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The Leftovers; Bad Education review – it’s baffling, bewildering, but has a strange beauty The Leftovers; Bad Education review – it’s baffling, bewildering, but has a strange beauty
(about 2 months later)
A baby disappears from the back seat of a car, as does the daddy of a little boy, and the driver of another car that immediately crashes (it’s not one of those Google ones, sadly). A kind of rapture, the Sudden Departure, is happening: people are vanishing, everywhere, even famous ones – J-Lo, the Pope, Salman Rushdie; some may be missed more than others. Two percent of the world’s population, gone.A baby disappears from the back seat of a car, as does the daddy of a little boy, and the driver of another car that immediately crashes (it’s not one of those Google ones, sadly). A kind of rapture, the Sudden Departure, is happening: people are vanishing, everywhere, even famous ones – J-Lo, the Pope, Salman Rushdie; some may be missed more than others. Two percent of the world’s population, gone.
The Leftovers(Sky Atlantic) is not about what to do with yesterday’s mash, then. This glamorous, disturbing new 10-part HBO import is about the aftermath of the Sudden Departure, and the 98% who have been left behind, specifically in one New York town. So 98% is leftovers? That’s some serious over-catering … Perhaps they should have changed the title for a British audience. Anyway, at the heart of the drama is the Garvey family. None of them have disappeared, but it seems like a part of all of them is missing. Dad Kevin (Justin Theroux, Mr Aniston, cousin and nephew of other Therou ... what is the plural of Theroux?) is a troubled cop, struggling both to keep the peace and with inner turmoils and nightmares. Wife Laurie has left to join a mysterious cult called the Guilty Remnant who wear white, don’t speak and smoke cigarettes constantly and furiously – some kind of trappist cancer clan maybe, their motives are as yet unclear. (Perhaps Guilty Remnant refers to their collective fag butts). Son Tom has also gone – not gone gone, but gone to follow a messiah-figure called Holy Wayne (Wayne!). And daughter Jill is still around but often elsewhere, both physically and mentally. The Leftovers (Sky Atlantic) is not about what to do with yesterday’s mash, then. This glamorous, disturbing new 10-part HBO import is about the aftermath of the Sudden Departure, and the 98% who have been left behind, specifically in one New York town. So 98% is leftovers? That’s some serious over-catering … Perhaps they should have changed the title for a British audience. Anyway, at the heart of the drama is the Garvey family. None of them have disappeared, but it seems like a part of all of them is missing. Dad Kevin (Justin Theroux, Mr Aniston, cousin and nephew of other Therou ... what is the plural of Theroux?) is a troubled cop, struggling both to keep the peace and with inner turmoils and nightmares. Wife Laurie has left to join a mysterious cult called the Guilty Remnant who wear white, don’t speak and smoke cigarettes constantly and furiously – some kind of trappist cancer clan maybe, their motives are as yet unclear. (Perhaps Guilty Remnant refers to their collective fag butts). Son Tom has also gone – not gone gone, but gone to follow a messiah-figure called Holy Wayne (Wayne!). And daughter Jill is still around but often elsewhere, both physically and mentally.
The teenagers in Mapleton behave like any other teenagers any time (having as much sex and taking as many drugs as they possibly can), but in a more desperate, anarchic, post-apocalyptic fashion. Their version of spin-the-bottle is especially brutal and extreme. Hell, he’s not dead is he, the boy who jerked off as Jill choked him? And what about Tom, screaming silently at the bottom of Wayne’s swimming pool?The teenagers in Mapleton behave like any other teenagers any time (having as much sex and taking as many drugs as they possibly can), but in a more desperate, anarchic, post-apocalyptic fashion. Their version of spin-the-bottle is especially brutal and extreme. Hell, he’s not dead is he, the boy who jerked off as Jill choked him? And what about Tom, screaming silently at the bottom of Wayne’s swimming pool?
