The Syndicate

That still doesn't change the fact that at least half of this season drove me nuts. The most desperate sensation was that Lindelof was graced a third season out of the sheer prestige of the show and for five episodes it felt like he took that opportunity and just used it to crank up the crazy: The Book of Kev-O, self-asphyxiation, anti-Flood voodoo chanting, marine guy running nude on the deck of a submarine, boat orgies... All for what, the idea of a lingering malaise in the psyche of post-departure humanity, alongside a mounting end-of-days-looming credo, surrounding the magical, on-the-nose biblical milestone of seven years? Pls. I mean, I'm among the last to complain about having crazy in my arts, but that's not truly what I wanted in my cup of Leftovers these past three seasons. I'll get on that shortly.

Another thing that spooked me was the resurface of some all-too-familiar Lostian tropes. That flashforward in episode 1? F**k you. Pointless, too, considering how the real denounement was constructed in the finale. Nora's interview with the scientists in "G'Day Melbourne" being siked, in a "yeah, I'm not going to tell you things all the way through" fashion? Almost threw my Pepsi at the screen. It was really bothersome for Lind-O to still show such fixations, when his overall vision on ambiguity and letting-the-mystery-be-ism was employed so much better and wiser employed in these series.

Now, as to clarify why I'm so agnostic towards the extravagance and craze part of the show: because it never mattered to me that much. I was in it for the heartwrenches, which were copiously provided by the mostly inspired writing and often extremely inspired performances, and for the occasional twists, reveals and rug-pulls that would fuel even more heartwrenches.

S1 was about grief, coping and... sort of, depression in general. I think the season was only bogged down by some less exciting or cohesive episodes in the grand sequence and the sense that some characters were not fully fleshed out and/or purposed.

What I liked so much, then, about S2 is that a way was found to craft a drama that was more unified and tight (certain, cough, afterlife experiences notwithstanding) - and do it out of improvised, freer new material, since the book adaptation had been exhausted. I remember not being able to breathe or feel any impulse to tune out during the first seven episodes, that's how impeccable and impressive it was. S2 on the whole was about faith and challenging it to its core, with all the blessed feeling of safety, self-indulgence and self-importance of Miracle/Jarden being shaken up (or, better yet, questioned in a deep way altogether) - it even redeemed the GR as a whole as an implaccable, dispiriting opposing force in the show. "Some people just want to watch the world burn", as Alfred would tell Bruce. S1 had some twists and blow ups, but I'm pretty sure I never want to watch again what S2 delivered at the end.

So, given this... what was S3 really about? The closest answer would be closure, especially since the lostian format of character-centered episodes was combined with the idea of driving every character, as much as possible, towards some sort of closure. But in this regard it still felt like a throwback to S1's choppy, sprawling format, rather than S2's organic ways.

What I found good about the season was its concept of quickly defusing (or, rather, de-mythologizing) some of the urges for mysteries, ambiguities and other trickery:

-- first minutes were "oh wow, so we're start off where we left, with the GR and all"? nope, blast them away with a nuke
-- alien dog rulers conspiracies? nope, cut the music off right away and tell Dean to go take a hike
-- that man up in the tower being worshipped as a departee? nope, show us his death right away and leave Nora to debunk it story-wise
-- that S2 end scene that appeared like a flashforward to older Kevin being hunted down by wannabee apostoles? nope, just a plain aussie cop getting drowned
-- the idea of a cult of Kev-O growing among women in frakin' Australia of all places? nope, just a freak conjuncture
-- Evie still alive? nah

Of course, though, they didn't go all the way through with this, which became obvious as soon as Kevin dillydallied on burning right away a ludicrous book written on him. He needed four more episodes to do such a simple thing and his story or conflict with this "gospel-thingy" didn't even progress much past that...

My one exception to wearing the no-extravagance hat was probably Ol' Garvey's episode ending up among my faves (#3 spot, in fact), but that was because he was already way damaged and past believabe in his actions. So it became more fun and less perplexing to just watch him do his thang, much like watching a whole movie with Jack Nicholson going on a half-senile self-discovery escapade ("About Schmidt", in case the references isn't clear).

My one shock was the Matt-centric episode not turning into a fave, as per tradition during the past seasons. Here the extravaganza kinda burned me out and turned me resentful. Matt's episodes always included a trial of faith or a test of character of some sorts coming via God, but to concoct such a blunt face-off with a dilly nobody claiming to be YH in an je-me'n-fiche embodiment - felt so on the nose, just in order to make Matt finally calm the frak down and find some clarity (or abandonment) in his goals, ideals and everything. On top of which, the whole boat thing was loud confetti, really.

