Although the series certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, I'm one of those people who has been absolutely crazy about The Leftovers from day one. For those of you who aren't aware, the HBO series takes place several years after the inexplicable, simultaneous disappearance of 140 million people, 2% of the world's population, in an event referred to as the Sudden Departure. Each season of the show has switched up its central location and the upcoming season will be no different as it will see Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) heading down to Australia. Although it's a little sad that The Leftovers is ending so soon (it's never been a big ratings draw) I'm grateful that creators Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta have been able to wrap it up on their own terms.
A brand-new trailer for the third and final season of The Leftovers has been released, and it teases some damn-near Biblical events as the end of the world approaches.
Those of you hoping for definitive answers during these final eight-episodes should probably keep those expectations in check, as The Leftovers has never been that type of show. Damon Lindelof has assured fans that it will all be leading up to something conclusive, even if it will be doing so by playing with the series' own set of rules.
Though there are some big crazy ideas in the third-and-final season, we wanted to feel like we were building toward something conclusive. I wanted to take full advantage of the fact that when the audience watches the first episode of season 3 that they know it’s the beginning of the end. You don’t want to feel like an epilogue, but a climax.
We’re constantly trying to modulate and fulfill the promises we’ve made. And it’s not enough to say that all we care about is the characters and not the mythology. But I do think with The Leftovers the word ‘mythology’ doesn’t necessarily apply the way it does to Lost or Westworld or Stranger Things or True Detective. Those shows have clearly defined mythologies. We don’t want to frustrate the audience but The Leftovers plays by its own set of rules and will continue to do so.
The Leftovers' third and final season returns to HBO on April 16, 2017.