# The Leftovers



## cdc101 (Jan 9, 2007)

I have been looking for a thread on this new HBO series but haven't seen one yet.

I'm still watching but I'm also still on the fence. Anyone else watching or have any opinions?


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

I have always been fascinated by the idea of how people would reacted to certain events such as proof of gods existence , UFO , Aliens and complete knowledge of how the universe came into existence. This show seems examine one of these question so I plan on watching it to its conclusion.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

yosoyellobo said:


> I have always been fascinated by the idea of how people would reacted to certain events such as proof of gods existence , UFO , Aliens and complete knowledge of how the universe came into existence. This show seems examine one of these question so I plan on watching it to its conclusion.


Much like the book, the show has taken a lot of criticism because of its obvious jab at "The Rapture" crowd. Novelist Tom Perrotta apparently wrote the book continuing to poke fun at American suburbia which he has in other books. This TV series is different. Here is from what I think is the best review:



> It's been a long day. You're overwhelmed, you're stressed, you're sad. Something's not quite right in your personal life, something went wrong at work, something awful is in the news. You're holding it together though-and then you stub your toe. It is suddenly too much. You groan, tear up, throw a tantrum. It's so stupid! It's just your toe! But it's the niggling, banal, detail that momentarily broke you.
> 
> Every single character on HBO's new drama The Leftovers, premiering Sunday, is perpetually on the brink of this sort of breakdown, the release that is barely any release at all. They have good reason. Three years ago in the world of the show, 2 percent of the Earth's population just vanished, and nobody knows why. The "Sudden Departure," as it's known, might have been the rapture, but it took Gary Busey, nonbelievers, sinners, murderers, and pedophiles with just as much frequency as it took children, devoted parents, lovely friends, good Samaritans, and the Pope. Life's meaning, life's possibility, life's very continuation are all newly fraught and fragile. Everyone is on edge-and their jagged, frustrated funk is contagious. The Leftovers will make you feel like you just stubbed your toe after a very bad day, a credit to the show that makes for some tough-going television. Every time I misplaced my remote while watching, I wanted to break something. Or flip to a sitcom and remember that laughter is real.
> 
> ...The novel, without exactly being a laugh a minute, skips from character to character in a close third-person narration that foregrounds the banalities and absurdities of suburban life, as they play out against the backdrop of, possibly, the end of days. For a book about a traumatized and grieving human race, it has a pretty light touch. But ["Lost's" Damon] Lindelof eschews Perrotta's suburbia satire for the unrelentingly bleak stuff, resulting in some tremendously moving scenes and hardly any respite. (The third episode in particular, about the aforementioned preacher, felt like a very loose adaptation of the Book of Job.)


You cannot raise doubts about the nebulous religious feelings of many (which apparently Perrotta sees as a logical part of narcissistic self-definition in that American creation - the suburbs) nor challenge the core beliefs of many others without creating instant mindless criticism in America. Right now the book at Amazon has 418 customer reviews with only having 184 four or five stars. And yet it was a _New York Times_ Notable Book for 2011, a _Washington Post_ Notable Fiction Book for 2011, a _USA Today_ 10 Books We Loved Reading in 2011 Title, and one of NPR's 10 Best Novels of 2011.

Along with "Extant" (CBS), "Gotham" (FOX), "Halt and Catch Fire" (AMC), "Outlander" (Starz), "Penny Dreadful" (Showtime) and "The Strain" (FX), "The Leftovers" was honored as Most Exciting New Series at the 4th Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards.

We watch the show and will watch the entire season. But it is clear the book offered "here's how poorly we react to stubbing our toe and other pains in which we can find no meaning to provide comfort" and I suspect the TV series will not add any additional overt answers to the big questions. It is not a comforting Roma Downey production.


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Now you got me interested in the book. I will put it on a back burner for now.


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## bflora (Nov 6, 2007)

Why would we want fiction to depress us when we have 24/7 news channels?


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

I've been recording it but haven't started watching. Now that I've caught up on some shows I plan on starting this one.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

I was surprised at how much I liked the premiere. Justin Theroux has always struck me as a quality actor, very under-rated.