Got it? Of course you have. There’s more though, way more. The dogs, for starters, which are running feral since the Sudden Departure. And a stag, that appears, then disappears, then reappears, before being torn apart by the dogs. And the man in the pick-up truck, who shoots the dogs. And who’s this Meg (Liv Tyler), on the verge of getting married – though apparently having second thoughts – and now joining the GR puffers too? And Nora at the heroes rally, who has lost her husband, and both her children? What are the chances of that? Is it 0.02 x 0.02 x 0.02? Or one in 125,000? Whatever, she’s very unlucky. Unless of course, luck doesn’t come into it, and the disappeared are chosen …Got it? Of course you have. There’s more though, way more. The dogs, for starters, which are running feral since the Sudden Departure. And a stag, that appears, then disappears, then reappears, before being torn apart by the dogs. And the man in the pick-up truck, who shoots the dogs. And who’s this Meg (Liv Tyler), on the verge of getting married – though apparently having second thoughts – and now joining the GR puffers too? And Nora at the heroes rally, who has lost her husband, and both her children? What are the chances of that? Is it 0.02 x 0.02 x 0.02? Or one in 125,000? Whatever, she’s very unlucky. Unless of course, luck doesn’t come into it, and the disappeared are chosen …
Whatever, it’s utterly bewildering. No answers, all questions – so many questions – in this pilot. Not least: what does it all mean? Is it the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, forwarded to smalltown America, with added post-9/11 anxieties? There are echoes of Lost (it was written by Lost creator Damon Lindelof, along with Tom Perrota who wrote the novel on which it’s based). At least, being based on a book, it hopefully knows where it’s going and won’t, like Lost, get lost. I was also reminded of French drama The Returned – not just a supernatural thriller, but a study of loss and grief. Stags too.Whatever, it’s utterly bewildering. No answers, all questions – so many questions – in this pilot. Not least: what does it all mean? Is it the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, forwarded to smalltown America, with added post-9/11 anxieties? There are echoes of Lost (it was written by Lost creator Damon Lindelof, along with Tom Perrota who wrote the novel on which it’s based). At least, being based on a book, it hopefully knows where it’s going and won’t, like Lost, get lost. I was also reminded of French drama The Returned – not just a supernatural thriller, but a study of loss and grief. Stags too.
Yes, The Leftovers is baffling. And possibly – probably, knowing Lindelof – there won’t be answers to all the questions. It is also relentlessly bleak, there are an awful lot of characters, and it takes itself very seriously. There is a beauty about it too, though. Plus promise – that if you put the effort in you will be rewarded, with a drama that is more about people after a catastrophic event, than the event – whatever the hell it is – itself. I’m not quite, at this stage, committing 10 hours of my life to it. I will, however, return.Yes, The Leftovers is baffling. And possibly – probably, knowing Lindelof – there won’t be answers to all the questions. It is also relentlessly bleak, there are an awful lot of characters, and it takes itself very seriously. There is a beauty about it too, though. Plus promise – that if you put the effort in you will be rewarded, with a drama that is more about people after a catastrophic event, than the event – whatever the hell it is – itself. I’m not quite, at this stage, committing 10 hours of my life to it. I will, however, return.
After which Bad Education (BBC3), back for a new term, is welcome relief. Welcome, light-hearted, puerile, peculiarly British relief. Abbey Grove has a new deputy who, worse luck for Jack Whitehall’s character Alfie, turns out to be his dad (Harry Enfield). Or, put another way – headteacher Fraser’s way – there’s a new banterlope at the watering hole. Fraser (Mathew Horne), incidentally, has started a new clothing range, Dolce and GoBanter.After which Bad Education (BBC3), back for a new term, is welcome relief. Welcome, light-hearted, puerile, peculiarly British relief. Abbey Grove has a new deputy who, worse luck for Jack Whitehall’s character Alfie, turns out to be his dad (Harry Enfield). Or, put another way – headteacher Fraser’s way – there’s a new banterlope at the watering hole. Fraser (Mathew Horne), incidentally, has started a new clothing range, Dolce and GoBanter.
Someone needs to go, to save money. There are interviews. Not Fraser, says Fraser. He is a “succeedophile … a massive unrepentant succeedophile and you better put me on the goddam register sister, cos I will reoffend … at succeeding.”Someone needs to go, to save money. There are interviews. Not Fraser, says Fraser. He is a “succeedophile … a massive unrepentant succeedophile and you better put me on the goddam register sister, cos I will reoffend … at succeeding.”
Not Alfie either, says Alfie, who insists he’s not feckless: “I’ve got loads of feck, I’m a fecking motherfecker so why don’t you three just back the feck off …” I know, very much the same kind of idea as the succeedaphile one. And very silly. But still funny.Not Alfie either, says Alfie, who insists he’s not feckless: “I’ve got loads of feck, I’m a fecking motherfecker so why don’t you three just back the feck off …” I know, very much the same kind of idea as the succeedaphile one. And very silly. But still funny.