S01.E01: Pilot

[Tara Ariano]

An adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel about life in a small town after many of its residents vanished in a Rapture-like event begins with the upcoming third anniversary of the "Departure" and a police chief's personal and professional struggles.

[Valny]

Definitely will be checking it out. It looks interesting/strange/bizarre/compeling....and headscratching knowing me. The trailer hooked me in though.
@Tara Ariano, has EHG done small segment on this? (I am slow on listening to all the podcasts I have,so I am not up to date with EHG right now)

[Charmqn]

The cast is pretty awesome too.

[SoWindsor]

Excited to see Liv Tyler. It's been awhile since I've seen her in anything.

[AimingforYoko]

I like the premise, because instead of a physical apocalypse, it's an emotional apocalypse. The whys or wherefores of the event aren't really that important.

As far as the Guilty Remnant goes, I'm down with the white clothes, I'm down with the vow of silence, I'm down with the simple food. But for some reason the smoking really annoys me. It seems like a quirk just to be a quirk.

I knew there was a connection between the chief and Amy Brenneman, but I didn't see her being the wife.

[bmoore4026]

Out of everything this episode, seeing the stag being ripped apart by the feral dogs is the thing that got to me.

 

"They're not our dogs.  Not anymore."

 

OK, show.  Ya got me and I am yours.  Make this good.

Edited June 30, 2014 by bmoore4026

[ellystar]

I'm not really sure what to think of this show. I might wait till it's all out and just watch it all at once.

 

For some reason, I really expected that stag at the end to start talking to the Chief.

[mjc570]

One thing I didn't understand - the Chief's wife is part of the GR, but none of her immediate family disappeared.  After all, her husband's the chief of police and their son and daughter are obviously alive.  SO why was she so affected that she abandonned her family?  I assume the show did it as a "shock," after leading people (like me) to think she disappeared, but I feel manipulated and confused.

[Arynm]

I thought that the GR were people that saw the people just disappear, and could not cope.Now I'm not sure. I guess the dogs are the ones that saw the people leave and they snapped. There was some stuff scrawling under the TV about strange disappearances, but I am not sure If I should be watching this like Lost, or if I should not make myself crazy, because, it's really nothing. The deer was very strange. I liked it and will watch, but I would rather not be jerked around for an entire season, unless it's worth it in the end.

[AuntiePam]

I'm confused about Lorie too.  I assume the kids know she's alive, which makes her leaving even worse than if she'd disappeared. 

 

Maybe the Guilty Remnants smoke because they're too namby-pamby for flagellation.  They chose a less painful way to hurt themselves. 

 

I'm definitely in.  Love the music choices and the pacing, and that except for Liv Tyler, the actors aren't too familiar.

[hannah8976]

Maybe the Guilty Remnants smoke because they're too namby-pamby for flagellation.  They chose a less painful way to hurt themselves

 

I think they might be quite literally be trying to waste their breath.

[Amelie06]

So are Kevin (aka Justin Theroux) and that mayor going to hate fuck each other or what?

 

Overall, I didn't really like it. I'm interested in the premise so I'll give it a chance, but this was tough for me. The way the story was presented felt a little pretentious.  I really don't care about the rebellious teen daughter and all her teen angst. Maybe I would have liked it better if it too place right after the disappearances. There seems to be two separate cults on this show. The Guilty Remnants are just a bunch of assholes. I instantly lost interest in Liv Tyler when she inexplicably decided to join the chain smoking crazies. The Chief is super hot and probably a drunk driver. Amy Brenneman is playing her usual annoying character. The cast is good, but the show is a bit dull.

[RedheadZombie]

I'm not sure what to think about the pilot.  I found myself disliking, if not hating, the majority of the cast.  I like the chief, his son, and kind of his daughter.

 

I figured out immediately that the chief's wife is alive.  I don't know what the white-wearing cult is all about, but they annoy the shit out of me.  I'm hoping the houses burn down from that excessive smoking, and I hope the chief's wife is the first to go.  There is absolutely no way I can feel what I'm supposed to feel about that cult when they are constantly smoking - for no other reason than to annoy.  Even worse, most of the actors handle cigarettes like non-smokers.