My problem is the WTF factor. I think it is too easy to keep secrets about what is basically going on from the audience. All you have to do as a writer is not write. There is a temptation as a writer to think you are slowly peeling back the layers of an onion but what may really be happening is the writers are letting the show ride on that curiosity factor. _Lost _was guilty of this, but they revealed enough drip by drip to keep it from being frustrating. This show has a more-compressed schedule which will help (no breaks), but they must be mindful of that and not coast, or they will lose audience, drip by drip. A great premise is not enough; you have to deliver on that in every ep. Fingers crossed.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks for some insights, folks. But I am struggling with the mute, all white-clad folks who all smoke a lot. Are they similar to the undead in other shows? Are they________?? ?? Do they represent__________?? ?? Help!

Somewhere I understood (read) that 80% had disappeared. Correct? And the weird people, seems to be small but growing?


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Two percent had disappeared.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

cdc101 said:


> I have been looking for a thread on this new HBO series but haven't seen one yet.
> 
> I'm still watching but I'm also still on the fence. Anyone else watching or have any opinions?


It is really weird and I am done with it as of tonight.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I didn't make it through the first episode. Still recording it and trying to decide if I should jump in, but so far no motivation. 

I thought the first 5 minutes were cool, but it got creepy after that.


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## Jaspear (May 16, 2004)

It didn't get creepy for me, just unwatchable.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

I've watched all episodes so far and every one of them makes me wonder why. It doesn't make any sense on so many levels, it is depressing as hell if you buy into it, and the story lines are disjointed with little buildup to the new character or situation.

And a semi-religious cult that doesn't talk and has smoking cigarettes as some part of their dogma is just crap!

Timer gone. If I want to be depressed, all I have to do is go to the golf course!!


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

Not exactly blown away so far but interested. It's weird how nearly everybody in this show is so totally screwed in the head. Nearly all the characters are bat**** crazy.
Nice to see Christopher Eccleston doing another series though.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

To me, it's depressing in part because I don't understand it. I keep feeling I have missed an episode.

And what is the Aerosmith heiress up to? Why is she involved trying to help the Amy Brenneman character? 

And why are they smoking filter tip cigarettes? Straight Camels would be much more sinister!


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## toobs (Oct 10, 2012)

After 3 episode, I stopped watching. It wasn't making sense and the cigarettes bothered me too.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

At least it starts off not making sense unlike Lost where it took a few years before you couldn't follow it. 


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

I can't disagree with that in any way, dp, but I feel that if _Lost _had not been stretched out so far by ABC that it would have been quite easy to follow all the way through, because the quality was always there and the writers really never lost their way or painted themselves into any corners.

If you download it and binge watch, you are probably getting a better experience than ABC viewers had. My issue with _Lost _was it was so strectched out that you could lose the thread and not understand character's motivations because what motivated them happened so far back that as viewers it was hard to remember. Watching network television is like reading a chapter of one book, putting that down and reading a chapter of another book, and so on _ad infinitum_. I don't see that as a sensible way to consume serialized content.

And that ABC stretched the story out to fit it into ratings periods and avoid down periods like the holidays, summer, and the 4th of July is important. For one thing it points out how ABC was more interested in eyeballs that count during ratings periods than in providing a quality experience for their viewers. In a crowded landscape I think that is a great cautionary tale and object lesson for networks.


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## hrobbs (Jan 22, 2007)

I've watched every episode, didn't want to miss something new. But, this show is unwatchable, realized that when I had to force myself to watch last weeks episode. That after the absurd hour of the priest losing his "winnings" to the smoking, mute, white dressed nut jobs. Sorry, but this is worse than John From Cincinnati. Why again is HBO more expensive than Showtime?


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

There may be nothing sadder than someone who feels compelled to watch every episode of something that is unwatchable.

You have to know when to bail. If its not for you, its time, or maybe past time.

