Damon Lindelof on 'The Leftovers' and its acclaimed finale: 'I want to believe this story'

[@guysimchony309]

Absolutely adore this man. The Leftovers is revolutionary, transcendent TV! 20 years from it'll be widely considered one of the best of our time.

[@mauriceoksman8594]

Guy Simchony ^100% agree

[@Nimtrix]

@Carmen Palamino Lol, seems totally legit. Silly bots.

[@AmazingJayB51]

👎🏾

[@funkmasteryoda8323]

Well it's been 7 years, and it's still shit and nobody watches it.

[@sirmarshall9521]

I will miss this show but I think 3 seasons was just the perfect amount of it. I look forward to what you do next Damon.

[@ledzeppelin4892000]

Watchmen.

[@dfiore916]

"Give the audience a twist that they can figure out, so that they stop looking for others." Brilliant.

[@reatores]

One of the best Damon interviews, thank you! Outstanding questions and answers!

[@mikequeen920]

Leftovers came at a time I needed that, I was on bad drugs and that show made me open my eyes and to this day I watch it and I'm in recovery for few weeks just watching it again

[@CipherSerpico]

This is just an outstanding interview. Great job guys. And Damon is such a good dude. He gives great answers. I can’t wait to see what this man does next.

[@user-eo1vi2nt1o]

Phenomenal interview.

[@catalunyallibertat7]

The biggest Leftovers community is the comments on AV Club. These people are brilliant! Also, great interview you guys!!

[@ronmo671]

"Closure is something you feel a lot of or not at all. Or else it not really closure at all" That is simply brilliant. Love this guy

[@PezQ84]

Watching Damon Lindelofs interviews is my heroin.

[@kdizzle901]

Damon Lindelof should be getting way more work in Hollywood….he’s co created 2 of the best top 10 shows of all time and I would agree with him when it comes to being a man of science over a man of faith

[@starsourcer]

BRAVO to Damon for bringing the BEST SERIES on TV to us!! The "Lefties" always wish you the BEST!! XOXO

[@growlinghands4696]

"Life of Pi" and "Memento" both told a story the narrator had to believe to save his sanity (because reality was too brutal), and I think it applies to Nora - a story told to save herself from her unbearable, unrelenting grief. Or the alternative, suicide. When the idea of another world where 98% of people had disappeared hit me, it was a gut punch; think of the emotional desolation caused by just 2% disappearing...To overcome her own tragedy perhaps Nora needed to fabricate something even worse so that she could start to mourn, and if not actually heal at least survive. I don't need to know either way. "The Leftovers" is extraordinary storytelling.

[@AXXXXA]

Best post interview yet. Great questions.

[@mikequeen920]

I love how you did the last episode. When you had her tell Kevin what happened and where she went without showing it

[@itsallanillusion4827]

Amazing series & interview!

[@jollyrayda]

Re: his comment on portraying the Australian guilt about treatment of indigenous tribes - as an Australian, I don't think I've had a bigger laugh/cry moment than in 'Crazy Whitefella Thinking' when Kevin Sr attacks a lady about it, and her reply was "We apologised for that!" That mixture of embarrassment and hurt outrage is spot on...

[@pietr1036]

I think David Burton living in Tasmania and being "god" has something to do with the extinction that happened in that place connecting with the imminent end of the world

[@majorzero39]

he made the most popular and most unknown shows on tv

[@TheGutterMonkey]

Thanks for this, it was a great interview.

[@paullove729]

Totally fantastic series

[@joshualarue1624]

simply amazing

[@user-eo1vi2nt1o]

That revenge of the Jedi poster is dope

[@frankiecutlass7155]

This is a spectacular interview. The last bit was exactly what i got out of the show. I have no idea who you guys are but well done!

