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The Leftovers on HBO

25K views 604 replies 90 participants last post by  Charles R 
#1 ·
#171 ·
I liked it but if he does the same thing with Lost, where they throw in one of these character-focused episodes right when they start getting momentum on the main plots it comes across as a delaying tactic.

So how the hell do the chain smokers come up with $135k in cash to buy the church? The cigarettes must be a fortune and they had several homes. They're not working for a living, because most employers wouldn't put up with their chain-smoking, non-communcating asses. Plus they're too busy stalking people.
 
#172 ·
Considering that all have lost someone, I would think that at least a portion of them have donated funds to the "cause" from insurance payouts.

As for the character focused episodes from that I hear there may be only 1 more of these types of episodes left.


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#173 ·
Well we know the "departure" will not be explained. They've said as much in interviews.

I suspect all the other mysterious stuff like the dog shooter and Wayne won't be resolved in any satisfying manner, either. Because in the end, it's all about the characters, not the plots or mysteries. It's like Chekov, yo!
 
#174 ·
The biggest problem I have with the show is that they seem to have missed a plot. Yes I understand that the disappearance acts like a McGuffin and it will never be explained. But other shows at least had a plot that actually pushes the story forward.


Twin Peaks, X-files, Lost, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead and Game of Thrones they all have something that makes me want to watch the entire show.


So far with this show I haven't really found a reason other then if I watch one more episode maybe I will find a reason.
 
#182 ·
It's not a problem if you have God picking bets for you.

Btw, would a casino really give you $160k in an envelope. Would they even take $20k in cash.

I actually think this third episode is the best so far. Focus on one character and follow through with an actual story. Unhinged and misguided as he is, the reverend is more sympathetic and interesting to me than the other characters whom I just want to yell "get over it already" at.

The episode reminds me of the Coen brothers' A Serious Man. Both invoke Job. In the Coen brothers movie, God either does not exist or does not intervene. Bad things happen, inexplicably. It's just one thing after another.

Lindelof is not the Coen brothers. Damn if I can tell what he's trying to say here. The title is Two Boats and a Helicopter. It refers to the old joke about the guy who refuses help from people because "god will provide" and ends up dying; when he gets to heaven and asks god why? God said who do you think sent the help. So god exists in this universe and does things.

But in the episode God is not just being helpful like Santa or testing the reverend like he does with Job . He seems to be actively screwing with him. Wife in coma, church goes under, but then 20k falls into his lap, he parlays it into $160k via divine signs, but he gets robbed, but he gets it back, but then he gets wacked and lies in coma for three days and loses the church anyway. Did he just misread the signs, imagine he saw signs where there were none. Is there a point to this other than Lindelof remembers reading about irony in English 101 and decides to throw some biblical stuff in?
 
#183 ·
For your casino questions, yes to both. If you hit for 1mil and want it all in cash, they have to give you 1 mil in cash. Having worked for a casino, I have seen more than 20k in cash exchanged before (much more).


Remember this isn't Lideloofs story ;) I didn't read the book so I don't know if these scenes were in there. Could have been a play on faith. Was it God playing a cruel joke, or was it just bad luck circumstances.

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#184 ·
Remember this isn't Lideloofs story ;) I didn't read the book so I don't know if these scenes were in there. Could have been a play on faith. Was it God playing a cruel joke, or was it just bad luck circumstances.

It was a test and he failed. To save his church he had to Hurt(Saying that his sisters husband had an affair), Steal(Borrow), Gamble and Kill(or almost). He was not worthy.


I starting by the way to wonder if he didn't manage to break every commandment in one episode.
 
#192 ·
I really enjoyed the episode last night. I got some good laughs from it.
 
#193 ·
I canceled my season pass, but watched the last episode on HBO GO because I was on my iPad and bored. I actually found it entertaining. I think I viewed it more as a standalone episode with its own story to tell, so the wallowing around about the vanishing from 3 years ago wasn't as prevalent.

I'll keep watching in case future episodes follow the same format as this past one - but I still have the attitude that if they aren't going to address what caused the vanishing from 3 years earlier, then I don't want to watch them whining about it.
 
#194 · (Edited)
I find them dealing less and less each week with them "whining" about it. Rather how they are trying to move forward from the event and get back to some type of normalcy.

There will be at least one more single character driven episode before the season ends. I kind of like the show. We deal with so many shows that would drag the disappearance out with hints about what happened etc. Instead here we deal very little with the actual disappearance and more with the fallout of what happens to the people leftover. This show was never about the mystery of what happened and since I
Knew that going in, it was easier for me to drop it.

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#204 ·
That's the point people don't know what happened. Was it the "Rapture" was it aliens? To think that only those subscribed to one of a few faiths know about the Rapture is a little narrow. The Rapture is well known and talked about, heck they even made a movie about it ;)

Dealing with the unknown is part of the struggle. The closest thing we have currently is the Malaysian flight that disappeared. People can say it crashed all day long, but until there is proof no one really knows. Those families are living what we are watching basically since their loved ones "disappeared" and may never be found.


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#206 ·
That's the point people don't know what happened. Was it the "Rapture" was it aliens? To think that only those subscribed to one of a few faiths know about the Rapture is a little narrow. The Rapture is well known and talked about, heck they even made a movie about it ;)

How many languages has that movie been translated into do you think? Do you think it could be shown in Muslim theocracies? How much do you know about all the various minority sects of the world’s various religions?

Most of what I know about Rapture theology comes from googling I’ve done since I started watching this show. That’s why I say that if you put yourself in the mind of a believer, and then further extrapolate that said believer might presume a wider understanding of this doctrine than is warranted – which is, I think, exactly what you are doing in this post – then you can sort of see some sense in the show. But once you examine it carefully, and take away that false presumption of widespread understanding, it doesn’t make much sense at all.

