The Leftovers (TV Series) The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother) (2017) User Reviews

Great episode with lots of action.

[ohmap-977-664810 · 10/10 · 1 June 2017]

Of course we are only days from finding out what happens to our characters. I did a LONG piece on what I thought was happening, but I decided not to print it. It is better we just watch the last episode and see how it ends. I think with the title being "the Book of Nora" we will see what happens to Nora when she walks into the vaporizer, or doesn't walk into the vaporizer, or maybe Kevin will follow her into the vaporizer, or not. You see...speculation gets me nowhere. Like the Beatle song nowhere man.

One thing I will bet, those of you who say you might miss the last episode...I bet you will be there front line and center to see the denouement of the show.

I give this show a 10 out of 10 for originality. I have not been bored for one minute. There is action, suspense, drama, science fiction, or anything else I can think of! I grew to like the characters...even Patty. She did a superb job as a ghost. The writing was great! Personally, I think 8.1 is a bit low for the series and should be above a 9. I also like the Game of Thrones and Westworld. I also believe many people are missing a great series. The number who watch the Leftovers is not large. This is a diamond in the rough! I will be watching this Sunday!

The mirror of reality

[aarongnr · 10/10 · 23 February 2020]

I already thought this in ep. 8 of season 2. But now it became quite obvious: Whatever the place is that Kevin goes to when he dies, it's mirroring the real world. There is something beautiful about it that makes me appreciate our world alittle more, I can't pinpoint it exactly. Another beautifully weird episode of The Leftovers, excited for the finale.

Always finding new ways to surprise...

[nomen_meltdown · 9/10 · 29 May 2017]

So, it's the second-to-last episode of the series, and the writers knew it was coming, so surely- SURELY- this hour would begin to "answer all the big questions," right? To give us viewers what Laurie told us everyone wants following an end: closure. Instead we get a somewhat farcical, far more intimate character study.

Why Kevin Garvey? What's so special about him? Why does he seem to be immortal? Is he Jesus? Will he be able to deliver the messages in the afterlife? To tell Evie she's loved? To find out where Grace's kids' shoes are? To get the song from Christopher Sunday? Will he see Laurie there? Well, sure, those are all good questions-- but instead, let's watch Patty moderate a sit-down between two 'aspects' of Kevin, to try to figure out *why* he keeps running from the women who love him. Oh, and he has to use his dick- now practically a character unto itself- to open a door, nothing to interpret there. {thump.} (Yes, it *thumps* when he sets it on something.) Genius.

And how answers were encoded in Patty's dialog with Kevin after he 'summoned' her? Telling him that she was there because he chose her; that he could have turned back at any time, but he persisted despite "knowing what was inside him;" that killing everybody on the anniversary was just 'giving them what they wanted,' because they expected something to happen? One hour of TV, endless hours of analysis! Which, in the end, is all some of us want from our fiction, and why we'll miss this show so much after next week.

There was some gripping drama, yes, and some heartbreak (literally)- it wouldn't be The Leftovers without that- but this episode was also wickedly funny in its absurdity. Which may be exactly what we need between a deeply-moving-but-sad "Certified" and what may end up being a *really* heavy "Book of Nora." So in the end, it doesn't feel wasted, despite setting aside, or alternately just taking for granted the supernatural questions (okay, I get it, season 2 theme song, "let the mystery be"), because it brought everything back 'home' to the character who's at the center of the story, and dug into his heart to try and understand, at long last, what drives him.

As to what next week will bring, the last moments of "The Book of Kevin" suggested that he and Nora won't be reuniting next week, but there might still be hope: if this week ended with Kevin "nuking the afterlife," clearing out the souls held there and preventing him from ever returning, then just maybe he and Nora can reconcile and spend the rest of their lives together (naïve, maybe, but one can hope), but not 'eternity' afterwards... Six more days until we find out.

Unless we don't.

You know about fisher protocol? Prove it...

[akshatdave · 29 May 2017]

Major spoilers... From the second I heard The Leftovers' season one theme start to play over this episode's opening credits — beginning with that infamous, ominous "bwoooooommppp"! — I was both bracing myself for the inevitably intense hour ahead and laughing at the show's sheer defiance.

But as both the callback opening credits and the bruising ending of "The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother)" confirm, The Leftovers is still, at its core, what it's always been: a story about wrenching, deeply personal grief. For all the show's talk of divine intervention and Doomsday proclamations, when Kevin — or more accurately, both Kevins — finally gets to the center of his mental maze in this episode's final minutes, it's not about God at all. It's just about Kevin, a well-meaning man who'd nonetheless rather run from his problems than do the hard work of untangling them. It's about the life he had, the life he wanted, and the woman he still loves.While season two's "International Assassin" is probably the best "Kevin in the afterlife" episode, I think this one ultimately had the most to it, if that makes sense. By the time Kevin is fighting himself in an attempt to cut a key out of his own heart — a key that will launch nuclear Armageddon, mind you — it's clear that The Leftovers has escaped its earthly bonds and jetted off to some new planet entirely.This "other world" in "The Leftovers" is meant to feel a lot like a vivid dream, where everyone looks familiar and everything feels incredibly important — until the dreamer wakes up and realizes nothing made sense.