 

The teenagers are totally lost - choking, burning, and fucking each other at the spin of a phone.  I don't like Jill's slutty friend, and she seems to have her eye on the chief.  I can barely tolerate Jill, but I'm giving her another chance because she was humane to the dead dog.

 

I have an extremely low threshold of tolerance with injured animals.  I couldn't even handle the dog being shot, and it went drastically down hill.  When the chief first spotted the deer in the yard of the lady who didn't care about her dead dog, it looked half real/half fake.  After the chief started talking to the deer at the end, I thought he'd seriously lost his grip on reality.  Had he previously ran over the deer and dreamed about it later, or is he having some sort of premonition?  And if there are raging packs of feral dogs running around the town, how come the only guy who notices is the bald guy with the license plate- less truck?

 

Didn't like the mayor.  For a small town politician, she said "fuck" at least three times in the first episode.  She also ignored the chief's request to not hold their stupid rally. 

 

I don't understand Liv Tyler's character, but I don't really care.  She did her typical - look miserable and talk in a whiny little girl voice.  I hope she's the second to die in the house fire.  I don't know why she so disliked her David Beckham looking fiancé.

 

The Duke of Norfolk looks to be a nut job, but I've really liked him in other roles.  Is he really the only person in town who's figured out the people weren't taken for being good?

 

The prophet black guy is too stereotypical of a cult leader, replete with young girls in bikinis.  I have absolutely no interest in the gummy worm eating girl, and I don't get her role in that cult.  Are they sexing up everyone or just the cult leader?

 

I like the chief's son Tom.  Other than obsessing over bikini girl, he was very likeable.  And I actually surprised myself by tearing up at the scene where he has to go underwater and scream so no one will hear.  Were those whip marks on his back?  I also like the chief.  I'm not really familiar with most of JT's work, but I always like tormented and troubled men.  He's clearly got a drinking problem, he's also not really clear when he's dreaming or in reality.  He doesn't seem to know what his son's wrapped up in.  Hopefully he gets a chance to tell his wife how his children are suffering while she devotes herself to obsessive smoking - I mean come on, they sleep holding cigarettes and matches in their hands.  I'm guessing that's something that worked in the book, but doesn't translate to TV.

Edited June 30, 2014 by RedheadZombie

[SallyAlbright]

Weird, creepy and confusing pilot...but I think I liked it. Justin Theroux's hotness was certainly helpful, but I also thought he was very good acting-wise. I definitely bought his torment and frustration throughout the hour. The GR people are incredibly creepy and frustrating (I just kept yelling at them to SAY SOMETHING) and I'm not sure I understand the reason for the smoking, but the reveal that Laurie is his wife made me a bit more emotionally invested in the show. I will probably have to rewatch to really get all of it, but I'll tune in next week. 

[DB in CMH]

That really felt like Flashforward.... a show that I dropped out of after 2 episodes. The Leftovers will leave me after one. It's hard doing a high concept show like this, but what ultimately bored me (like with Flashforward) was the layering of one mystery on top of another before we care about any of the characters. IMHO, Lost was so successful because it got us to care about the characters while it slowly introduced the mysteries.

[Fisher King]

I liked it and will watch, but I would rather not be jerked around for an entire season, unless it's worth it in the end.

 

Same here. I usually never try to judge a season by the pilot episode but this left me feeling less than enthused. Of course I'll keep watching.

 

I did like the music very much.

 

And it's always good to see Liv Tyler.

Justin Theroux just gets better looking with age. First he gets his heart broken by Brenda Chenowith then tries to rescue a lost dog only to have it gunned down in his face, then we discover his kids could wind up like Mickey and Mallory Knox , then to top it off, we see that he's lost his wife to a cult of chain-smoking mimes.

Then he has to leave his job at the end of the day and go home to Jennifer Aniston. Poor guy.

 

 

[TV Anonymous]

I am not sure if I will be back next week. This episode is too surrealistic for me. While TPTB maybe want to unreveal the why people are behaving that way slowly, for me it is too confusing and do not see the point of what is going on.

