Justin Theroux
Amy Brenneman
Christopher Eccleston
Liv Tyler
Chris Zylka
Margaret Qualley
Carrie Coon
Emily Meade
Amanda Warren
Ann Dowd
Michael Gaston
Max Carver
Charlie Carver
Annie Q.

Created by:
Damon Lindelof
Tom Perrotta

2014-
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
HBO
TV-MA

“The Leftovers” delivers an intriguing first episode. Some critics have noted that this show moves at a glacial pace, but that isn’t the case for the pilot. The plot unfolds with a nice rhythm.

This episode begins by focusing on a mom with a crying baby. They’re at a laundromat. She’s preoccupied by a cell-phone conversation and doesn’t pay much attention to her baby. After she leaves the laundromat and puts the baby into the car, the baby disappears during a Rapture-like event. The show then jumps three years into the future, and the world looks the same but the rules are very different. We don’t know exactly what the new rules are, but there are hints of the changes that have happened to the society within that span of time. (For example, at the end of the pilot, a man who’s determined to kill roaming dogs says, “They’re not our dogs anymore.”) This is a new world teetering on the edge. To mimic that fragility, Peter Berg (one of the executive producers and the director of the first two episodes) relies on hand-held cameras; this isn’t an unexpected choice for him.

The key to “The Leftovers” is its ability to keep viewers invested in wanting to know what’s going on. There’s tension in the air, but we don’t know exactly why. The extent to which you like this show will depend both on how well it keeps you interested in finding out its secrets (all of which will not be revealed, according to creator Damon Lindelof) and on how invested you are in its premise.

At its core, “The Leftovers” is about the human condition: How do people react to extreme events once their world has been changed by those events? The characters seem like people, not like cardboard cut-outs. Their actions, no matter how mysterious, seem appropriate for the dystopian world that they’ve found themselves in. For now, I’m all in. …

The second episode, which focuses on a desperate and troubled pastor (played by Christopher Eccleston), is stronger than the first. It’s focused and engrossing. The pacing isn’t fast, but it shouldn’t be. You’re right there with Eccleston, from beginning to end. This episode is a great showcase for his talents and for the writers’ ability to develop a character. I think that “The Leftovers” will be all about its characters, so I’m glad that they know how to tell a character-driven story. This won’t appeal to everyone; but if you like to delve into people who are teetering on the edge, then this is for you. …

“The Leftovers” has proven itself to be about questions, not about answers: What would happen if the so-called Rapture occurred? How would you react? How would the world change? Would you be able to handle it? This may madden many, but it works for me. It works because it’s so well-crafted. I don’t need to understand everything, because the actors get it. They have clear motivations, despite the deliberately unclear story line. This is both baffling and intriguing. I’m glued to the screen, regardless. …

By the end of its first season, “The Leftovers” turns into a great show, in my opinion. I get it without having to think about it. Many viewers will want to figure this out in some way, but I don’t need that. The feeling’s right. While this show deals with many dark themes, I find it inspirational, somehow. I recognize its honesty. This is like nothing else on television, and I’m grateful that HBO decided to produce a second season. I think that the next season will either confirm the greatness established by the first season or ruin everything.

Verdict: Very Good to Great

About: (Source: leftovers)

From Damon Lindelof, co-creator of the hit series Lost, this one-hour HBO drama focuses on a suburban town whose preconceptions are shattered in the wake of a global event dubbed “The Departure” (which may or may not have been the Biblical “rapture”), in which some people were taken and others left behind.

Based on the bestselling 2011 novel by Tom Perrotta (a co-creator and EP), the series focuses on denizens of the fictional town of Mapleton, three years after the fateful October 14 day when 140 million people – 2% of the world’s population – disappeared without a trace.
Seen primarily through the eyes of beleaguered police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), the series shows how ordinary people react to inexplicable events that can unite or divide families and communities, revealing how the strain of an unprecedented calamity can turn people’s faith into cynicism, paranoia, madness, or cult-like fanaticism.