As to the HBO question, Showtime was always a dumbed-down version of HBO, and never had the same level of quality. It could never compete with_ Dennis Miller Live, The Larry Sanders Show, The Sopranos, Real Time,_ or countless comedy specials from legends like Carlin and Chris Rock.

Until a couple years ago, that is, when they started getting shows like _Homeland, Ray Donavon, Master of Sex_, etc (and when HBO stopped having as many great shows and comedy specials). Now they are on the same playing field level. But don't expect the cost of HBO to go down to the cost of Showtime. Instead, expect the opposite.

Or, ask Rupert M why Time Warner is worth 80 billion to him.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

After the end of Boardwalk Empire, I may just cancel HBO and only have it for GoT. Though if the rumors of Westworld are true...a real possibility of a show I'd watch. 


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

This show needs a rooting interest. I have started rooting for the Guilty Remnant until further notice.


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

TomCat said:


> There may be nothing sadder than someone who feels compelled to watch every episode of something that is unwatchable.
> 
> You have to know when to bail. If its not for you, its time, or maybe past time.
> 
> ...


"Time Warner" _ASYKW (ATHF)_ with his "Fox"


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Finally we could start to some light. Let's hope it is not a train in the tunnel.


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

I've been watching it since the beginning and it's decent.
A lot of things just don't make any sense. Maybe I missed it but I don't think they even gave a name for the people in white until the fourth episode.
And everybody in the show is either apathetic or bat*** crazy.
I would have loved to see an episode or two showing how the worls devolved into this rather than just startying out with it like this.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Red Orc said:


> I've been watching it since the beginning and it's decent.
> A lot of things just don't make any sense. Maybe I missed it but I don't think they even gave a name for the people in white until the fourth episode.
> And everybody in the show is either apathetic or bat*** crazy.
> I would have loved to see an episode or two showing how the worls devolved into this rather than just startying out with it like this.


I think that's the plan of the writing team: Make everyone speculate, etc. The reveal is not yet.....

Now, Sheriff is a bit different, but I wouldn't call him apathetic or bat**** crazy.... not just yet!

As an addendum, I am just now watching The Americans, and one of the top KGB dudes is the woman in white who is some kind of leader, and who spoke recently..... I prefer her as a Russky!


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

yosoyellobo said:


> Finally we could start to some light. Let's hope it is not a train in the tunnel.


Yes it does seem like a light though I haven't been as confused about a show I keep thinking I like since "John from Cincinnati" which was also on HBO.


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## David Ortiz (Aug 21, 2006)

Laxguy said:


> As an addendum, I am just now watching The Americans, and one of the top KGB dudes is the woman in white who is some kind of leader, and who spoke recently..... I prefer her as a Russky!


I believe those are two different actresses.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

And I believe you are right. One, Anne Dowd, also plays in Masters of Sex.


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## Red Orc (Oct 11, 2011)

Laxguy said:


> I think that's the plan of the writing team: Make everyone speculate, etc. The reveal is not yet.....
> 
> Now, Sheriff is a bit different, but I wouldn't call him apathetic or bat**** crazy.... not just yet!
> 
> ...


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Just finished this week's episode. Now I understand more which is not to say I feel like I understand enough...


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## splish (Nov 7, 2002)

I gave up on it after 4 episodes. Too boring. But you know what, I keep thinking about it! I might go back to it sometime.


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

I am ready to ride it out until the finish. I am out at the first sight of a zombie.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

There's an article in The New Yorker a few weeks back, for anyone that cares.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> There's an article in The New Yorker a few weeks back, for anyone that cares.


Yeah, that article helped me keep going when at the end the author said:



> There's an argument to be made for TV shows that I call "three-eppers": they take a few installments to convert you. Sometimes this is because they're doing something novel; sometimes it's because they're doing something alienating. If, after you've watched three episodes of "The Leftovers," you decide that it's not for you, go ahead and bail. The show has a grandiose quality; it's structured in a looping, musical way-to the point that it reminded me, oddly, of "Treme," another series that evaded traditional TV formulas. But it captures the disorientation of grief in a way that is provocative and rare for television. It feels less like a puzzle than like a slow-fuse meditation on the nature of death itself-with or without the Rapture. Why them and not me? How could the ones we loved, or hated, be here, then gone? One scene, in which Laurie-whose silent face flickers with contempt-suddenly breaks down, broke me down, too, but it didn't feel manipulative, as in a Lifetime sobfest, just cathartic. It also felt like being shoved underwater. "Lost" was a mystery that never got solved, leaving many viewers furious. "The Leftovers" is something new: it doesn't promise answers. It just asks to be experienced.