As for You-Know-What in terms of off-the-rail entertainment, my issue may well be that I don't believe that much in Kevin Garvey and in how he was crafted and pumped up since S1 to be this alpha lead, above average, potentially destined for bigger things figure. What were Kevin Garvey's trials and plight, really, apart from some potential mental loose screws (that Laurie, ever the agnostic, was keen to point out)? It was clear what Nora's or Laurie's were. It was clear why Patti served as both an antagonist and as a tragic figure. But Kevin...? In S1 his arc and importance were sort of uninteresting, apart from being placed in direct conflict with Patti/the GR as a force of chaos. Him being stuck with Ghost Patti afterwards and becoming more troubled and moanier was creditable enough. Heck, even him being required to undergo a passage in order to solve this issue was fine on paper. But why such bombast, afterwards?

Ultimately, though, I did like the fact that for Kevin, this season's whole christ-like Kev-O shtick was itself de-mythologised. Alas, it took seven episodes of self-indulgent fantasy.

You folks say you would have liked a Murphy-centric episode as well, but I personally don't know what more could have been developed there, enough for a whole introspective chapter. With Erica a distant coper and Michael seeming composed enough, that left John, whose sole drive for closure dealt with gaining certainty of Evie's fate and such. Plus, the element of his troubling, violent past had been already cut short itself within the structure of the narrative and the show.

Nora and Laurie, in the end, were the most relevant characters of this show, since they remained linked all the way back to the core idea of post-departure loss, grief and infinite-like turmoil. Nora lost everything and Laurie, unbeknownst to anyone (even us until nine episodes into the first season), lost something she didn't even get to fully bond with. That's so fascinating. Both of their closure episodes in S3 were done exquisitely. Laurie's particularly was a sort of bitter delight. I would have been ok with either conclusions to her shedunit cliffhanger. In fact, I find myself picky with suicide as a characterial trope being the solution (as in it being real hard to sell such a conclusion), but in this case, I think all the elements were neatly in place for Laurie's choice to be understandable.

As for why I would tend to believe Nora, several reasons go through my head, more than reasons for which to doubt her. Regardless, of course, the idea is, still, that it doesn't really matter (#letthemysterybe)- which Kevin put it in a poetic way during the episode. I acknowledge there are clues left to discredit
the veracity - including the "about the say Stop" detail; nice catch, DH - but also think their placement is intentional. Otherwise, believe it or not, I really liked the concept of a dimension tear which left both sides missing the other. On to my pro arguments:

1. I don't think Nora, even in choosing a reclusive life (as punishment?), would have coped with the unsatisfaction of not going through with it. This unsatisfaction was the foundation of her three-seasons long trial - which she was even honest in confessing (to Kevin). I don't even think she would have managed to really lie to Kevin about it.

2. This is something I'm borrowing from AVClub, since after all I'm not that great at getting deep impressions out of my own first watch(es), but Nora was constantly an agent of skepticism and calling out on others' bullsuit. Why would the twist be that, all of a sudden, she's the one crafting the most phantasmagorical spin of a narrative?

3. Not really sure how to properly explain this one, but I don't think it would be fair to doubt Nora's story, simply due to the we-never-saw-her-going-through mechanic, in comparison to believing whatever Kevin went through, by having witnessed two episodes and a half (cumulatively) of limbo'ing hard. Think of it, characters within the universe could well believe or not Kevin's transcending journeys, depending on their POV: Laurie didn't, but John had facts that were hard to contest; meanwhile, Matt, Michael and Ol' Garvey dived into gospelizing, while Nora took it as more of a material for banter. But us, the viewers... we've been sent across with Kevin, without any sense of ambiguity. Why not trust Nora to have had a similar experience? Admitting how intentional the evidence around Nora's take were left in the fog should not really imply any intentional lean on distrusting it.

Woow, text so long. Anyway, what else. Oh, I enjoyed that the score eased up on Richter's aching violin or piano themes during each sobbing or tense moment. Alas, I hated the music shuffle during the intros. And getting back to the original two, by the end, was too late.

And the last shot with the doves was total cheese, which was surprising given the way Mimi Leder helmed most episodes. Oh well.