MovieChat Forums > The Leftovers (2014) Discussion > Is this going somewhere? Edit: Ending sp...

Is this going somewhere? Edit: Ending spoilers


I've watched the first two episodes, it's enjoyable.

But is it one of those shows that presents a pile of mysteries then never answers them, just dragging it out to keep people watching and never resolving anything?

I get that feeling. I hope I'm wrong.

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It leads you to believe that all "worthy" people were taken away in the rapture and everyone else was left behind. It doesn't explain more than that. Everyone left over is just trying to make sense of it all and trying to live the best they can but some of them, obviously, lost their minds.

I will say that the first two seasons were very good. The third, however, in my opinion was lousy! They should have stopped after two season. If you watch it, you'll see what I mean.

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There is a resolution at the end of the last episode. An explanation of what happened, though not why it happened. I was pretty happy with it. It was a pretty cool reveal.

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Maybe you could refresh my memory because I don't remember any type of a real explanation.

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Towards the end of the last episode, Nora explained to Kevin that when she went through the machine she went to a different reality where all the people who had vanished from this world had actually experienced everyone in this world disappearing from their world.

In other words while 2% of people vanished from this world, 98% of people had vanished from their world. Much more devastating and horrific. In their world Nora's family were very lucky compared to most, they only lost one member.

She also describes how it took her ages to get back to the US because with so many people gone infrastructure was devastated too. A nice touch.

She then decided she didn't belong there because her family had completely moved on, she found the man who invented the machine (who was the first to use it and sent himself through) and had him replicate it and had herself sent back to this world.

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The ep is called The Book of Nora for a reason. It's a story.

"Lindelof explained: "This entire series and particularly this season has been about incredible actors telling incredible stories that are very least true to them. (...) Whether or not they’re actually true to anyone else is all a matter of belief, and belief is an incredibly powerful aspect that the show has been playing with since it began."

"He elaborated: "We have a unanimous feeling as to which one of those realities is real and we will never, ever, say, 'This is what really happened.' (...) Kevin believes, or says he believes, the story; that’s the whole point of the series. That’s what religion is."

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Are you suggesting she made it up or that it didn't happen?

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So it was all because of a machine? Am I understanding that correctly? It's been at least a couple of years since I saw the show and I honestly don't remember that. I do remember not liking the third season so I might have not paid attention 100% as I would have if I were liking it better.

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No not because of the machine. Some cosmic event made the realities diverge and the 2% separate from the 98%

The machine was merely a way to replicate the radiation that the scientists detected at the more intense locations of the event. They weren't sure if replicating that radiation would replicate the event, but there were enough people desperate enough to take the chance to be with those they'd lost.

Turns out they were right, but probably not in the way they expected.

I didn't like the third season either. Quite boring. But I stuck it out to see if there'd be a resolution.

PS I was tired of using the blackout lol, I've now said spoilers in the thread title.

Edit: on thinking back, the scientists did seem sure they could replicate the event but didn't know what the event was or where the people they 'treated' would go.

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Gotcha, thanks much.

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"Turns out they were right"

And how do you know that definitively? B/c Nora told a story? They showed her shouting just as the liquid was reaching her chin, before cutting away, leaving the possibility that she bailed out at the final second. Unlike things that happened with Kevin, the audience isn't given a single frame of what she's talking about. Like Kevin, you're choosing to believe her story, but the show did not provide a definitive reveal. It's left open. We're still left with interpretations based on leaps of faith, just like those dealing with the original departure.

The show is about how we react to sudden loss by something that shakes up the metaphysics that we had come to accept. Cults arise, religions lay claim or decide to promote or dismiss the "worthy" idea, scientists theorize, mythical stories bloom, but no one has definitive knowledge -- yet we fill in blanks anyway. The showrunner (Lindelof) said at the very beginning of the show that there'd be no definitive answer or "reveal" as to the how, what, or why of what happened. You can live with that or choose to buy into one of the many stories, or even create your own.

"Lindelof explained: "This entire series and particularly this season has been about incredible actors telling incredible stories that are very least true to them. (...) Whether or not they’re actually true to anyone else is all a matter of belief, and belief is an incredibly powerful aspect that the show has been playing with since it began."

"He elaborated: "We have a unanimous feeling as to which one of those realities is real and we will never, ever, say, 'This is what really happened.' (...) Kevin believes, or says he believes, the story; that’s the whole point of the series. That’s what religion is."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-leftovers-finale-damon-lindelof-on-whether-nora-is-telling-the-truth

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Meh, all too complicated for me man. I liked Nora's version of events, and in the absence of any other offered explanation I'm going with it being the case.

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Yeah, nearly all human beings like nice, tidy answers. Better a crazy story than no resolution at all. We just can't "Let the Mystery Be".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQVS2fCsek

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By the time I got to the last episode I was fed up with the whole thing - season 3 was a complete drag. The episode with Kevin as the president/assassin was so tedious I skipped chunks of it and the storyline of Kevin sr. was beyond painful. All I was looking for was resolution so I'm going with Nora's story.

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That's fine. As long as you understand that the show never provided a definitive answer, nor did it ever intend to.

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I guess I don't have a choice. Thanks for correcting my error.

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