Last Sunday The Leftovers aired its much anticipated second season premiere. Personally, I believe the episode was an incredible start to a promising season filled with mysteries to keep us speculating the entire week between episodes. I was able to watch the second episode, 'A Matter Of Geography', before this Sunday's airing and it is one amazing hour of television.
In the first episode, 'Axis Mundi', we met the Murphy family from Jarden (Miracle), Texas - The father, John, mother named Erika and two kids, Evie and Michael. There were obvious (and not so obvious) parallels between the Murphy and Garvey family, who just so happened to be their new neighbors by the end of the episode. The two families meet and then mingle at dinner that same night where they learn quite a bit about each other. By the end of the night we get the sense there will be some friction and some sort of conflict between the two patriarchs.
In the episode this Sunday we get to see what happens immediately after the final moments of the season one finale. Last we saw, Kevin and Jill were walking up to their home as they are stopped by the sight of Nora standing on their front porch holding the recently discovered baby Lily. This is the moment where the episode picks up from, which I thought was a perfect place for the 'Garvey Family 2.0' to have their story start.
Kevin has gone through a lot, as we have seen from last season, and the craziness he occasionally experiences doesn't seem to be diminishing in any way. The episode will focus primarily on Kevin and his struggles as he deals with his own demons and the fallout from the Guilty Remnant 'Living Reminders' Night of last season's finale. We will witness how the Garvey's decided on Jarden as their new home, what they had to do and go through to get there, as well as the alternate perception of the meeting between the two main families, the Garvey's and the Murphy's. I thought that last part was very LOSTesque - a sort of 'Turn Of The Screw' type of story telling Damon Lindelof does incredibly well.
The episode is truly an amazing hour of television. There are funny and sad parts as well as another clue as to what happened in the final moments of the last episode. When I saw the final moments of last Sunday's episode I thought to myself the main mystery of this season will be the disappearance of Evie and her two friends. So, I (I'm sure all of you do too) look for clues that would support an answer to that mystery. Well, we will get a clue in this second episode. When I saw the final minutes of 'A Matter Of Geography' I uttered, "Wow, how cool!", out loud and thought what a great season this is going to be moving forward. It really is a cool and eye-opening scene.
Things To Notice
- The musical montages in this episode are extraordinary. They are usually great in this series already, however, this episode has a really great score.
- We learn a little about the history of Jarden. The Garvey's arrive and have to go through quite a bit before settling in at home. Before they can drive into town they have to stop at the Jarden Historical Museum where you will notice a few strange occurrences.
- You will see Tom and Laurie for a little bit.
- I think I caught a major story error, but I won't say anything about it until my Review to see if any of you catch it also. It's in the second half of the episode. It ties into episode one.
- There are a few LOST references in this episode. One is hidden extremely well, but I caught it after my second viewing...ok it was actually my fifth viewing.
- The final few minutes of the episode, as I have said, is great.
- The final comment immediately before the end credits had me laughing out loud.
Thank you for reading my Advanced Preview! I hope you all enjoy the episode as much as I did. Please check back after the episode airs for my Review so we can discuss the episode and the series further. As always, if any of you have any questions about the upcoming episode please feel free to ask in the comments section below. I will answer in the most non-spoilery way possible. Enjoy, and have a great weekend everyone!
