After The Leftovers completed its second season in 2015, HBO let Damon Lindelof and Co. twirl in the wind for a few weeks before it announced a decision to renew the series for a third and final season. I was conflicted. The second season of The Leftovers is one of the best season of television of this decade, and while I wanted to see more of the series, I worried that a third season could undue the remarkable second chapter, which very well could have worked as a series finale.
However, I also think that Damon Lindelof is the bravest writer on television. If anyone could pull this off, it’s Lindelof, who knows better than anyone how fans react to disappointing series finales (especially ones that upset James Gunn and George R.R. Martin).
After watching the first season three trailer, and the one that HBO released today, I don’t think we need to worry about Lindelof botching the final season.
From what we can tell from the trailer, the final season will jump ahead to the seventh anniversary of the Great Departure, when another Great Flood is being predicted. As the tea leaves suggested in the past two seasons, the events surrounding the end of the world will take place in Melbourne, Australia, where it seems the Garveys are traveling. Kevin’s father seems to have some knowledge about our impending doom, while Kevin himself is the new Jesus — a man who has died twice and returned from death. He, presumably, holds the key to the fate of mankind. Meanwhile, Nora continues to unravel because she — like so many others — hasn’t been able to full recover from the original departure, and much of that has to do with simply not understanding the nature of it.
Damon Lindelof has been warning us all along that we will never find the answers to why or how The Departure happened, but many fans are probably wondering if he is going to backtrack on that promise this year. If he does, will the demystification of The Departure hurt the series?
We’ll find out soon. The final season of The Leftovers premieres on April 16th.
