Heath & Axel chat about recent TV including Better Call Saul, The Americans and The Big Bang Theory (Heath likes it).
A Hustler’s Leftover Notes – S3E3
Episode 3 Notes – Crazy Whitefella Thinking
Summary
This episode focuses exclusively on Kevin Garvey, Sr. and his messianic quest to navigate Australia and prevent a great apocalyptic flood that he said will occur on the 7-year anniversary of the Sudden Departure.
Title
Title implies this episode is at least in part about the arrogance of an American outsider who believes in and embraces his messianic delusions at the expense of other people’s feelings and property.
Song
Episode opens with the same opening credits to the song, Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode performed by Richard Cheese (lounge singer).
• This song plays to the heart of the matter as we are faced with the question (something that I asked last week) whether Kevin Garvey, Sr. or his son is the messiah.
• This kind of goes with the hotel theme.
• Why is the “cheesy” version of this song used, instead of the original?
Recap
• We open on a picture behind Police Chief of Mapleton, Kevin Garvey, Sr. moments after the sudden departure.
• We then transition to Kevin, Sr. driving to a piece of aborigine sacred land as we listen to a conversation on a tape recorder between Kevin, Sr. and his son Kevin in 1981. They are talking about ducks underwater. Kevin is worried that they won’t come back up for air and die. His father assures him they will resurface.
• Kevin then tapes a ritual, presumably to get their song as we find out later. He uses this to perform the ritual on aborigine land. The police catch him. When the police are set to release him, they confiscated his recording equipment. He asks for his tape recorder and the tape, Niagra ’81 back.
o This is the first moment that made me think of the title.
o At this point, I presumed it was so that he could keep a nice memento between him and his son. As we find out later, there is more to it.
o Another major point that needs to be made here is that Kevin, Sr.’s primary obstacle appears to be that Australians are concerned about the rights and the rituals of their native people, and they don’t like outsiders taking liberties with restricted areas to perform stolen rituals.
• After leaving the police station, Kevin, Sr. resumes his mission. We see him marking the map he has of aborigine land and he marks what part of the songline.
• He stops at a post office and asks for the whereabouts of a Christopher Sunday.
o Funny point here; Kevin says he’s a member of the indigenous community here to convince the postal worker to help him. The postal worker gives him a look. (This made me think of the title as well with the look the postal worker gave Kevin).
o Kevin picks up a package that Matt sent to him about his son, “The Book of Kevin.” He tells the postal worker, that the book in the package is the goddamn sequel to the Bible.
o He reads through it and rips out one page to fold money in and places it in the National Geographic magazine next to a map of Cairo.
o Could the Map of the Nile River going through Cairo correspond to the songline on his map of Australia?
• Kevin reads the Song of Kevin and marks it up in red and is clearly angry that this is about his son and not him. He calls Reverend Matt Jamison. Kevin wants Matt to acknowledge what he is doing to try and save the world and Matt just ignores him and says his son is going to Australia. He basically implies that there will be a flood if he is not successful. As soon as Kevin hangs up, it starts pouring rain.
o Kevin, Sr. believes he was chosen for this mission and that he, not his son is actually the great messiah. He justifies all of his actions as great deeds of self-sacrifice.
o Why does Kevin, Sr. not want his son to go to Australia? Is this because of the potential of a disaster or is he trying to save him from something else, maybe even death?
o When Matt’s wife says she’s going to the park with Noah, I have a feeling that this is the moment she leaves him. Very interesting that the child’s name is Noah, considering the flood story and the arc being built.
• Kevin visits Sharon to find the address for Christopher Sunday. On his way in, he throws the Book of Kevin in the trash. As he’s waiting for Sharon, he sees his wanted for questioning poster. He seduces her by complimenting her painting of a snake. She sees the poster and after a brief encounter steals the address and runs out.
o First reference to snakes in the episode.
• He visits Christopher (Chris) Sunday (Kevin from the totem bush snake). Chris can see he is scared. Kevin then tells Chris is story.
