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The Leftovers S3 |OT| The End Is Near - Premieres Sunday 4/16, 9pm on HBO

KingKong

Member
I never really considered it to be some kind of truth. Shes telling Kevin what they both want to hear which is that she and the disappeared have found peace and shes ready to move on with him
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
Alan Speinwall really nailed down almost everything I've felt about this show and this finale in his review tonight. A very well written piece.
 
I loved season 2 and would still rank it as one of my favorite television seasons of all time. From the beginning of the first two episodes of season 3, it just felt like the series was going into a different direction then what was alluded to in season 2. You had all of these supernaturally mysterious springing up like Jardin, Mary waking up, people seemingly having powers like that guy who can read hands, Kevin not being able to die, etc.

I did not care if they addressed the departure, but why create all these new plot lines in season 2 and not even acknowledge them in the end. I was not expecting answers, but Kevin's rebirths are pretty big in the show and had two episodes dedicated to them and they didn't mean anything in the end.

I feel like this episode only works if you really cared about Kevin and Nora's relationship but the show was more than that, or at least i thought it was. I cared about the overall strangeness of the world but that was all ignored for a character focused ending for a character i didn't really like all that much.

You pretty much hit on all the things I've been thinking about since watching, especially your last point.
 

DietRob

i've been begging for over 5 years.
I'm am judging you if you "don't get it" or think the ending was bad.

You can never be trusted or taken seriously with an opinion on a TV show again.
 

Erigu

Member
I'm am judging you if you "don't get it" or think the ending was bad.

You can never be trusted or taken seriously with an opinion on a TV show again.
Hahaha. Judge me, bro. Would you also like to know if I would kill a child if it could cure cancer? I'm told this is important.
 

Erigu

Member
Allowing texts to reveal themselves in the process isn't a bad thing.
"Man, now that I think about it, this isn't earned at all, is it? Let's... just leave it as is. And just show she's fine later on. I'm sure our fans won't mind and can be trusted to do the rest of the work."
Guess he's not wrong.
 
In any case, in case we take the Nora's story as truth, then science should be able to know what caused the departure, at least eventually.

I don't really care much tho, I'm glad the show had a happy good ending.
 

Erigu

Member
In any case, in case we take the Nora's story as truth, then science should be able to know what caused the departure, at least eventually.
I don't know, they seem to have forgotten all about animal testing, for one thing. Maybe all the good scientists have departed? And they're fine staying in that other world, faaaar from Asshole Earth?
 

Jocund

Member
"Man, now that I think about it, this isn't earned at all, is it? Let's... just leave it as is. And just show she's fine later on. I'm sure our fans won't mind and can be trusted to do the rest of the work."
Guess he's not wrong.
Okay
 
Huh. That's an interesting thought someone brought up.

The only main characters we see are Nora, Kevin and Laurie.

Nora could've died in the machine,
Kevin from the heart attack,
Laurie from the scuba.

Maybe they were all in the after life after all.
 
Huh. That's an interesting thought someone brought up.

The only main characters we see are Nora, Kevin and Laurie.

Nora could've died in the machine,
Kevin from the heart attack,
Laurie from the scuba.

Maybe they were all in the after life after all.

Laurie had a baby though. Or..........maybe it was from her abortion?
 

Erigu

Member
Huh. That's an interesting thought someone brought up.

The only main characters we see are Nora, Kevin and Laurie.

Nora could've died in the machine,
Kevin from the heart attack,
Laurie from the scuba.

Maybe they were all in the after life after all.
... Okay, guys.

You've theorized that maybe there's more to it. That maybe all is not as it seems. That maybe: a) Nora lied and didn't actually go missing for years in some parallel world, or b) they were all dead and it was the afterlife.
I've seen quite a few posters say as much already.

But unless I've missed it, I haven't seen anybody explain how those would make for good, interesting stories, come up with any reason why those theories are actually worth something beyond "hey, that's not the obvious take, so y'know, it would be a twist!"

It kinda reminds me of Ridley Scott's infatuation for the "Deckard is a Replicant" thing. Is that actually interesting? Does that make the movie better at all?

In this case: just how fascinated exactly are you by this version of the story where Nora never left (because she changed her mind, or the machine didn't work, whatever) but just stayed away from Kevin for years (to the point of missing her brother's funerals), only to hook up with him after all in the finale by making up some grandiose SF excuse?


