Welcome to The Daily Blurt, an occasional column in which the Herald's entertainment team rant about something. Today, Chris Schulz examines The Leftovers.
"I'm not f***ing Jesus," declares Justin Theroux's puzzled police officer Kevin Garvey late in the first episode of the third season of The Leftovers.
The reply, from Miracle's chirpy church leader Matt Jamison, makes Garvey's eyes go even wider than they normally are: "But the beard looks good on you."
Is he? Is Kevin Garvey actually Jesus? For three seasons now, The Leftovers has been hinting that Garvey is some kind of unkillable religious figure.
He can't die - and he sure has tried. Remember the bathtub scene? Ugh. That was weird.
Garvey sort of tried again in this episode too, when he taped a plastic bag around his head with duct tape for a scene that I only occasionally snuck a look at while cowering behind my hands.
Intense is the way of The Leftovers, and before season three's debut, I'd forgotten how uneasy each episode makes you feel.
There's a constant unnerving, a sense of dread, that slowly unfolds. You're always expecting something terrible to happen. And it often does.
But that question - is Garvey Jesus? - is at the centre of the show. It's just one of the many questions posed by The Leftovers, which, as its third and final season debuts, has to be among the best shows on TV right now.
For those who need a recap, here it is: several years ago there was an apocalyptic event that saw 140 million people randomly disappear; we follow the aftermath through the eyes of Garvey, who worries and jogs in grey pants that are too tight; there's also a cult called the Guilty Remnant led by Liv Tyler who smoke too much and don't talk; and there's a ghost called Patti who keeps haunting Garvey.
Kevin Garvey, played by Justin Theroux, in The Leftovers.
It is, mostly, batshiz insanity. In season three's opening scene, an entire 10 minutes was spent following the formation of a cult in 1844 that made you wonder if you were watching the right show.
Along the way (major spoilers follow), that dog hunter from season one showed up with a half-eaten sandwich, Garvey was presented with a book about his life which he worried about for a bit and then thought about burning, the Guilty Remnant were blown up with a bomb, and a main character showed up in Australia with a bike, pigeons and black eyes. There was little to no jogging.
Judging by reports, the entire show will soon shift Downunder. But who knows! The Leftovers is a show in which literally anything can happen. Maybe we'll see a polar bear and a smoke monster soon and Hugo will sneak eat a Snickers. After all, the guy behind Lost, Damon Lindelof, is behind this too.
Nora and Kevin in season three of The Leftovers.
Here's where The Leftovers really seems to be heading: that opening scene suggested a "sudden departure" had happened before, and it's about to happen again. We were told there were 14 days to go and by the end of the episode, there are 13.
I could be wrong. I often am. But if The Leftovers is counting down to another apocalypse, hell, sign me up. I'm ready. We're probably going to have our own soon, so we might as well celebrate by watching the best show on TV.
