The Leftovers Finale Recap - The Prodigal Son Returns

The Leftovers finale – much like every other episode or the entire series in general – was pretty polarizing. Some people hated it. Kmarko deemed it an F minus. Other people I’ve talked to liked it. I thought it was a perfect microcosm for a lot of the major running themes of the previous 9 episodes. Guilt, loss of faith, restoration of faith and how to deal with all these emotions in a highly sensitive world. From Kevin Garvey to Nora to Laurie to Christine to Jill to Matt, almost all of the characters experienced some sort of test of their faith in this world. Some passed it, others failed it.

We’ll start with Kevin Garvey, as usual. We open up with the aftermath from Patti’s suicide 2 episodes ago. Kevin looks completely broken. Bleak, desolate look on his face, body covered in blood, cigarette in hand, basically resigned to the fact that he’s going to be blamed for the murder of Patti. The cigarettes that have been so prevalent throughout the entire season are so significant in this case. In the Pre-Departure episode, we see Garvey used to secretly smoke any chance he got. It was back in his selfish phase where he wanted out on family life. Wanted to fuck chicks and run wild. Not be that trapped deer. Now as he sits in that cabin, its almost like he’s given up and reverted back to his old self. Not worried about Jill, not worried about Mapleton. Sitting alone, finally being honest with himself, he’s no longer pretending. This is a guy who’s consumed by guilt. Guilt because I think deep down he has feelings that he wanted to be raptured. We can tell from his “I’m not supposed to be here!” rants to his father that the two of them are definitely of the school of thought that the “good” people of the world were taken. Kevin Garvey wanted to be a part of that 2% to feel like he was one of the “good” people, even though all of us, Kevin included, know he was kind of a scumbag. Guilt also because we know he blames himself for the demise of his family. Maybe even guilt because he wanted to be taken perhaps just to escape his mundane living as a working dad and husband.

You add that all up and factor in this dead body that he feels responsible for and you see the guilt has finally broken Kevin. It looks like the end for the police chief of Mapleton. Surely there was no way he would survive the “murder” of Patti unscathed. Hes done pretending. His faith in the idea that the world can still continue on normal is gone. And then Matt shows up, almost like a guardian angel, and changes everything. He has him read this passage from the book of Job, which is perfect not only for Garvey but for basically the entire world of The Leftovers:

But if I go to the east, he is not there;
If I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
When he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
But he knows the way that I take;
When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
He does whatever he pleases.
He carries out his decree against me,
And many such plans he still has in store.
That is why I am terrified before him;
When I think of all this, I fear him.
God has made my heart faint;
The Almighty has terrified me.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
By the thick darkness that covers my face.

Garvey specifically says he doesn’t “believe in it” as Matt hands him the Bible. Matt kinda smirks like “Yea I know, but just fucking read it.” Its a passage about how powerful and terrifying God can be. Garvey and the entire post Departure world has witnessed some sort of supernatural higher power. Some sort of ethereal, other worldly event. And its been a fucking terrifying one. The Departure has “made their hearts faint.” They turn to the left, turn to the right, they look up, they look down – no answers anywhere. Whatever is responsible for the Departure does whatever they want and nobody can stop it. They’ve all seen the darkness – the blackest of black – that this world has to offer. Yet the passage still remains faithful to the idea of good. Job Chapter 23 says that despite all that fucked up, confusing, empty shit, he won’t let evil and darkness win.

Kevin is obviously moved by the passage. Basically in tears as he reads it. Shortly after he has his dream sequence in the car where he’s basically got the Angel and the Devil on his shoulders, in the form of Patti and his father. Patti riding his gigantic Garvey cock (gross, by the way. Last time we saw that woman getting sexual she was getting fucked by the Yellow King. Definitely not someone I’d want grinding on me) representing the selfish, depraved, lascivious path Kevin can take if he wanted. But he doesn’t. Despite traveling to the brink, Matt, Job, his father, and the last remaining flicker of good inside Kevin Garvey Jr. prevails. And upon arriving home, he is the one to save Jill. Had he given up, she would have died in that fire. Perhaps this is what solidifies for him that there still is purpose in this post Departure world. The “good” might be a different good. Not everything will be pretty. In fact, 99% wont be. Or should I say 98%. Because there’s still that 2% worth living for. And if you turn into the GR or commit suicide or give up in some fashion, then that 2% (in this case Jill) is gone too.