[seamusk]

So, I enjoyed the episode until the dogs at the end.  Not because they were rabid but because I felt that their lives were instantly devalued.  If people are traumatized, people make an effort to reform them or at least provide therapy.  If dogs are traumatized, no such attempt is made. Writers write stupid things like "they are not our dogs anymore" and then have them murdered.  That left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

So I'm not sure what to think.  I'm not one that expects shows to expose their mysteries, but I disliked that they presented the chief's wife as someone who probably disappeared and it turned out she was fine but a bit swallowed up by a cult.  It just felt silly, rather than insightful or interesting as a mystery gimmick.

 

I will say this about that cult, for what it is worth, but I'm immediately suspicious about an organization whose premise is that the members cannot talk.  It stinks of bad evil cult.  If people talk they ask questions. I automatically suspect that the "management" of the cult don't want members asking questions.

 

And so, yeah, I really get that a bunch of people disappeared at once.  And I also liked the character perspective of it with the tormented chief.  I even get and like the story around his troubled (but not in a Haven way) daughter.  I'm withholding judgement on his son until I understand more about cult 2.0.  Btw, just exactly how many cults did the people in this town join?

 

And with that, i'll give it a shot next week, but i'm not as excited about this pilot as I thought i'd be.  Probably the dog thing really suppressed my enthusiasm.

[Greta]

Maybe I was subconsciously spoiled at some point, although I don't recall reading much about this show, but I thought it was completely obvious that the chief's wife was the, well, chief perspective inside the White Wackadoodles.

 

Shrug, the feral dogs being shot didn't bother me at all, although I cringed over the poor (non-feral) dogs shot in the Warren Jeffs' Lifetime movie. 

[MarquisDeCarabas]

I like the premise, because instead of a physical apocalypse, it's an emotional apocalypse. The whys or wherefores of the event aren't really that important.

Yeah for me it's the exact opposite.  Once i found out we're not going to get any answers about the event i immediately checked out.

 

I get he wants to talk about the after effects but to me to set up a giant mystery and not deal at all into solving it, is to me a fundamental failure of storytelling.

 

All the background stuff on the news is talking about why did it happen and what it's not, and if they are going to ask the questions and not answer then it's annoying.

 

Compare to the Walking Dead.  They pretty much never asked the question of how did it happen or why. It just is.  (Granted the audience has enough background reference for Zombies that question doesn't really need to be asked.

 

Sadly my gf seems to be obsessed with the show so we'll probably check out a few more eps.

 

But based on tonight and the reviews i've seen even the positive ones. this was not the show for me.

[lawless]

I will watch another episode, but I'm not sure yet if I'll go the whole dIstance with the show. It was well done, in contrast to a lot of other summer shows I' started (Last Ship, I mean you), in that the writing was pretty good (though there's no way the mayor would have unleashed three fucks at a big meeting like that. I say that as someone who lets that word fly amongst my trusted colleagues all the time. But you understand the boundaries, especially politicians. Small thing, but it rang false and took me out of the moment. Otherwise, it was intriguing, though frustrating. Especially the cults -- I suppose I understand why the Chief's son was attracted to it, but come on kid, it's clearly just a cult and it's clearly going to end badly. Sigh. Well, he's young. It pisses me off though, because you feel extra bad for the Chief. Who is hot -- sorry JT, I wasn't familiar with him before and never knew.

Also, believe it or not I didn't find it quite as bleak as I thought it would be based upon my interpretation of the previews. Can't believe I was relieved that the "choke" spin was that sad exploitative ex scene but I thought it would involve more violence, and that the burial scene would be of a partygoer rather than the kids paying their respects to the dog. Thank god for that.

[loki567]

If nothing else, Justin Theroux makes a much more compelling, barely-holding-it-together central character than Matthew Fox ever did. 

[Armchair Critic]

 I was a huge Lost fan from the very first show, but this didn't grab me.

[SJiles]

One thing I didn't understand - the Chief's wife is part of the GR, but none of her immediate family disappeared.  After all, her husband's the chief of police and their son and daughter are obviously alive.  SO why was she so affected that she abandonned her family?  I assume the show did it as a "shock," after leading people (like me) to think she disappeared, but I feel manipulated and confused.

Maybe she lost other family members and snapped.

