Skepticism rises: “I thought this was a Transformers collecting blog…”
It’s not often that I choose to make mention of a non-Transformers piece of pop-culture on this spare blog, but this is my only outlet for writing so this is where I have chosen to make my stand; and that stand is that “The Leftovers” on HBO is currently the greatest drama on television of the three years it has been running.
Originally advertised to “Game of Thrones” fans on Sunday nights, the trailers left me uninterested in the what I believed to be predictable story line about The Rapture. I was dead wrong. The first season semi-follows the path laid out by author Tom Perrotta in his novel by the same name, but season two took the express space-bridge to Cybertron when they transplanted their cast to a sleepy Texas town. Without spoiling anything, season 2 was gripping, mysterious, and left you hungry to answers each episode. If season 1 was a B-, Season 2 was a letter that comes before A that the human race hasn’t invented yet.
With future of the show uncertain at the time of season 2’s finale, fans took to the streets dressed as the Guilty Remnant and stalked HBO’s NYC Headquarters with handwritten “renew” signs. This is definitely the kind of fandom action and cosplay I can get behind. It is unclear if the staged cult event had any bearing on HBO’s decision, but it seems execs reluctant compromised to the give the show another season… labeled as the last one.
There must be something freeing about knowing the work you are toiling on has some finality to it. I believe the ending of season 2 manifested from the uncertainty of a season 3 or 4 and resulted in a somewhat acceptable finale if it were to become the end of the story. That is not the case however, and so the ending is even more satisfying, knowing that there is a chance to wrap up the really big mysteries. The writing team has profusely stated we will never get an answer to what the departure actually is… but the upcoming trailer teases us on that very premise.
I recommend watching this artful and excellent trailer, and if you’re on the edge of you seat like me, you must be saying “That phone call, WTF!!!” Here’s hoping that Nora Durst can get some solace before episode 30.