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The Leftovers on HBO

25K views 604 replies 90 participants last post by  Charles R 
#1 ·
#228 ·
They may be slightly bigger, but from what we can see now they are local only. There are many groups just like them across the country though.

Disturbing yet great episode. I'm glad I stuck around as the human element is one shows like this never really go into. We also got confirmation that the man shooting dogs is real.
 
#227 ·
Hours later and I am still disturbed by that opening scene. It was just sickening to watch that play out and the indifference from everyone involved is heartbreaking. To make it worse was I really did like Gladdys even in her limited role. I don't really care about the "great mystery" of this show, but I do want them to not let this go unanswered.
 
#231 ·
Nutballs break into your home and cut up pictures. Do you a/ go to the police b/
Organize some kind of take back our town thing c/ trash their lawn, slash their tires, hell, break some legs or d/ just straight up murder 1 an old lady.

Apparently the correct answer is d, because in leftovers America, unarmed cult members who haven't actually killed anyone can be disappeared by the Feds like jihadists. No due process and no investigation. Nobody is going to leak it to the media and nobody cares. All the would be Snowdens got beamed up already I guess.

Zealot that he is, the reverend actually behaves like a human being. His sister is the only woman on the show who can break a smile. I rather have more of them. The third bottle episode was actually the best because it didn't have much to do with the dumb cult and the people's dumb reaction to them.
 
#236 ·
Is the GR going to be like the Dharma Initiative, focus on it for a season or two and then drop it?

The Grantland podcast criticized the emphasis on the GR and also this desire to be an auteur.

Apparently the stoning and burning has some relatively obscure religious antecedents.
 
#239 ·
Apparently the stoning and burning has some relatively obscure religious antecedents.
I wouldn't really call the stoning reference obscure. Prescribed in the Hebrew bible as the punishment for a number of sins, it's the subject of one of the most famous parables in the New Testament and the way the first Christian martyr died. I think the second is probably more relevant here, as Gladys is, if it was indeed a hate crime, apparently the first GR martyr.

The burning story the reverend told is from the gnostic gospel of Thomas, and ties into Patti's statements to Laurie about doubt being fire that burns you up until you are ash. This then ties in to what we literally saw happen to Gladys at the very end of the episode.

This was a huge, turning point kind of episode for this show, as difficult as it was to watch.
 
#237 ·
Not sure I would call it obscure as stoning still happens today in certain parts of the world.

Not sure why the DI was brought up as these two groups are not anywhere close to one another. The GR for sure has some deep religious base. Hopefully people can get away from the lost comparisons as these two shows are in totally different ballparks.
 
#238 ·
I thought the GR doesn't acknowledge the concept of family so what do they care if one of their own is stoned to death? Of course we found out the answer to that with that little "vacation" from their beliefs, typical of the sort of hypocrisy that's fairly common among most religions.
 
#240 ·
I gotta agree with good ole Dog Shootin' Dean, I think the GR did the stoning. I can't help but notice when Gladys was getting murdered, the people doing it didn't utter a word. If it was pissed off townies doing this out of anger or hatred, I would expect them to be all worked up and to be hurling words along with those rocks. Waaaay too silent for an angry mob.
 
#241 ·
Well... another outstanding hour of emotional sadomasochism, kicked off by a full depiction of a wicked woman being stoned to death. Joy To The World!

Apparently, it took 13 stones to end Gladys’s misery. Not that I counted myself. No, this reviewer did that for me, while creating for posterity a stone by stone description of HBO’s depiction. Ya gotta love the internet!




Excellent point, and you’re the first I’ve seen pick up on it.

More than that, though, I thought Gladys’s nod to Patti in the opening scene indicated Gladys was in on it, so the murder was really a sacrificial rite, not a hate crime. Which explains the pause and hesitancy on the part of the rock throwers when she broke her vow of silence and asked them to stop.


Renaissance deco, not Rapture really. There was an article a page or two back that discussed the title sequence. Per the article it was meant to capture the pain/anguish of those "left behind".
In contrast to the apparent orgasmic euphoria of those floating up into the heavens and away from their anguished families.

And that imagery doesn’t suggest Rapture to you? Really?!?

(Btw, do you have a link to that article? Because I didn’t find it looking back at the thread.)


During the chief's call to the AFTEC
ATFEC, not AFTEC.

As in, our Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, plus Cults.


They may be slightly bigger, but from what we can see now they are local only.
The GR are not local. The ATFEC agent referred them as “those nuts”, and in the previous episode, two white clad smokers handed a pamphlet to Tommy at the bus stop is TX or some place.


Well, we now know the dog shooting guy isn't a figment of the chief's imagination.
Do we? Do we really know that any scene featuring Chief Garvey isn’t a figment of his imagination?

This week’s reality vs. delusion internet controversy, brought to you by People Who Watch Television Frame By Frame, centers on the call from ATFEC Agent Kilaney, because PWWTFBF pointed out that when the call came in, the phone displayed “Agent Kilaney AFTEC” [sic] while later in the call it displayed “UNKNOWN”.

Some see production errors, others see clues, and still others see DL getting his jollies provoking weekly reality vs. delusion internet controversies, in lieu of presenting coherent stories.