Songlines and Christopher Sunday
Kevin, Sr. told his story of how he came to Australia and to the present point in the story to Christopher Sunday, an aborigine who according to Kevin was the only person who knew the song of the last piece of land he needed to complete the songline before the impending flood in several days’ time.
• Kevin tells Christopher Sunday a rambling story of how he came to Australia and the series of events that led him to the present time. He followed the voices to Australia but then did not receive instructions for what to do after. He came across a hippie who convinced him to speak to god through using a hallucinogen named, God’s Tongue. After taking it he woke up 2 weeks later and couldn’t remember any details.
o We can surmise that Kevin, Sr. forgot his conversation with his son when he was at the hotel in season 2, episode 8, entitled International Assassin.
• When Kevin woke up from his trip, he saw Tony, the chicken on television. He then relayed the story of a town in Australia of 14 people that all vanished during the Departure, including the animals. One egg survived and hatched soon after, the chicken named Tony. People like Kevin came from all over to seek Tony’s wisdom because he apparently could help people find what they were looking for. When Kevin asked Tony about his purpose, the chicken pecked at his tape, labeled Niagra ’81. When Kevin listens to the tape, it’s on the part where he is singing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” to his son to make the rain stop. Reluctantly, Chief sings… and the rain stops. This is where Kevin Garvey, Sr. got his mission from; to stop the impending flood rains he believes will occur on the 7-year anniversary.
• Kevin discussed his trip to Niagra Falls in 1981 with his son after his wife died. His wife gave his son the mic and tape recorder he was carrying. His son taped a number of their conversations about various things they encountered as if he was a reporter.
o It is apparent that this tape represents more than just his son, but a haunting memory of the hardest part of his life that is bittersweet – losing his wife, coping with pain for both him and his son.
o One of the stories in the 1972 National Geographic that Kevin Garvey, Sr. is infatuated with includes an article, The Spider That Lives Underwater, describing a spider that lives almost it’s entire life underwater. This is also very similar to the part of the tape we listened to during beginning of the episode with the ducks going underwater and then resurfacing. In season 1, Christine woke from a nap and her first words were “Spiders underwater.”
o Is this a reference to what happened to the departed? Are they stuck somewhere and will they eventually resurface? Or conversely, is the rest of surviving humanity the trapped spider?
• Christopher Sunday ironically says that his particular song is meant to end drought by bringing rain.
o Will Kevin, Sr. ultimately cause the very thing he hopes to stop?
• After Kevin’s pitch, Christopher Sunday, gestures toward the ceiling where we see water dripping leaking and then says, “Do you Want to Stop the Flood? Start there.” It is implied that if Kevin fixes the leak, Chris will teach him the song. While Kevin is on the roof, Sharon arrives and starts yelling. Kevin loses his balance and falls on top of Chris.
o Whether Christopher believes his story or not, or actually cares is not clear. This again references the title.
• While riding in the ambulance to take Christopher Sunday to the hospital, he is kicked out of the ambulance for insulting the EMT. While walking, Kevin comes across a car driving frenetically in the middle of nowhere that stops near him. A man gets out with a container of gasoline and douses the car and himself. When Kevin tries to stop him, the man said “They didn’t take me.” He then asks Kevin, “Would you kill a baby if it would cure cancer.” Kevin says no and then the man says that is exactly what he said. He then lights himself on fire.
o This might be a not so veiled reference to the people that want to see Nora. He literally incinerates himself. Maybe he didn’t meet their requirements and so he lost all hope and reason to live.
• After searching for water in the car, he looks at the sky and says, You can’t stop me asshole.” It then starts pouring rain again. He is able to drink but it ruins his tape.
o What does this symbolize?
• Dying of thirst, Kevin comes upon his totem animal, a snake. He thanks the snake for its sacrifice to the greater good (presumably keeping the messiah alive) as he’s about to kill it for water and sustenance. Once he believes the snake is dead he picks it up and the snake bites him on the arm.
o This moment is very potent because it’s as if Kevin thinks he is doing this incredible deed of self-sacrifice for the good of humanity and everything and everyone in his path is biting back. This scene also runs parallel to the stone age woman getting bit by a snake and dying during Season 2’s prologue.
o Symbolism – Kevin and this woman were both “Snake Bit” – characterized by bad luck or subject to a series of misfortunes. The snake represents Satan.
