The Leftovers: “Pilot” & “Penguin One, Us Zero”

Dylan here. So listen, while we’re still celebrating the Veek of Blood here on SFB, we promised to have some normal sci-fi pieces running. Now, here’s the thing, this is a review of the first two episodes of The Leftovers. It’s not confirmed to be science fiction in any sense as of yet, but there is a lot of potential for such to be the case. Thus, we have our spoiler-filled review, and now you may continue reading. Over and out.

–The Editor

First of all, I have not read the book, but I looked it up and found that it is not a series. Also, the author is one of the producers, so it’s possible that the show will continue on and there will be more answers for book readers. That being said, I might have to read the book after the show is finished, because I’m just that kind of girl.

Approaching the three year anniversary of the “Sudden Departure,” The Leftovers is based around the four members of the Garvey family and how they’re dealing with the aftermath of their lives being completely uprooted. Coincidentally, as far as we know, none of the family members actually lost someone, at least not to the Departure.

Kevin Garvey is the chief of police and seems to be the main focus so far. He stumbles on strange occurrences, mostly involving a rough-looking man in a pickup truck. He first encounters the man on a morning jog during which the man kills a random dog and drives off quickly.

We later hear a mention of these dogs by one of the twin boys courting Kevin’s daughter, Jill. He says that the dogs witnessed their masters disappear and went primal. We see an example of their vicious tendencies when they rip a large buck to pieces in front of Kevin. He then joins the nameless man in shooting them down.

Laurie Garvey (Kevin’s wife) has joined the Guilty Remnant (GR), and is completely unreachable to her husband. So far, the GR is a bunch of mute individuals who wear all white and chain smoke. They silently protest anything to do with glorifying the departure, such as Heroes Day, and they are widely hated among the rest of the town.

At first I thought that maybe these people had also witnessed someone departing first hand, but now I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t understand why they join or how they choose people to recruit, but Laurie has assured us that it is not a cult.

Which brings us to Meg, played by the lovely Liv Tyler. Disinterested in wedding planning, Meg was being followed by Laurie and her roommate, until she finally decided to try the kool-aid and is now being initiated into the GR. By the end of the second episode, it appears that she has fully accepted the GR lifestyle.

Jill, Kevin’s daughter, is definitely on a huge decline. I’m not sure if that party that she went to is normal teenage behavior, but it wasn’t in my day! Her best friend Aimee is a horrible influence and is quite honestly dangerous. She dragged the twin boys into their craziness to follow a grieving mother (Nora Durst). I think she realized how crazy they were being when she started honking the horn. Just because Nora was carrying a gun doesn’t make her dangerous.

Even so, I did find it very strange when she knocked her mug over on purpose. I think that she’s just trying to see how much she can get away with, y’know? And I think that she really enjoys the attention.

Now let’s talk about Tom Garvey, the eldest child of Laurie and Kevin. He’s off somewhere, giving rides to important people so that they can get a hug from Holy Wayne. Apparently this guy can cure all of your troubles with a hug and has a taste for young Asian girls. One of these girls is Christine. Tom clearly has feelings for her. Wayne tells him that Christine is important and needs to be protected, so they have gone on the run. I think that Wayne got her knocked up.

So, I really want to know what caused this. Was it aliens? I think it was aliens.

Plus, Christopher Eccleston is playing the crazy priest, and he was the Ninth Doctor. It has to be aliens.

If you enjoyed Amanda’s review you can find the rest of her work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow her on Twitter @ErukaMoseley.

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