Rob Henderson joins me to discuss Season 1 of The Leftovers, an HBO series that ran for three seasons between 2014-2017.
Our conversation revolves around two main themes. First, whether this is a Christian show, or maybe as Christian a show as you can expect from HBO. We discuss subtle pro-life propaganda, and how it portrays family life. Second, we connect the plot of The Leftovers to what happened in the aftermath of covid-19. Like in the pandemic, in this show a substantial part of the population is no longer with us, and we talk about the similarities and differences between this fictional universe and actual events.
It’s an interesting question what would happen if 2% of the population just vanished. I frankly don’t know how society would behave. It seems plausible to me that we’d see something like what happens in this show, where people have a day of remembrance for their missing “heroes” and otherwise go on with their lives. Or I could imagine mass panic and political and social instability. This is what makes the show interesting.
Other topics include:
The portrayal of small town America
Racial tropes used in the construction of the Holy Wayne character
The Lolita storyline, and how it has disappeared from popular culture
Age gaps between men and women, the lack of them here, and how much better Kevin Garvey looks than his wife
Expect a future podcast to go through Season 3, Episode 3, and then another to finish off the series.
Reacting to Societal Shocks