Finally! Just rewatched the series and while I still have a ton of criticism, it is a very good show. And I agree that Nora lied. She is known to lie and we see her scream (I think to stop) before the water fills up. We know that had Nora actually went she never ever would have not said something and not gone to her kids. She couldn’t ever keep her mouth shut or herself out of confrontations. It’s fine Nora is lying and needs that to accept her fate. Edit: lots of clarifications
I'm just rewatching this - for like the 5th time, and just commented the same, Heather, not realizing your own observation was pinned here. With all of Macabre's observations, it's kinda the nail in the coffin. She did not make the attempt.
That's kind of the point, in my opinion. Nora can't handle the guilt of leaving her life and Kevin behind, so she came up with an elaborate story as a coping mechanism. Kevin believes her because he chooses to believe her, because he loves her. And that's all she needs, and all that he needs.
@@godofdeadlydeath I agree but I also think bc of that lie and he knows it’s a lie even if they get back together it’ll never work out between them bc they’re both always keeping secrets and lying about important stuff. They could never just BE together. It was always some drama! (Which makes for good tv)
@@HeatherHolt you may be right. I think at that point in their lives, with all the mistakes they've made, just being together and loving each other, to quote Kevin Sr. "IS enough."
The point isn't if she lied or not. The point is you have to find your truth to cope, that is the only way we can get through such pointless, unfair trauma.
There ya go. The entire show is about trauma response. Are there supernatural things happening too? Absolutely but interesting enough that's not the point. The point is everything around it. That's the focus. What do YOU think happened and what do YOU do to cope. As we see, some ways of coping are "healthier" than others. Another example, is the australian lady obsessed about her dead children's shoes; showcasing obsessing about minute details when in fact there is no explanation or an explanation so benign it's irrelevant. I don't even think its entirely about believing Nora as it is thinking about all the reasons how and why people chose how to cope in the ways they did with nuances of humanity.
Exactly. Nora’s story being true or not doesn’t matter, her story (true or false) is her way of coping and accepting life, and kevin’s way of coping and accepting life is being with nora, him believing nora means he’s with her and that’s all that matters to him. I see nora’s story as symbolism for religion, you don’t know if it’s true or not but it depends on what you choose to believe and accept. I don’t think the writers even have a set idea on if she was lying or not because that wasn’t the point of it.
If anyone would be able to find the scientist, it'd be Nora, right? Wasn't her whole job to find people who supposedly departed? She's like a crazy good investigator
@@TheFangforn Which is, of course, the story of humanity isn't it? In the end, what gives you the greatest comfort is what you come to terms with, not necessarily the actual truth itself. But then again, what exactly is the _actual_ truth? Everyone has a version of this _truth_ and it is what allows them to go forward in life. But we must remember that the concept of truth is like a 3 edged sword --- there is _your_ truth, there is _my_ truth and then there is the _actual_ truth, whatever that might be --- the one that is floating ethereally out there in the cosmos totally and forever out of our reach, totally and forever unknowable --- at least on this plane of existence. We find meaning where we can.
I would argue the opposite. It is one of the most overrated series. If you find the boring, contrived and illogical subplots interesting, good for you, but this is just you projecting something into the show, that just isn't there. While it is kind of a good thing, that the show managed to do that for many people, I would still argue, that there is no real substance in there to warrent the love the show gets. Something in the cultists, religious group dynamics, psychological overdramatisation just seems to click with many viewers. For me, it's just to shallow and once you try to get under the surface, you find it was all just flashy painted garbage.
@@christoph4977 "But this is just you projecting something into the show, that just isn't there" lol, maybe it's there, but you haven't noticed or liked it? Typical behavior of stupid people whose opinion is always an objective analysis, and the opinion of others when it differs from yours is your own projection.... Grow up dude.
@@thotslayer9914 There is mystery and then there is pseudo-mystery. There are plenty good shows, movies or books that either resolve the mystery in a satisfying manner or leave enough to be open for interpretation but manage to satisfy your curiosity. And then there is the part, where you have to make the rest of the show interesting, where The Leftovers clearly fails for me. This and Lost are two examples of how it's not done (in my opinion anyway) But I mean, it's Lindelof, what did I expect. From his writing only Lost was decent in the first few seasons and I kinda liked World War Z. All the rest is just garbage.
"One of the most underrated TV show of all time" lol. It far from underrated. The Leftovers won several awards, appeared in 50+ critic's top ten lists, and got universal acclaim on Metacritic. *Not underrated* by a long shot, let alone "one of the most underrated ... of all time." This show is outstanding.
The writers claimed they planned on people being 50-50 on believing Nora`s story. However Carrie Coon was so good that 80% of the viewers in pre screenings believed Nora.
I wanted to believe her story. I think we all do really. It’s about making things “right” in our heads to make us feel comfortable with what we don’t understand. Last year after my mom died, i heard it every time someone said “she’s in a better place now.” My rational side doesn’t know for sure where or even if she is now. My irrational side wants desperately to believe. For me, The Leftovers might be the most authentic story about grief I’ve ever seen. And I didn’t know that until now - years after I saw its finale.
While watching this I was thinking to myself “I really should find a full analysis of the entire show” and then when you said you were working on one I became soooooo happy
I LIVE for The Leftovers videos. Thank you for keeping one of the best tv shows on the frontrunn of discussion. The final episode is not really ambiguous as you said, it's kinda like The Sopranos, the clues of what happened are all there. And with Nora, what story we choose to move on, is her arc for the whole season.
That’s a great comparison - Leftovers and Sopranos both have a technically ambiguous ending, implying things without outright telling the viewer what happened. It’s an extremely effective approach because it makes the ending live on in one’s imagination, much more so than if everything was neatly explained/shown.
Yes!! Also: notable how the scene cuts right before the water enters her mouth. In International Assasin the way to not get stuck in the Undead World is by not drinking the water.
