The Leftovers “Don’t be Ridiculous” Review: Perfect Strangers

 Carrie Coon investigating the death of Pillar Man on The Leftovers

Photo Credit: HBO

Tonight’s brief thoughts on “Don’t be Ridiculous” brought to you in part by my new trampoline…

“I think I’m going crazy”

-Nora

The second episode of the final season of The Leftovers, “Don’t be Ridiculous” opens with the theme from Perfect Strangers set to the opening credits package from season 2. The Leftovers has done ridiculous things in the past, i.e. spending a whole episode in the afterlife in which Kevin transforms into an international assassin, but never has the show gone to these lengths to pay off such a background joke. One of the main “pop culture departures” introduced early on in the series is that the entire main cast of the 80s sitcom Perfect Strangers, minus Mark Lin-Baker who we later discover faked his departure, all departed. It’s the kind of joke that I laughed at when it came up initially, and again with the discovery of Lin-Baker still being around in season 2, but never in my wildest imagination did I think the show would take the joke this far. It made for a wonderful surprise when I finally recognized the theme (not being a child of the 80s and only having limited exposure to Perfect Strangers from watching random reruns or doing some research when the show brought it up initially it took me a second to recognize the theme) it produced an embarrassingly loud laugh.

Now it would be one thing for The Leftovers to make a joke of itself by using the Perfect Strangers theme as a kind of fun little final season Easter egg of sorts but somehow, someway, the Leftovers works its magic and transforms a background running joke into an hour of television that is utterly devastating emotionally without ever ringing false for a single moment. “Don’t Be Ridiculous” uses a returning Mark Lin-Baker and his two degrees from Yale in masterful fashion providing an incredible scene between Baker (who of course is playing a “post departure” version of himself) and Nora that nearly steals the whole episode (nearly being the key word we will get to Wu-Tang trampoline in a minute). It’s a nice showing of just how good a dramatic actor Baker can be as in every moment of the sequence in which he is selling the “radiation gun” to Nora he is punching at Carrie Coon’s level which is by no means an easy task. The use of Lin-Baker which is used to drive home the theme of Nora’s ultimate powerlessness in dealing with the departure of her children is a great example of how even the most background joke on The Leftovers can blossom into something so much more.

The rest of “Don’t be Ridiculous” is a masterclass of a character study and provides an incredible showcase for the best actress working on television in Carrie Coon. The show has made us aware of Nora’s brokenness in the past, whether it be through prostitutes shooting her in the chest with a bulletproof vest on, or otherwise; but it had been a while since Carrie Coon had gotten a showcase on this level and “Don’t be Ridiculous” was the perfect reminder of just how broken emotionally Nora really is. Despite the hardened rational exterior Nora is still grappling with the departure of her children along with the fact that Lily was taken away from her and it’s eating her alive. The scene in which Nora confesses her tattoo fiasco is the first time in a while where Nora finally releases all the anxiety that is eating her alive in any way that is raw and uncalculated. It’s an incredible scene, one that is not just a showcase for the incredible Carrie Coon but one that really lets us back into the realization that Nora really is a horridly troubled human being.

It’s a credit to Carrie Coon that all of this emotional baggage with Nora even works at all, as the more we get of Nora, the less sympathetic she is becoming. Coon balances perfectly the hardness and tenderness of the character. Despite her cruel over rationality, which includes completely destroying the faith of poor dead pillar man’s wife and laughing in Kevin’s face when he asks (the albeit ridiculous request) to have a child with her, Nora is still sympathetic. With the eyes alone Coon finds the humanity in a woman who is lashing out at the world in kind of horrible (if not sort of understandable) ways. Even in the small moments like the simple montages of her striding through the airport, and especially in the moments where Nora is lashing out in cruel fashion, like when she puts the autopsy portrait of pillar man up for everyone to see, Coon makes us understand and empathise with the character. Any lesser actress may not be able to walk the tightrope to deliver the emotional messiness that Coon does so well throughout “Don’t be Ridiculous.” Her performance makes Nora as complex and fascinating a character from an emotional standpoint we have seen on television and continues to, whenever given the opportunity, deliver television’s best performance.

