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After the violent and tension-filled first episode of HBO's The Leftovers set the tone for the season, I certainly didn't expect to get sunshine and rainbows from "Penguin One, Us Zero" and it didn't disappoint in that regard. Show-runner Damon Lindelof's style has always been to feed the viewers bits and pieces of information that don't immediately add up to anything substantial so that the final reveals pack more of a punch when they do arrive and all the pieces make some semblance of sense. This certainly seems to be the case here. We do get some new background information from several main characters and begin to understand slightly more about two groups whose motivations are hard to grasp: the Guilty Remnant and Wayne's Compound. A [dim] light is also beginning to shine on Kevin Garvey's (Justin Theroux) past and present struggles as well as his very sanity.

In the sprawling suburban Guilt Remnant complex, this episode focuses on Meg's (Liv Tyler) initiation into the organization. Kevin Garvey's wife Laurie (Amy Brenneman) has the responsibility of showing Meg the ins and outs and trying to coax her into becoming a member herself. She does this by trying to get Meg to realize that things are out of control for her and that she needs to give up control in order to regain some emotional stability. First, she takes Meg out to the woods with an axe and has her try to chop down a tree. This results in tears and frustration which builds up later to the point of Meg almost wanting to leave and go back to her regular life. Later, Laurie sees that Meg needs to connect to things on a more emotional level and when Meg realizes that although Laurie may still have friends and family on the outside she has surrendered to the Guilty Remnant's way of life, it begins to dawn on her that this may be the only way to bury her intense feelings about the event and how it has affected her life afterward. Later in the episode it's revealed that Meg has left in the middle of the night and Laurie has a look of disappointment on her face. She shouldn't - Meg is out chopping down that tree.. it appears she may be ready to surrender herself and become a part of the Guilty Remnant.

Wayne's compound is raided by the FBI based on statutory rape charges from years ago - it looks like Wayne's weakness is young girls. Surely we'll learn more about this going forward but for now the story may be centered around Tom Garvey (Kevin's son) and Christine (the girl to whom Tom showed affection but looks to be in love with Wayne). After Wayne escapes from the compound raid, he gives Christine over to Tom with instructions to keep her safe and then leaves. It looks like Tom has finally had enough of the path he has been on as he almost called his Dad on the phone and as soon as he and Christine were alone in the car he lets out a blood-curdling scream of desperation and rage just like he had in the compound's pool back in the first episode. Yikes. We'll either see him saved or he will become a force of destruction and misery in this series. Either way the build-up should be a good one as it unfolds.

Kevin Garvey's story gets more interesting by the minute, as it becomes more and more hard to tell for him (and to the viewer) what is real and what is not. Reality itself seems to be playing tricks on him and that is best shown in the scene where the Mayor is having a conversation with him at the police station and the bagels that he had just put into the toaster completely disappear. Fortunately for Kevin, this episode seems to be more about showing that the things he thought could be hallucinations (mostly because of doubt introduced by other characters) are real. Dean, the "mystery man" that we have seen previously, first parks his truck at Kevin's house and then actually shows up at his door. We might think that his is all just more flights of fancy from Kevin's overactive imagination, but Dean actual hands his daughter Jill a 6-pack of beer to take inside and she asks who the man at the door was afterward. Well, looks like he is definitely real.. unless it runs in the family (a real possibility). Kevin later opens up the toaster at the police station and discovers the bagels have fallen behind some sort of mechanism inside. We do meet Kevin's father in a mental institution earlier in the episode and he seems to be a very intelligent and well-spoken man.. at least until symptoms of schizophrenia seem to wander into the conversation. It's obviously going to be a focal point here.. is there something different about the Garveys? Or could it be just a history of mental illness in the family. Does any of this have to do with the reason why Wayne seems to have everyone figured out except for Tom? Surely there is more to the story here.

There is a little more levity here than in the first episode, which I certainly appreciate. We see some teenagers goofing off, bagels disappearing and then reappearing, and blow-up penguins. I think in order for this show to work on a week-to-week basis it needs to continue down this path and separate the seriously murky emotional overtones and physical violence with more penguins and jelly beans. Hats off, Damon - I'm still a little confused about where the Guilty Remnant is going but I will no doubt be tuning in for at least the next few weeks to find out. Also, the next episode appears to center around Christopher Eccleston's character, Matt, who is a preacher that has been handing out flyers suggesting that the people that disappeared were not in any way 'special'. I'm inclined to agree with you, Matt, especially when Gary Busey was among those taken. Although that might depend on your definition of 'special'.

Ahhhh... The Leftovers. It's funny, my previous show of choice on Sunday nights was Game of Thrones and although it is filled with as much or more vigor and violence, it simply can't match the gloomy atmosphere that surrounds Mapleton in a thick fog. In contrast to the previous two, this particular episode, "Two Boats and a Helicopter", is centered around one character - Reverend Matt Jamison (played by Christopher Eccleston). It actually allows us to take a deep breath from all of the goings-on and character development crammed into the first two episodes and follow just one set of footsteps.

