The season finale of The Leftovers wrapped up beautifully. Plenty of questions are still left, but it was enough of a satisfying ending that it shouldn’t necessarily make you anxious until next summer.
Kevin had the most interesting arc all season long. Still stuck up at the cabin in the middle of nowhere with Patti’s bloody remains, he called Matt for help. Matt believes Kevin without a doubt that Patti did this to herself. He even brought the shovels to bury her with! Maybe it was Matt’s unwavering belief that Kevin is a good and honest man that scared him into having the nightmare that triggered a huge revelation. Before Patti slit her own throat, she had to be sure that Kevin understood. Understood why they were all left behind, that is.
Kevin breaks down as he confesses to Matt that in the days leading up to October 14, he wanted to be free of his family. He even admitted he slept with the stranger, who disappeared as well. Immediately after the moment of Sudden Departure though, he rushed to Jill’s school first. She and Tommy were there together, and they were all happy to see each other. Everything was different because they were somehow survivors. Their happiness was fleeting because then Kevin started to lose his family one by one. It seems like he thinks he’s being punished and getting his wish, but he obviously can’t blame himself for millions of people around the world vanishing. If the reason the Departure occurred was because people were wished away, then Kevin and/or the rest of the Garveys would have disappeared. I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe Kevin thinks he understands Patti and the Remnant’s belief about what happened, but I don’t understand it yet myself.
Another crazy thing happened to Kevin in the bathroom of this diner where he and Matt stopped at. In the bathroom, Kevin heard someone whimpering from a stall. He opened the door and saw Wayne, only he doesn’t know that he’s the man who Tommy has been working for/with. It was pretty gross to see Wayne literally holding his own guts as he bled to death. His last dying request was that Kevin didn’t leave him alone to get help. Instead, he asked Kevin to make a wish so that can die knowing he’s not a fraud. Kevin doesn’t speak his wish aloud, but Wayne grants him the wish just before he dies. There’s definitely a lot more about Wayne and his “powers” that will hopefully be revealed in the second season and beyond in flashbacks.
After all, Wayne’s always going to have a connection to Mapleton now. He didn’t know that Kevin is Tommy’s father, but he was too busy dying to have even caught up with Tommy or Christine in a while. Christine abandoned her newborn baby girl in a rest stop bathroom, where she presumably ran away with a Baptist church bus. Tommy took the baby home and for whatever reason left her on the front porch of his own house, before going to reunite with his mother.
The baby wasn’t left alone for long before Nora found her. It’s a good thing she did, because Nora was on her way out of town (literally – even though the beginning of her goodbye note to Kevin sounded like a suicide note, she said she couldn’t die either.) After the stunt the Remnant pulled by assembling Loved One life size dolls dressed exactly as they were on the Departure day, I really thought Nora was going to use her gun on herself. Her reaction to finding her husband and kids sitting at the kitchen table was heart wrenching.
That’s what I don’t quite get about the Guilty Remnant’s thinking behind this latest scheme. It backfired big time, or probably actually went according to their twisted plan. What I’d like to know is how do they really think anyone could forget their departed loved ones. Anyone who has ever lost someone close knows that you never forget people. You have to live with the grief everyday for your own sake but it’s still there under the surface. It was especially cruel of the Remnant to rile everyone up by doing this. Then again, that’s what they wanted. Now that everyone’s losses are fresh in their minds again, what’s next? They’re angry and have to grieve all over again.
The Guilty Remnant has members all over the world, but it will be interesting to see if the surviving Mapleton members are still united in the next season. Jill had just joined them to prove a point to her mother, but with Tommy returning home and Jill surviving the house fire, maybe Laurie will face the truth that her family needs her.
It’s unknown what Kevin wished for from Wayne, but it was probably something along the lines of peace. Nora found the baby, which is really actually a sign of new life for her. Kevin and Laurie aren’t making up just yet, but at least they each have their kids to stand by for now.
That sense of calm after the riots in the streets of the GR houses is oddly a relief. For the first time since the series started, there seems to be a glimmer of hope in this fictitious world. Even down to the dog being friendly to Kevin and Jill on their walk home, it feels like things are going to be okay again. It was an intense first season to say the least, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to next year. What did you think of this finale and the season as a whole?
[Photo via HBO]
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