Ok we’ve gone too far now without discussing the true main event of “Don’t be Ridiculous.” See “Don’t be Ridiculous” not only featured the amazing music cue of the Perfect Strangers’ theme at the very beginning of the show but then proceeded to top itself in the grandest of grand fashions. The only thing better than paying off a running joke in spectacular fashion is having slow motion trampoline jumping montage featuring two of the best actresses working on television set to the Wu-Tang Clan. As soon as Nora brought up the fact that she ended up, through the sheer randomness of picking the first thing on the wall, covered up the tattoo of her departed kids with the logo of the Wu-Tang Band Clan I was waiting for the music cue. “Surely they couldn’t have gotten music from the Wu-Tang Clan, that would be too expensive,” I though foolishly, all the while hoping that they did. Luckily for me they not only got “Protect your Neck (The Jump Off)” but they used it to its maximum potential providing us with one of the most fantastically absurd scenes of coping in recent memory. Yes folks, to repeat, we got a slow motion trampoline jumping montage, and it was glorious. Few scenes, even the best and most emotional, stick with me to the point of me thinking “I will remember that forever,” but long after The Leftovers has been off the air I will be telling the story of the time this crazy show gave us a slow motion trampoline jumping montage set to the Wu-Tang clan and that somehow, someway, it was perfect.

“Don’t be Ridiculous” continues the roll incredible the Leftovers has been on since its second season. It’s another masterful hour of television that hits all the right notes, and furthers along yet another character arc in incredible fashion while still surprising in strange and wonderful ways. To put it simply, even in a time of a lot of great television there is no show that is operating at the level of The Leftovers. From construction, to emotional punch, to the fact that its willing to go to strange and unexpected places on a near weekly basis, The Leftovers is a show that provides an incredible ride unlike any other. And it’s done in six more episodes. I am going to miss this show.

Some other Musings:

• The book of Kevin spreads to Australia! We got another strange future Australia montage this week that involves yet another case of faith gone awry as a group of “true Kevin believers” end up drowning another sheriff named Kevin thinking he is the messiah. Like last week the flash forward raises a lot of questions of which I’m sure we are getting answers to down the line. However strange these get I have faith that the show is going to be able to pull this off when all is said and done.

• RIP pillar man. You experienced so much pain just to have a heart attack and fall off your tower. Your watching over the strange town of Jordan will be missed.

• Kevin and Nora are headed for some bad times. You can tell immediately that them not talking about the elephants in the room (Nora’s pain about her children still haunting her, and her walking into week two of Kevin’s “low budget flatlining”) is going to blow up at some point. They are both treading on thin ice emotionally which is most certainly going to break in dramatic fashion if they don’t work things out soon (hint they probably won’t).

• I wonder what Lily’s name is now that she is back with Christine. I go with Nora Jr but am open to other theories.

That’s all for this week. Exams are over so I should be back to the normal late Sunday next week. The week after next will be delayed due to a road trip vacation but after that it should be Sunday’s for the back half of the season.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

The Leftovers “The Book of Kevin” Review: Do you believe in things you cannot see?

Matt presents Kevin with The Book of Kevin on the Leftovers

Photo Credit: HBO 

Tonight’s brief thoughts on the final season premiere of The Leftovers are brought to you in part by time travel lots and lots of time travel…

“It’s just a matter of time before one of these fuckers bites your face off.”

-Meg

Of course the third season of The Leftovers opens randomly in the 19^th century. Of course it involves a misplaced religious connection, involving a small village family destroyed by belief in something that is never coming. Of course Max Richter’s “The Departure” theme kicks in right at the perfect moment climaxing the scene’s strange, sort of inexplicable emotional arc to perfection. No other show would begin its final season on such an obliquely strange tableau and have it connect so marvellously into what comes next, but of course the Leftovers is not just some other show.

The opening scene of “The Book of Kevin” sets the tone for a beautifully quiet premiere episode about the broken promises of belief. Like the 19^th century believer in the opening sequence everyone in present day Jordan Texas is searching for something that either isn’t real, or is not entirely as it seems. John and Laurie make money by conning people into believing that John can read palms, the strange dog man from back in Mapleton believes that dogs are taking over the planet, and Matt is now not only predicting miracles to come, but is beginning to rewrite the bible in Kevin’s name. None of these things are “real” but they are something to latch onto. Belief is powerful, and hard to let go of especially in times of need.