• Kevin finds a cross on his path and leans up against it almost like a Christ-figure. He sees a blur of someone coming toward him on a horse.
• He wakes up in a nice house with an IV and a dog next to him. He calls Matt Jamison and Matt gets upset with him. Kevin then walks outside and sees a number of people building a ship (an Arc), using wood from the church.
• After looking through her photos, he falls asleep. He then wakes up later and goes outside to see them kill a local police chief with the name of Kevin. They shoot him with a dart and he wakes up alone with Grace in the room.
Grace’s Story
Grace tells her story. She was in town when the departure occurred. The phone lines were down and she wasn’t able to return home immediately. When she arrived home, her husband and kids were all gone. Grace assumed they had all departed because she thought it was the Rapture. Sometime afterward, the remains of her children were found. They had apparently tried to find help when their father disappeared and ended up dying because of the harsh climate conditions. When Grace found Kevin on the cross where her children died with a page from the Book of Kevin in Kevin, Sr.’s hand she felt it was a sign from God. She took the literal meaning and thought that a police chief named Kevin was the messiah, which tragically ended in his death. She thought this would allow her to talk to her children one last time. “I thought God was sending a message just for me.” – PERSONAL JESUS. (It’s just a stupid story and I believed).
o This is great commentary on how people often extract different meaning from passages in the bible or other historical/religious texts to justify their actions. This also shows the power of belief and the devastating effect of the Departure on people thoughts and actions.
Questions
• The two Kevins: If there is a messiah figure in this story, is it Kevin, Sr., Kevin or something else entirely? He says at the end to Grace, “You just got the wrong Kevin.”
• Is Kevin, Grace’s personal Jesus?
• Story of Abraham – Reference to Kevin, Jr. dying?
Special Notes
• Background to Kevin, Sr.’s mission to complete the Songline – Within the animist belief system of Indigenous Australians, a songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) which mark the route followed by localized “creator-beings” during the Dreamtime. The paths of the songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance, and painting. A knowledgeable person is able to navigate across the land by repeating the words of the song, which describe the location of landmarks, waterholes, and other natural phenomena. In some cases, the paths of the creator-beings are said to be evident from their marks, on the land, such as large depressions in the land which are said to be their footprints. By singing the songs in the appropriate sequence, indigenous people could navigate vast distances, often travelling through the deserts of Australia’s interior. The continent of Australia contains an extensive system of songlines, some of which are of a few kilometres, whilst others traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different indigenous peoples — peoples who may speak markedly different languages and have different cultural traditions. Since a songline can span the lands of several different language groups, different parts of the song are said to be in those different languages. Languages are not a barrier because the melodic contour of the song describes the nature of the land over which the song passes. The rhythm is what is crucial to understanding the song. Traditional Aboriginal people regard all land as sacred, and the songs must be continually sung to keep the land “alive”.
Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus Lyrics
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who’s there
Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer
Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver
You know i’m a forgiver
Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith
Your own personal Jesus…
Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer
I will deliver
You know I’m a forgiver
Reach out and touch faith
Your own personal Jesus
Reach out and touch faith
Leftovers DVR – S3E3 Crazy Whitefella Thinking
We take a trip to the Outback and examine this weeks episode of The Leftovers.
Is Damon Replaying S6 of LOST with S3 of The Leftovers?
Many people complained after Lost S6 that we had been fooled (I disagree, I loved it, but that’s another post) Are we headed for a replay with The Leftovers?
SPOILER ALERT FOR LOST S6
I’ll make this quick because A Dash disagrees with me… and please forgive my cell phone shot screen grabs…
My main point is that Kevin Sr. seemingly wakes up in a different place after taking the prescription drugs.
When he first wakes up after being found in the desert there are a bunch of young people building a boat near a little church (Grace’s Kids?)
Then he goes back and finds the photo book that has pictures of the family and the little church.
