Season 1, episode 8 of The Leftovers just aired on HBO. Read our full recap for all the details of tonight’s episode.

The Leftovers has hit its stride with this week’s catalyst, “Cairo.” The wild animals, the missing white shirts, Kevin Garvey’s sanity all rest in the quiet wooded area of Cairo, New York. The cabin of his childhood holds one vital piece to the puzzle that is the Guilty Remnant.

Innocence:Before the battle erupt this week, Kevin’s attempt to maintain normalcy in his waking hours is completely undone as he is awakened by the dog hunter, Dean in the middle of Cairo, NY. In his sleep, Kevin manages to go to the bar and have a few drinks with Dean. They cross paths with Patti on the street and, in his somnambulant state, Kevin jumps out of the car and smashes her head into the ground. Kevin and Doug abduct Patti and take her to the cabin in the woods.

Once Kevin comes realizes the gravity of the mess he finds himself in, Dean’s eagerness to carry out the job they came to do breaks Kevin. In a fit of panic mixed with rage, Dean asks Kevin to go back to sleep and return as the man who showed up at the bar last night. Instead Kevin ventures into the woods to find a disturbing site. All around him are trees covered with his missing white shirts. He rips them down, trying to convince himself he is “okay,” when all evidence points otherwise.

Prior to abduction, Patti opens the episode by laying out clothing of various people on the church floor. Each outfit coordinates with a person in a binder labeled MD. Back at the residence, Patti summons Laurie in and hands over a large sum of cash from the binder. With one written word, “Ready?” and a single nod, another step is in motion for the Guilty Remnant.

Face-Off

•Jill v. Nora: In an attempt to build a bridge between his past and present, Kevin invites Nora over for dinner. Aimee tries to move the conversation along, asking Nora about the intricacies of her job, but Jill brings the night to a halt when she states that Nora carries a gun in her handbag. Nora agrees that, yes, at one time in her life that made her feel safe. She hands over her purse to Jill who takes a peek coming up empty handed. Kevin tries to iron out the mess at hand, but Jill’s hell bent on proving Nora still holds onto her fear deep down.

•Meg v. Reverend Matt: A brutal fight breaks out on the streets, a result of Matt’s latest flyers. On them, the story of Meg’s mother’s passing one day before the Departure, October 13. Meg’s frustration at the lack of decency on Matt’s part trumps her vow of silence and she screams and fights until Laurie pulls her away from Matt’s bloody face. Back at the residence, Laurie takes Meg into Patti’s office and scribes that violence is not the answer because it is weak.

•Nora v. Laurie: Laurie brings Meg to Reverend Matt’s home to apologize for her behavior. Matt accepts, but is determined to keep working on saving Meg from the GR. Nora is there helping Matt take care of his wife. As Laurie turns to leave, Nora butts in that while they are out giving apologies, Laurie may want to stop by and give her daughter one.

•Jill v. Aimee: Aimee and Jill sit with the Frost twins watching the town prepare for Memorial Day. Aimee tells the story of the dinner with her signature flourish of detail. Jill is convinced that Nora is holding onto the pain of her past, Aimee tries to figure out why Jill is holding herself and Kevin back from moving forward in life. Jill counter by asking Aimee if she is sleeping with her father. Offended by the question, Aimee storms away to pack her things.

Jill takes the Frost brother to Nora’s house where they begin the search for the handgun. While Adam and Scott try to punch each other in Nora’s bullet proof vest, Jill finds an old game of Trouble in the untouched bedroom of Nora’s son. Inside the box is the gun. She breaks down and ultimately leaves it behind on the bed for Nora to find.

•Kevin v. Patti: When Kevin returns from the woods, he finds that Dean has tried to suffocate Patti with a plastic bag. Freeing Patti, Dean storms out of the cabin leaving Kevin to clean up his own mess. As Patti and Kevin sit across from one another, she makes it clear that his attempt to save her life changes nothing of her prior plan to turn him in. Patti’s power of speech does its job of unnerving viewers as well as Kevin. Her mission is simple, force the people of Mapleton to think about the events of October 14. “I think about it every waking moment, what else is there to think about?” Kevin spends his waking life, working to remove himself from the damaging effects of that day, but his nightmarish actions are undoing his grip on reality he wishes were true.

Patti claims that her mission has already struck Kevin. Something inside of him is awakening and soon it will hit the rest of the town. Kevin comes to realize that Gladys’ death was the result of a self-accepted the fate. The next step, Patti’s demise will not be on his hands. He cuts her free and demands they return to town, but Patti has a different idea. She picks up a shard of glass and stabs herself in the neck. She bleeds out in Kevin’s arms on the cabin floor.

Meanwhile, in Mapleton, Laurie takes charge of the Guilty Remnant in Patti’s absence and takes in a delivery at the church. Reconstructed bodies from the stolen photographs begin to fill the clothes laid out across the floor. With the task completed, an new guest seeking refuge shows up at their door. Jill enters the residence. Memorial Day is coming.

Watch The Leftovers season 1, episode 9, “The Garveys at Their Best,” Sunday, August 24 at 10:00 p.m. ET on HBO