Edited June 30, 2014 by SJiles

[thuganomics85]

I feel like maybe I would have liked this better if I read the book or something, because I spent the majority of this episode kind of confused.  It took me a while to warm up to any characters, and I kept getting confused over who knows who, and how many factions there are (I'm guessing there this silent cult, but I'm guessing this cult that Kevin's son was at is something different?)  Also, it was slow a lot of times, and yet I still didn't feel like I learned much.  I guess it's going to be one of those shows.

 

Justin Theroux was solid as the lead, loved seeing Buddy Garrett from Friday Night Lights as the Congressman, and I'm intrigued over the little we saw of Christopher Eccleston's character.  Both Kevin's daughter and son could be intriguing too, I guess.  And, of course, the first thing Michael Gaston does on a show is shoot a dog.  I don't think I have ever seen him not be somewhat bad on TV.

 

I'll give it a few more episodes, but I'm not fully sure what to make of it yet.

[canter]

I enjoyed it -- I'll be back next week. The surreal aspects were a bit much, though, and it looks like we're in for more of that next week, with the chief looking down to notice that he's on fire...?

The music strongly reminded me of the manipulatively stirring piano pieces from The Truman Show, and kept taking me out of the moment.

[steelyis]

The pilot was okay, good acting, good direction, but...

 

I'm sure I would be devastated if I lost a loved ones like that, but three years seems like more than enough time to process what happened and move on, even if no one really understands why it happened. Instead, almost all the characters are acting really raw about it, like the "rapture" happened last week. It would have been interesting to see characters who managed to get their act together instead of focusing on a bunch of whiny, self-indulgent woe-is-me types.

 

I dunno, I guess I'm not entertained by unrelenting misery.

 

I will watch a couple more episodes because I want to see how things work on a larger scale in a post "rapture" world. I would love to see how it effected the economy and education. Better yet, I want to see the other side of the tragedy. Surely there have to be people who think what happened was a good thing.

 

One thing still confuses me. Why did the future lung cancer patients of America think it was a good idea to hold a demonstration at the memorial? Why do they even care? Aren't they basically nihilists? Whatever, I would have beaten the crap out of them too.

Edited June 30, 2014 by steelyis

[GaT]

The only thing I can think of is "WTF did I just watch?". It's only the first episode so I'll give it another chance next week, but this show has a shit ton of stuff to explain, & if some of it doesn't get explained next week, I'm out. I'm not getting dragged into another show that's all mysteries & no explanations (yeah, I'm looking at you Lost), they better tell me at least some of what's going on.

[shapeshifter]

...good acting, good direction, but...

 ...I guess I'm not entertained by unrelenting misery....

Exactly.

I wonder if the second episode might include a few notes of comic relief. Even Lost had Hurley and Sawyer banter.

I agree that the lead male is both hot and a believable actor, but that just makes it harder to believe that both his wife and the other guy's wife would join a smoking cult rather than be with their hot, caring, supportive husbands/fiancés.

As for the use of the F word by everybody including the mayor, I can accept that it is a symbol of how the left behinders don't give an f--- about pretty much anything anymore. The smoking is the same. I just don't think I want to stick around to find out what other abuse the crazy cult leader delivered to the chief's son along with whipping.

[marieYOTZ]

Regarding the dogs, it seemed to me like ole Dudley was having some internal conflict about leaving the feral life and returning to the world... I really think Chief could have reached him.

[LittleGreyCells]

Is it just me or did it seem like everyone was wearing really orange makeup? During the first scene when Amy Brenneman woke up I thought maybe one of the things the cult did was use self-tanning cream. But the cop and his son were both orange too. Maybe I'm crazy but it bugged me throughout the show.

[Tara Ariano]

@Valny: we'll probably be talking about it a bit in this week's big EHG.

 

Here are Mark and Left Behind star "Nicolas Cage" discussing ranking the characters after the pilot!

[Shermie]

Is it just me or did it seem like everyone was wearing really orange makeup?

 

They didn't look orange to me; maybe it was your TV.

 

Justin Theroux just gets better looking with age. First he gets his heart broken by Brenda Chenowith then tries to rescue a lost dog only to have it gunned down in his face, then we discover his kids could wind up like Mickey and Mallory Knox , then to top it off, we see that he's lost his wife to a cult of chain-smoking mimes.