[@solorenzocruz8045]

first let me say that the leftovers as lost did touched a part of me that is rarely breached my soul;. i eagerly watched the last episode as excited as i was sad; that the end was nigh =0) i cant say i was disappointed; because season 3, episode one; had told me Kevin was not a messiah or Jesus. i knew this because we see Nora at the end; deny knowing Kevin. this tells us there will not be a great flood of biblical proportions. so i wasn't disappointed; i would say more hmm?? unfulfilled. so i watched it again, then again; only at the third time of watching did i realize that just as in life; there are no complete answers and that life is joy/pain, sacrifice and most importantly of all, love; the leftovers is like the one that got away. the girl you tell yourself was the one; you make yourself believe that notion; even though it's ridiculous. just like Kevin Garvey searching all them years for Nora; no matter how emotionally detached she is from him. there are questions that should never be asked and that are never answered. that is the fun of life. update: on the 4th time of watching i realized how strong lindelhof magnetically pulls you towards the characters and vica/versa also that there is a 50;50 split between whether Nora passed through the machine or did not. but there is a small grey area between this theory; PURGATORY we had a similar situation with Damon lindelofs LOST; to start with Kevin barely knows anything about his or Nora's relationship when they meet for the first time. secondly there seems to be something really strange about kevins behavior in conversation with Nora; the smirks the little smiles there seems to be an emptiness behind his eyes. Kevin also mentions heart problems and that he had the big one? is this because of all the dunking in water over the years or did he indeed; have the big one and pass? the beads that were offered to Nora at the wedding. the beads that Nora almost arrogantly refused to wear. the beads of sin; that were placed on the goat that she in turn adopted; had she finally decided to take sin home with her? the sinful nun who was first exposed at the wedding. the call to Laurie Garvey? the same woman who supposedly committed suicide. then miraculously shows up carrying her departed child whilst on the phone to Nora; there are so many clues in this great episode but i will leave it to you to unearth them and alas= the great Christopher Sunday. (David Gulpilil) (Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu) we know he possessed the song to bring the great flood, and this is why he was sacrificed; so Kevin Garvey senior would not be able to perform the last ritual. therefore saving humanity from extinction i'm just delighted Mr lindelhof decided to create another labyrinth for us to wander through just as he did with LOST and it also introduced me to a couple of amazing songs that i had never laid ears on; so thank you for the memories and hopefully many more to come; PS; my song is bring the rain; not stop it.

[@TheCinemafan87]

this guy is the god of tv... with David lynch...two gods

[@ozymandias5449]

Damn I love this man

[@henrychinaski5938]

Just watched the series for the first time and I gotta say it caught me completely off guard . It's already in my top 5 favorite shows . Ans he watches Mr. Robot ? Fuck yes.

[@stayblessingrecords]

I am surprised no one mentioned the sopranos as a show with the mother and son feuding storyline

[@jameskarkas7629]

Damon Lindelof has created The New Testament for the 20th century.

[@jameskarkas7629]

I meant 21st century

[@masteric123]

Is that pee wees big adventure bike in background?! Lol awesome

[@joaoluizsn]

Loved Justin and Ann together

[@chewyjello1]

What I took away from the show the most was the dance between truth/order and belief/chaos. They seem like opposites but in reality are two sides of the same coin. The sooner we learn to accept and embrace the dance of both rather than fighting one or the other, the sooner we learn to live our lives in balance and harmony.

[@pietr1036]

Looks like you just described a religion that a guy created in a fiction work where native australian people created a civilization

[@p4rzival127]

I believed that ending in a snap.... until I didn't

[@miked5562]

Is that Pee Wee's bike?

[@dfiore916]

...also, sounds a lot like the end of "The Life of Pi"

[@jaxpk2669]

please bring Justin back im begging you!

[@veerchasm1]

As much as I loved the show the finale suffered from couple things that lessened it 1) unnecessarily introduced new characters i.e. the nun/married couple 2) tell not show. We should have seen the things that Kevin and Nora did instead of hear them tell each other in way too long monologues. Matt was a vital character and his funeral would have been poignant. 3) How many shots of bike riding do you need in a finale?

[@teocantsleep4611]

1. They were extremely minor characters 2. It would have killed the ambiguity, most importantly, and secondly, they only had seven episodes to work with before it and an hour. 3. It's a callback to the original book, where Nora rides around on a bike a lot.

[@AmazingJayB51]

Twist weren’t that revolutionary just rehashed junk.