At the very least, I think the idea that Rapture would be still be a subject of debate three years out is ridiculous. A hundred years ago, maybe, or maybe even 10 or 20 years ago, before the twitterverse and the blogosphere,. But in today’s wired world, a global consensus would probably be reached in weeks, if not days or hours, as to whether the disappeared were those and only those who believed in Rapture, or whether they did or did not correlate with some other religious belief system. There are, imo, enough stats cited in the first episode to suggest that the global consensus on the disappearances as depicted would quickly discredit Rapture as a viable theory.


Dealing with the unknown is part of the struggle. The closest thing we have currently is the Malaysian flight that disappeared. People can say it crashed all day long, but until there is proof no one really knows. Those families are living what we are watching basically since their loved ones "disappeared" and may never be found.

Not even close. Those people were on a plane that disappeared from radar, which happens all the time. We know more or less where they should have been flying at the time they ran out of fuel. It’s true we can’t 100% rule out alien abduction unless/until the wreckage is found, but we don’t need any exotic theories like alien abduction or Rapture to make sense of what happened.
 
#205 ·
At least the ratings have been decent. So hopefully it gets renewed for another season. This show was the entire reason I signed back up for HBO.

...................................................
Nielsen Notes (Cable)
'The Leftovers' Audience Climbing to 8 Million Viewers
By Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter's 'Live Feed' Blog - Jul. 22, 2014

Good news for The Leftovers: four weeks into its first season, the HBO drama is finding a stable audience — and quite a bit of growth across platforms.

Sunday's outing for the drama fetched 1.6 million viewers, its most-watched original telecast since the June 29 premiere. Though that number is certainly modest compared to many HBO dramas, including lead-in True Blood, it's not even a quarter of how many viewers The Leftovers is finding over the course of a week.

The first two episodes of The Leftovers are currently averaging more than 8 million viewers across all telecasts, HBO Go plays and On Demand. That's not far off from the gross viewership the most recent drama launch, True Detective, was averaging at the end of its run (11 million viewers).

True Blood remains a bit bigger — especially where live-plus-same day is concerned. The half-way point in the vampire drama's final season averaged 3.6 million viewers during its first-run telecast this past week. Across all platforms, its earning 10 million viewers every week.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver is also proving to be just as solid without a comedy lead-in. The talk show pulled nearly 1 million viewers during its Sunday premiere, averaging 4 million viewers across plays during its freshman season.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-leftovers-audience-climbing-720281
 
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#207 ·
As far as the movie goes it was a lighthearted comment to show that Hollywood has covered it (poorly). It was not a serious example this the wink at the end.

Well maybe I'm more studied then some. Religion as always fascinated me. I took multiple classes in college about world religions and was already aware of most of the Christian and Catholic beliefs. I am not blind when it comes to religion and didn't need googleor the movie to learn/know about the rapture.

I never once thought Rapture, as that would probably be depicted differently. Aliens/scientific experiment/paranormal sure, but I don't fixate on that since the mystery of what happened isn't what the show is about.

I'm not sure how you extrapolated that my example of the planes disappearance was related in anyway to a rapture type event. I'm not fixated on that. The example was purely based on sudden disappearance of loved ones without concrete answers of what happened nor wreckage/bodies to recover and prove what happened.



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#215 ·
Wow, this series is becoming seriously depressing.
Being that we already know they won't be delving into the actual disappearance event- It seems like we're in for a very somber ride.

And the Chief's kid is a little bi**h!
 
#217 ·
...And the Chief's kid is a little bi**h!
Which one?
The girl.
She sees her father's having a hard time- with the mayor, the white clad group, his wife, and now his son's awol... and she still goes off and does dumb $hit that causes him even more grief- then she gives him attitude at home.
 
#216 ·
Which one?

Lindelhof sprinkled in a lot of warm, touching episodes with Lost, you know the swelling music when they kill off a cast member.

I get that all the characters are anguished, as they were on the island. Yeah being stranded on an island would fill you with angst.

Here, everyone has been touched by a disappearance in some way. But is there anyone still getting joy out of life? Maybe the teens with their hijinks?

Maybe some 2-year old toddlers would be smiling and laughing?
 
#221 ·
I wouldn't say the teens are getting joy out of life. They're just leading lives of noisy desperation.

I'll say this much for Lost: the first season was really exciting and intriguing and there were no annoying teens. (Well, there was Shannon but she was just self involved and not actively trying to screw things up.)

Dear Mr. Lindelof,

Sorry we gave you crap about Lost. It was a blast compared to this.

Sincerely,

The internet.
 
#218 ·
Last week's episode is still sitting on the DVR, the comments about it give me no more hope than the characters themselves, and I have to make a decision about whether or not to watch this one and stick it out for the duration...






Nah, life is too short. I'm flushing it like a Guilty Remnant cigarette butt. I'll check back in here periodically to see if Damon's just been sandbagging us and if he has anything interesting to say about the disappearance itself, because that's the only thing remotely interesting about this whole show. That is, if anybody on AVS is still watching and this thread is still alive after a few more.

Paradoxically, it does seem to be drawing a decent audience for HBO. Go figure. :confused:
 
#225 ·
During the chief's call to the AFTEC, I find it kind of sinister that the Federal Government is trying to extinguish the cults. We saw it during the attack on the Holy Wayne compound. Also the final scene shows mass burnings of cult member bodies. These cults seem to be a growing problem on a national scale.
 
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