The Leftovers is one of the best and most infuriating shows on TV, bringing up multiple mysteries each week and rarely solving any of them. It only gets away with the latter because of the former. We’re a season and a half into the show and, among other things, we still don’t know why hordes of people disappeared into thin air on October 14. (And if we’re to believe Damon Lindelof, we never will.) We have no idea whether Kevin (Justin Theroux) is nuts or some kind of tortured prophet. More significantly, as of last night, we’re not sure whether Kevin is even still alive.
Last night’s episode ended with a desperate, sweatier-than-usual Kevin chugging a glass of poison at the behest of Virgil (Steven Williams), who claimed the only way Kevin could shut Patti (Ann Dowd) the hell up was to “do battle” with her on the other side — i.e., die. Virgil assured Kevin that a) he’d done this type of work before and b) he’d quickly revive Kevin, Pulp-Fiction style. Then Virgil went and shot himself in the damn head. The episode concluded with sweet churchboy Michael (Jovan Adepo) dragging Kevin’s lifeless body out of his grandfather’s house.
Did The Leftovers really just kill off its lead? Is Michael an accomplice to murder? Why does Laurie’s (Amy Brenneman) hair look so great all of a sudden? Let’s talk about it, guys.
Is Kevin dead!?
This is really the only question I have a solid answer to. And that answer is “no.” At least, it’s highly unlikely. Here’s why: Not only is Justin Theroux the star of the show and the sole reason why sweatpant sales have soared this year, but many of The Leftovers‘ central mysteries revolve exclusively around Kevin. If Kevin dies, we’ll never know whether his hallucinations were real, or why he does insane shit while asleep, or what really happened to Evie (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and her friends, or why Kevin’s father gave him that copy of National Geographic, or why Kevin’s just stopped running entirely. (Okay, fine, it’s because we all objectified Justin Theroux.) It’s also important to remember that Kevin’s narrowly escaped death before, waking up at the bottom of an empty lake after an apparent failed suicide attempt. As Virgil put it, Kevin’s “got somebody looking out for you, or you’ve got yourself a most powerful adversary.” Either way, nobody’s letting Kevin die. Plus, he’s in Miracle, y’all! Where birds in boxes can live for days!
What the hell, Virgil?
Why did Virgil let Kevin die on his floor, emptying his epinephrine syringe all casual-like? Is he really a “magical black man sitting out on the edge of town,” as Patti so aptly put it? As the New York Times previously noted, Virgil is the name of Dante’s spiritual guide in The Divine Comedy, which, in the context of The Leftovers, likely means this Virgil really is trying to help Kevin get to the other side. But it’s possible that there’s something much more troubling going on, something having to do with the dark past Virgil alludes to — you know, whatever he did to make his own son shoot him in the penis. Which begs further questions: Why did Virgil shoot himself? Virgil knows that Kevin was at the lake the same night Evie vanished, but hasn’t asked Kevin a single thing about that evening. Does he think Kevin had something to do with Evie’s disappearance? Did Virgil have something to do with Evie’s disappearance? Is Virgil even really dead? Why does Virgil have so much clutter in his trailer? Does Virgil need Marie Kondo?
What’s up with Michael
Michael. We thought you were the show’s moral center, a churchgoing young man, a suitable love interest for our fair Jill (Margaret Qualley), and a virgin who could drive (albeit just to his grandfather’s house). But it seems you’re hiding a sinister side. First of all, why’d you have to go and tell Jill you aren’t sleeping with her because you don’t know if you love her? That’s, like, incredibly mean-spirited. Also, why were you hanging out with your grandpa, crying, right before he shot himself and poisoned Kevin? Why did you magically reappear just to drag Kevin’s body away? Did you know what was about to happen, or are you just used to cleaning up Virgil’s messes? Did you — along with Virgil — have something to do with Evie’s disappearance? Is that what you meant when you told Jill you spoke to people who “weren’t there?” Are you talking to Evie? MICHAEL.
Seriously, Nora?
Nora (Carrie Coon) has hired a hooker to shoot her in the chest. Nora has made out with a dummy (not a stupid person — a replica of a human being). Nora has stolen confidential documents from the briefcase of a stranger. Nora has handcuffed Kevin to her bed nightly. And now Nora has the nerve — nay, the gall — to leave Kevin, just because he confessed to her that he’s seeing dead people? There’s something strange about this storyline, something we’re missing. I’m guessing Nora didn’t really leave Kevin because he’s one key short of a functioning pair of police handcuffs. I think she left him because she suspects she’s a “lens,” a person who causes those around her to depart. She’s terrified that she’s going to lose her family again. But this does beg the question: Why’d she take Mary (Janel Moloney) and cute, squishy baby Lily with her? Does she think they’re immune? Or is it just that Lily is too damn cute and squishy to leave behind?
Where’s Tom?
Tom (Chris Zylka) is gone, having freaked out after tricking people into believing he was a hug-prophet a la the dearly departed Holy Wayne. Laurie thinks he’s with Kevin, and travels all the way to Jardin to double-check — but he’s not. If the “scenes from next week” montage is to be believed, Tom’s in a truck somewhere with Meg (Liv Tyler). Is he a member of the Guilty Remnant now? Is he trying to take it down from the inside? Or is he just trying to get with Meg (which… would be pretty weird and tragic, considering what she did to him in another truck just a few weeks back)?
Is Damon Lindelof just fucking with us?
Midway through this week’s episode, Kevin finally asks Patti what she wants from him, and she’s thrilled. She explains that he’s going to have to travel to Cairo, Egypt, find a magical chalice, fill it with his sperm (!), and drink it down. During this scene, devoted viewers likely recalled that the 1972 National Geographic issue that Kevin, Sr. gave to Kevin, Jr. contained an article called “Cairo, troubled capital of the Arab world.” “Here we go,” we all thought. “We’re finally gonna get some info about that effing magazine!” But then Patti was like, “LOL, JK, I have no idea what either of us is supposed to do.”
What with this bizarre convo and her comment about the racism inherent in Virgil’s characterization, Patti seems to be becoming something of a surrogate for Damon Lindelof. As such, Damon Lindelof seems to be fucking with us on a semi-regular basis, offering us what seem like too-perfect solutions to his twisted mysteries, then yanking said solutions away and laughing maniacally. Damon’s not going to give us easy answers to any of these questions; he’s probably not going to give us any answers at all. But I’ll give him credit for that semen-in-a-chalice thing. Creative!