Going back to "International Assassin" territory for a third time would seem like a bold move, if not for the other ambitiously out-there episodes that have thrilled this season. It was amazing that such a quirky, symbolic detour of an episode would work in the first place, let alone three times. The return to Kevin Harvey's world isn't just a fun waste of time; it's used to highlight Kevin's depression. The place is where Kevin flees to when faced with his insecurities about letting himself be broken and vulnerable around the women he loves. Kevin's fear of showing his real face and being rejected by his family is the very thing keeping him from his family, driving him to what is essentially suicide. Tonight, Kevin acknowledges his fear of Nora, a fear that speaks to just how much he loves her.

The thing is, you will either think this is the greatest thing or think it's pointless. In this season we have both drama and comedic scenes,especially I loved how much confused he was and making it through the strange world. I absolutely adore this and season 3 has just got better and better. Justin Theroux deserves so many accolades for what he has brought to the showman, my brain still hurts. This is one screwed up episode! But in an awesome freaking way! Damn,it brought tears in my eyes.The acting is so good... Wow. And the director did a great job in delivering the main message and the purpose of this episode. Phew, philosophical stuff... This episode kinda scared me! As you can see and read, I'm not really by myself... This episodes was too good to be true. It's a brain-shaker and full of interesting scenes. It keeps you guessing throughout. Kevin is hot as always. We got some nice shots of him. Good that he's not only handsome, his acting skills are amazing!

What's neat about that ending is that it's still fraught with religious imagery. The sight of John and Michael sleeping near what could have been Kevin's corpse recalls the two disciples who fell asleep outside of Jesus's tomb and missed the resurrection in the New Testament, and, of course, Kevin returns to life after having apparently been dead awhile, which is not something people just do.Surreal, symbolic, silly, and sorrowful, this was yet another fantastic episode of TheLeftovers. It keeps getting harder and harder to think about saying goodbye to this show next week. A solid season finale could cement this an all-time great season of television, and like the characters on this show that I love, I have a strong personal belief that they'll stick the landing.So we have a big question now - Can Kevin get to Nora in time? And in the end scene question remains unanswered "what now"?

We f*cked up with The Leftovers.

[ranchi · 10/10 · 29 May 2017]

"International Assassin" was one of the most iconic episodes of the second season and I'm pretty sure everyone was thrilled to know we were going to get another episode like that. But who would've ever thought it would be THIS? I loved this episode because it sums up The Leftovers: it shows the faith of those who believe in something greater than themselves; it has the recurrent search of identity everyone in the series has been through –in every different way–; and it ends up being a sad, tragic, beautifully told love story. I can't stop but thinking in HBO's bosses and how they must be feeling now they already made the show depart early. In the climax of the episode I'm sure they changed Kevins' words and thought "We f*cked up with The Leftovers". That's it. One more week until the hidden gem that is The Leftovers ends. One more week until the best show no one is watching departures.

We need to scan your pe**s, Sir.

[adambinodevil · 10/10 · 19 November 2021]

I definitely don't understand what or why anything is happening, but it's somehow still extremely entertaining to watch. And I guess that's what matters to me, I made peace with the fact the I don't have to understand everything, especially in this show.

Blow up the inside world

[bnevs18 · 9/10 · 29 March 2024]

So, this is my second watching of this episode, first time I watched wanting all the answers and was left disappointed, but now I know that this series wasnt about the event, but the aftermath. About how these broken people dealt with the questions and the aftermath. This is about Kevin destroying his 'safespace'...the place where he can retreat to, where he can run away from his feelings and play Jesus.

It was a great misdirection, because as viewers, of course we want the psychotic leader of the GR to fail in his plan to blow up the world. So you root against President Kevin until Patti reveals that she is trying to get Kevin to destroy this place where he hides from himself. That this ISNT the afterlife...he's not communicating with the departed...this is a construct of his own.

I can't work it out...

[TheDonaldofDoom · 4 February 2018]

I don't know what to make of many parts of this episode. Even for the Leftovers, it strays into realm of utterly bizarre. Some of the bizarre moments are just for laughs, like Kevin's penis-scanner. Others are genuinely thought-provoking. As the President, Kevin chooses Patti as his defence secretary. Is that who she really is to him? Is that who she has been all this time? In a weird way it feels kind of fitting.

As Christopher Sunday asks Kevin, what does he actually want if he doesn't believe teaching his father some sing will stop the flood? Is this all to give Kevin some purpose? This show so consistently asks questions without offering answers, yet it feels just fine if you accept you won't be getting any.

I don't understand anything. I don't understand what the meeting between the two Kevins was supposed to signify. I don't understand what the key to the nuclear code being in Kevin's heart meant. I don't understand why there even were two Kevins. It would be clearer if one had one characteristic and the other had another but they're not opposites or anything like that. They're not, as far as I can see, two sides to one person's personality. So I'm going to have to go for the lazy explanation as to what's going on: it's all a dream, so it doesn't make sense.