The Leftovers - International Assassin
The reason I love The Leftovers is because its unlike anything else you’ll see on TV. The reason everyone always compares it to Lost is not only because Lindelof is on the project, but also because its the only TV show that explored wacky shit like this in recent memory. There’s no other show like it. There’s only so many shows I can watch a cop chase after a serial killer or a lawyer work a case or any of the other 4 plot lines of the 50,000 TV shows we watch. The Leftovers is fresh, weird, and unique every single episode.
And even by the standard the Leftovers has set, last night’s episode was WEIRD. We follow Kevin Garvey through purgatory in his attempt to rid himself of Patti Levin. Full disclosure, I was terrified going into this episode that we were going to get too supernatural. As you know I thought a lot of this show was still rooted in reality despite having such metaphysical undertones. I said going in to this episode if Kevin Garvey is buried in a box for 3 days and resurrects like those birds, I’m gonna throw my TV out the window. And so the very final scene where we see Kevin Garvey climbing out of the dirt like goddam Undertaker at a WWF pay per view bothered me. The idea that Patti Levin is actually probably a ghost haunting Kevin kind of bothers me. But everything that went on during International Assassin was so intriguing and so entertaining (and, again, so unique) I dont think I’m even bothered by the major turn to Religion Town.
The dreamlike sequence of Kevin “Harvey” in a hotel as an international assassin who’s mission it is to kill Senator Patti Levin could probably be dissected for hours on end. The whole thing felt exactly how your dreams feel. I mean when you wake up from a vivid dream these are the exact type of scenarios you remember. You’re like “I was an assassin…and you! You were a senator! I was there to kill you! My dad was there, but not really. And there was this little girl!” etc etc. and I’m sure each and every moment of that episode has meaning. You dont construct an entire world of limbo without having some meaning behind every little thing. But my main takeaways for the big picture stuff:
– The heavy reliance upon water. Virgil – who is dead himself and now inside the same purgatory – told Kevin specifically not to drink the water, and when we arrive in Kevin’s limbo world, we see everyone is guzzling it down except for he and Patti. Its like once you drink the water you fully cross over. You’re dead for good. Stuck in that shitty afterlife. Patti says she “never touches the stuff” like its alcohol or drugs and thats why she’s in this limbo haunting Kevin. He never drinks any water either and so he’s able to still cross back over to real life. To put it in Lost terms, its almost like the water is the Constant between the two worlds.
– Miracle really does appear to be some sort of Axis Mundi between the real world and the afterlife. I guess? If we’re gonna believe that Kevin Garvey was really in some sort of purgatory then I think Jarden, Texas is the connection between heaven and earth. Patti alludes to how on October 14th “our cave came crashing down,” the same way the cave of that prehistoric chick collapsed in Jarden. It appears there really is something to do with that exact spot in Texas. There really is something in the water. There’s a reason why birds can resurrect. (btw, the bird on the loose in the hotel was a nice touch. Kind of signified the limbo everyone was stuck in. The bird flying all around, the dead people of the hotel trying to catch it. Exactly like how life is kind of up in the air in that limbo. You can either live and fly or get caught and die.)
– Kevin Garvey actually ends up sympathizing with Patti. Patti taking the form of an abused little girl made Kevin actually feel bad for her. Seeing that fat fuck abuse her actually made her a sympathetic figure. Her sob story in the bottom of the well about being a 3 day champion on Jeopardy until Action Jackson came along and beat her and how she was still unable to leave Neil was designed to actually make you realize she wasnt all bad. Kevin actually shares a hug with her at the bottom of that well and it almost makes you feel like the way he will rid himself of Patti haunting him is by finally understanding her. He ends up shooting her once and drowning her a second time, but I feel like by coming to understand Patti’s plight and have a better grip on why she is the way she is, thats how he gets rid of her back in his real life.
– This TV show has officially gone “full Lost” as a lot of people have been saying. This show is no longer just about the grieving and human suffering and the aftermath of a tragedy. This show is something entirely different. Miracle, Texas is like The Island. We’re now into a science vs religion, supernatural, metaphysical world type of show. We already were, but there was always the thought that people experiencing these visions or miracles were just mentally unstable. I suppose you could just say this was like a dream sequence from Kevin Garvey as he OD’d but that would be a lame cop out. We’ve now acknowledged some sort of afterlife. We’ve shown where the Departed go. We’ve shown that there is a connection between the two and you can kind of float back and forth. There is something special about Miracle. All of that changes everything. Maybe Mary Jamison really did wake up one night. Maybe Eve and the girls really did Depart. Again, I’m not sure I love that twist. I really liked the idea that the world is just one huge fucked up place after such a tragedy and here’s how people cope with it. But now its almost like anything goes. In a weird way that episode made the show a lot more hopeful. Its sure to be a polarizing choice. Atheists will hate it. Hardcore religious nuts probably will too. The rest of us in between that still watch this show will probably just appreciate how well it was done and continue along for the ride because thats what this show does.
PS – I loved Kevin Garvey Sr. communicating through the TV because of a fire as he’s all fucked up on peyote or something. Garvey Sr. has always had the same sort of connection to the afterlife or underworld or whatever you want to call it. Him communicating to Kevin in purgatory like that was a nice touch. Loved how the fire alarm in the hotel going off because Garvey Sr. was connecting to Kevin by lighting a fire. I wonder why the guy who brought Kevin flowers tried to kill him? Maybe Kevin’s father was trying to stop him from going through with all this? If theres any other sites that do a full breakdown of all the different people and different occurrences inside Kevin’s purgatory, send it my way.