Laurie had a baby though.
This is the Lindelof-verse: could still be a limbo baby.
 

HoJu

Member
Huh. That's an interesting thought someone brought up.

The only main characters we see are Nora, Kevin and Laurie.

Nora could've died in the machine,
Kevin from the heart attack,
Laurie from the scuba.

Maybe they were all in the after life after all.
Nah. There is no hidden twist. What would be the point of that
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I think y'all are reading way too deep into things. The after life stuff doesn't make sense, because where was Matt? The interview explains why they reversed course on Laurie. The baby is Jill's.

Plus people age here. Laurie is older than if she had committed suicide via scuba accident.
 

Jocund

Member
Considering Lindelof so much as states his intention was to deliver a pared down conclusion in the TVLine interview, these afterlife and limbo baby theories are, uhh, stretchy
 
In this case: just how fascinated exactly are you by this version of the story where Nora never left (because she changed her mind, or the machine didn't work, whatever) but just stayed away from Kevin for years (to the point of missing her brother's funerals), only to hook up with him after all in the finale by making up some grandiose SF excuse?

To be perfectly honest I think Nora called off the machine and went into hiding. And much like Kevins other world experiences which were in his head, Nora made up her experiences in the other world too. (They're perfect for each other)

But it's really fun to theorize and I like how it's uncertain!!!
 

Kadin

Member
If anyone's interested, Vulture just put up a huge behind-the-scenes article on how the final episode was written, shot, and edited. Very in-depth, and a good read coming off the last episode.
Thanks for the link. I don't have time to read all of it, there's a ton there glancing through it, but I'll definitely read through it in the next couple days. What I did read was pretty interesting and the video with Lindelof was nice to watch.

As to the end of the series... I'm sad. Sad because I'm really going to miss these characters and I didn't even question the truth to Nora's story like many others, writers included - I took it in as 100% true.

Ah well, guess it's time to go watch Lost for my fifth re-watch. I love that I loved every season while so many hated the middle on of the show. I was hooked from beginning to end.
 

Floor

Neo Member
In the middle of the episode I felt it dragged a little, probably also because I just wanted to know what would happen, but I loved the ending. Really love The Leftovers as a whole and I can't wait to rewatch it all.
 

mjp2417

Banned
I have some minor qualms with the third season as a whole, but I can't think of a finer closing scene to any television show ever. Good on Damon Lindelof for nailing this one.
 

Floor

Neo Member
Why would the afterlife have funky futuristic cars (Kevin's) or phones(Laurie's)?

I think y'all are reading way too deep into things. The after life stuff doesn't make sense, because where was Matt? The interview explains why they reversed course on Laurie. The baby is Jill's.

Plus people age here. Laurie is older than if she had committed suicide via scuba accident.

I think that if you want to believe in an afterlife of some sorts it's not impossible people age, die and that there is innovation there. I think an afterlife is not necessarily restricted to a strict set of rules, if you believe there is an afterlife at all of course. I didn't interpreted the finale as being set in the afterlife myself but I think it is possible.
 
I generally loved this series but gotta say I was not engaged with this finale, quite disappointed with this.

First off, the Nora/Kevin relationship never felt so strong or something to put the viewers faith in. It certainly didn't warrant a series finale putting so much emphasis on the closure to their joined happiness. what the hell.

and also (this is a big one that really hurts it for me), I think its a shame that entire other-earth timeline was explained to us through some long expository speech from Nora, would have been more effective actually seeing her behind that tree finally accepting that her family has moved on and she should too. not telling us way after the fact.

big nope to this finale

The Nora and Matt scene was really nice though.
 

Erigu

Member
and also (this is a big one that really hurts it for me), I think its a shame that entire other-earth timeline was explained to us through some long expository speech from Nora, would have been more effective actually seeing her behind that tree finally accepting that her family has moved on and she should too. not telling us way after the fact.
But then it wouldn't have been ambiguous, man!
 
I generally loved this series but gotta say I was not engaged with this finale, quite disappointed with this.

First off, the Nora/Kevin relationship never felt so strong or something to put the viewers faith in. It certainly didn't warrant a series finale putting so much emphasis on the closure to their joined happiness. what the hell.

and also (this is a big one that really hurts it for me), I think its a shame that entire other-earth timeline was explained to us through some long expository speech from Nora, would have been more effective actually seeing her behind that tree finally accepting that her family has moved on and she should too. not telling us way after the fact.

big nope to this finale

The Nora and Matt scene was really nice though.
It's actually very important that they didn't show any of that because Nora was/wasn't lying.

