The Leftovers (HBO) TV Show • Page 40

"Chief is still alive and kicking at the age of 91. (Chief’s age is useful to estimate how much time has passed. When he was arrested for trespassing on aboriginal lands, the Australian cops listed him as 75 years old on his “Beware of This Man” poster. So if we’ve traveled a linear timeline, 16 years have passed.)"

 

This is one reviewers take on the goat scene:

The scene with the lost goat proved that Nora was always who she was, and she couldn’t eradicate that core of herself. As much as she’d hidden herself away and tried to be as alone as possible, she still cared about other living creatures. She would go through hell to rescue just one lost, bleating animal.

i kind of like the idea that the years he spent looking was his penance for his blow up with Nora and that it took that big sweeping gesture to get her to open up to him.

 

It was clear to me when it was happening. I knew they wanted it to be ambiguous by not cutting away to it. I just believed Nora because Carrie Coon is an incredible actress and even though Nora has lied throughout the series to herself and others, in that moment I was taken away by the story.

 

I think I'll just....let the mystery be

 

For a show that could have so easily veered off the rails at basically any point in its run, it's incredible the degree to which they stuck the landing.

The first 20 minutes was pretty much the series highlight, just absolutely masterful tonally. Was absolutely terrified for Nora.

Couple things I thought were really interesting from the Lindelof interview: 1) acknowledging that the show really found its footing with the director change to Mimi Leder in s1ep5 - I certainly wouldn't be the first to say the show went from ehh to awesome somewhere right around there. If I remember right I loved the premise but thought the pilot was really flawed, hate watched the next 3 episodes, gave it a real chance that episode, and then was beyond sold with the Nora-centric episode 6.

2) Really get the sense that they wrote Nora's story to be true and changed their minds somewhere along the way before shooting it. I'm half in the doesn't-matter-because-happy-Kevin/Nora ending camp anyways, but if true it's such a satisfying wrap of both Nora's own story and the departure itself. Lindelof's answers, especially referencing the prior scene with the nun, suggest that he initially felt similar but grew to like what it being a lie would suggest. Ultimately it's kind of perfect either way.

 

I can't wait for the workday to be over so I can go home and watch this again.

 

There's a tragic beauty in the truth being irrelevant. What's important is the connections the characters made and that Kevin and Nora found each other in the end. Through all the fucked up shit and the sudden collapse of their tumultuous relationship, they ended up together and finding comfort in each other. That's all I really care about.

 

Agree 100%

 

i was so happy we got to hear 'let the mystery be' one more time.

Great ending. I believe her.

*Kinda wished Laurie wasn't still alive. It kinda ruins what was a beautiful, tragic ending for a character.

 

Yep. I said earlier in this thread that the only resolution I wanted was Kevin/Nora so a finale that focused on their relationship was everything I could have asked for.

 

It feels weird to be like "I wish that character had killed herself" but yeah I agree.

Well, I guess I'd rather they just left it up to interpretation of the last scene in Certified. But now I'm giving a Damon Lindelof finale flack for providing too much closure, which also feels wrong.

 

Maybe talking to Jill changed her mind at the last minute. I'm fine with that

 

At first I felt the same, and then I started thinking how beautiful it was that Jill's call was what made her change her mind. However fucked up the world was and all the confusion and uncertainty in her head, her children's love was all that mattered.

 

I'm just finishing the episode.

THIS.

SHOW.

 

I believe Nora's story. "I don't lie" is what she says to the nun.

 

Solid roundup of #TeamNorahIsALiar

 

http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/leftovers-finale-behind-the-scenes-exclusive.html

this is a long read but very good look inside the making of the finale

 

But she does lie to the nun

 

let me know if i'm wrong about this. A possible concern I have with the ending is that in the end the show ended up being about love, and more specifically, love between Nora and Kevin. That's a very lovely ending but I don't know if much of the show conveyed that message. Or am I wrong? I never really felt like Nora and Kevin, and their romance, was ever really numero uno on the list of important themes of the show. It was always there and it was always rather important, but for Kevin, I thought his love with his family was always the biggest aspect of his life. Or his internal struggles with himself (and not dying). And Nora was always about her kids.

While the ending feels great, i just don't know if it's the ending that really encapsulates the shows top theme. Forget season 1, as we've discussed in here, season 1 is NOT what season 2/3 are. Totally different, so forget that. But within the framework of season 2 and 3, do you think ending the show on Nora and Kevin's long-lasting love was the right call? Or is the ending not even really so much about Kevin's and Nora's love, but rather them dealing with their own demons, and their love being the result of those demons.

Am i wrong here?

 

I think Damon Lindelof has recently said something almost word for word like "This show is ultimately a love story" but I'd agree that never felt like the primary focus of the show until the very end

 

holy crap that vulture piece is overwhelming

 

I got through the script part and tapped out

 

Watching Kevin's face and listening to the way he's saying stuff now that we know he knew the whole time is tough, man. He's struggling hard to hold it together.

 

i just read that whole vulture piece. As someone who's interested in getting into filmmaking, that was fascinating as fuck!! I love Damon haha. There are so many moments in this write-up where I feel like I'd be like Damon. The part where someone reccomends the goat for the wedding and he yells "and they sacrifice it!"? made me laugh. It's like nooo Damon haha no sacrifice.

Out of all of the other ending possibilities listed, #3 was the only one I was intrigued by. Kevin going into the hotel world to find Nora would've been cool in my opinion

*also there's a spotify playlist of songs that got suggested for the show... im going to listen to all of these :)

 

Re: The vulture piece....I really, REALLY want that baby scene now. I think it would have been perfect if we blacked out from Nora's house at the end and had an "epilogue" where the screen fades back in to the POV of the baby. Just kind of a way to "confirm" Nora's story while also tying it back around to the opening scene of the series.