I'm late to the party, but one other point to mention is that earlier in the season the wife of the tower guy tries claiming that he departed, and Matt tried to convince Nora to let the wife have her story. Nora, of course, doesn't. She puts a picture of his autopsy on full display. But as you stated, by the end of the series Nora finally understands why people choose to believe in something that may or may not be actually true. And so when she finds herself in the same boat as that wife, she does the same thing that the wife did. She lies. Thats the way I see it, anyway.
just finished my 3rd rewatch of the year of the show and coming back to these two videos every time hahaha I love them, can't wait for the full recap video 😍😍😍
The show isn't about truth or about lie: it is about what we choose to believe in in order to keep living and move on. There's a saying which goes : "we are who we believe we are". Searching for the truth and telling ourselves (or to others) lies are the things that will always misguide us in life. On the other hand, belief is what makes us go on. Nora's story is beyond truth or lie, it's about BELIEF.
I think the beauty of this is that it really doesn't matter at all whether she's telling the truth or not. It's utterly immaterial. Most often the problem with ambiguous endings in fiction is that one option tells a better story than the other. That was my issue with the Green Knight for example. I've never seen an open ending executed as well as in this show.
There are a couple other things that support the conclusion of Nora lying. In season 2, we hear Nora being told by the scientists researching The Sudden Departure tell her that she is the mortal vessel of The Demon Azrael and that is the reason why her life and the lives of those around her are chaos. At the time of hearing this she doesnt take it seriously but its possible that Nora deep down believed this and in going into exile was saving those around her from the chaos she brings. At first I was wondering why this plot point never went anywhere but its possible that they never intended on exploring it any further. Also, if 98% of the human population dissapeared out of knowhere, its likely that it would trigger a worldwide economic and logistical collapse that would kill the remaining 2% or at least cause them to mostly starve to death. Those remaining would not even be able to find each other and restore functioning communities or societies, it would be awful.
That was a interesting point. Despite watching the show a couple of times i couldn't understand why Nora has been living a solitary life whether her story true or lie, that was the most depressing part for me. On the other hand her story about paralel universe (make believe or not) is nothing to with demon Azrael
Holy shit this is so great and vindicating. A few months after I finished the series, I rewatched the finale again just to feel something and then my brain started to go "this honestly feels a bit like lazy writing to just give us some crazy story in the last few minutes of the show." Then I started to think back to the shows themes, going all the way back to the guilty remnant, Wayne's "powers," Matt's religiousness, Miracle, everything... and to me, perhaps most importantly, the whole arc of Tommy manipulating people just to heal them. If you break down this shows themes to the most bare-bones level, every arc is all about the power of belief over grief. I think back to the final moments of Christopher Nolan's Memento, too... "do I lie to myself to be happy? in your case Teddy, yes I will." These are themes that just really resonate with me. This video profoundly articulates it in a way I couldn't, especially with pointing out the Australian woman's arc.
Looking forward to the series analysis. I watched The Leftovers because of you, and it's been of the most touching pieces of fiction I've ever seen on TV.
She gave Kevin an allegorical response when he asks her about what happened when she was in the machine. Its her letting go, but now accepting her soul-mate, or did they both lie, and finish happy, but still bringing out the worst in eachother. Maybe.
The leftovers is one of the best tv shows ever produced and i've always believed not only that Nora lied but also that Kevin knows she's lying but decides to believe her story anyway
Great video, you make a strong argument. The Leftovers finale was one of the most beautiful episodes of TV I’ve ever seen. Whether the viewer believes Nora or not, its the emotional truth of it rather than the literal truth that makes Kevin and Nora reuniting so moving. Kevin ‘decides’ to believe her, or at least accept her as she is and reconcile, and it makes for a gloriously cathartic scene that nicely sums up the main themes of the series - faith/belief vs rationalism, loss and how to move on, love and the sacrifices and compromises required to keep that love strong. Maybe the best series finale, or closely tied with Six Feet Under and The Sopranos.
Just remembered the scene when Tommy catches Nora coming back from visiting Lilly and they have a conversation in her car. Tommy then tells her how he would have preferred his parents not to have told him that Kevin wasn't his biological father and how he wishes to have lived in a lie.
The show is about the lies/faith we tell ourselves to cope with the fact we are terrified that we dont know anything. How do you love in a world where they can just disappear in a moment (death)
Excellent video. I am very excited for your longer analysis of the show. This video was the first one to make me come to terms with the fact that Nora lied and Lindelof' statement that the show has a happy ending.
Throughout this series, all of the principle characters experience unexplainable phenomena and their lives are complicated by the reality that the people around them don't believe them because they don't experience the phenomena, however we the audience know it's real because we get to see it. This makes this moment critical - it's the first time something crazy happens (or doesn't happen) to Nora and we don't get to see it. Kevin's journey leads him to a place that he can accept her story as true, generally because of his growth/arc, but also specifically because that's what she offered to him when he was in his great struggle. Now, in this moment, we the audience are presented with the same situation all the characters in the show struggled with - namely that Nora, a character we love, tells us something that we are inclined NOT to believe, because we didn't see it! (And to OP's credit, there are lots of themes about disbelief/lies in this ep - which doesn't mean that she's lying necessarily). All this to say, we the audience are presented with the same situations the characters struggled with throughout the show - can you believe someone's inexplicable story when they insist it's true, despite a lot of evidence to the contrary and your gut saying it's a lie? I know my answer - I choose to believe.
I think the whole point isn't Nora telling the truth or not. It's that Kevin believes her. Kind of like the point of the show isn't what happened to the departed people, but how people react to it.
