• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Leftovers S3 |OT| The End Is Near - Premieres Sunday 4/16, 9pm on HBO

dabig2

Member
I don't think Nora was lying, but she went "to the other place" as we've seen with Kevin when he's died every time. It was real enough to her, so she went with it. In actuality, she never passed through. What we saw was the actual future when Kevin, decade(s) later was able to find her after she wandered and sequestered herself from the real world after the failed attempt she convinced herself of.

I guess it's possible it was the actual afterlife, but that's the beauty of the finale - it's up to the viewer. It ended on such a sweet note with Kevin and Nora finding each other and I liked that.

I also want to believe it wasn't the afterlife cause I want to believe Laurie didn't kill herself, so I'll admit that. And there's nothing anyone can say to change my mind!
 

CloudWolf

Member
That was amazing. Great finale. I think Alan Sepinwall's review points out exactly why it's so great, it does not matter if Nora was telling the truth or not, in the end it still leads to the same conclusion.

Also, Carrie Coon deserves all the roles after this.
 
Kinda missed some details but was Kevin's immortal powers a hoax with him talking about the heart attack or was it just left vague enough to be open ended and unexplained?
 

CloudWolf

Member
Kinda missed some details but was Kevin's immortal powers a hoax with him talking about the heart attack or was it just left vague enough to be open ended and unexplained?
Damon Lindelof actually talked about this in an interview. It was real, he did die and come back, but at the end of the seventh episode he effectively nuked his afterlife so he could never go back there, thus spelling the end of his "immortality".

EDIT: The full quote:

"Everybody brings their own baggage to the word "messiah," but all that Kevin really did was die and come back to life. But he didn't do anything else messianic. Messiahs tend to say, "God wants you to do this and God wants you to do that. This is how you should live your lives, and I would like to organize a religion around myself." Kevin didn't want to do any of those things, so the question is more why is it that this guy was able to die and come back to life multiple times, and what's the meaning of that. That isn't the question that the show is really particularly interested in answering.
I think what's more important is that the audience understands that at the end of the seventh episode of Season Three—when Kevin basically nukes this place that he's been escaping to when he dies—that following that event, he is now mortal. We try to kind of make that clear by the fact that he talks about an undiagnosed heart condition, and that he's given up smoking, and that he's aging like all mortals do. He doesn't have the ability to walk across water or mimic loaves and fishes, etc."
 

CloudWolf

Member
It doesn't make any sense for that to be in Kevin's head considering we know of at least one other character that also visited the hotel and came back to life ("God" from that Tasmanian party boat).

I honestly don't know why people are still arguing about that. The Leftovers is a weird show that's deeply connected to the supernatural, just like shows like Carnivàle and Twin Peaks. It's never going to make sense and it shouldn't. No one is looking for mundane answers to The Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, so why are people looking for some mundane explanation in a show about 2% of the human population suddenly disappearing?
 

Floor

Neo Member
Based on the interviews it seems that Lindelof wanted to show the alternate earth but that Perrotta (writer of the book) talked him out of it. I'm glad they did it they way the did, with Nora telling Kevin the story, and I think it's way more interesting this way. I'm glad that the writers ultimately let the mystery be.
 

Ogni-XR21

Member
First thing this morning I watched the final episode (yay Sky Germany made it available right away). Was expecting something a litte 'bigger' but in the end I really liked the episode.

After I was done with the episode I decided to go for a run. I was thinking about Nora's story, could not make up my mind if I should believe her story or not (after all this episode clearly dealt with people lying to themselves and to others) when I found this little 'book' along the way.

n8LkIUs.jpg


It says 'believe' or 'faith' in German.
 

Ogni-XR21

Member
It contains quotes from the bible (I think all of them from the new testament).

Edit: my take away from this is that I can believe Nora's story, even if it's just to make me feel better. And I find the thought fasciating that all the departed think they are the lucky ones. I would honesty love to see a spinoff dealing with that reality.
 
Bought the first season on Amazon video and finally decided to give this show a shot. So far it is pretty interesting. Kind of worried since it's a Damon Lindelof joint. At least it is only 3 Seasons!
 

Kayhan

Member
Now I know truly that Lindelof is the biggest hack writer in television.

The first two seasons turned out to be pretty much worthless to the simple story he ended up pretending he was telling.
 
I liked it, but I need to think it over for a bit. I do like the idea that the departure occurred in a parallel universe, regardless of whether Nora was telling the truth.
 

HoJu

Member
Now I know truly that Lindelof is the biggest hack writer in television.

The first two seasons turned out to be pretty much worthless to the simple story he ended up pretending he was telling.
Or each season told different stories
 
I started this show a few weeks before S3 began, and I kept saying that if the ending landed this would be one of my favourite shows ever. And sadly it isn't. I didn't want answers from the ending, I just wanted something that was as emotionally impactful as many of the previous episodes were and nothing in this episode landed for me. Like some other people said, their relationship never felt that important to me, so to have the ending of the series based around Kevin and Nora reuniting fell flat. I was really ready to feel some feelings like I have through so much of the show but... nothing. Really upsetting. I guess I never felt Nora was that interesting at all. To me she was there to make Kevin more interesting so I didn't enjoy the finale being more about her than him. And I'm also disappointed that most of the interesting stuff from this season amounted to nothing in the end. I dunno, it just felt like most of the episode was sort of empty, and the season could have done with the usual 10 episodes instead.
 