Kevin then takes a bunch of pills and then wakes up and into last week’s ending scene but it’s totally different; no church, a small pond and no boat. Grace also later says she’s alone.
Is this LOST season 6 all over again? Is Kevin Sr. In the sideways? Is this place or the place with boat and the kids the “real” world? Does the Hotel that Kevin Jr visits in one of these places?
I probably missed something, let us know your ideas in the comments below!
A Hustler’s Leftover Notes S3E2
A Dash Hustler has been doing such a knock out job recapping The Leftovers we decided to post his notes. Enjoy.
Episode 2 – Don’t Be Ridiculous
Recap Major Points (This is not all chronological)
Perfect Strangers Homage – Theme song to the Leftovers, same intro as season 2 set to the theme song for this show – “Nothing Gonna Stop Me Now.”
1. Preacher, aka Pillar Man, falls from tower and dies (at precisely 4:20 am – shout out to weed culture and/or biblical verses – Found this on the Internet: Romans 4:20: “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.”).
2. Pillar Man’s wife Sandy has been camping out by him and taking care of his needs since the day the Guilty Remnant broke through to Jarden. He apparently ignored Sandy, but she was devoted to serving him. Sandy and Reverend Matt Jamison decided to bury Pillar Man and say he departed (slowly phased out) in front of their eyes.
• Nora doesn’t believe this of course being from the Department of Sudden Departures and has unabashed skepticism of anything departure-related. She questions Sandy and Matt. Nora is very abrupt and mean to Sandy. Nora finds out from Matt that they are lying and that they secretly buried him and concocted this story. Sandy and Matt wanted to give the preacher purpose.
• Later in the episode, Nora wants to paste a picture of Pillar Man’s exhumed body across Jarden Square. Before she is able to, Kevin stops her and reminds her of how level-headed she usually and suggests that maybe this isn’t the best thing to do.
3. The Psychology of Nora
• Nora receives a phone call from real-life actor Mark Lin-Baker about being able to speak to her kids again. After calling and asking (or demanding) her boss at the DSD if she can travel for work to visit Mark Lin-Baker to ascertain whether or not this is a scam. Nora implies that it is important to the work of the DSD, but it is obvious that she has some curiosity as well.
• Nora Flies to St. Louis to see Mark Lin-Baker.
Mark Linn-Baker – one of the four leading characters on Perfect Strangers that did not depart, although he faked his departure to start a new life before being discovered. (Read Special Notes below)
• Upon introduction, he tosses her phone in the toilet. Mark Lin-Baker tells Nora she can see her children again through a process of exposure to Low Amplitude Denzinger Radiation, a rare kind of neutron radiation that scientists have recorded in places where departures happened. Although very skeptical at first, she is clearly enamored with the possibility, even though her outward behavior with other people might suggest otherwise. MLB tells her that many smart, respected members of society have done this. He tries to pitch this to Nora as a way to get control back in both their lives. He tells Nora that she will receive a call in a few days to see if she is interested. Nora later looks at several of the testimonials from people about to embark on this process, many of which seem to be very bright. (Is this a scam for money or something else or is this real?)
• (Lily) Nora drives to Kentucky to see Lily, who as everything seemingly pointed to was living with her natural birth mother, Christine. Nora is distraught when she realizes that Lily doesn’t know who she is. Nora then sees Christine and becomes upset when faced with the reality that Christine is her real mother.
• Technology – 1) The Airport Kiosk – malfunction with kiosk that malfunctions when she says traveling by herself. The only option she can choose is, “Will You Be Travelling with an Infant on Your Lap,” which she picks reluctantly at the behest of the airline staff who tells her this is the result of a dead spot on the screen; 2) Rental car GPS; 3) Airport parking lot exit machine. She paid for her ticket and it doesn’t register at the exit. She gets out of the car in anger and manually moves the gate. All of this frustrates Nora and this adds to her feelings of helplessness.
• (Nora’s Children) Nora’s Cast and Wu-Tang tattoo. Nora visits Erica (Regina King) and tells her everything that’s happened, including that she covered up the tattooed names of her children with the WuTang tattoo. She punished herself later by slamming the car door on her arm (one of the medical staff witnessed her doing it to herself). She said to the doctor’s question, “Why in God’s Name Would I Do That?”