I fucking love this show. It brings me to tears constantly but I've never really watched anything written like this. The attention to every little detail in that present heaps of meaning in not only the writing but the acting, the cinematography and the music is masterful. I hadn't realised the parallels between the final scene and the one with Grace but I always thought she was lying (simply because it brings her arc to such a sad yet satisfying conclusion). Despite clarifying the ambiguous being antithetical to the point of the show I love that there's enough for the audience to make a good guess at it. Just wish I could recommend it to more people but most that I've suggested it to have found the ambiguity frustrating. Always great to see more people making videos on the leftovers, it deserves it.
Everyone has their story. We tell ourselves the story that lets us move past the things that hold us back. Kevin's experiences help him get over his setbacks. Regardless of whether it was a true experience or not, we get to see it on screen. In this case, we are the story listeners/gospel consumers but with Nora and Grace, Kevin just has the choice to believe or not. Of course Nora has the bias of being with a man who has had DIVINE-like experience that let HIM move on, she has adapted to rejecting her whole life (hence her job and upbringing with Matt and bible camp) now Nora has HER own story. Frankly, I think Kevin knows she is lying but exactly what you said, she needs this to move on and he needs her. Thank you for doing the ambiguity justice. Genuinely culminates everything this show means to demonstrate. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I agree. Just picture it though - if her story was true, a fetus just plopped into an empty obgyn exam table in an empty office. The horror of that makes me wish I believed her
lol I actually mentioned that in my first draft but thought it was too morbid. Especially if Laurie was told the truth by Nora. Would’ve messed her up.
Great video! I loved this show while I watched it, haven’t rewatched but I appreciate videos like these because I somehow remember most of the series. I watched it while it was airing and whew 😮💨 what a privilege. I can’t imagine binging the show the first time through, it definitely benefited from having time to breath in my mind. I had a whole week to really think about each episode.
Leftovers is one of my favorite shows. Definitely not for everyone. As far as Nora went to the other side or not, I don’t think she did but the world the show created has things happen that shouldn’t so I think it’s plausible. I know it doesn’t actually matter if Nora went or not but sometimes it can just be fun talking about.
I know this is 2 years too late but I just seen the series recently and I noticed 1 thing, again this may already be well known among longtime fans and just haven’t seen or heard it been mentioned yet but I think she is telling the truth, if she didn’t actually go to the other place I do still think it exists and the clue to why I think this is in the very 1st scene we see in the beginning of season 1. When the scene is ending before the time jump we hear a bunch of 911 calls following the departure, it’s hard to make them all out but for the most part they are all from people reporting the sudden disappearances, all except for 1 almost near the end you can hear 1 female voice and you can hear her saying “I don’t know where I am?”. It’s just such a weird thing to say if only a few people around you have disappeared but it would kinda make sense to say something like if everyone around disappeared. As from that perspective you would initially believe that what has happened only happened to you until you actually find another person, so it’s not hard to assume that if everyone around you vanished right in front of you that instead of concluding that everyone else disappeared your 1st thought maybe that you alone have ended up somewhere else. This does however run into a few issues and I know this is long enough so if anyone wants to know my explanations to them I’d be happy to share and reply.
This reinforces my belief that The Leftovers is one of the best shows of all time. I wonder if they would ever consider a S4. But I don’t even know what they would do with it
Awesome stuff, bro. This was such a great (and confusing) show, but much like your point about personal stories & faith, even when I didn't understand exactly what was going on plotwise in the show, it always managed to touch me in the feels in ways nothing else could
I think Kevin is very inclined to believe anything, his experience on the series has been very weird and Nora story is also a tool for Kevin to accept what happened to him, also, accepting that his dementia might not be so "out of reality".
All the crazy crap that happened on this show and you choose this hill to stake your flag? The show is a philosophical road trip! And I loved every minute of it!
You should watch station eleven now, and bring kleenex. I am very picky about putting TV shows in my favorite list but the leftovers and station eleven are both in them. Also twin peaks, undone, and dark.
I have just a few minutes ago watched the finale and come straight here and watched your video having seen the thumbnail of your video weeks ago before I had seen season three. The funny thing is I had been wandering what you meant with "Yes, Nora Lied" and now I do. I actually thought that I would see in the final season a flashback were it was revealed that Nora in fact killed her husband and children and pretended that they disappeared in the Sudden Departure and she had been lying the whole time through the series , LOL. I think your right anyway, with your analysis that she lied in the final episode.
I guess you aren’t an attorney. That was entertaining but none of your points challenge artistic license. Perhaps Nora did lie, but you didn’t come any closer to proving it in my opinion. Nice work though.
One very vital question: why is it possible to believe in Kevin’s world and exploration of the life he lives after death, but not Nora’s? When Kevin would cross over, he had to perform missions and tasks, the grandest mission of all being “The Most Powerful Man in the World 🌍” (wow). I see this as Nora had died and that was her mission to complete in order to return. For her it took years but that was her story.
We don't actually know if Kevin is crossing over or if he's just dreaming whenever he experienced these different realities. Of course you wanna believe that he did cross over, but there isn't any evidence to suggest either way, that what he's experiencing is "real".
What really maters is that Nora is now in peace and found answers by her own. Even if maybe she didn't go there, if this place exists, she realised her place was here with Kevin. That's why the birds came back at this moment, when they are together again.
I think they wanted their cake and it it too. They knew some people would be sooo angry not to have an explanation about the 2% but they also didn't think it made so much sense to shoehorn an explanation so they gave the viewers the choice. If you want to believe ( to have faith as you said), you can. I woul add to the argument that the first episode makes sure to state that the scientific research regarding the disappearance were unsuccessful and they mostly stopped trying to find out what happen. I think it was the shows way of saying in the pilote :"that's not the point and it never will be". I liked your analysis I was on the fence between it's a good ending with a beautiful resolution for Nora or it's a rushed weird one. I love that I can now confidently say it's the first.
