Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

That's the basis of the show that puts these people and the town in the situation they're in. Otherwise it'd be just another show about people in a small town.

Does knowing why it happened make a real difference to the story? I read the book and it didn't matter - because it's not about WHY it happened, it's about what happens afterwards. If they knew what happened then the people are directed one way - that it's either a religious event or not... and that eliminates the confusion and desperation of these people and limits all the different reactions.

NOT knowing why IS a big part of the story.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

There's not enough mayhem in this show for me. I wanted to see pissed true believers, people searching for answers, people doing this they would never have done before because nothing matters anymore. And the ones that try to keep it together because maybe this life is all there is.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

I guess that makes sense. But still, they need to make the characters and their stories far more compelling so we can focus on them instead of the mystery. I think people are focusing on the mystery because there's nothing else to really latch on to, character wise.

And 2% just isn't enough to make what their going through believable. Maybe 5% or 6% would be.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

This is my concern as well. While reading the book I thought that it could be turned into a movie... or a mini-series. However, I'm not sure how well this will work as an actual regular series.

Based on the pilot it just sounds like they're going to drag out the book across however many episodes this show will have in total. It doesn't feel like there's enough to last more than the 10 episodes of Season 1. Maybe it'll delve away from the book and create other storylines, etc... but I'm still not sure what they can do that will still tie in to the concept of the show.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

You're applying your outside knowledge to the show, which isn't how most people are going to approach it. Most are going to watch it blind, and they're going to expect answers.

What's next? A show about Dracula that never shows Dracula (or even mentions his name)? How about a Dorian Gray show that never shows the painting?

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

That's a good point and well put. The problem is in this day and age... how does that make a good television show? It may have made for a fine book. But an average viewer is probably not going to go for that. Atleast for multiple seasons...

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

It's too early to tell where this show is going. I think it's safe to say that if this show has a successful first season, it's going to have to expand beyond the book. I can't imagine Lindelof getting involved with another show with a huge central mystery unless he had some ideas for solving the mystery. When he deleted his twitter account, people thought that was a reaction to all of the criticism to Lost, but it was just a reference to this show. I think, in his mind, he's going to attempt to redeem himself but the question is will audiences give him a second chance?

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

He already said that that was the reason he wanted to do it... because there weren't answers.

“In a lot of ways, it was sort of a relief, to plug into something that was overt in saying this show is about living with this mystery, and a lack of an explanation,” Lindelof noted. “My feeling was, I embraced that, I found it fascinating.”

So... Lost... Prometheus...and this... ambiguous as fuck...in a way.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

I wish Damon Lindelof didn't cancel his Twitter account. It would have been fun seeing all the comments he gets after an episode. I recall he deactivated it after he was getting alot of hate tweets.

He claims here that it was consuming him in an unhealthy way

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/09/da...tting-twitter/

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

What was up with him hitting the animal(looked like it fell from the sky, since it wasn't in front of the car when it hit him) and then waking up on the floor? Is this going to be about aliens?

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Book or TV show, I still think that's a cop out. There's a big difference between an ambiguous answer and no answers at all - and this show seems to be going towards the latter.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

But it's already been shown in the first show that it's not, since not all the people that are missing are ones that would qualify. That was the reason for the guy with the flyers saying the one lady beat her kids.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

That's what I thought as well, it reminded me strongly of a much less childish version of Under the Dome. But just watching a bunch of mopey characters week after week "dealing" while ignoring the one thing in the premise that was interesting enough to make me tune in doesn't bode well.

The disappeared celebrities was pretty funny.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Regardless of the pre-existing source material for this show, if Lindelof thought enough time had passed after Lost for him to try another show with a mystery as the Macguffin, he was wrong. He should try again in another 10 years when the stink of Lost's final season has lost some of its pungency.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Oh, and in a little statistical aside, more people would have died in the three years after the event than disappeared in the event...as in every three years a little more than 2% of the world's population passes away.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Well, yeah, they die, but of natural reasons, and they don't disappear while you are fucking them. I would be like the main character if that happened to me too. ;)

And yeah, this was only the pilot, but we already got 115 replies. And yes, the book has material for one, or one and a half at most, seasons.

I can see it, it was all a dream!

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

In reality, 98% of the population died and they're now in purgatory.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Maybe there's a donkey wheel in a basement in the cult compound...

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Chalk me up as someone else who thought not only was it a very bad pilot but it did not even feel like an HBO show.

The teenage party with the spin the bottle app (as if that would ever be on the app store) was beyond over the top and it just felt like " ooh, look at all of the trouble teens burning and choking themselves". And the tear running down the daughters face was fucking priceless.

Also, the heavy handed musical cues were unlike anything I have ever seen. It felt like I was watching a very shitty episode of Friday Night Lights (which I like along with much of the music on that show). It just felt like a running joke or something by the mindle of the show.

Lastly the characters. My god, not one interesting character in the bunch and they all seemed to have their incredibly stupid moments, especially Theroux's character (apparently it is ok to shoot at dogs in the middle of the street at night). So dumb.

I am already looking forward to and am sad about the last season of Boardwalk Empire.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

"God works in mysterious ways" is usually explanation enough in these cases. Maybe they DID qualify in his eyes for whatever reasons....

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Can't all of the disappeared just reappear suddenly with vague, unsettling memories of proctology exams?

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Why did brenneman go smoking white? Her kids didn't die, and her husband is alive...

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Yeah, I forgot religion has an answer for everything and nothing at the same time.

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

It's a mystery......!

Re: The Leftovers (S1E01) -- New HBO Drama -- "Pilot" -- 6/29/14
 

Caught this last night and didn't really care for it at all. Fairly weak acting and just a sort of weak premise in general I thought. I don't think I'll continue watching.