8) The Leftovers
HBO’s latest drama, a moody and atmospheric series that examines events in a small town three years after a cataclysmic event in which 2% of the world’s population suddenly vanished into thin air, has been divisive, to say the least. Is it an exercise in misery porn, a glum failure of a brilliant deconstruction of the nature of grief? Ten episodes in, I’m still not sure I know the answer to that. What I do know is that The Leftovers is exceptionally well-executed, and a strongly acted and compelling experiment that will take multiple seasons to unravel.
Justin Theroux’s performance as the tortured, mentally unstable sheriff of Mapleton, New York, is the hypnotic center of the show, but the work of many talented actors working in tandem is what lets the show really soar. Ann Dowd is eerily good as Patti, the leader of a local cult, while Carrie Coon does such strong work as a grieving mother that she appears ready to really break out. And Christopher Eccleston also excels as a conflicted priest. All these performers and more made The Leftovers a dour puzzle that was fun to puzzle over.
At times, it’s so terribly sad as to repel, and there were multiple occasions when I wished I had never started watching The Leftovers because of how it left me feeling, but the mysteries of the show (least of all the Sudden Departure itself) and the tantalizing shadow of hope, just out of reach, have me hooked.