@@EPICNE55 Yeah, but for some odd reason those didn't satisfy me. I think it sucks how there are barely any The Leftovers analysis videos on UA-cam despite being one of the most deeply symbolic TV shows ever.
@@vllls642 hmm interesting, I thought they were pretty good. I'm planning to make videos in the future talking about the leftovers. It's my absolute favorite show of all time
I believe Nora because she was selfish and always put herself first but when she crossed over, she realised she couldn't inject herself back into their lives again so she put her children's happiness first and decided to move on, as they had clearly done.
I just watched the whole series again and I don’t see the lie . It is the totality of supernatural shit that makes it real. Any one or two of the occurrences could be coincident but the tidal wave of just magic going on in that show is go the point that if that was happening to a person and that person still did not believe then that person is deranged
I think this plot beat is what the whole show was building up to, and was designed as like a final test on the viewer's own values and how they've interpreted everything so far. What's interesting is that we see Kevin crossing over, but we don't see that happen to Nora. Kevin's reality is much easier to interpret either way, because we see it. I may think that he was dreaming, but you can't deny that we have evidence to argue over that being the case. But with Nora we dont have that luxury, we just have what she says. It's agonizingly scant on details. You really have to work to decide what you think happened. I couldn't decide for a very long time, but then i realised that she had to have lied. It's the whole point of the show. Some people have the comfort of belief, but others will only find it through acceptance. Nora would never have gone through with the procedure unless she was actually willing to die, because she knew on some level that death was a very likely outcome, and there was no fucking way she was ready for that. She was desperate for answers, and wasn't ready to accept anything unless it was 100% concrete. Dying with all these unresolved questions was not going to cut it. But the solution to accepting the loss of her family was basically just to give herself more time. Grief isn't overcome through finding answers, it's through patience and hard work. Nora finally accepted that she doesn't believe enough in anything at all to get the answers she wants, and she'll just have to live with that. After a while, she eventually does.
The ambiguity is a strong choice on the part of the writers to circumvent the main issues that tend to arise with using the mystery box tool. If it’s intended to be ambiguous and questionable, then it’s okay that it isn’t fully explained or logical upon inspection.
Fucking love all your videos man keep it up! I look forward to each new post and I literally spoil great shows for myself just to hear you talk about them
But the story that a mother who lost her children 7 years ago sees her children and just abandoned them without saying hello. Leaving them in a world with only 2% of the population. Why not bring them with her.... It's insane
She said that people are happier there. Maybe its just magically a better world with more peace and people want to keep it that way, thus the reason why nobody tells whats in the other world
I also checked if she still had the Wu Tang tattoo in the episodes after she got it, and she does! If you look closely it's there even when she gets into the "machine" incredible consistency there.
If the 2% from our world, went to a world where 98% were departed, does that mean there’s a third world where those departed landed? And so on to infinity? Boggles my mind.
Finally! Just rewatched the series and while I still have a ton of criticism, it is a very good show. And I agree that Nora lied. She is known to lie and we see her scream (I think to stop) before the water fills up. We know that had Nora actually went she never ever would have not said something and not gone to her kids. She couldn’t ever keep her mouth shut or herself out of confrontations. It’s fine Nora is lying and needs that to accept her fate.
Edit: lots of clarifications
this is v interesting !! i always thought she shouted YES when she was about to go under but i never thought of her wanting it to stop
But how do her character flaws imply that she didn't go through?
@@akshayhere that shout is de facto her character flaw. Screamed at us.
@@judiecakes given the emotion there, and you can hear the "s" and almost t in stop, no, it's definitely not yes.
I'm just rewatching this - for like the 5th time, and just commented the same, Heather, not realizing your own observation was pinned here. With all of Macabre's observations, it's kinda the nail in the coffin. She did not make the attempt.
the music in this show always gets me in the feels especially when kevin says “i believe you”
One big thing about that show is the music always queues when they want you to feel something
Omg I thought the same exact thing at the same exact moment. This theme is so efficient
That's kind of the point, in my opinion. Nora can't handle the guilt of leaving her life and Kevin behind, so she came up with an elaborate story as a coping mechanism. Kevin believes her because he chooses to believe her, because he loves her. And that's all she needs, and all that he needs.
@@godofdeadlydeath I agree but I also think bc of that lie and he knows it’s a lie even if they get back together it’ll never work out between them bc they’re both always keeping secrets and lying about important stuff. They could never just BE together. It was always some drama! (Which makes for good tv)
@@HeatherHolt you may be right. I think at that point in their lives, with all the mistakes they've made, just being together and loving each other, to quote Kevin Sr. "IS enough."
I think it’s wild to say Kevin didn’t believe Nora when the man literally died, spent time in an afterlife, and came back. He believed her. 100%.
The point isn't if she lied or not. The point is you have to find your truth to cope, that is the only way we can get through such pointless, unfair trauma.
There ya go. The entire show is about trauma response. Are there supernatural things happening too? Absolutely but interesting enough that's not the point. The point is everything around it. That's the focus. What do YOU think happened and what do YOU do to cope. As we see, some ways of coping are "healthier" than others. Another example, is the australian lady obsessed about her dead children's shoes; showcasing obsessing about minute details when in fact there is no explanation or an explanation so benign it's irrelevant. I don't even think its entirely about believing Nora as it is thinking about all the reasons how and why people chose how to cope in the ways they did with nuances of humanity.
@@rayrayz4667 Indeed. The show is about what is leftover
Well said. I agree.
@@freakfire74 You guys all summed it up so well :)
Exactly. Nora’s story being true or not doesn’t matter, her story (true or false) is her way of coping and accepting life, and kevin’s way of coping and accepting life is being with nora, him believing nora means he’s with her and that’s all that matters to him. I see nora’s story as symbolism for religion, you don’t know if it’s true or not but it depends on what you choose to believe and accept. I don’t think the writers even have a set idea on if she was lying or not because that wasn’t the point of it.