Still, it took me to this last episode - #9 - to feel certain I wasn't wasting my time.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

This article seems to say it all with this comment:



> At this point, there is no bigger mystery to solve: The show is about the depressing (fine, sometimes freeing) elements of existentialism, which is harder to sell than a thriller or rom-com.


But he does tell us (*emphasis* added): "On Sunday, HBO's bleakly engrossing drama _The Leftovers_ concludes its 10-episode first season (_*it's already been picked up for a second*_)....'


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

phrelin said:


> This article seems to say it all with this comment:
> 
> But he does tell us (*emphasis* added): "On Sunday, HBO's bleakly engrossing drama _The Leftovers_ concludes its 10-episode first season (_*it's already been picked up for a second*_)....'


Glad to hear this.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

We just finished watching it last night. Perhaps the next season will be better. I'm still wondering why I watched it.

Rich


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Rich said:


> We just finished watching it last night. Perhaps the next season will be better. I'm still wondering why I watched it.
> 
> Rich


In my case I watch because I am fascinated by the concept of the show. Imagine that two years ago 2% of the world population had disappear. Would we in Dbstalk or any other forum be discussing anything but that event. While I am not a religious person I am interested in what I call the physics of God. In cosmology there is a theory about how the universe came into existence call the Big Bang Theory. I am interested in what came before the Big Bang. Why , why not.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

yosoyellobo said:


> In my case I watch because I am fascinated by the concept of the show. Imagine that two years ago 2% of the world population had disappear. Would we in Dbstalk or any other forum be discussing anything but that event. While I am not a religious person I am interested in what I call the physics of God. In cosmology there is a theory about how the universe came into existence call the Big Bang Theory. I am interested in what came before the Big Bang. Why , why not.


I gave up on trying to figure all that out. I spent years reading about various religions and got nowhere. Before the Big Bang? I don't have a clue.

Rich


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Have wondered the same myself, but creating matter out of nothing is beyond my power to comprehend.


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Laxguy said:


> Have wondered the same myself, but creating matter out of nothing is beyond my power to comprehend.


It is beyond all out power to comprehend but who knows someday somebody might come with some sort of answer in my lifetime. What does the most interesting man in the world says "stay thirsty my friend"


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> Have wondered the same myself, but creating matter out of nothing is beyond my power to comprehend.


I've found a whole lot of things that are beyond my comprehension. I'd rather watch TV or read.

Rich


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## mrro82 (Sep 12, 2012)

I'm going with the singularity theory for the big bang. 

Sent from the jaws of my Hammerhead!


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

I'll buy.... But what does that mean? (in 200 words or less!)


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> I'll buy.... But what does that mean? (in 200 words or less!)


It means he doesn't have any more idea about the subject than we do. :rolling:

Rich


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## yosoyellobo (Nov 1, 2006)

Rich said:


> It means he doesn't have any more idea about the subject than we do. :rolling:
> 
> Rich


I could probably do it in less than 200 hundred word but I am afraid the men's with white suits will come an take me away.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

I've already tracked your IP and the little men are coming to take you away, ha-ha, hee-hee, ho-ho!

:rotfl: 



> And they're coming to take me away ha-haaa
> They're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha haaa
> To the funny farm
> Where life is beautiful all the time
> ...


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## Delroy E Walleye (Jun 9, 2012)

Sometimes played by a "cover" group on the Halloween music channel, but IIRC (I've not looked it up) was originally released by a group called something like "Napoleon The 13th"?


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

I'm showing "Napoleon XIV" on a Dr. Demento album... It's pretty clever.


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