The Leftovers series premiere aired tonight on HBO. Read the full recap and learn where to watch the episode here.
Update: The Leftovers premiere episode has been released for free on Yahoo!.
October 14. The day 2% of the population disappears. One minute your baby is screaming in the backseat and your dad is walking you to the car, the next you are staring at an empty car seat. The Leftovers examines the lives of those who remained in the wake of the sudden departure.
Three Years Later:
Kevin Garvey takes a run across Mapleton, NY where abandoned dogs lurk on the boarder. A man emerges from a pickup truck killing it with a rifle, immediately driving away. The dog’s collar leads Kevin, now the chief of police, to the owners’ home where he learns that her dog ran away three years ago and never returned. The same can be said about for her husband. In a quick flash we learn that Kevin’s father, the former chief of police, went crazy following the departure. What do you offer to those who lost someone in the event? Sympathies are not welcome in this home.
Across town a woman wakes up in a commune clad in white and begins to chain smoke. Throughout the space there are no mirrors, or people filling their picture frames. There are daily assignments and reminders on the walls that read, “We are living reminders,” and “We don’t smoke for enjoyment, we smoke to proclaim our faith.”
At the local high school, the students remain seated during the Pledge of Allegiance and some opt out of prayers for the departed. Outside near the field hockey fields, pairs from the Guilty Remnant stake out the students as a silent reminder just out of sight. A bit of pent up aggression arises from Jill, Kevin’s daughter, and she breaks a taunting teammate’s nose.
Even further out, a Congressman from Texas is shuffled to a van where Tom, a transporter, a promises that in exchange for his phone and a hefty sum of money, the burden he carries will soon be a distant memory.
The mayor calls a meeting to run through “Hero’s Day” protocol. Girls Scouts will read the names of the departed, a woman who lost her entire family will take the floor, and a “creepy statue” will be unveiled. But are they truly honoring heroes? The mayor, who appears to be as invested in the celebration as a root canal, counters that no one would show up to remember “We don’t know what the fuck happened day.” The day is to help the residents push through to the healing process.
Kevin brings to light The GR, Guilty Remnant, who are bound to make their presence known. They are antagonists, saying nothing except standing around causing everyone to question their existence and purpose. Kevin’s outrage at the mayor’s unwillingness to cancel is seeded beyond a policeman’s concern for public protest.
Building the scene:
Kevin’s family, his wife, son, and daughter, each leave him in a different way after the departure. Tom, ignores his father’s calls, opting to drive people around to Holy Wayne the healer. Jill, emotionally detached from the family unit Kevin tries to maintain, runs off to parties avoiding conversations about her mother through drugs and sex. At the close of such a party, Jill and a pair of twins, Adam and Scott, (Teen Wolf fans, the Carver twins!) find a dead dog in the trunk of the car. They bury the dog’s body and envy the dog’s freedom from analyzing the world that they are stuck to reside.
Tom’s position in the Wayne’s cult takes on a new layer as he is charged with protecting a young woman residing at the ranch. According to Wayne, the grace period following the departure is nearing an end.
The parade begins, as Kevin arrives late after discovering Jill is missing and his kitchen has been broken into and ransacked. No wonder he is on edge. The mayor begins to address the crowd, offering the statue in memory of the departed as the school band plays on behind her. Midway through a resident’s tale, the GR arrive holding signs that read, “Stop Wasting Your Breath” evoking violent reactions from the crowd.
Kevin, after a few drinks recovering from crowd control, goes in search of Laurie in the GR cold de sac to ensure she was not harmed. The leader emphasizes, by underlining, that Kevin is not welcome there. However, all the man wants to do is talk to his wife and take her home.
The Remnant:
Cast away from the compound, Kevin continues to be haunted by appearances of deer and rabid dogs flooding the edge of town. The man in the truck reappears and convinces Kevin he is awake and gets him to shoot the dogs with him.
Tom jumps into the pool at the ranch, revealing scars from whips, and screams his frustrations out underwater. Jill climbs the stairs and picks the glass off the framed picture of the once happy family including her mother that no longer exists.
Every family has a bit of them that wishes they were not a leftover.
Spare Bits:
•Liv Tyler’s character, though creepily stalked by the GR, did not make a huge impression this week. Hearing the leader of the Guilty Remnant speak to her after she seeks refuge following her abandonment of her fiancé, was the most jarring.
•Pick up line: “Where were you when it happened?”
•Gary Busey and the Pope were both part of the departed.
Initial Reaction: The character’s performances are a key factor to drive the show through the season. The heavier material is going to be challenging to keep most viewers engaged, but the story still holds a lot of promise.
Watch The Leftovers season 1, episode 2, “Penguin One, Us Zero” Sunday, July 6 at 10:00 p.m. ET on HBO.
You can catch this week’s episode on HBO Go.