If anyone would be able to find the scientist, it'd be Nora, right? Wasn't her whole job to find people who supposedly departed? She's like a crazy good investigator
Just no
Haha , she could not find the two physicists, and Laurie did
Right
I love the analysis but I choose to believe Nora, its just a nicer story.
me too.
I see what you did there.
Damon Lindelof the showrunner of the show too, soo...?
That's the point though... It's up to you to decide what you believe. Whatever gives you the greatest comfort
@@TheFangforn Which is, of course, the story of humanity isn't it? In the end, what gives you the greatest comfort is what you come to terms with, not necessarily the actual truth itself. But then again, what exactly is the _actual_ truth? Everyone has a version of this _truth_ and it is what allows them to go forward in life. But we must remember that the concept of truth is like a 3 edged sword --- there is _your_ truth, there is _my_ truth and then there is the _actual_ truth, whatever that might be --- the one that is floating ethereally out there in the cosmos totally and forever out of our reach, totally and forever unknowable --- at least on this plane of existence. We find meaning where we can.
One of the most underrated TV shows of all time . Great acting and story. Max Richter’s music seriously made the show. 🚬
I would argue the opposite. It is one of the most overrated series. If you find the boring, contrived and illogical subplots interesting, good for you, but this is just you projecting something into the show, that just isn't there. While it is kind of a good thing, that the show managed to do that for many people, I would still argue, that there is no real substance in there to warrent the love the show gets. Something in the cultists, religious group dynamics, psychological overdramatisation just seems to click with many viewers. For me, it's just to shallow and once you try to get under the surface, you find it was all just flashy painted garbage.
@@christoph4977 "But this is just you projecting something into the show, that just isn't there" lol, maybe it's there, but you haven't noticed or liked it? Typical behavior of stupid people whose opinion is always an objective analysis, and the opinion of others when it differs from yours is your own projection.... Grow up dude.
@@thotslayer9914 There is mystery and then there is pseudo-mystery. There are plenty good shows, movies or books that either resolve the mystery in a satisfying manner or leave enough to be open for interpretation but manage to satisfy your curiosity. And then there is the part, where you have to make the rest of the show interesting, where The Leftovers clearly fails for me.
This and Lost are two examples of how it's not done (in my opinion anyway)
But I mean, it's Lindelof, what did I expect. From his writing only Lost was decent in the first few seasons and I kinda liked World War Z. All the rest is just garbage.
lost is really good to
"One of the most underrated TV show of all time" lol. It far from underrated. The Leftovers won several awards, appeared in 50+ critic's top ten lists, and got universal acclaim on Metacritic. *Not underrated* by a long shot, let alone "one of the most underrated ... of all time." This show is outstanding.
The writers claimed they planned on people being 50-50 on believing Nora`s story. However Carrie Coon was so good that 80% of the viewers in pre screenings believed Nora.
I wanted to believe her story. I think we all do really. It’s about making things “right” in our heads to make us feel comfortable with what we don’t understand. Last year after my mom died, i heard it every time someone said “she’s in a better place now.” My rational side doesn’t know for sure where or even if she is now. My irrational side wants desperately to believe. For me, The Leftovers might be the most authentic story about grief I’ve ever seen. And I didn’t know that until now - years after I saw its finale.
While watching this I was thinking to myself “I really should find a full analysis of the entire show” and then when you said you were working on one I became soooooo happy
I LIVE for The Leftovers videos. Thank you for keeping one of the best tv shows on the frontrunn of discussion. The final episode is not really ambiguous as you said, it's kinda like The Sopranos, the clues of what happened are all there. And with Nora, what story we choose to move on, is her arc for the whole season.
That’s a great comparison - Leftovers and Sopranos both have a technically ambiguous ending, implying things without outright telling the viewer what happened. It’s an extremely effective approach because it makes the ending live on in one’s imagination, much more so than if everything was neatly explained/shown.
I watched the whole series twice and after this video I want to watch it again. Such a masterpiece of a show.
"It's not a lie if you believe it" George from Seinfeld
Yes!! Also: notable how the scene cuts right before the water enters her mouth. In International Assasin the way to not get stuck in the Undead World is by not drinking the water.
Awesome
WHOA. Great find 👀 never even thought twice about the water comments.
I'm late to the party, but one other point to mention is that earlier in the season the wife of the tower guy tries claiming that he departed, and Matt tried to convince Nora to let the wife have her story. Nora, of course, doesn't. She puts a picture of his autopsy on full display.
But as you stated, by the end of the series Nora finally understands why people choose to believe in something that may or may not be actually true. And so when she finds herself in the same boat as that wife, she does the same thing that the wife did. She lies.
Thats the way I see it, anyway.
"Working on a full series retrospective on the Leftovers" -- yessss I literally can't wait
just finished my 3rd rewatch of the year of the show and coming back to these two videos every time hahaha
I love them, can't wait for the full recap video 😍😍😍
The show isn't about truth or about lie: it is about what we choose to believe in in order to keep living and move on. There's a saying which goes : "we are who we believe we are". Searching for the truth and telling ourselves (or to others) lies are the things that will always misguide us in life. On the other hand, belief is what makes us go on. Nora's story is beyond truth or lie, it's about BELIEF.
Glad to find someone still making videos on this show! I'm getting ready for a rewatch and am happy to be going through your vids first.
I think the beauty of this is that it really doesn't matter at all whether she's telling the truth or not. It's utterly immaterial.
Most often the problem with ambiguous endings in fiction is that one option tells a better story than the other. That was my issue with the Green Knight for example. I've never seen an open ending executed as well as in this show.
