I know this will sound dramatic, but I will never watch another show from Damon Lindehoff or whatever his name is. After getting all caught up in Lost, fascinated by every twist, turn and event, only to find myself enjoying the finale, yet later on feeling completely scammed, I was on guard against this guy. So here comes the Leftovers. My cousin started raving about this show on Facebook. He's a pharmacist, and typically has very good taste, so I trusted his judgment and I started watching. I promised myself that as long as this guy plays by the rules he sets, and there is SOME degree of cohesion, I'll stay with it. I watched season one and enjoyed it quite a bit. So then I started up season 2 and my BS meter began alerting me. So I messaged my cousin and explained that I wasn't going to invest HOURS of my time in the remaining season and a half of a show unless this thing has some sort of resolution. When he didn't really put my fears at ease, I knew I was going to bail.
Here's my issue with this guy: He comes up with an interesting premise and finds very talented actors. Then he just starts coming up with WHATEVER sounds cool. Want to give this guy force-like abilities? Let's do it .That's awesome. Should we make these three people just vanish out of thin air? Hell YES! What about this dude over here? What should we do with him...I know...we'll make him JESUS! SCORE! Basically just adding a bunch of cool stuff that sounds amazing into the show...sounds great, right? Her'es the rub: He knows DAMN WELL he's never going to explain a LICK of it. Not ever. Just like with Lost, he'll say "it's all about how the characters relate to each other...don't try to figure out the strange sounds in the forest...or this mysterious timer clock that you have to keep resetting...just let it goooooooo...what REALLY matters is the CHARACTERS and how they DEAL with all this stuff.
I'm sorry, but to me that's complete nonsense. A talented creator would be able to make the show about those relationships without having to incorporate fantastical, supernatural events and abilities in vain. All this being said, I'm seriously not trying to discourage any of you from watching it lol. It's very well acted, the cinematography is fantastic, and yes, it's interesting. If that's good enough for you, I say this is the show for you. I can only speak for myself and say that I'm not going to invest another minute in anything this guy does.