The Virgin Diaries: Episode 3

Written by: Ashley Crawley

Hi, my name is Ashley and I’m a virgin… of The Leftovers, that is. For those just stumbling onto my posts for The Living Reminders for the first time, let me catch you up. I’m brand new to The Leftovers phenomenon and have committed to catching on from the beginning – season one. Actually, let’s say catching “up”… because in Damon Lindelof land, there’s no guarantee one over catches on. And I like that. Feel free to relieve episodes one (“Pilot) and two (“Penguin One, Us Zero”) all over again.

I’d like to binge watch the entire season in a no-sleep, call-in-sick-to-work type fashion. Yep, this about nails it.

But since original Lefties had to exercise patience and wait each week to watch a new one, I’m pacing myself and modeling some semblance of restraint. I’m tracking right along with you all on the episode number, but just, you know – AN ENTIRE YEAR BEHIND.

Episode three: '”Two boats and a helicopter.” I. LOVED. THIS. EPISODE. Was it just me or did any of you watch and immediately think of the Lost storytelling technique?

One of the [many] things I adored about Lost was how it revolutionized storytelling on TV, focusing each episode on the continued development of a single character both in their past and in their present as part of the larger group. The use of flashbacks (and later, flashforwards) enticed viewers into an emotional connection, which gave a better and more invested context to the overall story arc. Who didn’t watch and have the “yesssss, it’s Sawyer time!” or “More Jin and Sun, more Jin and Sun!” My personal favorites were always the Locke episodes. Who among us didn't utter a collective gasp at this reveal alone.

I know I’ve gotten ahead of myself in trying to show the parallel use of flashbacks here. Sure, they’ve been shown in frantic bits and pieces – almost like bolts of mental lightning. The point is more that this is the first episode the series has offered us thus far where it didn’t throw all the characters at you in a single hour, but rather focused on fleshing out one for greater understanding.

And it worked. In the pilot episode, I didn’t take a second look at the propaganda-spewing Rev. Matt Jamison. Now, I’m all in.

That’s the biggest takeaway I had from watching this episode. But let’s be honest, my brain was all over the map with random, ridiculous thoughts again. 

Episode 2: Two Boats and a Helicopter

1. Take me to church, Hozier – that was one powerful sermon! Ouch, to a crowd of less than 10. Something’s a miss here. Faith has clearly waned in the years since The Departure.

2. His vilifying self was bound to get his ass kicked. It was only a matter of time. Guessing our prize fighter here is father/boyfriend/brother/spouse/friend of the girl on the flier?

3. Rev. Matt to Kevin in reply to his dinner invite: “Nights are tough for me.” Say whaaaaaa?

4. Clowns are scary, in any capacity. That is all.

 5. I love this inclusion of the father coming in secrecy to get his baby baptized because his wife has abandoned her faith. It reminds me of any film or television scene that underscores a symbol of hope in the midst of defeat. Clearly, Rev. Matt is having that moment too.

6. ...declines the offer to attend church in barter payment for the baptismal service. Baby steps, Rev. Matt, baby steps.

7. That’s a hell of a little black book the priest is maintaining. Little black book and priest – isn’t that an oxymoron? I digress.

8. MORE BIRDS! One bird cameo, eh. But, more than one? Kendra Klasek must have gone nuts when she saw these! I am. (side note: If you're an Outlander fan, check out her post on the show's use of avian imagery.)

9. I’ll hand it to Rev. Matt - he’s the first person who hasn’t gotten combative or gone nuts with the GR stalking him. He actually offers them blankets, but he doesn’t have white. LOL.

10. Real estate development is merciless. Knock down a church? Something smells fishy.

11. Whoa! Did we already know that he was Nora’s brother?!? I don’t remember that. I’m hooked on this connection already.

12. “It’s a test – not for what came before but for what came after. It’s a test for what comes now.”

13. Nora to her brother: “it’s time to let it go.” Ironic coming from a woman who spends her time seemingly digging further into her own family’s disappearance by probing the heck out of other grieving families.

14. When your clergyman brother – of all people – breaks it to you three years later that your departed husband was cheating on you.

15. The painstaking detail in which they’re showing Matt’s attention to his wife, Mary's, care is utterly heartbreaking. Is he to blame for her accident? I feel like her state - as in still being here, in body only - is his guilty remnant.

16. The painting looks like the art from the opening theme! Wonder what the significance is with the goatee'd guy?

17. Laurie visits her old house in secret?! “Please don’t tell him I was here.” I’m continuing on with my hope (referenced in The Virgin Diaries – Episode 2 post) that she’s not as dead inside as she, or even the rest of the GR, appear.

18. I’m totally confused on why looking at a painting leads to Garvey, Sr. giving him money?? Peanut butter-scented money at that! I want some. ***stops watching, stares at wall intensely***

19. Holy blunder, Batman - he’s gambling with it?!?

20. $20,000 on red! Was this the table with the birds on it?? Whoa Kendra!

21. Ah, the entertainment pipeline that is general population at a casino. And it’s my boy, Carisi, from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit!

22. This entire sequence gives me complete and utter anxiety.

23. Not to be pessimistic, but this show has zero spark of hope or happy (for the most part) thus far – there’s NO way he’s winning.

24. SHOCKED. Also: 3, 23, 25. ***Jotting down numbers still, just in case.***

25. I just keep thinking that it’s odd they would use this SVU guy for a mere 20 seconds. Something smells here.

26. And then he knocks on the window. Back to utter anxiety. I guess Rev. Matt doesn’t get all those “FWD: FWD: FWD: FWD: Warning! Parking lot safety!” emails my mom sends to me.

27. Rev. Matt starring in Priests Gone Wild. Wild and violent, that is.

28. I’m starting to wonder what sorted backstory Rev. Matt has that he wasn't among the departed, who were bold sinners according to his theory. He seems desperately focused on tracking the sins of Mapleton's missing, but this gambling and brutal assault in the parking lot makes me wonder what he’s atoning for now that he’s still here?

29. Captain and Tenille, really? Fantastic. This show has the most intriguing selection of music.

30. Bloody teenage prank. Not to get all biblical on you, but “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (JOHN 8:7)

31. This series of flashbacks is everything – childhood cancer, the fire, the accident. It feels very A Christmas Carol in nature. Until we get to him sleeping with Laurie and his hands on fire. That’s a pretty edgy Ebenezer Scrooge.

32. "That was three days ago, Matt." THREE days ago! I’ve been binge watching the heck out of The Walking Dead this month too and I just flashed to Rick waking up in the hospital in the pilot.

33. The GR bought the church! SHUT THE FRONT HOLY DOORS. This is goooooooood. Also, no more cult de sac?

34. His look. Her look. This means war.

35. This restraint thing is overrated. Must. Watch. More.

Did this episode feel like a kick-off to the Lindelof Lost method for you, and
did it also make you invest in Rev. Matt's character?

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