The Leftovers Series Blog: Episode 7

Building on the outstanding Nora-centric Guest, this week’s episode of The Leftovers seeks to continue the slow rehabilitation of its characters, although all may not be as it immediately seems. Kevin Garvey Sr. escapes from the local mental institute at the episode’s opening, leaving his son to clean up the ensuing mess as Mapleton’s resident Police Chief. With mounting pressure in both his personal and professional life, Kevin begins to question his own mental state as he finds himself unable to account for some lost hours.

Things aren’t exactly peachy for Jill either, who finds herself locked inside a fridge with no discernible handle. Another self-made ritual, the fridge constitutes its own form of remembrance for the despondent youth, as the site from which a boy disappeared on the day of the ‘Sudden Departure’. Along with the failed Viking funeral for the nativity doll in the Christmas themed B.J. and the A.C, these ceremonies feel like a more genuine expression of grief when compared to the debauched parties that were used to characterise the teenage characters initially; characterisation that erred dangerously close to cliché.

At the risk of asphyxiation-by-fridge, Jill is saved by her wild-eyed Grandfather as he takes flight through the woods. Things only get weirder from here on out as the episode takes on a sort of weird dream logic, the elliptical, abrupt jump cuts of earlier episodes gaining greater significance in relation to Kevin’s experience of lost time here. Waking with an injured hand and a feral dog tied up in the garden, the chief has little explanation for the event’s of the night before, with Amy’s strange behaviour in the morning and her prior role in some of Kevin’s more erotic dreams seeming to suggest that he may even have come on to his daughter’s young friend. These nightmares of Kevin’s have often been characterised by unnecessarily overt, superficial techniques of editing and cinematography, so it’s a boon to see some of them contextualised within the story, instead of just being left behind as empty spectacle and heavy-handed, redolent symbolism.

In ‘Solace for Tired Feet’, this distinction between dreams and waking life is made all the more indistinct. For one thing, Kevin’s father flits in and out the story seemingly as and when he feels like it. His getaway from Kevin’s car happens suddenly, an unexpected procession of the Guilty Remnant in the middle of the street facilitating his escape.  Protesting Matt’s congregation and their attempts to ‘save’ the cult, their march is accompanied by a heavenly choir of voices on the soundtrack that suggests transcendence where there should be none. The writers definitely appear to be elevating the elder Garvey’s words – and the cacophony of voices within his head – beyond the mere ramblings of a mad man, his old, dog-eared copy of National Geographic invested with import in the same way that Holy Wayne’s mysticism has been in the past. The Leftovers has always made efforts to avoid the easy derision of these more fantastical elements, allowing the show to remain fairly ambiguous in its plans for any sort of future pay-off. It wouldn’t come as that much of a shock if The Leftovers were to embrace its weirder leanings as the season approaches it end.

Speaking of Holy Wayne, his presence is felt again this week, continuing to function as the pervasive element which connects various distinct storylines to a still unclear larger narrative. Asked to return some of the living allowance given to him by Wayne when the ranch was raided, Tom follows the money to discover that his protection of Christine isn’t such a singularly important task. Coming across another pregnant Asian lady with a male companion, Tom flies into a rage at his leader’s duplicity. It’s all rather confusing to watch play out, both undermining the importance of the child as a ‘bridge’ (a bridge between those that remain and those that departed perhaps) whilst also emphasising Holy Wayne’s inexplicable nature. Whether this is all the work of some deluded charlatan or not, the birth of the child itself does feel like a slow build towards something more important.

The Leftovers has always made efforts to avoid the easy derision of these more fantastical elements, allowing the show to remain fairly ambiguous in its plans for any sort of future pay-off

It’s not all doom and gloom however, as Kevin and Nora take their first cautious steps into a more meaningful relationship. Their shared humour – the gallows humour of a pair of survivors – is greatly appreciated in what is an otherwise dour show, and the manner in which they establish the parameters of their relationship – ‘I don’t know how to talk to you yet’ – is similarly frank and liberating. Reflected in the increased understanding that seems to have arisen between Kevin and his daughter, it’s a welcome change, hard earned through the their sometimes laborious clashes in earlier episodes.

No matter its merits, no one would ever claim that The Leftovers was a fun show. These moments of human connection are almost always problematic, whether it be Holy Wayne’s role in Nora’s new lease on life or Kevin’s potentially fragile mental state. The episode is a successful one nonetheless, and an intriguing through-line to the latter half of the first season.