Apart from a few moments, “The Leftovers” is not a brutal series per se, and yet it hits your stomach: Rarely has the psychological pain of people, who all mourn and suffer in their own way, been so excellently portrayed, so truly captured as here . Although a big mystery heralds the series and Damon Lindelof, one of the authors of “Lost”, is responsible for everything, “The Leftovers” is not a mystery series. It’s not about finding out where people once disappeared to. It’s about showing how fragile the human mind is, how burdened with enough trauma even the most stable souls eventually break – and about the question: When everything in you has died, what will become of your own humanity?
You don’t watch this series while relaxing on the sofa, and those who suffer from sad and depressed moods themselves should stay away from “The Leftovers”. But all legitimate trigger warnings aside: This is one of the best series of all time. A pessimistic, gripping and perfectly ingenious portrayal of primordial human behavior. Rarely has a series put us on the couch like this, judged us, presented us with uncomfortable truths. And all of this supported by fantastic acting performances, captivating plots and numerous surprises. To give you an idea of how cleverly the series plays with our expectations, a small spoiler: The second season has nothing to do with the plot of season 1 at the beginning, but shows the life of Erika Murphy (Regina King) and her family in the small town of Miracle – the only place in the world where not a single resident went missing during the mysterious event.
Only later does the series merge this completely new, almost surreal, happy plot with the world of Garvey Jr. and his new girlfriend Nora (particularly sensational: Carrie Coon) – but how, shouldn’t be revealed just yet. If you want to know, you can subscribe to all 3 seasons and thus all 28 episodes of “The Leftovers” on RTL +.