I don't think I believe Nora's story. If they had a machine on the other side to bring them back to the 98% world, why not send more people back through? Regardless, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that Kevin believes her. What a great finale!
 

Budi

Member
Brilliant show. I liked the last episode too, but it did leave me bit "cold". Maybe I shouldn't have read those tweets about "waterworks", it might have distracted me a bit while watching. "So when does it hit?" The show moved me many times, but the finale really didn't. Bit bummer.

I honestly don't know why people are still arguing about that. The Leftovers is a weird show that's deeply connected to the supernatural, just like shows like Carnivàle and Twin Peaks. It's never going to make sense and it shouldn't. No one is looking for mundane answers to The Black Lodge in Twin Peaks, so why are people looking for some mundane explanation in a show about 2% of the human population suddenly disappearing?

Excellent point. Just rewatched the two seasons of Twin Peaks, the finale today.
 

DJKhaled

Member
Now I know truly that Lindelof is the biggest hack writer in television.

The first two seasons turned out to be pretty much worthless to the simple story he ended up pretending he was telling.

Lmao what a weird post.


Anyway. The show was absolutely amazing. Loved the ending and adore Nora. I don't think she was lying I never got that vibe from her. I would kind of like to see a spinoff or something set in the other world where the 98% disappeared. Surely weird shit happened there if so many had left.
 
I thought it was a fine ending. The episode itself was a little on the slow side but I am going to believe Norah went to the other Earth. Great show, I will definitely miss it.
 
What a shit finale. At least I wasn't disappointing since I wasn't expecting much from it. I guess they blew the budget filming in Australia. So instead of actually seeing where Nora went, we just had her describe it at the end of the episode. lol.

Lindelof was trolling hard with this entire series.

Again...I never loved the show. I loved moments of the show and thought some scenes throughout the series were some of the best on TV. But the majority of it all is just a bunch of nonsense and misdirection.
 

Calm Mind

Member
What a shit finale. At least I wasn't disappointing since I wasn't expecting much from it. I guess they blew the budget filming in Australia. So instead of actually seeing where Nora went, we just had her describe it at the end of the episode. lol.

Lindelof was trolling hard with this entire series.

Again...I never loved the show. I loved moments of the show and thought some scenes throughout the series were some of the best on TV. But the majority of it all is just a bunch of nonsense and misdirection.

thepointyourhead.png
 

Kayhan

Member
What was the point of all the mysteries from the first two seasons? There was none and they were unnecessary if the story was all just about Kevin and Nora's relationship.

But let's not for a second pretend Lindelof didn't know the draw was all the mystery.

The Guilty Remanant was the biggest wet fart and just got dumped for the third season.
 
What was the point of all the mysteries from the first two seasons? There was none and they were unnecessary if the story was all just about Kevin and Nora's relationship.

But let's not for a second pretend Lindelof didn't know the draw was all the mystery.

The Guilty Remanant was the biggest wet fart and just got dumped for the third season.

yeah he's so devious lmfao
 

T Dollarz

Member
I believe that Nora believed what she was saying to be true, but that doesn't necessarily make it factual. I think I'm about 50/50 on that. And I love that.

The Leftovers, as a whole, is a small television masterpiece imo.
 
Absolutely phenomenal conclusion. I'm really pleased that they actually took a shot at answering where the departed went, and that the answer is a great one. I side firmly with Nora telling the truth about what happened.

I also love that Laurie didn't kill herself. As myself and many others shared here in this thread, I took issue with the believably that Laurie's character was ready to end her life. I read an interview with Lindelof where he states that Laurie was going scuba diving, no matter what her decision was, but that her decision was going to be made while she was under the water. I think that the phone call from her children before she dove under was what made her final decision for her.

The only negative for me with the conclusion (and in extension, the show) is that they never explained how or why Kevin was briefly immortal. That's definitely a disappointment to me and brings the finale and the show as a whole down from a 10/10 to a 9/10.

Hahaha. Judge me, bro. Would you also like to know if I would kill a child if it could cure cancer? I'm told this is important.

It was very important. The actual yes or no answer was not important. The question was asked to determine whether you were still attached to the world you supposedly wanted to depart from. The only correct answer in my eyes, is "I don't care. I don't care about that child, I don't care if cancer is cured, and I don't care about this world. I just want to leave".
 

Sadsic

Member
If you guys believe that Nora was telling the truth, do you guys think it would've been better to have an episode or two spending time in this alternate reality? Does having this alternative reality Nora described left as ambiguous in nature make up for the fact that these conceivable episodes could've been some of the best in the series? Like imagine this was actually a 9 or 10 episode season with 1 or 2 episodes based on Nora's monologue at the end. Doesn't that sound like a stronger season overall? I think you could've shown this alternative reality and still left it ambiguous as it is now. It's a bit of a misstep to skip over it imo
 
What a great conclusion.

