So, there’s a decent chance everyone just died on Leftovers. But before we get to this I
need to consult some spiritual guidance on how to get through this show.
Ah, excellent advice
So this episode focuses on Laurie, how she was a
psychotherapist before the Departure but trying to counsel people who have lost
loved ones to the departure was so traumatic it nearly drove Laurie to suicide
– and it did drive her to the Guilty Remnant.
And now she’s arrived in Australia and everyone seems to
need her services as a counsellor. Her attention is split between two groups of
people.
I don’t know if it’s my own thinking or the acting or
directing or what but I get a distinct feeling that Laurie is adopting an “oh
fuck this” attitude.
Split chronologically (which isn’t how the show did it because
chronology is just so old fashioned these days, apparently) Laurie ends up with
Nora and Matt trying to track down the scientists with this claimed cure.
Laurie pretty much feels this is a suicide machine- but she doesn’t try to talk
her out of it. She also refers to Matt, clarifying that he has cancer and isn’t
seeking treatment, as also being suicidal. Again, she doesn’t seem to be trying
to change their mind.
As they drive, Nora is pretty passive aggressive towards
Laurie and her work as a therapist – I think this is because Nora is constantly
waiting for Laurie to stop her; she’s pre-emptively defending herself, going on
the attack. We have an altercation over Laurie’s lighter – a gift from Jill,
her daughter and lots of poking at therapy and what she does with John. She
explains excellently why she doesn’t provide therapy to people who are grieving
the Departed but she does those grieving the dead (and why she won’t work on
Nora). Those grieving the dead want closure – but those grieving the departed
don’t. It may not even count as closure (after all, how many of the family of
the Departed want hope rather then closure?)
Nora wants closure. Which is definitely ominous.
Nora has a moment of despair with a rather beautiful
tragic story asking, basically, why someone who spoil everyone’s fun and hope. It’s
really clear she’s talking about herself and her job debunking Departure
frauds. Laurie is there to provide gentle reality: because if someone didn’t
there’d be chaos.
We also have a nice aside with some reported religious explanation for our naked French sailor nuking an island – and Matt saying his beliefs are ridiculous. Nora duly expresses her opinion of that hypocrisy.
When they arrive at the scientists Nora goes to them
after making a rather tearful goodbye – Laurie accepts her as a client so she
can claim confidentiality should anyone ask about her. Matt also decides to
stay
Whether they’re using the machine believing they will
Depart or they’re committing suicide… I’m not sure and I don’t think even they
care now.
Second time line, Laurie joins John, Kevin senior,
Michael etc waiting for Kevin junior to return. They’ve asked Kevin to die
again since they believe Kevin will keep popping back from the dead.
Kevin sr, who is the worst, wants him to die to go harass
the ghosts of Aboriginal Australians until he can find more traditional beliefs
and practices to steal so he can avert his apocalypse.
Much more tragically, poor Grace just wants someone to
talk to her dead children.
Kevin Sr spends much of the time goading Laurie, trying
to get her to object, to declare him insane. Reminding her that she was the one
who committed him to a mental institution (nothing in his actions since then
have shown this to be a bad decision). Laurie doesn’t rise to the bait while at
the same time awesomely making it clear with every word and look that she has
doesn’t buy into a thing this man says
John is more complex, he and Laurie clearly care for each
other – but he hopes desperately that Kevin can reach Erika, his dead daughter.
This is actually a really well acted scene in you can see the care between
them, you can see that John KNOWS he is not being sensible and almost wants
Laurie to tell him to stop, he wants her to confirm he’s being irrational because
he can’t let go of hope enough to stop himself. But Laurie says they should see
it through
So they do, through more of Kevin The Worst’s blatherings
- attempting to call Laurie Doubting Thomas but she just runs with it and
proudly declares herself to be Judas. Right before she drugs them all so she
can speak to Kevin alone
And, again, she doesn’t try to stop him. She just wants
to say goodbye (and she tells him that Nora is “gone”) – and give him the
lighter that Jill gave her. Perhaps a reminder of what he still has and how
Jill reaching out to her reached her during her Guilty Remnant days.
We also have a sharing of memories and secrets between
them which is fun and powerful, underscoring their bond and again vaguely feels
like Laurie I trying to throw him a lifeline. One of the secrets is a problem
though – Laurie reveals she was pregnant (which we know and she never told
Kevin) and that the baby Departed. They talk about how neither she nor Kevin
wanted a baby – but this seems to link to the opening scene with Laurie almost committing
suicide when counselling a woman who thought she couldn’t have kids, finally
getting pregnant and then having that child Depart
I believe Tommy and Jill are adopted. That woman’s story parallels
Laurie’s. The problem comes when Laurie and Kevin both clearly state they didn’t
want another child. This means that the foetus Departing has a close parallel
to abortion – it’s hard to escape that: a mutually unwanted pregnancy that ends
(sure without conscious choice but still it’s close). And this foetus Departing
leads to both Laurie’s suicide and then joining a cult. I’m pretty sure Crisis
Pregnancy Centres (Fake anti-choice advice centres) have a pamphlet suggesting
the very same thing.
She refuses to stay with Kevin. She goes scuba diving
Earlier Nora said Scuba diving would be the ultimate
suicide for her. There are so many ways to easily engineer an accident, all
your loved ones could easily believe it was an accident and they’d have greater
peace of mind.
And Laurie goes scuba diving. Before diving she has a
call from Jill and Tommy. A silly nonsense call – but one that still reminds us
of her happy children. A lifeline like what she handed to Kevin
The episode ends with questions. So many questions. Who
lived?
Did Nora and Matt use the Departure Machine?
Did Kevin let them kill him?
Did Laurie have a Scuba accident?
And what was Laurie doing? Was she trying to pull
everyone back from the edge? Was she giving up? Has she stopped trying to stop
everyone throwing themselves into the abys?
There was actually a lot more to this episode than there
has been in the last few trainwrecks. Not saying much given how bad they were,
but Laurie the therapist trying to navigate all these deeply hurting people
while she herself is still fragile has a power to it.