Then he has to leave his job at the end of the day and go home to Jennifer Aniston. Poor guy.

 

I think going home to Jennifer Aniston is reward, not punishment.

 

I both liked and disliked it. It seemed like there was way too much angst and misery - three years later - than necessary. Not to mention the weirdness. I have seen families endure unspeakable tragedy, many with a "why did this happen?" and while none were unexplainable, there was still great sadness and mystery. And yet, they move on, especially three years later.

 

The cults seemed silly; what is the point of the GRs? And maybe I missed it in the show, but I didn't know what GR stood for until I read it here. Like others, the smoking pisses me off (and I'm waiting for the anti-smoking lobby to take this show to task). What purpose is served dressing in white, not speaking, chain smoking and creeper staring at non cult members? What do they want, what are they trying to accomplish? I hope answers come quickly and these mysteries are not dragged out.

 

The other cult with the magical black man in charge - he can grant wishes or something? - is just more nonsense. I suppose most people in the town have moved on as best they could - even the tragic woman who lost her husband and two children didn't join a cult to cope - so I supposed the existence of these cults would be a normal thing.

 

Hated the teen party, ugh. Just had to get some gratuitous nudity, sex and other weird (and supposedly common) teen games, like choking.  Again, it's been three years.

 

How many people were in the town - did they say 4000 or 40,000 at some point? So it was either 80 or 800 people who disappeared. I'm assuming 4000, since that's a pretty small turnout for the parade/statue unveiling for a town of 40,000.

 

I liked that the writer(s) turned the "dog always survives" trope on its head by having a dog be the first kill. I don't understand why dogs would be allowed to run wild in feral packs when 98% of the town is still there. 

 

I also thought the "celebs who disappeared" montage was hilarious and realistic, because of course celebs are more important than everyone else. I'm trying to remember who they all mentioned - Gary Busey, J.Lo, the Pope and ...? I wonder how they feel being randomly chosen like that.

 

I will watch again because I'm intrigued enough to give it a few more weeks. Is it a 10-week thing? Is it a one-time thing or will there be a second season if it's successful?

[hardy har]

Big giant A+ for the music.

 

Anyway, the ads/promos for this show did nothing for me, but True Blood is such an unrelenting disaster that I watched this as a palette cleanser. Maybe it's was a combination of low expectations, but I really liked the pilot and I'm in for the season. Plus, I thought all the actors were pretty great and it was fun seeing so many recognizable faces. I'm not expecting a bunch of answers right out of the gate, but Damon Lindelof's involvement kind of terrifies me . . . a lot. If the show doesn't start answering some stuff by the end of the season I'm gonna get really annoyed.

 

Did the chief hallucinate his jacked up kitchen? The place seemed fine when his daughter got home.

Edited June 30, 2014 by hardy har

[Jamoche]

Hated the teen party, ugh. Just had to get some gratuitous nudity, sex and other weird (and supposedly common) teen games, like choking.  Again, it's been three years.

That's the point where I bailed. Not just tedious, but it dragged on and on and on... we get it, they're dysfunctional and self-destructive, except for Main Character who of course is the only one to have any hint of misgivings over this. Are we doing TVTropes Bingo here?

 

(And apparently not only did Apple fail to ship iOS 8 or any other upgrades over the years - just check the buttons on the call-answer screen, there's no way they'd still be that curved after three more years of Jony Ive (unless he disappeared too) - but the App Store standards are seriously slipping if that app got through.)

[starri]

I really don't know what I thought about it.  The premise is intriguing, and I like most of the cast, but it didn't quite come together for me.  I've enjoyed a good apocalypse story from The Stand to Y: The Last Man, so this was up my alley, but I couldn't get there.

 

I'm perfectly fine with the idea that we'll never know what caused the 2% to disappear.  The hook of exploring the psychological landscape is great.  But I don't know if I can hack a world that's so bleak that doesn't have occasional zombie fights to break it up.  Maybe it's my failing as a viewer.

 

One thing I wasn't quite clear on:  from the like, half-second flashback, were we to understand that the Chief was fucking some woman not his wife who then disappeared?  I couldn't quite crack that.