We see the (I think) equal but opposite with Laurie Garvey. Laurie and Kevin have always mirrored each other in this fashion. Her storyline in the Prodigal Son is centered around Jill and Tom, but its coming from the other side of things. Laurie hasn’t been “pretending.” She’s given in to that higher power responsible for the Departure. Unlike Job and Kevin, she hasn’t been fighting through the Darkness. Just accepted the fact that there’s nothing more to live for other than remembering the Departure. Yet we see the first chink in her armor when Jill shows up. It starts off subtle – she pulls the cigarette away from her. Laurie the Head of The GR would let her smoke it, but Laurie the Mom doesn’t want her too. She tells her to go home because the Memorial Day plot is too dangerous for her. Laurie the Head of the GR would take any new recruit willing to join the cause. Laurie the Mom is concerned for her well being. Somewhere deep inside her is the Laurie Garvey three years ago worried about buying the family a puppy. Ultimately she ends up breaking her vow of silence in a total breakdown, telling Garvey to go save her daughter. And, during what appears to be a moment of clarity staring at the statue of the mother losing her child, her son Tom arrives. Much like Jill was the redeeming the purpose of life for Kevin, Tom’s return seems to have done that for Laurie. Its almost as if the riots and death from the Memorial Day plot was enough to make Laurie take a step back like “What the fuck am I doing here?” And Jill’s well being and Tom’s return perhaps inspired that. Both parents were coming from opposite ends but meet in the middle, thanks to their children, to realize there is a part of life worth living.

Nora Durst didn’t have that luxury. Her family is all gone, and the Memorial Day stunt the GR pulled has pushed her completely over the edge. She, more so than anyone, realized that she was “pretending.” In her letter to Kevin, she mentions a quick sort of band aid where she tried to fix things (Holy Wayne’s hug, trying to let go)  but ultimately the scene of her children and husband at the table makes her realize that the day her family was plucked from her was ultimately her demise too. In a weird way, its like the GR succeeded. “We made them remember.” They certainly made Nora remember. Her emotional breakdown upon seeing the dolls was some of the best non-verbal acting I’ve ever seen. You could feel how devastated she was. The GR wanted people to remember and respect the Departure and thats just what happened with Nora. I thought for sure she was going to kill herself. Immediately had Chekov’s Gun running through my head. Was waiting for her to finish that letter and put one in her head. But she, too, ends up stumbling upon a reason to live in the form of a child. Not her own, but this random ass baby that looks like North West or Blue Ivy representing all the innocence this world has to offer. That baby doesnt know what the Departure is. That baby doesnt understand the evil and darkness that can exist. That baby represents the last shred of goodness that the people of The Leftovers still have inside them. So just like Jill did for Kevin, and Tom kinda does for Laurie, Christine’s baby restores faith for Nora.

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The episode ends with Nora and the Baby, Kevin and Jill, and even that crazy, rabid Post Departure Dog now acting all docile, representing “happiness” in this fucked up world they live in. They are as close to “happy” as anyone can be in this life. They’ve got an abandoned black Asian baby, a woman who isn’t the mother to either child, they’re covered in soot and blood from riots, and they have a stray dog. They aren’t exactly the picture perfect All American family. But in this Leftovers life, thats all that you can get. Thats all that you need.

Christine lost all her faith in Wayne and she bailed. She failed to persevere like the others did. Which is most fucked up of all because she had the biggest reason to fight through it. She was literally nursing her baby one second and bailing the next. Because she knew that Tom was one of the good guys who would be strong enough to keep going strong. When he says he was going to get a job and take care of them, she says “I know” and smiles. She knew Tom was the type to not lose his faith. Although, I do think its interesting that he returns, drops the baby off on a stoop, and goes with Laurie. I’m not 100% sold that Laurie has “seen the light” and been redeemed and it will be interesting to see where it goes with Tom.

Holy Wayne lost faith in himself right before his death, and you wonder if he ever really had any in the first place. Matt Jamison has been tested time and time again and never wavered from his faith. I thought those two juxtaposed each other nicely. Wayne the Con Man ends up dying in a diner bathroom in rather terrifying and despicable manner. Matt the friend and preacher in a way ends up coverting Garvey and possibly Laurie, in at least some sense of the word “convert.” Again, 2 equal but opposite type of characters.

The show is about your faith in the world and faith in the people around you, and how much of that faith you’d still have after a catastrophic event like the Departure. The finale was an hour of watching all the main characters go through that process. Some fully lost their faith, others had their faith restored. It wasn’t as action packed of an episode as the cabin with Patti. It wasn’t the flashback episode that had big reveals. But if you’re a fan of the show it really got back to the central theme of dealing with guilt and loss and testing your limits as a good person in a world gone bad. If you’re a big fan of the first 9 episodes, I thought the 10th really brought it all back to that central idea and sets up season 2 nicely to continue showing where these lives all go.

Now tonight I’m gonna switch gears and watch Sons of Anarchy and see boobs and watch people shoot each other.