When The Leftovers returns to HBO this fall, it will be a drastically different show than the one that aired last summer. Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta used up all the source material in the series’ freshman run, and so the pair have been forced to give the show a soft reboot, dropping some major characters and moving the setting out of Mapleton, New York, all the way down to Jarden, Texas.
The new teaser for the series, perhaps appropriately given how different the sophomore season is expected to be, doesn’t feature any familiar faces but instead shows a long line of cars stretching across the desert, all lined up in hopes of migrating to Jarden. Soon, you realize why.
Now, Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston, Amy Brenneman, Chris Zylka, Margaret Qualley, Ann Dowd and Liv Tyler are all back for more post-apocalyptic misery and mystery, but season 1 regulars like Michael Gaston, Annie Q., Max and Charlie Carver, Amanda Warren and Emily Meade have all been excised, with the slim chance that some could return as guest stars. To pick up the slack, The Leftovers will introduce a new African-American family affected by the same Sudden Departure that saw 2% of the world’s population vanish into thin air.
The first season of the series was maddening but certainly masterful in its execution, and if Lindelof and Perrotta can follow through on beginning to answer some of the many questions begged in the largely enigmatic first season, The Leftovers could be mandatory viewing this fall.
Interestingly, there will be a time-jump for the new season as well as a location switch. The new synopsis reads as follows:
More than three years ago, 2% of the world’s population inexplicably vanished. 140 million people, gone in an instant. No country, no state, no city was spared, except for one small town in eastern Texas. Population: 9261. Departures: Zero.
The Leftovers is back this fall, only on HBO.
Published: Jun 12, 2015 02:42 pm