[AuntiePam]

The thing that could keep some people from moving on is that they don't know why it happened, so it might happen again.  Talk about living under a dark cloud!

[shapeshifter]

Did the chief hallucinate his jacked up kitchen? The place seemed fine when his daughter got home.

The buck (deer) that he encountered twice (before it was devoured by dogs) evidentally did the damage. Did we actually see the not!damaged parts when she came home?

 

Regarding the dogs, it seemed to me like ole Dudley was having some internal conflict about leaving the feral life and returning to the world... I really think Chief could have reached him.

It did seem that way. But I was also waiting for it to bite his nose off.

Edited June 30, 2014 by shapeshifter

[stillshimpy]

I'm sure I would be devastated if I lost a loved ones like that, but three years seems like more than enough time to process what happened and move on, even if no one really understands why it happened. Instead, almost all the characters are acting really raw about it, like the "rapture" happened last week. It would have been interesting to see characters who managed to get their act together instead of focusing on a bunch of whiny, self-indulgent woe-is-me types.

 

I actually think this is one of the stronger elements of the show.  It doesn't even begin to pretend that people -- and society -- would get over what happened, because it wasn't The Rapture, it didn't line up with or resemble any of the alleged religious events that will have people bodily ascending and it's nothing like a pandemic or war.   The Spanish Flu wiped out millions -- more than World War I -- the civilian losses throughout Europe during and after World War II are truly mind-boggling, but with losses that large, that staggering, at least people knew what the fuck had happened.  

 

That mass disappearance is not like any loss ever.  There's no explanation.  Everything you thought you understood about life is just.fucking.wrong.  People can completely disappear.  Poof.  Like they never were.  Will it happen again?  Are they coming back?  Is that the thing you're supposed to hope for, or do you just try to get used to a world where the person you're talking to just might disappear.  Or you might.  Or everything you work for in life and everything you understood about existence...and not just you....humanity, all of it...no longer has validity or credence. 

 

That isn't "Hey, people adjust to a loss and continue to live, no matter what" that truly is "what the hell is the point here?  Don't get attached to anyone, they might actually disappear.  No, really and truly.  What happens next?  Gravity stops existing?"  Nothing a person would think they knew would be valid after something like that, because it defies everything known and has no explanation.  

 

So even if the Chief's wife didn't lose a damned soul that was close to her, they all lost their reality base.  It's like everyone had the same psychotic break.  At once and if they don't know why it happened, then who's to say the next "two percent go poof" isn't going to happen today, or in the next second.  

 

I think it would turn almost anyone into a near lemming.  "To the sea and the cliffs!"  and the only thing stopping the vast majority of people would be not even knowing if they'd die that way, because the rules of reality sometimes get suspended, as it turns out in the universe.  

 

I liked it a lot, but I particularly liked that they didn't even really pretend that most people wouldn't be suffering the biggest existential dilemma for the rest of ...ever.  

Edited June 30, 2014 by stillshimpy

[braziliangirl]

 

I'm sure I would be devastated if I lost a loved ones like that, but three years seems like more than enough time to process what happened and move on, even if no one really understands why it happened.

 I kind of disagree. I think early on people would be hopeful that things would normalize, people would be back or something like that. But three years after they are probably losing their hope (or lost already).

I liked it. I'm in for now.

[Enigma X]

I am with those who believe that three years is not long enough to get over something like this. I am not religious, but my whole reality would be rocked to the core (and I love sci-fi/fantasy and believe that life does exist beyond what we know...lol).

 

I am sure (I hope) that this show will be more complex and show people who do believe that three years is long enough, three years is not enough, that some believe it is the rapture or another spiritual event, that some believe that there are aliens inolved, and that some simply believe that there is no explanation. (There are so many other "realistic" choices that can be thrown in there.)

[Ariah]

That was strangely... not interesting.

I actually don't know what to say about it. I understand the overwhelming misery and resignation, but it's all not that captivating.

 

There are good actors, some nice directing choices, but the sum of all parts does not say: "watch the second episode".

