The Leftovers - Orange Sticker - Review: "No Miracles in Miracle"

Episode four of The Leftovers, a continuation of sorts for episodes 1 and 2, attempted to answer the question, 'Has a second Sudden Departure occurred in Jarden, Texas?'. Everyone that felt the earthquake and knows about the Murphy family wants the answer to that question. Nora needs to know if the town she moved Kevin, Jill and Lily to and paid three million dollars to live in really is the safe haven it, and her brother Matt, claims it to be.

Episode four starts off at the moment the earthquake begins to tremble. This is the same earthquake that occurred at the same time Evie and her friends disappeared from the pond at the end of episodes 1 and 2. A question I asked after the first two episodes was if there was something in the water in the town of Jarden that makes it so special. The citizens of Jarden seem to think so the way they were clamoring to get at the few remaining drops of the pond. The big question of this season still remained - Did Evie and her friends experience a 'second' Sudden Departure'?

My favorite scenes were the ones involving Kevin being followed around by the hilarious scene-stealing Patti. A lot of the insight and answers we are getting could stem from their interactions. Personally, I believe that Patti is real and not part of Kevin's imagination. We will need a little more information to be fully convinced but there is evidence that would suggest that she is real. For one, if Patti was a hallucination then everything that came out of her mouth would have to be something Kevin already knows, belonging to his subconscious or conscious self. For example, Patti knew where Kevin's phone was, but perhaps Kevin knew 'subconsciously' and that's how she was able to tell him. Another example is Patti told Kevin that story about her husband and his...ummmm...sexual proclivities...which Kevin could not have known unless Laurie told him like Patti was so keen to bring up. Patti also knew that John's car was coming up to the pond before Kevin knew. In either case, it's a lot of fun having Patti around and interacting with Kevin and when Kevin started talking back to her it made for one amazing and eye-opening scene. Plus, Patti confirmed that Evie and her friends 'vanished' confirming that Jarden has finally experienced the Sudden Departure.

One element of the episode I noticed were the bracelets the Garvey's continue to have to wear on their wrists. You can see them a little better in this episode than in the previous ones, but we always knew they read "Temp Res", which obviously is short for 'Temporary Residents'. Now that Jarden has experienced a 'second' Sudden Departure everyone feels as though they are 'temporary residents' of this town and, most likely, the world. What happens in Jarden once everyone discovers this will be the basis for the following episodes and my guess is that chaos will ensue all over town.

The episode overall was another great hour of The Leftovers. I would have like to see the story progress a little further by this point in the season, but I get that every show needs episodes like this to move the plot forward. I am really looking forward to Reverend Matt's story about how he brought Mary to Jarden and what exactly happened that day. Hopefully he will get a standalone episode for him like we did in season one. Whatever happens next for The Leftovers I am just looking forward for each week.

Music from the Episode

- "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Sung by Patti - lyrics by Stock Waterman (You probably remember this song as being performed by Rick Astley)
Patti singing this in front of Kevin throughout the episode

- "You're the One That I Want" - Lo-Fang
End of the episode (but not end credits)

- "My Favorite Show (feat. Stephanie Mabey)" - The Crazy Z's
End credits

Things To Notice

- Did you notice...there were several references to water in the episode - from the glass on Nora's nightstand to the sink malfunctioning to Nora's 'Noah's Ark' reference and a few more.

- When Nora went outside after hearing the earthquake she sees Erika. After speaking to her for a minute, Erika hears her phone ringing and runs inside. Who was on the phone? Was it John or someone else? It could be nothing, but knowing the storytelling of The Leftovers it might be important.

- I've said it before and I will say it again - The Leftovers has the best music selection of any show, ever.

- Did Pillar man know that Patti was there, or did he just say that to Kevin because all he saw was Kevin speaking to thin air and 'assumed' someone was there with him?

- I am looking forward to seeing and learning more about Virgil, the man that spoke to Nora in the convenience store and to Kevin in the museum in Episode two. He has only a few scenes, but is very interesting.

- Patti's story about her ex-husband to Kevin was hilarious. I love her character.

- I liked how they had at the beginning of the episode Nora seeing the dog running down the street with the leash around its neck then hearing her tell Jill the story of when she worked for the Department of Sudden Departures and caught someone giving a fraudulent claim and how she caught him. The story started with a woman seeing only the dog on the leash and not the man that was taking the dog for the walk. It's Nora's evidence why Evie and her friends didn't depart this time.

- John said it best when he told Kevin, "There are no miracles in Miracle".

- How perfect was it that the episode ended with the song, "My Favorite Show" by The Crazy Z's?


Thank you for checking out my Review! Please comment below so we can discuss the episode and the series some more. Be on the lookout for an Advanced Preview of episode 5 that I received this morning. Have a great week everyone!

About the Author - Geo N

Geo N is from Detroit, MI. His favorite shows include The Blacklist, Hell On Wheels, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, LOST, The Leftovers, The Strain, Sons Of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow and countless others. When he's not watching tons of TV, he enjoys reading, playing hockey, comic books, weightlifting, and writing. Thanks for checking out my post.

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