{"id":343,"date":"2014-07-02T14:18:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T18:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=343"},"modified":"2014-07-05T09:38:47","modified_gmt":"2014-07-05T13:38:47","slug":"the-leftovers-review-they-are-not-our-dogs-not-any-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2014\/07\/02\/the-leftovers-review-they-are-not-our-dogs-not-any-more\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Leftovers&#8221; Review: They are not our dogs. Not any more."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[share title=&#8221;Share this Post&#8221; facebook=&#8221;true&#8221; twitter=&#8221;true&#8221; google_plus=&#8221;true&#8221; linkedin=&#8221;true&#8221; pinterest=&#8221;true&#8221; reddit=&#8221;true&#8221; email=&#8221;true&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>NOTE: This review of episode one contains spoilers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>[dropcap]O[\/dropcap]ctober 14. What happened on that day, exactly? Well, it\u2019s three years later and the characters in HBO\u2019s new series <em>The Leftovers<\/em> sure as hell don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>Talking heads on the 24-hour news stations don\u2019t know either, but they are still fighting over it: it was the Rapture; no it was just an unexplained event; empirical evidence will always trump the Bible theories; and so on. There are televised Congressional hearings, politicians grilling the scientists who, after all this time, still can\u2019t deliver a conclusive answer. But what people do know is that on October 14, other people (two percent of the world\u2019s population) simply disappeared. A \u201csudden departure\u201d; and the portion of society that remains are the namesake of the show.<\/p>\n<p>In a humorous moment, there\u2019s a news segment showing an \u201cIn Memoriam\u201d for the celebrities that we\u2019ve lost: The Pope. J-Lo. Shaq. Bonnie Raitt. Gary Busey. It seems Amazon Fire TV isn\u2019t the only entity that\u2019s been paying attention to Busey\u2019s existence after all:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"702\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uXoS0NYEHH0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The \u201csudden departure\u201d itself is glimpsed briefly at the beginning of the episode. Babies crying in car seats stop crying and are simply gone. Shopping carts, once pushed by human hands, roll pointlessly into car bumpers in a parking lot. Cars careen into one another, their drivers no longer there to control the wheels. People scream out for their loved ones. The 911 operators are immediately swamped with frantic phonecalls.<\/p>\n<p>But now it\u2019s three years later, in a town getting ready to celebrate Heroes Day (their term for the people who have disappeared) with a parade, and we are slowly learning about the leftovers, starting with a storyline centering around <strong>Kevin Garvey<\/strong>\u2019s (Justin Theroux) family. Garvey is the town\u2019s police chief, who seems dead-set against any celebrations, as he is attuned to how it will only create more strife in the community between the townspeople who want to honor their missing loved ones and another group of people, called the Guilty Remnant, who want to (silently) protest the event. He fights openly with the Mayor about it. He insists his teenaged daughter <strong>Jill<\/strong> (who\u2019s dealing with her own typical teen angst, regardless of being leftover) not attend the event. It turns out Garvey&#8217;s wife <strong>Laurie<\/strong> (<em>Private Practice<\/em>\u2019s Amy Brenneman) is a Guilty Remnant protester. We learn in a separate scene that they also have a college-aged son, <strong>Tom<\/strong>, who now lives somewhere in the desert and is a member of some other type of post-event cult group. One that has a figurehead named Wayne who helps to \u201cunburden\u201d the people who remain.<\/p>\n<p>While Chief Garvey may seem like a fortunate man (since his family was spared of any loss from the October 14 event), it\u2019s ultimately a moot point, as the members of the Garvey family have all willingly chosen to distance themselves from one another anyway.<\/p>\n<p>The first episode does a good job of introducing a gaggle of characters by dropping us right in the middle of this situation. And many questions abound! Some of which may never receive answers, thanks to the whole \u201cwe just don\u2019t know\u201d nature of the October 14 phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>We know Chief Garvey\u2019s father was the former police chief until he had some sort of issues (or perhaps a psychotic break), so he\u2019s sure to make an appearance in future episodes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/signs-245x300.jpg\" alt=\"signs\" width=\"245\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/signs-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/signs-100x122.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/signs.jpg 288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/>The members of Laurie\u2019s cult do a lot of weird things like wear all white, chain smoke, take a vow of silence, hang strange signs around their compound (think the exact OPPOSITE of those ubiquitous \u201cKeep Calm\u201d signs), and follow people around town, silently staring at them. One of the people they stare at is Liv Tyler, who seems to have inner conflict over her impending nuptials. She later winds up at the Guilty Remnant\u2019s doorstep looking for a few nights\u2019 shelter. Expect more eccentricities from that group for sure.