Belief seems to be, in essence, what is both keeping the town of Miracle/Jordan Texas operating, but it is also the thing that is tearing it apart. This breakdown is of course not quick and sudden, but it’s a rather slow and arduous process. “The Book of Kevin” teases, and subsequently backs off on, numerous potential “blow-ups” throughout the episode (including one that essentially amounted to Lindelof and crew saying, “it’s just a prank bro”), instead focusing on the gradual tear away of the shaky foundation in which each character bases their current “happy” situation upon. Kevin’s sanity, despite for the most part being in the best shape of the entire series, is still somewhat questionable (you know considering how he essentially low budget flatlines in his bedroom). Nora’s happiness is in question and her full emotional recovery is still uncertain. The whole town of itself Jordan is set on two lies, that the guilty Remnant were all tragically killed by a gas leak instead of taken out by a targeted drone strike, and that something is indeed coming in the days ahead, something miraculous even. These things don’t blow up quickly they unravel slowly, as seen throughout “The Book of Kevin” tension is bubbling under the surface ready at any point to come and gradually ruin everything.

That brings us to Kevin himself who is our POV of this episode and the subject of future religious scripture. Kevin’s sanity, as mentioned earlier, is absolutely in peak form. He is no longer the complete disaster he was in season two, having for the most part escaped his daemons by pushing Patti down the well in “International Assassin.”  Subsequently though Kevin now being propped up to being something that he cannot fulfill, a Mosiah and a leader of the people in Jordan. Matt’s “scripture” may all be true in a literal, sure Kevin seemed to have survived not only being shot right in the chest, but also drinking a strange old man’s “poison” (we will most likely never know what that mysterious substance that brought Kevin to “the afterlife” really was), but it represents nothing of what Kevin actually is capable of being. It’s a set up for yet another failure. It’s yet another latching on to something that, like the detrimental disappointment of the scene set two centuries ago, can only end in pain. Worst of all is that Kevin looks like he is letting it slide. We never see him expressly burn the book at the end of the episode implying that he himself is going to let this lie of himself go free into the world, despite seeming to have a good grasp on his limitations, implying that somehow this could to continue to destructive ends.

Which finally brings us to the very strange final scene of the episode. Lindelof has not backed off from presenting random scenes with little context throughout season 2 (cavepeople anyone) but never like this before. The final moments of “The Book of Kevin” not only act as a random scene to drive home a thematic point, but instead provides an overarching mystery to uncover. The scene involves a dove collector, later reviled as an aged Nora under a different identity, being quizzed by a nun about whether or not the name Kevin means anything to her. Old Nora’s reaction tells the rest of the story, it’s a look that implies that the name means a lot to her, even if she outwardly states otherwise. It’s a scene that implies that tough times are to come for Nora and Kevin, and that everything that exists in the present moment is indeed not entirely as it seems. The rocky foundations that begin to crumble in “The Book of Kevin” seem to be on a path towards becoming much far worse by the end of this show. It’s probably going to be a long and painful ride. All I know for sure is that given how great this show has been so far, I cannot wait to see where Lindelof and company take us.

Some other musings:

• The song choices on this show are incredible. Huge props to musical supervisor Liza Richardson for finding the perfect song for every little piece of “The Book of Kevin.”

• It’s curious to see the “father-son” dynamic between Kevin and Tommy blossom throughout their tenure working together. It’s one of the sweeter parts of “The Book of Kevin” and watching both handle the “revenge of dog man” well as a team was a great moment for both characters. Too bad this is The Leftovers and given how tortured the last Garvey family police duo turned out, I have a feeling this does not end particularly well.

• RIP Meg, who despite being a little annoying in season one, really was one hell of a great villain in season two.

• Yes I 100% wrote in all caps “BUT IT’S JUST A PRANK BRO” in my notes when it turned out that the protest group had not actually poisoned the “baptism water.” Don't judge me.

That’s it for now folks I'm so excited to have this show back, even just for seven more episodes.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?