There are a couple other things that support the conclusion of Nora lying. In season 2, we hear Nora being told by the scientists researching The Sudden Departure tell her that she is the mortal vessel of The Demon Azrael and that is the reason why her life and the lives of those around her are chaos. At the time of hearing this she doesnt take it seriously but its possible that Nora deep down believed this and in going into exile was saving those around her from the chaos she brings. At first I was wondering why this plot point never went anywhere but its possible that they never intended on exploring it any further.
Also, if 98% of the human population dissapeared out of knowhere, its likely that it would trigger a worldwide economic and logistical collapse that would kill the remaining 2% or at least cause them to mostly starve to death. Those remaining would not even be able to find each other and restore functioning communities or societies, it would be awful.
That was a interesting point. Despite watching the show a couple of times i couldn't understand why Nora has been living a solitary life whether her story true or lie, that was the most depressing part for me. On the other hand her story about paralel universe (make believe or not) is nothing to with demon Azrael
Looking forward to your retrospective.
Strongly agree, except everyone in Australia offers you tea at every opportunity
Also really looking forward to your next, love your work and I thoroughly agree that The Leftovers is a banger
Holy shit this is so great and vindicating. A few months after I finished the series, I rewatched the finale again just to feel something and then my brain started to go "this honestly feels a bit like lazy writing to just give us some crazy story in the last few minutes of the show." Then I started to think back to the shows themes, going all the way back to the guilty remnant, Wayne's "powers," Matt's religiousness, Miracle, everything... and to me, perhaps most importantly, the whole arc of Tommy manipulating people just to heal them. If you break down this shows themes to the most bare-bones level, every arc is all about the power of belief over grief.
I think back to the final moments of Christopher Nolan's Memento, too... "do I lie to myself to be happy? in your case Teddy, yes I will." These are themes that just really resonate with me.
This video profoundly articulates it in a way I couldn't, especially with pointing out the Australian woman's arc.
I choose to believe Nora’s story, it’s just so perfect that I want to believe it :)
Looking forward to the series analysis. I watched The Leftovers because of you, and it's been of the most touching pieces of fiction I've ever seen on TV.
She gave Kevin an allegorical response when he asks her about what happened when she was in the machine. Its her letting go, but now accepting her soul-mate, or did they both lie, and finish happy, but still bringing out the worst in eachother. Maybe.
There was alot of weird stuff going on the whole series, but Kevin did comeback to life several times. I mean that happened right?
The leftovers is one of the best tv shows ever produced and i've always believed not only that Nora lied but also that Kevin knows she's lying but decides to believe her story anyway
If you know that someone is lying, it is impossible to simultaneously "believe" it. You can only pretend to believe it.
@@davidtu3594 you are underestimating the brain's capacity to lie to itself
Great video, you make a strong argument. The Leftovers finale was one of the most beautiful episodes of TV I’ve ever seen. Whether the viewer believes Nora or not, its the emotional truth of it rather than the literal truth that makes Kevin and Nora reuniting so moving. Kevin ‘decides’ to believe her, or at least accept her as she is and reconcile, and it makes for a gloriously cathartic scene that nicely sums up the main themes of the series - faith/belief vs rationalism, loss and how to move on, love and the sacrifices and compromises required to keep that love strong. Maybe the best series finale, or closely tied with Six Feet Under and The Sopranos.
Not a lot of Vids out there on The Leftovers, which is criminal
Just remembered the scene when Tommy catches Nora coming back from visiting Lilly and they have a conversation in her car. Tommy then tells her how he would have preferred his parents not to have told him that Kevin wasn't his biological father and how he wishes to have lived in a lie.
I rewatched after all these years and I’ve never cried so much. Every episode was super emotional for me. One of the best shows ever made!
It’s made for a certain type of person, I think. I found it incredibly cathartic but almost everyone I know can’t finish it.
Yeah it was arollercoaster
The show is about the lies/faith we tell ourselves to cope with the fact we are terrified that we dont know anything. How do you love in a world where they can just disappear in a moment (death)
Another excellent analysis, thank you Mac. Keep up the great work! Can’t wait for the long form retrospective.
Excellent video. I am very excited for your longer analysis of the show. This video was the first one to make me come to terms with the fact that Nora lied and Lindelof' statement that the show has a happy ending.
Throughout this series, all of the principle characters experience unexplainable phenomena and their lives are complicated by the reality that the people around them don't believe them because they don't experience the phenomena, however we the audience know it's real because we get to see it. This makes this moment critical - it's the first time something crazy happens (or doesn't happen) to Nora and we don't get to see it. Kevin's journey leads him to a place that he can accept her story as true, generally because of his growth/arc, but also specifically because that's what she offered to him when he was in his great struggle. Now, in this moment, we the audience are presented with the same situation all the characters in the show struggled with - namely that Nora, a character we love, tells us something that we are inclined NOT to believe, because we didn't see it! (And to OP's credit, there are lots of themes about disbelief/lies in this ep - which doesn't mean that she's lying necessarily). All this to say, we the audience are presented with the same situations the characters struggled with throughout the show - can you believe someone's inexplicable story when they insist it's true, despite a lot of evidence to the contrary and your gut saying it's a lie? I know my answer - I choose to believe.
Love you either way, Nora.
I think the whole point isn't Nora telling the truth or not. It's that Kevin believes her. Kind of like the point of the show isn't what happened to the departed people, but how people react to it.
Thanks a lot. The Leftovers are a so great show and so much to think about it. So, one of my next re-watches will be The Leftovers!
Great show. Watched it like 4 years ago and loved it
I fucking love this show. It brings me to tears constantly but I've never really watched anything written like this. The attention to every little detail in that present heaps of meaning in not only the writing but the acting, the cinematography and the music is masterful. I hadn't realised the parallels between the final scene and the one with Grace but I always thought she was lying (simply because it brings her arc to such a sad yet satisfying conclusion). Despite clarifying the ambiguous being antithetical to the point of the show I love that there's enough for the audience to make a good guess at it. Just wish I could recommend it to more people but most that I've suggested it to have found the ambiguity frustrating. Always great to see more people making videos on the leftovers, it deserves it.