<\/p>\n<p>Jill is navigating the insecurity and frustration that comes with high school life \u2014 she attends a party where a modern-day version of spin-the-bottle (using a cell phone app that contains newer, more R-rated romantic options) is played and her supposed best friend winds up being chosen by Jill\u2019s secret crush to head off into a bedroom and do the dirty. Jill later looks around for her friend and sees her in the throes of an orgasm. No doubt we\u2019ll be circling back to that issue later, as that\u2019s just juicy high school drama anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Tom, out in the desert, has been gently called-out for flirting with Wayne\u2019s main girlfriend. It is now Tom\u2019s task to keep her safe (and keep his hands off her) as Wayne informs him that in one of his dreams, Wayne\u2019s son comes to him to let his father know that \u201cthe grace period is over,\u201d and so now it\u2019s time for them to go to work. But what KIND of work is he referring to? Queue mysterious music.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, let\u2019s talk about those wild dogs. Earlier in the episode, Chief Garvey is out jogging and stops in his tracks when a stray dog appears in front of him. He attempts to call the dog over to him, and just as he\u2019s about to be successful in making contact, the dog is shot and killed by a man with a shotgun and a pickup truck. Of course the man speeds off, but that\u2019s not the last we see of him.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Garvey tries to return the dog\u2019s collar to its owner (while the dead dog, currently in the trunk of his car, will be brought to Animal Control), but the owner acts nonchalant about the news that her dog has died, and informs the police chief that the dog has been gone for three years anyway. Ouch.<\/p>\n<p>One of Jill\u2019s classmates has a theory that many of the town\u2019s dogs have started to go wild because they witnessed the disappearance of their owners, and it\u2019s made them more primal. He suggests that the same thing is slowly happening to people. Creepy.<\/p>\n<p>Later, Chief Garvey notices the shotgun man once again while at a bar, and (laughably) fails once again at stopping him.<\/p>\n<p>We finally meet the man a third time: Garvey brings his car to a halt when he\u2019s confronted by a (live) deer in the road. A deer he had noticed earlier on the lawn of the owner of the dead dog. He gets out to observe the animal, but then hears a pack of dogs quickly approaching. The dogs race past the police chief and maul the deer. Enter the mysterious shotgun man, who gets out of his car and begins to take aim at the pack. The man informs the police chief that these aren\u2019t our dogs anymore, and asks if he also is packing heat. The two men begin to shoot at the animals. Gunshots and yelping ensue. Credits roll. Goodnight, America!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/The-Leftovers-book-Tom-Perrotta-197x300.jpeg\" alt=\"The Leftovers book Tom Perrotta\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/The-Leftovers-book-Tom-Perrotta-197x300.jpeg 197w, https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/The-Leftovers-book-Tom-Perrotta-100x151.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2014\/07\/The-Leftovers-book-Tom-Perrotta.jpeg 252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/>It\u2019s a lot to absorb in its 72 minute running time, but I wouldn\u2019t expect anything less from co-executive producers Damon Lindelof (he of <em>Lost<\/em> and <em>Star Trek: Into Darkness<\/em> fame) and Tom Perotta. Perotta, the man behind the novel on which this series is based, is probably best-known for <em>Election<\/em>, and <em>Little Children<\/em> and is adept at revealing the subtle shadows and frayed edges that exist in an otherwise picturesque suburban scene. I\u2019m excited to see the paths that these storylines travel in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Leftovers<\/em> has a ten-episode first season lined up with HBO and airs Sunday nights at 10pm.<\/p>\n<p>[author title=&#8221;About the Author&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>[custom_headline type=&#8221;center&#8221; level=&#8221;h2&#8243; looks_like=&#8221;h3&#8243; accent=&#8221;true&#8221;]Recent Posts[\/custom_headline]<\/p>\n<p>[recent_posts count=&#8221;1&#8243; orientation=&#8221;horizontal&#8221;] [recent_posts count=&#8221;3&#8243; orientation=&#8221;horizontal&#8221; offset=&#8221;1&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NOTE: This review of episode one contains spoilers. October 14. What happened on that day, exactly? Well, it\u2019s three years later and the characters in HBO\u2019s new series The Leftovers sure as hell don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,176],"tags":[180,182,178,179,181,177],"class_list":{"0":"post-343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-television","8":"category-television-reviews","9":"tag-amy-brenneman","10":"tag-gary-busey","11":"tag-hbo","12":"tag-justin-theroux","13":"tag-kevin-garvey","14":"tag-the-leftovers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}