The Leftovers – A Most Powerful Adversary – Review

• About
• Latest Posts

Barry Quinn

Barry Quinn is an English Language and Literature graduate and a Creative Writer MA studier. He is an aspiring creative and professional writer and is currently in the process of writing his first novel. His writing blog can be viewed here: https://barrygjquinn.wordpress.com You can follow him on Twitter at: @mrbarryquinn

Latest posts by Barry Quinn (see all)

• TV Review: Doctor Who – Oxygen - 13 May, 2017
• TV Review: Doctor Who – Knock Knock - 6 May, 2017
• TV Review: Doctor Who – The Pilot - 17 April, 2017

After last week’s standout episode of The Leftovers which focused upon Nora and Erika, I thought that there was simply no way to top it. How wrong I was.

‘A Most Powerful Adversary’ is perhaps the bleakest episode of The Leftovers to date (and trust me, that’s saying something). But it’s also the greatest. I simply cannot praise this episode enough. It was tense, claustrophobic, gripping and powerful all at once.

Justin Theroux and Ann Dowd are captivating sparring partners. We’re only on episode seven but we’ve been left with a shocking cliffhanger – one which quite easily could go either way. After battling with Patti all of season two, Kevin finally reaches breaking point, culminating in his apparent demise.

If Kevin is indeed dead what a bold move this is. In killing off its lead, The Leftovers wouldn’t necessarily crumble like most shows due to its streamlined more of focusing upon sole characters on a weekly basis – Kevin hasn’t, if you think about it, done much at all for the past few weeks. I’m confident that the show could continue successfully without him.

Despite a drop in ratings, Damon Lindelof, the creator, has apparently spoken to HBO about his five season plan. So, if Kevin is dead, it looks as though Damon has plans afoot for the future. There are already theories amassing about how Kevin could survive. It’s been reported that we’ll see him again in some form – flashback, vision, alive, as a dead body – but I have a feeling that he will survive. Somehow.

The fan theories doing the rounds range from him not actually being dead yet, and Michael dragging him off to deliver the epinephrine, to Erika burying him and him resurrecting like the bird in her story last week. Either way, Damon Lindelof likes to explore the theory of resurrection – just look at Lost. I’ve argued countless times about the similarities between The Leftovers and Lost, so this is very much a possibility.

Either way, The Leftovers will be a vastly different show. Without its lead, a new one will need to take his place – Nora, John, Matt are all possibilities. And if Kevin does survive, he’ll be a changed man. Hopefully he won’t be seeing visions of Patti anymore, which means he’ll need a new torment to plague him. If he survives, I want to see his final culmination with Patti – his titular powerful adversary. I want to see more of her.

I realise that I’m wanting a lot. But based upon this hour of television alone, what I want most of all is a third season of The Leftovers. And a fourth and a fifth, please. It isn’t too much to ask for.

The Leftovers continues to excel – it is one of the only shows that consistently has me on the edge of my seat. Aside from the fifth episode of season two – the Matt centric episode – season two has been consistently brilliant.

PLEASE RENEW IT, HBO. That is all.