I never expected any firm answers because that would miss the entire point of the show, the message is to not dwell on what can't be understood and to move on and live your life.

People were so broken throughout the show because they tried to look for answers when there were none. It's evidenced at the end that people have moved on when Nora was talking to Kevin and asked if anyone still called Jardin "Miracle."
 
If you guys believe that Nora was telling the truth, do you guys think it would've been better to have an episode or two spending time in this alternate reality? Does having this alternative reality Nora described left as ambiguous in nature make up for the fact that these conceivable episodes could've been some of the best in the series? Like imagine this was actually a 9 or 10 episode season with 1 or 2 episodes based on Nora's monologue at the end. Doesn't that sound like a stronger season overall? I think you could've shown this alternative reality and still left it ambiguous as it is now. It's a bit of a misstep to skip over it imo

What if this was a 10 ep season, and episode 1-7 were as shown but episode 8 is Nora going through the machine. She goes through everything she described, but when she comes back from the other world, she basically 'wakes up' inside the machine she originally departed through, and only a few moments have passed and she's not sure if it was real or not, like Kevin's afterlife adventures.
 

hank_tree

Member
If you guys believe that Nora was telling the truth, do you guys think it would've been better to have an episode or two spending time in this alternate reality? Does having this alternative reality Nora described left as ambiguous in nature make up for the fact that these conceivable episodes could've been some of the best in the series? Like imagine this was actually a 9 or 10 episode season with 1 or 2 episodes based on Nora's monologue at the end. Doesn't that sound like a stronger season overall? I think you could've shown this alternative reality and still left it ambiguous as it is now. It's a bit of a misstep to skip over it imo


No, that sounds terrible.
 

Sadsic

Member
What if this was a 10 ep season, and episode 1-7 were as shown but episode 8 is Nora going through the machine. She goes through everything she described, but when she comes back from the other world, she basically 'wakes up' inside the machine she originally departed through, and only a few moments have passed and she's not sure if it was real or not, like Kevin's afterlife adventures.

that's about how i think it could be portrayed while still being ambiguous

No, that sounds terrible.

did you find kevin's alternate reality adventures terrible?
 

hank_tree

Member
did you find kevin's alternate reality adventures terrible?

No, but I don't think they are comparable. If we believe Nora then the "other" world is sparsely populated and has no characters that we know. Not sure I'd want the show to spend multiple episodes there.

If they had more episodes this season I would have rathered have a John Murphy episode etc.
 

Yado

Member
I don't think I believe Nora's story. If they had a machine on the other side to bring them back to the 98% world, why not send more people back through? Regardless, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that Kevin believes her. What a great finale!

Only Nora and the other people who came over know it's possible to go to the other side. Of those people who crossed over I assume very few would want to go back and of the very few who would want to go back there's probably very few of them who would know about the guy who made the machine and then very few of those who could actually find him.
 
If they did an episode of Nora in the mirror world, it would just be a rip off of Life of Pi with "well did or didn't it happen".

Nora telling her story, which is kinda filled with some obvious plot holes in itself, is really the only way this show should have ended it's discussion on what happened to the departed.

To have what can only be described as the second biggest mystery on Earth, what happened to the departed, be answered in an absolute fashion would betray a lot of what the show was about (which is why the author on the books who is a main part of the writing on the show veto'd an absolute answer).
 

Dosia

Member
This series was alright. It kept my attention, but I am glad its now over. Too bad we didnt get to see the place Nora went too, that would have been more interesting.
 

hank_tree

Member
Only Nora and the other people who came over know it's possible to go to the other side. Of those people who crossed over I assume very few would want to go back and of the very few who would want to go back there's probably very few of them who would know about the guy who made the machine and then very few of those who could actually find him.

Why would they not want to go back? The whole point of Nora's story was that the 2% had it much worse than the 98%. She said her family was the exception.
 
If you guys believe that Nora was telling the truth, do you guys think it would've been better to have an episode or two spending time in this alternate reality? Does having this alternative reality Nora described left as ambiguous in nature make up for the fact that these conceivable episodes could've been some of the best in the series? Like imagine this was actually a 9 or 10 episode season with 1 or 2 episodes based on Nora's monologue at the end. Doesn't that sound like a stronger season overall? I think you could've shown this alternative reality and still left it ambiguous as it is now. It's a bit of a misstep to skip over it imo

I feel that would ruin what they were going for, the idea is that even if Kevin believes her, the audience doesn't have to. Showing her actually going to the place would be a hard answer in a show that promises none.
 
Man, that's so weird, it's almost like... Lindelof doesn't really know what's going on in his own stories?!
It's almost as if TV is a collaborative effort that's the sum of many people's contributions and you either listen to the sum of those parts and make a show better like Better Call Saul or you fight against it and make How I Met Your Mother.
 
Top Bottom