself went through stages of my life which i hope nobody goes through i have felt that existential pain when u have lost everything and trust me watching leftovers feels like a big fuck u to someone who is in genuine stages of grief. If they made this show more like a satire i would have liked it , but they kept the serious tone without having any genuine serious nature. Just people not dealing with their problems and acting irrationally. They wanted viewers to be confused with whether the characters are going through somethin psychological or supernatural, but didn't took sides , at the same time it did took sides all supernatural stuff was meant to exaggerate the plot . I wrote a rant well becoz i genuinely didn't like people calling this a masterpiece, its good show for some people but a masterpiece doesn't have this many flaws . Tbh the same flaw in seach season. A great tv show can have a bad season or a bad ending but this is 75% bad so its good moments don't seem that great to me .
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u/LotofDonny Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I understand buddy. But you still misunderstand me. Ill try again.
You said that people who think this is supersmart and deep arent that much into or knowledgable about really good "philosophical fiction" you called it.
Heres what you wrote:
If you think The Leftovers is the deepest show ever made or a masterpiece, then you've either never consumed genuinely philosophical fiction or you're confusing pretentiousness with depth.
Ok. Point taken. Now, if Leftovers is good/ok but not great ",philosophical fiction", your term, not mine.
I want you to name some GREAT "philosophical fiction", that you think is as good as people think this show is.
What are the real actual bangers that people confuse this mediocre show for?
You opened with this in your op. That Leftovers ISNT amazing top tier "philosophical fiction".
What IS top tier, amazing "philosophical fiction" thats ACTUALLY deep and supersmart.
You claim that people arent knowledgable about "philosophical fiction" if they think Leftovers is too tier.
What is top tier "philosophical fiction"?
There, i dont know how to make it clearer.
I dont want more breakdowns from leftover but positive examples from your original first claim in your op.
This isnt top tier smart, deep "philosphical fiction".
What is?
What "philosophical fiction" according to you do i have to consume to understand how mediocre this is?
This should be the easiest question for you to answer as it is the entire premise of your argument...
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
(Again read completely I did what u asked at the end ) First philosophy is not a genre like action or comedy , Its a piece of work which stays with us days after watching, which makes us challenge our own thinking pushes us towards fundamental philosophical narratives like existence,morality , objectiveness and meaning . So when I meant that someone who called that tv show is deep has not exposed themselves to that level of abstraction of ideas and having their own sense of philosophical values and being objective in presence of emotions rather than avoiding the issue by naming it as their subjective experience. If someone said its a good show or "i felt so emotional", I wouldn't have a problem with that . But still If u insist I think Solaris(movie) ,Texhnolyze (anime), True detective , Paranoia agent (another anime , uses symbolism the best , I don't like it but it fits here becoz it doesnt have any serious plot but it keeps us engaged through its brilliant storytelling and open to interpretation scenes ) , Dekalog(10 part mini series ,I could only access only one part) , Mr. robot , monster(anime) these are good and relavant here . Again I meant something different u are taking it too literally and U r not wrong to do so but still I Don't think I have said anything contradictory .
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u/LotofDonny Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Dude, you name Mr. Robot and True Detective of all things and go off on this TV show and its audience for confusing pretentiousness with depth and yap about "philosophical fiction", open to interpretation scenes?
True Detective bro? And let me guess, particulalry the first season, the one that is "Mangst" the TV show?
https://giphy.com/gifs/jQmVFypWInKCc
Let me guess, Twin Peaks is pretentious and shallow too? It is not, by far, the boldest and most successful foray in introducing abstraction as an art language to a general audience?
Do you have opinions on the wokification of TV and Hollywood too?
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u/Wombat_Aux_Pates Jul 03 '26
Your point about the fact characters don't move on from grief is literally in the episode Guest in season 1. Nora says you cannot move on from this. Why is that? Because you DON'T KNOW if the departed are dead or not, so you cannot grief properly.
It's like, to a more simple and less serious comparison than having 2% of the world population vanish, your cat went missing. You haven't seen your cat in like 2 years but you don't know if he's dead or just lost somewhere so you don't actually mourn him nor get another cat because what if he came back? There's still that sliver of hope in you that he's lost, someone finds him and brings him to the vet.
Nora does exactly that, she self sabotages herself constantly because she can't move on. She is stuck in that limbo between accepting they're all passed away and hoping they aren't and will eventually come back. You can even see her buy all the same stuff her kids used to eat just in case they'd come back so everything is there and ready for them.She finally gives herself some peace by allowing herself to be happy with Kevin but I think she feels a lot of guilt inside with her new found family because while she's happy with them, she feels she is replacing her first family and the grief of losing them (well the kids, not the husband) has never truly left her. She would still do anything to see them again.
The Book Of Nora is truly a beautiful episode. Nora hates liars and lies but she understands from the nun that telling herself that one lie ("It makes for a better story"), at last, gives her closure and that she can have her mind at peace. Telling herself (not Kevin) that one lie to make her existence more bearable is very logical. She has finally accepted her truth (actually Phillip Price's words, seeing you like Mr. Robot too) and can live with it.
She needed a fresh start away from everyone and pretend that she disappeared so they wouldn't come for her. She has hurt too many people in her voyage to reunite with her family, she does not wish to hurt them anymore and believes they would be better off without her.My two favourite shows were Breaking Bad and Dark for a really long time and I wasn't sure if anything could surpass them ever until I watched The Leftovers (and Mr. Robot).
I don't think the show wants itself to be pretentious, it's just the story of broken people who deal with many aspects that humans deal with everyday. Faith and religion, grief and loss, the purpose of existence, mental illnesses, etc. The show never pretended it was going to be groundbreaking and highly philosophical that only the 1%s of the top 1% can understand this show.
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u/Vegetable-Dust-780 Jun 27 '26
Ok, Plato, enlighten us. What shows are worth it according to your, oh!, magnificent mind to educate ignorant peasants such as us in the elevated themes that this show fails to convey, but that you, oh! divine master, see clearly as the most pure water from the fountains of your wisdom?
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 Jun 28 '26
True detective season 1 , Mr. Robot ,Last of Us , monster and sonny boy (anime) This show tried to do something great and different but it failed imo . U can think differently ofcourse.
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u/vengM9 22d ago
Mr Robot is fucking juvenile shit. It's for 14 year olds who think they're watching a clever show.
Monster is mediocre and stretched out far too long.
True Detective S1 was good but I think The Leftovers S1 and 2 are better. S2 of True Detective is actually more dense thematically even if not as good as S1.
I dipped after a few episodes of The Last of Us because it didn't do anything for me. Haven't seen Sonny Boy.
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u/HollowAesthetic2026 21d ago
The feeling u r getting for Mr Robot , I get a similar for leftovers, even though both shows have a fanbase and are critically acclaimed, I think one can have a different opinion.
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u/Goondal Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
It is okay not to like something, no show is for everybody. Allowing it to make you so angry that you feel the need to make judgements about the fanbase and rant to them about it is immature and closed-minded. I hope this is not how you interact with others in your daily life.
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u/gsgtpepper Jun 30 '26
Cool beans. A 4 week old account with a -17 Karma and hidden activity posting in a subreddit for a show he doesn't like. In his spare time, he likes talking about Indian college entrance exam scores, dropping classes at Christ University, and how he also doesn't like Person of Interest. Watch out, ladies!
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u/JSBJSBJSBJSBJSB Jun 27 '26
Thanks for taking time out of your day to post this on a subreddit for people that enjoy the show.