Thanks, Movie/TV Board (re: The Leftovers)

While I have a love/hate relationship with the M/TV Board, this is why I always come back.

The wife and I had tried watching The Leftovers when it originally aired, but we gave up after 5 episodes. The whole Guilty Remnant thing was just so damned irritating, and I just couldn't maintain interest. Didn't really feel attached to any of the characters. So after 5 episodes we just stopped watching.

Over the past couple years I've seen so many mentions of how great it became, and at times I told myself I'd give it another chance one day. I think what finally put me over the edge was when I recently read here that Damon Lindelof was involved. I don't know how that escaped me this entire time, but since Lost is my all time favorite series, I decided to give The Leftovers another try this past week. I started from scratch, and again I wasn't really hooked after watching the first 5 episodes again. Ironically, it was episode 6 (Guest - the one with Nora going to her conference) that set the hook. If I had stuck it out just one more episode when it originally aired, I probably would have kept watching back then (Nora is so freaking hot).

The show really took off the last few episodes of season 1. Great finish to the season. And what a ride season 2 was! Just wrapped up season 3 today. While a few storylines kind of ended with a whimper rather than a bang, I was very satisfied with the conclusion. Awesome series. There were a few episodes here and there that I found kind of slow, but they always ended with a hook that had you begging for the next episode. While I enjoyed bingeing it, I actually wish I had continued with the original airing and had to wait a week between each episode. There's something to be said for that week-long anticipation when the payoff is so phenomenal virtually each and every episode.

The wife caught bits and pieces as I watched, so now she is going to give it another try as well. I'm looking forward to rewatching with her. I don't quite put it on the level of Lost, Breaking Bad, The Wire, etc. - maybe because it's just 28 episodes - but I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't have given it another shot if not for the discussion here. I'm even going back and reading the season-long threads from years ago.

Thanks for the good work y'all put in here.