So here’s where Nora’s story falls apart for me: If the Other Side consists of the 2% that “disappeared” in the event, then many of her tale’s details aren’t consistent with an apocalypse. And that’s what things would be like over there. It would be an apocalyptic event to have 98% of the world’s population disappear. It would be Mad Max over there.
Houses wouldn’t just be overgrown with weeds and international flights wouldn’t happen because they don’t have enough people to fly them. Everything would stop working. She found someone to sail her from Australia to the US? What? Nora’s family just stayed in their home? They didn’t go become subsistence farmer or hunters? The professor built another machine on the Other Side? With what? Did he hook his machine up to the clocktower when it was struck by lightning?
Then she just decided to keep it all secret because she’s a selfish evil person, I guess? Because if her story is true, then everyone would want to know, right? Not the least of whom would be the scientists that sent her over and have to hide their activities because everyone thinks they just incinerate rubes. Also, you know, everyone else that lost loved ones in the event. But nah. Nora just went back to Australia to become a bird wrangler and not tell everyone about her journey.
See, this is just one of those things that just fundamentally bugs you or it just doesn’t. Probably comes down to what you were expecting to come out of all this. I guess if you wanted something like an answer, or at least for things to make sense, any kind of answer will be a let down. If it’s god, or aliens, or time traveling robots, all of those are dumb. You start with the premise that some people are just gone without a trace, and the path the show followed was not what happened to them? but rather how do those left behind deal with this?
Even if a world that’s lost 98% of its population somehow hanging on doesn’t really make logical sense, it does make storytelling sense in a kind of intuitive way. There’s always been a hole in the show where those who disappeared once were, and hey, maybe there’s this other world, or dimension, or whatever, that has a corresponding gaping hole. The two pieces fit into a kind of, almost complete whole, except they’ve still lost a world’s worth of people, they’re still incomplete in compensating ways. It’s like you meet somebody who is broken in the same way you are and even if it’s not love, you understand each other in a way nobody else could. Like Kevin and Nora.
For the show’s narrative? Nothing. It’s a glass half-empty or half-full exercise. The showrunners obviously left it all ambiguous choosing not to actually show Nora’s departure (or not) and enough time had passed between Nora and Kevin’s last meeting that she was able to move on.
Think about who you’re dealing with to provide a well constructed ‘answer’ to a mystery. The ambiguity of Nora’s credulity let’s you dismiss her story if you prefer. If you don’t, yeah, it’s the same hot mess you’d expect from ole Prometheus McLosty. If you’re gonna enjoy this, it’s for the character moments not the plot.
I’m not disputing the ending. I think it works fine in the context of the show if Nora is lying. It also works if Nora is telling the truth. I’m not placing my logical breakdown of her story at Lindelof’s feet. That’s just my reasoning for why I think she’s lying.
I literally binged this entire show over a series of weekends. Holy fuck this was good. Season 2 intro one my favorites ever. Such a great song, and the photographs are both sweet and haunting.
Ok, I’m not going to read the thread, as I don’t want any spoilers in case I carry on watching, but I have a quick question.
I’ve seen the first 2 episodes and am not sure I want to carry on watching. Is there anything more to this show apart from a village of broken moping people? Based on those 2 eps I don’t get the love or apparent “redemption” that Lindelof supposedly demonstrates here.
I’ve watched my share of slow dramas (finished the first season of Broadchurch for example), but perhaps this just isn’t my cup of tea. I probably just went in with the wrong expectations: thought this was going to be some sort of 4400 or “Les Revenants” (Returned).
Yeah, that’s how I felt about it early on. Without getting into spoilers, it definitely turns into something else. I believe the first season is based mainly on the book but its still really important to get to know the characters.
This show has a lot - I mean a whole lot - of depression porn. It does eventually turn and become something hopeful, but you have to get through almost all three seasons to get to the emotional payoff.
I don’t know if you’ll like what it becomes, but it certainly becomes something I loved, while never not being about broken people (not always moping though!).
I gave up around three episodes in at first because the flashback structure was so reminiscent of LOST that I didn’t see the point of “more of the same” from Lindelof—and that’s totally setting aside the specific problems LOST had with its meta-narrative which are not problems here. I was just like “yeah, I get it, slow revelations of backstory illuminating the present day drama as the music swells in the final act each week”.
But I came back when it got such great critical buzz and kept the attention of a couple friends I trust in the second season, and I’m really glad I picked it back up.
Almost finished the second season and I certainly commiserate with you about the first few episodes. In fact, I really didn’t get sucked in until the last couple episodes of the first season. Then, the second season just comes out crazy good. Really interested where this goes now. Actually, I don’t know if I care where it goes, as long as it remains this compelling.
I loved the first season, and I hated Lost. I am kind of a misery porn lover I guess. I do understand people were frustrated with it. This is a show about loss, and how we cope with it.
But stick around, once season 2 hits you won’t be able to stop watching. One thing that I love about the show is with all of the misery, it doesn’t stop itself from being funny at times.
As far as Redemption goes. The finale is one of the best I have ever seen, down to the final shot.
Also, I am now in love with Carrie Coon, she is so spectacular in this series. Sad, lonely, funny, and overall an extremely relatable and complete character.
I would take issue with calling The Leftovers “misery porn”, personally. I find stuff like The Walking Dead to be fairly misery porn-y, in the sense of each week seems to be just figuring out new ways of making life worse for the characters. And that’s not what happens in The Leftovers, it’s more of this huge, terrible, life changing event happened and everyone has to deal with it. Most of the series run is everyone adapting to their new normal in their own ways. Not always constructively, no. And it can definitely be a bit of a moody slog at times. But I think there’s value in the way the show presents the ways all these characters work through things. It feels responsible and mature in a way few shows seem to be.
