This upcoming Sunday night is going to be a major bummer, as it’ll be the first weekend over two months that we won’t get to watch a new episode of HBO’s The Leftovers, which concluded its masterful Season 2 on December 6. Thankfully, HBO isn’t being cryptically mysterious with their future plans for the show, as the network has already ordered up Season 3 to debut in 2016. Take out your souvenir jars of Jarden water and raise them up high in celebration. (Mild Season 2 spoilers will be found below.)
Unfortunately, the good news is coupled with some disappointing news, as HBO also announced that Season 3 will be the final season of The Leftovers. It’s a letdown, as TV could always use a drama as layered and unpredictable as this, but it’s possibly a blessing in disguise. Who knows just how long Damon Lindelof and author Tom Perrotta could keep the quality control as high as it has been? I mean, they probably could for more than just one season, but still. You can hardly ever say an HBO series wore out its welcome.
In HBO’s press release, amidst all of the universal appreciation from everyone, Lindelof says that they are all excited to be able to give the show a definitive end. Everyone who knows better shouldn’t be surprised that he said “definitive,” in this case, means “wildly ambiguous and mega-emotional.” And that’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from this show, so anything different would be more out of place than a sorta-psychic Eddie Winslow.
Considering how dark and depressing Season 1 was all the way through, it didn’t seem likely that Season 2 could lift the mood up, but it did. Kind of. Several of the central characters, including the Garvey family, relocated to Jarden, Texas, a town that was completely spared during the Departure. The mysteries behind the town and some of its citizens, including the Murphy family, are at the center of these downright spectacular ten episodes, and the show picked the most interesting and surprising ways imaginable to portray different kinds of emotional releases. The episode “International Assassin” became an instant classic for its bizarre trip through Kevin’s mind and/or soul, and the finale was a complete and satisfying ride.
Though the show is acclaimed by nearly everyone who watched, this season did see a dip in ratings as compared to Season 1. (I’m sure The Walking Dead had something to do with that.) Fortunately, the final two episodes saw a pretty sizeable uptick in viewers, which was probably encouraging to the powers that be at HBO when making this decision.
What new forms of despair and tragedy will befall Kevin Garvey next? Find out in 2016 on HBO. Until then, just keep waiting to hear about if True Detective Season 3 will happen.
