"The Leftovers": Pilot Review

I know!

I wasn’t particularly excited for The Leftovers' arrival and I had several nagging questions going into the show: Would it prove to be a worthy placeholder for Game of Thrones and the other great shows currently on hiatus? Was Lindelof once again going to wing it, like he did on Lost and Prometheus, or did he actually have a plan this time around? And, most importantly, was anyone going to eat those?

The answer to all these questions appears to be a yes. I think.

The pilot’s tone is glum, the pacing deliberate, and there is little in terms of rousing action. Still, the minimalist way in which the out of thin air disappearance of two percent of the world’s population is visualized, effectively sets the stage for the mysterious new status quo. Three years later, when our main plot takes place, everything’s the same and yet everything’s completely different. People still go about their day-to-day business, civilization still functions, but there is this inescapable sense that most everyone’s on autopilot, zombie-like, still in denial, while those that aren't are finding it harder and harder to cope.

This malaise permeates this first episode and creates a sense of unease. There were several points during which I was fully braced for something bad to happen, like when the daughter chokes the guy at the party. Am I being paranoid, or is it worrying that she came out of that room alone? 

Within this tense atmosphere, factions are forming and our charaters' little town is slowly but surely fragmenting. Whether they are organized or not at this point, there are the religious and the non-religious, the cultists and the civilians who fear them, the truth-seekers and… in the middle of all this we have our Police Chief played by Justin Theroux, who single-handedly seems to carry the self-imposed burden of keeping his small-town’s society from collapsing on itself. Like his daughter’s friend tells him, he is doing his best.

But will that be enough?

If his own estranged imploding family is any indication, it certainly won’t be. Sure enough, during the town’s first Heroes Day commemoration of those who were taken, the GR cult members -- I already forgot what those initials stand for -- descend en mass and set off an all-out brawl with the townies. And, to make matters worse, there appears to be something very wrong with the dogs when they ravenously attack a deer…

Just like Lost, there are far too many questions left unanswered in this pilot, and we are left wanting much much more. Though I ultimately gave up on that island show sometime during season 5, never to watch another episode, the good news here is that The Leftovers is based on a book with an actual ending – or so I hope. If Lindelof gets to just focus on the mystery and slow burn aspects while knowing full well where it's all headed then this could be a home run.  For that reason alone, I think I'm going to let myself be taken on this ride.

      

Sidenotes:

• The music selection was particularly strong I thought, but I felt there was something off about that one song that accompanies the GR leaving their house for Heroes Day. Maybe it was intentional, but there seemed to be a disconnect between the music and the proceedings. 
• They are not our dogs. They’re not.” It’s interesting to note that our hero goes from trying to save a dog –  a classic hero trait – to killing a whole pack at the end. He has his reasons, but still. 
• Crazy Wayne sure loves Asians girls.
• Who takes off their clothes to choke someone?