Eccleston's portrayal of the Reverend is chilling - he seems to be trying so hard to do the right thing by his wife, by his congregation, by the town, etc but every time something good happens to him it is followed up by something much worse. Inexplicably bad, even. For example, in this episode he is told by the local bank that his church has been purchased by some kind of organization, but that he has a chance to buy it back if he can come up with the money in time. Sparked by some kind of revelation, Matt heads to the casino and turns $20,000 into $160,000. Nice roulette skills.

Unfortunately for him, his niceness and related inability to avoid confrontation get him into trouble. First, after leaving the casino with the money he needs in an envelope, someone who saw his winnings tries to steal it from him but ultimately ends up with his face bashed into the pavement. A surprising turn of events for Matt but he is prepared to do anything it takes at this point in order to preserve what little he still has.

Trusting in the pigeons, Matt? Just before he gets to the casino he sees (for the 3rd time) pigeons.. this time in a group of 3, sitting on top of a flashing red stoplight. He bets 3 times.. on red, at the same table that we earlier saw 2 pigeons on top of. I'm still struggling with the imagery here but it seems that Matt's relationship with Kevin's father (Kevin Garvey, Sr., played by Scott Glen) and the strange things that seem to be happening to both of them must be connected.

Anyway, The Leftovers puts on a happy face and it looks like there might just be a light at the end of the tunnel for at least one character when we get completely shut down. Surprise? Stopping to help one of the Guilty Remnant who were hit in the head with a rock from what appeared to be a group of teenagers driving past in a vehicle, Matt was hit in the head himself and wakes up in the hospital after a series of dreams (visions?) and flashbacks. He rushes to the bank to try and save his church, but when he gets there it is already closed. After speaking to Jim Lewis, whom he previously dealt with, he is informed that he was actually in the hospital for several days.. and the church has already been sold.

The organization that bought the church? Yep, the Guilty Remnant. And we see the powerful image of members of the group painting the stained glass windows stark white. And what about his wife, is she ok after Matt never returned home? Like so many things that have already happened in this series, any small semblance of joy or resolution that a character may try to latch onto is destroyed absolutely. Should we fear Reverend Matt Jamison now? I think so.. there is no telling what holy vengeance he may try to strike down upon the Guilty Remnant and others that get in his way now that he has lost almost everything that he held dear. At least he's got $160,000 and a really strange American accent. Good luck, Matt.

The Leftovers really puzzles me. I still can't figure out (along with everyone else, I'm sure) whether there is any sort-of of twist here (supernatural or otherwise), or if Lindelof and Co. are just winding us along this long road of miserable people and terrible circumstance. Either way, I can't stop watching this show because it keeps surprising me. Yeah, the surprises are mostly of a vicious and sadistic nature.. but hey, they say that art imitates life, right? I can easily see all of these events unfolding in modern-day reality after an event such as one that happens here. Maybe that's the whole point.

Anyway, "Gladys" takes us on a journey that centers around Patty and Laurie after the brutal murder of Gladys by stoning. The opening scene shows Patty nodding to Gladys in her office as if in silent agreement. We know that Gladys seemed to be higher up in the ranks of the Guilty Remnant but the whole order of things is very much left open to interpretation still. In my opinion, this opening scene is trying to make us believe that Gladys was ready for this and/or that Patty is actually behind the whole sequence of events that lead to Gladys's death. There just seems to be a general foreboding in the air and a heaviness to Gladys's nod. In addition, right before she was abducted from in front of the convenience store (they had gone to buy more cigarettes, it seems) Gladys took out a cigarette but hesitated in smoking it.. rapping it against her pad as if waiting for something. I'm not sure that I believe this to be the case, but we're still trying to piece together the motivations of these characters. The one thing that makes me think this could be a false path were Gladys's last words when she was near death in the woods. Spending your last moments begging for your life and breaking the vows of the Guilty Remnant are not the actions of someone who was fully aware of what was about to happen.

Patty takes Laurie out on an unannounced trip where they can be alone and have a private conversation. She allows Laurie to shower, dress in normal clothes, sleep in a comfortable bed, etc and even invites her to speak once more, over a french toast and scrambled egg breakfast. Ultimately, Laurie stays silent and seems to be praised by Patty for doing so. Patty says something memorable toward the end of their conversation, "Remember what you told me to do in the last session, before everything changed?".. this seems to allude to a previous relationship that these women had together. Perhaps Laurie was a therapist of some sort, or otherwise guiding or counseling Patty? Either way, it has something to do with 'Neil' and the doggybag that was delivered (presumably on his doorstep) filled with something (presumably feces?). Yikes. Basically, we learn that Patty may be even more nuts that we give her credit for. Looking forward to more on this.