• (Erica and the Trampoline) – After Nora discloses her feelings to Erica, Erica asks Nora to jump on a Trampoline with her along to the song by Wu-Tang Protect Ya’ Neck. They are like little kids letting go to some jump therapy. (Nora sees Erica as someone she completely trusts because of losing children and from their very real and honest interaction involving the DSD questionnaire that Nora uses for work and Evie in Season 2.)
• Nora is pulled in her car by Tommy, who is concerned for her well-being, as he received a call from Christine detailing Nora’s visit. Nora immediately becomes defensive and says that she wanted to give Lily back to her birth mother because she felt good being able to do that for someone who had lost a child. Tommy then discloses that Lily wasn’t hers nor was she “meant” to have her. Tommy intended for his dad to take care of her because he did the same for him when he was 3 years-old (sweet moment for the Tommy/Kevin connection but bitter moment for Nora).
• Kevin and Nora – Nora returns home and catches Kevin trying to suffocate himself. He briefly explains why he is doing it. Nora then divulges the information about her Wu-Tang tattoo. Nora lets down her shield when she realizes that they are both hurting and not pretending. It’s as if Kevin’s pain almost dulls her pain just a little. Kevin says he wants to have a baby with her and she laughs hysterically in his face, as he becomes really sad. Nora says she doesn’t want to mess up what they have. She is clearly scared. This made me think of the title of the episode, “Don’t be Ridiculous.”
• SUMMARY – Nora feels like she is all alone and that everyone around her has a family, including Kevin. Although Kevin loves Nora, he can’t truly understand what she is going through even if they both experience significant pain from this Departure event.
4. Going to Australia – Nora tells Kevin she is going to Australia and Kevin wants to join her.
• Trip to Sydney, Nora gets a call and is supposed to bring $20,000 in cash to a hotel. She isn’t open with Kevin about the real reason why she wants to go to Australia. This could be because she doesn’t really know if she will go through with it or because she is hiding her true intentions.
5. Police Chief, Kevin the Messiah (Kevin Garvey, Sr.) – at the end of the episode, we go to Australia and focus on the daily routine of a police chief whose name is Kevin. When he returns home that night, he is abducted because some old ladies believe he is special (or the messiah). He doesn’t admit to being the messiah and then they knock him out and tie him to a see saw type of equipment and dunk him in the water until he drowns. They obviously believe that if they kill him, he will rise from the dead. He drowns and then they realize he is not the Kevin they spoke of. During the commotion, Kevin Garvey, Sr. emerges with a “are you looking for me” moment.
• Question is what would give the women this conviction that they could kill the police chief Kevin and then bring him back to life to prove that he is the messiah?
• Are Kevin, Sr. and Kevin both special this way or is one more of a messiah-like figure than the other?
Idea
Maybe Nora is so disheveled at the end of episode one because of the neutron radiation or she is in the other world as a result of undergoing the radiation process.
Other Questions
• Any special reason why the episode was so focused on Perfect Strangers? Is it just what we see or something more? (This situation was mentioned in season 2).
Special Notes
“For the unfamiliar, the series, which ran from 1986 to 1993, chronicled the adventures of a sheep herder named Balki (Bronson Pinchot) who immigrated to Chicago from a fictional island near Greece and became roommates with his high-strung cousin Larry (Mark Linn-Baker). In the world of The Leftovers, it was once believed that all four stars of the sitcom (Pinchot, Linn-Baker, plus Melanie Wilson and Rebeca Arthur) had vanished on Oct. 14. As it turned out, only three had departed; Linn-Baker had faked his disappearance and was later discovered hiding in Mexico. This is all essential — as are the names of the episode’s credited writers: Tha Lonely Donkey Kong & Specialist Contagious. According to HBO, those are pseudonyms for Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, derived from an online Wu-Tang Name Generator.”
Leftovers DVR – S3E2 Don’t Be Ridiculous!
Axel & Aaron dive deep into this Nora centric episode of The Leftovers.