For those interested in how much of what’s on screen is coming from DL, as opposed to Perrotta’s book, here’s an interesting comparison:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/3288...-tom-perrottas-novel-is-drastically-different


I don't really care about the "great mystery" of this show
I don’t find much of anything to care about in this show.


I'll say this much for Lost: the first season was really exciting and intriguing and there were no annoying teens.
I think the annoying teens are the best part of this show. Chief’s daughter Jill is far and away the sanest and most normal major character, and by a smaller margin, I also find her the most likable, or maybe I should say, least dislikable.


Zealot that he is, the reverend actually behaves like a human being. His sister is the only woman on the show who can break a smile. I rather have more of them. The third bottle episode was actually the best because it didn't have much to do with the dumb cult and the people's dumb reaction to them.
Next week’s episode apparently centers on Nora, and the preview alluded to “The Matrix”, so maybe it won’t be another start to finish hour of emotional sadomasochism. Maybe.

More likely, though, it will be an hour dedicated to making her character as dark and dreary as everyone else on the show, as so far, the show’s overall mission seems to match the GR’s.

I can hardly wait.

:rolleyes:
 
#245 ·
Still not a fan of a whole episode covering one person, but it was pretty good being that it was about Nora. Interesting character, very good actress. Still though, they know how to push the buttons don't they? The sight of her continuing to stock her childrens favorite foods was heartbreaking.
 
#247 ·
I agree as well about not being a fan of a whole episode covering one person.

But still good episode though.
 
#246 ·
I watched this last night. Another enjoyable episode plus it provided more insight into people's reactions since the disappearance.
 
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#252 ·
I finally figured out the actor who plays grandpa is Scott Glenn. Haven't seen him a while.

Glenn is such a compelling presence that I find it hard to believe that the sheriff resists hearing anything he has to say. Since there is no credible rational explanation for the departure, you may as well see if your voice-hearing psyche ward patient dad might know something. Look at his eyes, those are not crazy eyes. He looks rational to me. Why didn't the voices just tell grandpa to ask the sheriff to find a copy of the magazine? Just amuse your father, okay? But no, we have to go through the BS melodrama of him breaking out and assaulting people and vandalizing property, because acting violently crazy is how you convince people to do things.

This show is frustrating. It is technically well done and they have a compelling premise and some good ideas. But they don't trust their material and keep throwing out stuff to punch up false drama. Like earlier they hinted maybe dog guy was imaginary, then uh no never mind he's real, but hey maybe he's partially imaginary. The sheriff knew his daughter and her friends took the baby Jesus, but instead of just telling her damnit I don't have time for this crap, give it to me, he ran all over town tracking it down. They also withhold info from the audience to keep things "mysterious" and "suspenseful." The problem is it's hard to be emotionally invested in ciphers.

Take the GR. I still have no freaking idea what is the point of this group. Maybe later it'll be revealed that they fit into some larger picture, but right now they're just annoying not just to the other characters but to the viewer, because their motivation is totally opaque. WTF do they want. In one ep, the old lady says people are mad at us because we want them to remember something they'd rather forget. Really? Because almost everything and everyone else seems to be stuck on what happened. The kids are playing death games and rituals, the adults are in one cult or another or in psyche ward. The ones who are semi functional got their hands full dealing with the ones who aren't. They don't need a cult to make them remember, they need a cult to tell them to move the eff on. Even more amazingly, nobody else in the show has bothered to ask them WTF do you want? What do you think you're accomplishing?

So when you have a GR being brutally stoned, it doesn't have the emotional impact of say, a major character being killed on GoT because you hardly know or care about what's her name, don't know who killed her or why. It was shocking only on a graphic level. Ooh look we're on HBO we can do this kind of "brave" edgy stuff and dare people to keep watching.
 
#254 ·
I'm watching, still. Just nothing to comment about.

The GR does confuse me. What is their ultimate purpose? They smoke because they don't care? Do they want to die faster? So what's the problem with the stoned lady, she's dead, your goal is met.

They want people to be emotionless robots? Forget the missing people, but their entire existence negates that idea.
 
#257 ·
Sweet!!! It seems like my Summer shows are having better luck than my regular season shows did. I guess HBO will get me to subscribe again next year for this show since it was renewed.
 
#258 ·
I understand this is "dark" sci-fi? Which is the kind I usually like, but know next to nothing about the show. Noticed over the weekend it was being marathoned, but didn't watch. Now that I know this is a Lindleoff vehicle, I'm reeaaalllly hesitant to watch...
 
#261 ·
But there are mysteries in the show, like what are the GR about, why do they recruit the people they do and why do people join?

Or more important still, why are they spending so much time on the GR, like Lost spent on Dharma and The Others, which turned out not to be big deals.
 
#262 ·
Mysteries does not equal scifi ;) I wouldn't even classify it as mystery as that casts the wrong tone. These are just unanswered questions that may or may not get answered.

I think people need to break away from the Lost/Lidelof connection. Sure he does a lot of Scifi this is just not one.
 
#269 ·
OK, so I watched an ep (#7, I think). Found it somewhat interesting, but think I'll stop it right there. Can't shake the feeling I'm being strung along and investing in this'll just turn out to be a waste of time. If reviews are still strong after the final curtain (a la BB, I may come back to it.
 
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