Well, that made it hit even stronger for me. This entire season we got the most grandeur nonsense happening all over the place and it ultimately ends in such an intimate and simple scene.

Their relationship was always walking on some strange line of eggshells, but at its core there was always some kind of beautiful bond between them. The entire season was build up to that. Hell, even this season's main promo pic with Angel Kevin & Nora hinted to that. Lol
Reminds me of that intimate scene in the previous episode when theyre in the bathtub together. No matter how batshit insane the world got and no matter how crazy/messed up these two can be as shown, there were these shinning, almost down to earth moments between them.
 
It's actually very important that they didn't show any of that because Nora was/wasn't lying.

okay. but either way she's telling Kevin that she's moved on and has accepted that the past is behind her.

then why does she seem like she hasn't changed at all then. her interactions with the nun were the same miserable Nora, trying to shut down others happiness to bring them to her level.

the only change we got with Nora in this episode was longer and greyer hair.

and guys, was the Nora/Kevin relationship really this integral to the show? maybe I was getting something else out of it. I understand this aspect is relative but it flew way over my head that this would get so much emphasis at the end. those two always just seemed like they were not right for each other, just using each other to temporarily cope.

i'd have been much happier if this ended two episodes ago tbh. the last one was really engaging though in the same insane way that a few other eps of this show have been dealing with Kevin.
 

stenbumling

Unconfirmed Member
What a quiet little episode. It was like an epilogue of an epilogue. It wasn't perfect – not particularly fond of how they spent half of the episode having Kevin acting like nothing happened (even though I can see and accept the reasoning behind it) – but the ending and Noras story was sweet as hell, even if it was a lie. If something is ambiguous, it's most likely not real.
 
Welp, I watched it with some friends and we're cool with the departure explanation. It adds a helluva layer to everything to consider it from the perspective of the departed who lost so many people.

But....

1.) What's with the flood shit?

2.) What's with Kevin being able to die? What was the point of all that if it actually had nothing to do with the dimensional split.

3.) What did the sequence with the split Kevin's and the nukes have to do with anything?


I feel like I had a really hard time keeping up.


edit: we think Nora was lying about seeing her kids?? why?
 
Welp, I watched it with some friends and we're cool with the departure explanation. It adds a helluva layer to everything to consider it from the perspective of the departed who lost so many people.

But....

1.) What's with the flood shit?

2.) What's with Kevin being able to die? What was the point of all that if it actually had nothing to do with the dimensional split.

3.) What did the sequence with the split Kevin's and the nukes have to do with anything?


I feel like I had a really hard time keeping up.


edit: we think Nora was lying about seeing her kids?? why?

Read the Sepinwall review above.

Besides the opinion of where one stands on the ending, it's a good explanation on all of it and what we got.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
So I never watched this and dont plan to.


What caused the departure?

He thinks this show makes sense.
NETTYoh.gif
 

Papito

Member
okay. but either way she's telling Kevin that she's moved on and has accepted that the past is behind her.

then why does she seem like she hasn't changed at all then. her interactions with the nun were the same miserable Nora, trying to shut down others happiness to bring them to her level.

the only change we got with Nora in this episode was longer and greyer hair.

and guys, was the Nora/Kevin relationship really this integral to the show? maybe I was getting something else out of it. I understand this aspect is relative but it flew way over my head that this would get so much emphasis at the end. those two always just seemed like they were not right for each other, just using each other to temporarily cope.

i'd have been much happier if this ended two episodes ago tbh. the last one was really engaging though in the same insane way that a few other eps of this show have been dealing with Kevin.

I agree with you on the Kevin and Nora relationship. Even Patti commented that their relationship was just damage control and I agreed when she said it. Also, they never seemed like a couple that was in love to the degree that this episode alludes to. Their relationship always felt like a band-aid and I actually felt like the argument they had on episode 4 was a realization of that. Their relationship definitely didn't require an entire episode. I expected a more grandiose finale that focuses more on just a single aspect of a show with as many layers as the leftovers.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
I'll third the sentiment that I never thought they relationship was the core of this show, thought it was weird when they called this show a "love story". When Kevin told her off and he left her in the hotel, I thought that could have been the end to Nora's story since there were, like, 50 other things still left hanging related to Kevin.
 
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