The focus of “Leftovers” is the impact that the event had on Mapleton, a small town in Mid-America where Kevin Garvey is the Mayor. One aspect of the occurrence that everyone agreed with was that the impact on the “leftovers” – those left behind by missing loved ones – was tragic and devastating and had turned lives upside down.

Some people referred to the event as the Rapture others refused to attach any religious significance to it and had other theories most were just clueless. The Sudden Departure as it came to be known was the day that people just literally disappeared into thin air. We also get a glimpse of Kevin Sr.“The Leftovers” by Tom Perrotta is the story of a devastating tragedy that took place in the far reaches of the world on October 14th three years before the story unfolds.

If you think this sounds grim, the episode does have a funny plot that includes Mark Linn-Baker from the 80s sitcom Perfect Strangers as himself.

Nora is like the Biblical Job without the faith, shit just keeps happening to her, and she is getting to the point where she can’t take it anymore. The episode feels like a punch in the stomach, but it is also a moving exploration of what it is to live with nothing to live for. Nora has lost her children and her husband during the Sudden Departure, and just when she was rebuilding her life with Kevin and Lily (the daughter of Holy Wayne and Christine), Christine decided to take her back. This is one of those Leftover episodes (very much like the whole first season) that dwell on the desperation of the characters confronting what seems like a cruel and meaningless universe. The second episode of season 3, “Don’t Be Ridiculous” is what the creators of the show call a “Nora episode,” since she will be our main POV (point of view) throughout the episode. Read more 'The Leftovers Season 3 Episode 5 Recap: “It’s a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World”' The title of the episode is also an homage to the 1963 comedy directed by Stanley Kramer “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” The episode also includes references to Daniel 6:22, we hear Jewish prayers such as the Avinu Malekeinu and the Ashrei, and Carl Gustav Jung’s Answer to Job may help us understand that final scene. In their journey, they accidentally end up traveling in the Love Boat (or the Biblical, Sodom and Gomorrah version of it), we meet Frazier the Lion, and the always so righteous Matt (or is he self-righteous?), finally completes his Biblical Job-like journey, filled with suffering and sacrifice, by meeting God (or is he?) and confronting him about the reason for it all. Matt, John, Michael, and Laurie travel to Australia to try to bring Kevin back to Jarden before the 7th anniversary of the Sudden Departure in order to stop the end of the world. This really was a Matt, Matt, Matt episode.

The leftovers book 2