Back in Mapleton, Kevin is once again faced with a personal crisis. Although we seem to learn that Dean is officially, in fact, a real person and not a figment of Kevin's imagination, the Chief's missing shirts send him into a tailspin at the end of the episode. Kevin actually physically threatens the employee at the laundromat and forces him to look more closely for his shirts. Wow, Kev.. looks like some anger management courses would be advisable. In the end, he does get his shirts back.. or are they actually his? I think we are to assume that they are his shirts. Every time it looks like the Chief may be crazy, he doubles back and reconfirms that he is not. We definitely need to learn more about his father and what happened to their whole family directly after the Sudden Departure. The way this show is going, maybe in The Leftovers Season 3?

We don't learn much, but come away with the same sinking feeling in our stomachs as in the previous episodes. Really.. this show is like eating a really delicious, but really spicy dish. Once you've started you have to see it through but not without some degree of pain and regret. I hope, as always, that in addition to the jarring moments that fill the first several episodes, we can advance the overall story arc a little more next week. 

Although I might not share their opinions exactly, quite a few of my friends and colleagues have balked a little at the way that The Leftovers has presented itself over the course of the season so far. Fortunately, the latest episode, "Guest", seems to buck that trend and show us a side of the HBO series that I've been waiting to see. Among the grief-laden population of Mapleton and the thick fog of violence and depression I've been most enjoying the moments of levity and real life that pop up when you least expect them to. Ok, ok - The Leftovers is not a comedy, at least not in the familiar sense, but it is noted that Tom Perotta's novel (that the series is based on) was originally penned more along those lines than what it eventually turned out to be. Personally, I think that a lot of that seems to be seeping into the drama now.. albeit between some particularly hard to watch scenes (e.g., Gladys's death by stoning) that tend to root themselves a bit more firmly in our minds as we watch the show.

Anyway, "Guest" continues the trend started by Damon Lindelof back in his Lost days of focusing episodes on only one character and thusly delving far deeper into the character's psyche and motivations than can be accomplished over the course of a normal program that takes turns with multiple characters being the focal point. So, Nora Durst.. we've known for some time now that she has lost almost her entire immediate family (those particular odds being one in 128,000 apparently) to the Sudden Departure, harbors feelings of terrible guilt and remorse, carries a revolver with her in her purse and has a brother - the Reverend Matt Jamison. This episode, though, dives headlong into her day-to-day life - specifically into what are probably the most important few days that she has had since the day when her family disappeared. Through her work, Nora is invited to a conference to be a representative of the Department of Sudden Departures and speak on a panel. She had done this the previous year as well but this time would end up much more chaotic and ultimately rewarding for her.

But before we get there, it would certainly be remiss not to mention what happened before Nora left for the conference (and apparently at least one time previous to that as well). We knew Nora was slightly off the beaten path but for her to hire people to shoot her in the chest while wearing a Kevlar vest - just to experience something close to peacefulness through death.. yeah, crazy. But so is everyone else in this world - just look at the game that the High School kids were playing in the first episode - Fuck, Burn or Choke? Really? Yeah so we as viewers do need to understand as has been pounded into our heads by the first several episodes, that this new world in the wake of the Sudden Departure is an awful one.

During the conference, Nora runs into all sorts of trials and tribulations. First, someone has taken her badge and we find out later that there is a woman who impersonated Nora Durst to make some kind of a statement.. conspiracy theories! Who would have though it? We definitely need more of this going forward in The Leftovers. Second, Nora meets a married guy who works for the company called Loved Ones (whose commercial we see at the beginning of the episode). A little alcohol, drugs and craziness later, Nora has actually had a good time.. and in the meantime we are treated to some of the best scenes that The Leftovers has ever shared with us onscreen. Thank God for martinis and drugs that are as yet unapproved by the FDA. 

The whole theme of this episode is change. Nora was really one of the people most affected by the Sudden Departure and she showed it. From the unchanged paper towel roll to the trips to the grocery store, Nora was attempting to live life as though nothing had changed when she absolutely knew that everything had. Internal conflict at its best. Because Nora didn't have her badge, she was given one that said 'Guest' instead. During the party scenes, everyone only knew her as 'Guest'.. and she loved it. Separating her own individual identity from the poor woman that had lost her entire family only really happened, though, when she ended up meeting with Holy Wayne. Through someone at the conference she was drawn to an apartment building in a bad part of town, asked to pay $1,000 and then admitted to see Wayne. Two things: Wow, Nora has no problem parting with her money, huh? Also, Wayne's super power is hugs. There are two theories here, I suppose.. either Wayne is the most empathetic character ever in a TV series since Deanna Troy on Star Trek or he has some sort of power that lets him take people's grief from them - supernatural or otherwise. 

Bottom line is that now Nora is bereft of her long-held feelings of depression and grief. The Leftovers makes sure that we know.. showing us scenes of the teacher that she was previously stalking (because she allegedly was having an affair with her husband) and grocery shopping for only herself and no longer for the people that have disappeared from her life. I have to say, this episode was my favorite of the season and I'm really hoping that the trajectory of the show continues. The fact that I can go from absolute horror at the beginning of one episode to a satisfied grin at the end of the next speaks volumes about the quality of this series. Can't wait for the next one!