Everyone has their story. We tell ourselves the story that lets us move past the things that hold us back. Kevin's experiences help him get over his setbacks. Regardless of whether it was a true experience or not, we get to see it on screen. In this case, we are the story listeners/gospel consumers but with Nora and Grace, Kevin just has the choice to believe or not. Of course Nora has the bias of being with a man who has had DIVINE-like experience that let HIM move on, she has adapted to rejecting her whole life (hence her job and upbringing with Matt and bible camp) now Nora has HER own story. Frankly, I think Kevin knows she is lying but exactly what you said, she needs this to move on and he needs her. Thank you for doing the ambiguity justice. Genuinely culminates everything this show means to demonstrate. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I agree. Just picture it though - if her story was true, a fetus just plopped into an empty obgyn exam table in an empty office. The horror of that makes me wish I believed her
lol I actually mentioned that in my first draft but thought it was too morbid. Especially if Laurie was told the truth by Nora. Would’ve messed her up.
Damn I forgot all about that 🤯
This seems like a loooooooonnng and painful way to work yourself into a form of denial.
This is a pretty good video I loved the series super underrated
Great video! I loved this show while I watched it, haven’t rewatched but I appreciate videos like these because I somehow remember most of the series. I watched it while it was airing and whew 😮💨 what a privilege. I can’t imagine binging the show the first time through, it definitely benefited from having time to breath in my mind. I had a whole week to really think about each episode.
This was great. Can't wait for more Leftovers analysis ❤
Leftovers is one of my favorite shows. Definitely not for everyone. As far as Nora went to the other side or not, I don’t think she did but the world the show created has things happen that shouldn’t so I think it’s plausible. I know it doesn’t actually matter if Nora went or not but sometimes it can just be fun talking about.
I know this is 2 years too late but I just seen the series recently and I noticed 1 thing, again this may already be well known among longtime fans and just haven’t seen or heard it been mentioned yet but I think she is telling the truth, if she didn’t actually go to the other place I do still think it exists and the clue to why I think this is in the very 1st scene we see in the beginning of season 1. When the scene is ending before the time jump we hear a bunch of 911 calls following the departure, it’s hard to make them all out but for the most part they are all from people reporting the sudden disappearances, all except for 1 almost near the end you can hear 1 female voice and you can hear her saying “I don’t know where I am?”. It’s just such a weird thing to say if only a few people around you have disappeared but it would kinda make sense to say something like if everyone around disappeared. As from that perspective you would initially believe that what has happened only happened to you until you actually find another person, so it’s not hard to assume that if everyone around you vanished right in front of you that instead of concluding that everyone else disappeared your 1st thought maybe that you alone have ended up somewhere else.
This does however run into a few issues and I know this is long enough so if anyone wants to know my explanations to them I’d be happy to share and reply.
This reinforces my belief that The Leftovers is one of the best shows of all time. I wonder if they would ever consider a S4. But I don’t even know what they would do with it
The other world with the 2 % would be good.
Bravo! Thanks for this, and looking forward to the retrospective, whenever it's ready.
It is funny how many people need to know after seeing the series. Almost like the characters.
So glad I found this channel. I'm the only person I know who watched and love this show. Looking forward to your upcoming series on it.
Doesn't matter to me. I believe her.
Incredible analysis, thank you!
Awesome stuff, bro. This was such a great (and confusing) show, but much like your point about personal stories & faith, even when I didn't understand exactly what was going on plotwise in the show, it always managed to touch me in the feels in ways nothing else could
Can’t wait for your analysis of the series!!
I think Kevin is very inclined to believe anything, his experience on the series has been very weird and Nora story is also a tool for Kevin to accept what happened to him, also, accepting that his dementia might not be so "out of reality".
I think I believed Nora in the sense that this other world existed. I had to believe something happened to those people.
So happy your doing content on this, I watched it a couple years ago and there was one good video on it.
Wow, I definitely wasn’t expecting a video on The Leftovers, sadly seems like everyone just forgot about that show.
Super excited for this! :)
All the crazy crap that happened on this show and you choose this hill to stake your flag? The show is a philosophical road trip! And I loved every minute of it!
Just finished watching it, thank you this never crossed my mind!
I had to double check seing this thumbnail omg I love this show
I think that the Leftovers was and is the only series in which I ever cried
You should watch station eleven now, and bring kleenex. I am very picky about putting TV shows in my favorite list but the leftovers and station eleven are both in them. Also twin peaks, undone, and dark.
@a known wizard thanks for the advices !
writign in this show is so good
I have just a few minutes ago watched the finale and come straight here and watched your video having seen the thumbnail of your video weeks ago before I had seen season three.
The funny thing is I had been wandering what you meant with "Yes, Nora Lied" and now I do.
I actually thought that I would see in the final season a flashback were it was revealed that Nora in fact killed her husband and children and pretended that they disappeared in the Sudden Departure and she had been lying the whole time through the series , LOL.
I think your right anyway, with your analysis that she lied in the final episode.
I had fun watching this series. The intro music takes me back
Carrie has said she was never told the "truth" by the writers, and she also has never shared what she believes.
I guess you aren’t an attorney. That was entertaining but none of your points challenge artistic license. Perhaps Nora did lie, but you didn’t come any closer to proving it in my opinion. Nice work though.
This is great because i just watched S3E3 and i totally was reminded of nora's story in the finale. Then i watched this!
"Faith is a choice.."
Very Kierkegaardian. Brilliant analysis!
It's such a beautiful thing that that it doesn't matter.