Edited June 30, 2014 by Ariah

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm still baffled at how they explain that only 2% of the world's population disappeared on Oct. 14 -- in the opening scene, harried exhausted mom is within sight of 3 disappearances.  Sure it made for a surprise, but that would put her in the middle of a cluster of a supposedly random act and should get further study.  Same goes for Nora Durst -- the speaker at the statue unveiling, who had lost her husband and 2 kids. 

[shapeshifter]

General question:

Why "Leftovers"?

I keep thinking of unappealing food shoved to the back of the refrigerator.

I realize "Left Behind" has already been used, but how about: The Remaining? Or even Remainders?

[stillshimpy]

I think it actually makes sense in cities, where populations are going to be far denser, that 1 person could be witness to that many disappearances at once.  I live in an area where the lots are at least two acres, in a subdivision with only 100 houses.  Just thinking of three streets within my immediate area,  there are at least 100 people.  In an urban area, there would be more than 100 in a block.  Heck, in the grocery store where I live and the surrounding shops at least 200 people would be represented.  The woman who lost three people isn't really that unlikely either.  

 

When they ran through the numbers, Germany had something like a million people go poof, etc.  when it got to China?  It sounded like 25 million to me.  Population density would realistically impact the number of likely disappearances around a person.  

[KurlyGrl]

Well, I am not sure if I like this show, but I will give it another few weeks to see how things develop.  This does not seem to be an HBO show.  It’s not up to their standards, IMO.  I mean, think about Six Feet Under.  The Sopranos.  Carnivale.  The Wire.  Game of Thrones.  Oz. Big Love.  I can go on and on.  Where does this rank?

 

 

Anyway, quite a few things bothered/confused me.  I absolutely HATE the daughter’s friend Aimee.  Stereotypical “teenaged slut” who has the hots for best friend’s dad.  I don’t know why I never caught on to the fact that Tom and Jill are siblings.  How/why did the cult know to target Liv Tyler’s character?  They were all passing around portfolios about various people at their meeting and she was one of them.  Why? What was the purpose of their constant stake-out of Liv’s character? Clearly Liv (I guess I should call her Meg) has issues, but how do they know that?  The character of the female Mayor was poorly acted and unbelievable to me.  What on earth was that statue supposed to represent?  And a parade??  To remember the disappearances?  Really?  What’s up with Wayne, the black dude who has his own cult of some sort with all of the bikini clad young girls around?  When the governor, or whoever he was, went to see Wayne, I first thought Wayne was blind.  That would have finished it for me.  A blind prophet.  Okey Dokey, then.  

 

 

I did feel bad for Tom.  When asked why he was not in college, or something like that, he flashed back to the 2 kids jumping off the roof to kill themselves.  Said he saw no point in continuing.  The wife who lost her entire family was very moving.  How she wished that they were all 4 of them sick in bed together again.  And the Chief asking he wife to just come home was so moving to me. 

 

 

There’s just so much more I could critique, but I will reserve judgment until a few more episodes have passed.   And did anyone watch the ending previews to see what’s coming up next?  Why did it have to be so long?  If you have to show that many “what happens next” snippets, well, there is something wrong with the show if it needs that much explaining.

[stillshimpy]

Anyway, quite a few things bothered/confused me.  I absolutely HATE the daughter’s friend Aimee.  Stereotypical “teenaged slut” who has the hots for best friend’s dad.

 

A-friggin'-men to that one, only I wouldn't say I hated her, as much as she -- out of everyone -- read the least like a real person, and I'm including the standard-issue overly-pretty-boy the daughter liked.  Aimee read as more of a two-dimensional stock-footage, central-casting cliche, right down to the "seriously, the Chief is just going to fall for this incredibly see-through 'her parents are totally going to be there' act?  He's a cop for the love of all things cliched.  A goat has more sense than that."   Yup, even the pretty-boy with almost no lines seemed closer to being a real person.  

 

Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, but I think the actor must have watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, with a marathon of Cheech and Chong then followed it up with way too many Skinemax After Dark soft-core porn for her acting choices.  She's a lovely young woman, don't get me wrong, but not only was her characterization truly awful, ,her acting was...(I will be kind) ...in desperate need of a very talented acting coach and possibly divine intervention.  That girl's performance stole the Worst in Show trophy from the mayor, no doubt.  

