HBO's The Leftovers, now on its third and final season, has been called a "TV underdog" by critics and viewers alike. Some have even labelled it as one of the greatest shows currently airing on TV. Showrunner Damon Lindelof gives us a peek on what's in store, even as the show's most ardent fans get into the heart and soul of the show to explain its compelling appeal.
Justin Theroux, who plays troubled family man, Sam Garvey, says in an interview with Slashfilm that Lindelof did give them a heads-up earlier on that the show was not going to be the traditional seven-season series. Lindelof told his cast that the estimated lifespan of the show would be three to four years. Theroux explains why he agreed with that approach, "I like knowing there's an end to the story. I can't imagine something worse than scripts being written into a tunnel ... It usually ends when people get sick of it, but I think it's great when it gets to end on its own terms."
Another report, also by Slashfilm, has an interview with Lindelof who promises that the third season will be very different from the first and second. The first season had people coping with the event known as the Departure or sudden vanishing of 2 million people in the world. The second season had the protagonists, the Garvey family, relocating to a town in Texas, the only place in the world where the Departure never happened. The third season may touch on these topics but will focus on something else, as a build-up to the finale.
Christopher Filippone of Moviepilot says that the darkness of the show makes it compelling. It makes the viewer think, while bringing him to places in his mind and heart he would never think of looking at on his own. The questions about death, loss, and survival stick in the viewer's mind and stay there.
The Global Comment also says that the dark themes of the show do not just show issues, but become a source of power for both the onscreen characters and the real-life viewers. That's why The Leftovers is "the best show you're not watching."