My theory is the procedure was just a scan and the physicists ditched while she was in the tub
One very vital question: why is it possible to believe in Kevin’s world and exploration of the life he lives after death, but not Nora’s? When Kevin would cross over, he had to perform missions and tasks, the grandest mission of all being “The Most Powerful Man in the World 🌍” (wow). I see this as Nora had died and that was her mission to complete in order to return. For her it took years but that was her story.
We don't actually know if Kevin is crossing over or if he's just dreaming whenever he experienced these different realities. Of course you wanna believe that he did cross over, but there isn't any evidence to suggest either way, that what he's experiencing is "real".
We need a Holy Wayne Prequel Spin off show lmao
At this point I consider hearing the name "Majin Weabuu" to be an integral part of the experience of watching your videos
What really maters is that Nora is now in peace and found answers by her own. Even if maybe she didn't go there, if this place exists, she realised her place was here with Kevin. That's why the birds came back at this moment, when they are together again.
#WeBelieveNora
This calrified by how Nora reacts when Kevin tells her he believes her
Oh my god! Cant wait for the full analysis!!! Great video as always
Damn straight first! Still pumping out great work!
I think they wanted their cake and it it too. They knew some people would be sooo angry not to have an explanation about the 2% but they also didn't think it made so much sense to shoehorn an explanation so they gave the viewers the choice. If you want to believe ( to have faith as you said), you can. I woul add to the argument that the first episode makes sure to state that the scientific research regarding the disappearance were unsuccessful and they mostly stopped trying to find out what happen. I think it was the shows way of saying in the pilote :"that's not the point and it never will be". I liked your analysis I was on the fence between it's a good ending with a beautiful resolution for Nora or it's a rushed weird one. I love that I can now confidently say it's the first.
The noble lie/the noble kayfabe
Please Mac, please do a character analysis on Kevin. He’s fascinating to me.
Have you seen Kirby Yardley's video series on Kevin? You probably already have :)
@@EPICNE55 Yeah, but for some odd reason those didn't satisfy me. I think it sucks how there are barely any The Leftovers analysis videos on UA-cam despite being one of the most deeply symbolic TV shows ever.
@@vllls642 hmm interesting, I thought they were pretty good. I'm planning to make videos in the future talking about the leftovers. It's my absolute favorite show of all time
@@vllls642 but yeah there's so much depth to the show.
@@EPICNE55 Agreed. I would recommend Why The Leftovers Ending Is Perfect by Studio Ersatz.
If anyone could make that trip without planes, track down the doctor, and get him to make a machine...it's Nora though.
I believe Nora because she was selfish and always put herself first but when she crossed over, she realised she couldn't inject herself back into their lives again so she put her children's happiness first and decided to move on, as they had clearly done.
The world they lived in was hell with all kinds of wild occurrences. There is no way to say she lied in THAT world.
I can’t wait to watch this video I’m sure that I will enjoy that I also know will not change my mind on the matter
I believe her as well.
I just watched the whole series again and I don’t see the lie . It is the totality of supernatural shit that makes it real. Any one or two of the occurrences could be coincident but the tidal wave of just magic going on in that show is go the point that if that was happening to a person and that person still did not believe then that person is deranged
I think this plot beat is what the whole show was building up to, and was designed as like a final test on the viewer's own values and how they've interpreted everything so far. What's interesting is that we see Kevin crossing over, but we don't see that happen to Nora. Kevin's reality is much easier to interpret either way, because we see it. I may think that he was dreaming, but you can't deny that we have evidence to argue over that being the case.
But with Nora we dont have that luxury, we just have what she says. It's agonizingly scant on details. You really have to work to decide what you think happened. I couldn't decide for a very long time, but then i realised that she had to have lied. It's the whole point of the show. Some people have the comfort of belief, but others will only find it through acceptance. Nora would never have gone through with the procedure unless she was actually willing to die, because she knew on some level that death was a very likely outcome, and there was no fucking way she was ready for that. She was desperate for answers, and wasn't ready to accept anything unless it was 100% concrete. Dying with all these unresolved questions was not going to cut it.
But the solution to accepting the loss of her family was basically just to give herself more time. Grief isn't overcome through finding answers, it's through patience and hard work. Nora finally accepted that she doesn't believe enough in anything at all to get the answers she wants, and she'll just have to live with that. After a while, she eventually does.
The ambiguity is a strong choice on the part of the writers to circumvent the main issues that tend to arise with using the mystery box tool. If it’s intended to be ambiguous and questionable, then it’s okay that it isn’t fully explained or logical upon inspection.
Let the mystery be.
Fucking love all your videos man keep it up! I look forward to each new post and I literally spoil great shows for myself just to hear you talk about them
The Leftovers is the best show I have ever seen, Six Feet Under is a close second
there is no evidence that Nora lied. there is no evidence Nora told the truth. "there is no definitve proof" as you say a couple times.
But the story that a mother who lost her children 7 years ago sees her children and just abandoned them without saying hello. Leaving them in a world with only 2% of the population. Why not bring them with her.... It's insane
She said that people are happier there. Maybe its just magically a better world with more peace and people want to keep it that way, thus the reason why nobody tells whats in the other world
I agree. Great writing. I'm surprised you didn't mention the parallel to the tattoo story/lie.
I also checked if she still had the Wu Tang tattoo in the episodes after she got it, and she does! If you look closely it's there even when she gets into the "machine" incredible consistency there.
If the 2% from our world, went to a world where 98% were departed, does that mean there’s a third world where those departed landed? And so on to infinity? Boggles my mind.
Oh wow, I hadn't thought of that! I was just thinking they were all on the same planet and had phased to a different plane of existence/frequency.
@@ShinySephiroth1 That seems more likely 😅 I love shows that make me think about these things.
@suzybearheart530 who knows!? I like your theory, too! Yes, these are some of my favorite types of shows.