 

I think Liv Tyler was supposed to be playing someone who had also witnessed a disappearance and they were targeting her because she was trying to still do the normal stuff of life, like a form of denial, like planning her wedding.  

 

I think Wayne is supposed to be like the Branch Davidians, casting Wayne in the David Koresh role. 

[KurlyGrl]

 

 

Anyway, quite a few things bothered/confused me.  I absolutely HATE the daughter’s friend Aimee.  Stereotypical “teenaged slut” who has the hots for best friend’s dad.

 

A-friggin'-men to that one, only I wouldn't say I hated her, as much as she -- out of everyone -- read the least like a real person, and I'm including the standard-issue overly-pretty-boy the daughter liked.  Aimee read as more of a two-dimensional stock-footage, central-casting cliche, right down to the "seriously, the Chief is just going to fall for this incredibly see-through 'her parents are totally going to be there' act?  He's a cop for the love of all things cliched.  A goat has more sense than that."   Yup, even the pretty-boy with almost no lines seemed closer to being a real person. 

Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, but I think the actor must have watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, with a marathon of Cheech and Chong then followed it up with way too many Skinemax After Dark soft-core porn for her acting choices.  She's a lovely young woman, don't get me wrong, but not only was her characterization truly awful, ,her acting was...(I will be kind) ...in desperate need of a very talented acting coach and possibly divine intervention.  That girl's performance stole the Worst in Show trophy from the mayor, no doubt. 

I think Liv Tyler was supposed to be playing someone who had also witnessed a disappearance and they were targeting her because she was trying to still do the normal stuff of life, like a form of denial, like planning her wedding. 

I think Wayne is supposed to be like the Branch Davidians, casting Wayne in the David Koresh role.

 

 

If they want to portray a teenaged girl crushing on an older man and making it somewhat believable, they ought to watch American Beauty to see how it’s done.  This Aimee was the pits.  And if the Chief falls for it, I will just puke all over myself. 

 

I still have no words about that Mayor’s acting chops. 

 

And about Liv Tyler, yeah I get that, that she witnessed something terrible and it affected her deeply, and she’s not handling it well, at all, but HOW did the white clad, cigarette smoking, no talking, clipboard toting cult KNOW that about her.  See, why do they have dossiers on the folks they have dossiers on? 

 

Branch Davidian??  Too funny.  LOL!!

[GaT]

Can someone explain to me about the dogs? Out of all the things that this show has to explain, the dogs are really confusing me. I've seen a few posts that say or imply the dogs were all traumatized by people going missing, but I didn't hear anything like that on the show. Did I miss something? Was that from the book? Also, why are all the dogs the same? Every one of them looked exactly the same, where are the poodles, or the pugs, or the whatever? Did all the other breeds die?

[stillshimpy]

It was sort of stated in the show, GaT and I haven't personally read the books and it does seem to be what the show is implying.  

 

When Mrs. Didn'tGiveARat's backside answered the door about Duffy (dead dog in the trunk), she indicated that Duffy disappeared the same day her husband did and that her husband was one of the Bye-Bye-Guys (the ...missing?  the disappeared?  what are we calling them?) , some character also talked about how the dogs became feral and went to live in a pack.  

 

There's one thing I noticed though, they didn't in anyway menace the Chief, they went straight for the stag.  Rushing right past the Chief.  So I don't know if they're meant to be a danger to people, or if they've reverted to some kind of primal, feral primitive state.  

 

Or if they blame the deer?  Because seriously, that's just about how clear the show wasn't about why the dogs had gone nuts.  I almost found it more telling that they looked directly past the Chief and ran down the stag in a pack.  I think -- although I could be dead wrong and it's early days -- that they might be suggesting that the dogs understood something about the disappearance that the people didn't.  

 

Hell, the way they ran past the Chief, I almost wondered if the dogs that saw someone vanish are meant to be treating all people as having vanished.  

 

Also, in the "I look for the dark humor" category (four seasons of Game of Thrones will do that to a person) -- when Tom had his little flashback to those kids jumping off the roof?  I couldn't help but think they could have at least picked a higher freaking building.  Oh my god.  I mean, go big, or go home, but that fall was more likely to land them in the Ortho Wing than the morgue.