The first season of HBO’s The Leftovers was as mesmerizing as it was melancholic and maddening. Deeply unsettling and pervaded with an overwhelming sense of gloom, it was the feel-bad watch of last summer. And still left over (ha) at the conclusion of the first season were many unanswered questions about the show’s “Sudden Departure,” an event in which countless people around the world inexplicably vanished into thin air without a trace, leaving the rest of civilization to reel and wonder.
Seeing as season 1 exhausted all the material from author Tom Perrotta’s novel, the sophomore season of The Leftovers will see some major shakeups, including a location change and a host of new characters.
Today, HBO has unveiled a new synopsis for the season, as well as our first images of the returning cast (above), giving us a better idea of what to expect:
After last season’s elaborate Memorial Day initiative by the Guilty Remnant plunged Mapleton into chaos, season two of THE LEFTOVERS finds many searching for a fresh start. Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) has retired from his post as chief of police of Mapleton and is moving his new family to Texas. With him is Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), who’s discovered new purpose in caring for the baby she found on Kevin’s doorstep and welcomes leaving behind Mapleton and the incredible tragedy she suffered there. Equally eager to leave the town she grew up in and the friends she made there is Kevin’s daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley).
Upon their arrival in Jarden, Texas, the newly formed Garvey family meet their neighbors, the Murphys: John (Kevin Carroll) and Erika (Regina King) and their teenage twins, Evie (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Michael (Jovan Adepo). Attracted to this special town and hoping for miracles for his whole family, Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) has moved with his wife, Mary (Janel Moloney), who still suffers from consequences of the terrible car accident on October 14.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s ex-wife, Laurie Garvey (Amy Brenneman), has left the Guilty Remnant and reunited with her son, Tom (Chris Zylka), who may have finally discovered a cause to help replace the pain in his heart. And while Meg (Liv Tyler) remains in the Guilty Remnant, it may not be the same cult she originally joined.
The Leftovers has been announced to return October 4, on HBO.
