Tuesday, November 10, 2015

HBO "The Leftovers": best show on TV ... by gimleteye

This is a culture alert. I can't think of another long-format TV series that gained traction in its second season like HBO's "The Leftovers". The first season was a sleeper and its alternate reality seemed forced. The show's premise is based on the reaction of a small group of survivors to an instantaneous extinction of a random percentage of the living. The extinction event occurs in the near future. In a fraction of an instant, the unexplained intervention robs families of loved ones. Children disappear from the breakfast table. Cars left running in the middle of the road, with no occupants.

In its first season, the show asked viewers to accept the behavior of nihilists -- organized as a society of chain-smoking "Guilty Remnants" -- who conflicted with and contrasted against the lead characters struggling to survive the shattering of nuclear families.

The second season, though, is an astonishing payoff for viewers who stuck with the series through the first. For newcomers to the HBO series, you ought to hang in there through the first season episodes, but it gets good. Really, really good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting, I watched season 1 but had planned on skipping season 2.

Seen Bloodline yet? On Netflix. Pretty good and fun seeing all the upper Keys locations.