Friday, December 11, 2015

HBO The Leftovers: Best television drama of 2015 ... by gimleteye

(Posted originally on 12/4.) On Dec. 10, HBO announced the return of the "Leftovers" for a third season. Season 2, that recently aired its finale, departed from the plot of the book by co-producer and writer, Tom Perrota. If you are not familiar with the series, go back and start at the beginning.

NPR's Terry Gross interviewed the creators of the best drama on television, HBO's "The Leftovers" recently.  She agreed: the show deserves a third season. As usual, Gross helps the show's writers tell the compelling story and background.

In its first season, the show never quite found its footing. Interesting but too often like watching a teenager learn to swim. It took a lot of work for the writers to detail a world with its own rules: one that seems like ours but in which two percent of the population mysteriously disappear in a moment. In the first season, we watched the characters respond to exposition.

Show runner and co-producer Damon Lindelof ("Lost") explains that in season two, the writers pivoted into new geography, opening the drama in ways never covered by the novel.

Freed from the book's story line, the shows creators -- Perrota joined by the writer behind "Lost", Damon Lindelof -- delivered.

The long-form television drama has yielded some spectacular gems in recent years, from "Sopranos", to "Deadwood", "The Wire", "Six Feet Under", "Mad Men", and "Breaking Bad". "The Leftovers" is not quite there, but in its flashes of brilliance this season, gives fans hope that, indeed, season three will soon be on its way. And it is!
Justin Theroux (shown with Darby Camp) deals with the grief and mystery of being left behind in season 2 of the HBO series, The Leftovers.

2 comments:

Geniusofdespair said...

I am finding it hard to get through season one. I think I am up to episode 8 now. I was thinking of stopping but I will go to two on your recommendation. After all, I do watch the Walking Dead because of you and I like that.

Geniusofdespair said...

Okay I finished binge watching it. It made me depressed for the human race even though the last episode had a positive note. Maybe I am still mad at Lost writer for wasting years of my viewing time. Oddly, the Walking Dead doesn't depress me at all.