Walter White Had Flies; John Murphy Has Crickets: How a Character's Guilt Manifests Itself Onscreen

Written by: Brian Davids

Brian Davids dives into the murky waters of John Murphy's conscience and notices something quite similar to Breaking Bad's Walter White.

Preamble

As we embark on another season of The Leftovers, I first want to state how excited I am to be covering Season 2 for The Living Reminders. Thank you again to Mary and Blake Larsen for the platform to do so.

I also want to establish my approach to this season's coverage as I won't be recapping each episode from start to finish.  Mary and Blake do an excellent job of recapping each episode via the mothership podcast (while doing so in a way that is unique from most TV podcasts). Instead, I'll be extrapolating on something I noticed within each episode before capping off each post with a Random Takes, Theories and Observations section.

During Season 2, I will avoid reading any other speculation-based or theory-driven articles on The Leftovers until I've published my weekly post. So, if someone else happens to share a similar theory, prediction or view, it's nothing more than a coincidence. While Blake and I will trade and mold theories together (such as this week's Sudden Theory of the Week), I want to ensure the readers that what they're reading in my weekly post is my own, unadulterated point-of-view on all things The Leftovers.

I'm choosing to do things this way in order to avoid the media's echo chamber (until I've written my weekly post).  Everyone tends to consume the same critics, Twitter feeds, bloggers and podcasters to the point where people end up echoing the same points already made about a show (whether they realize it or not). For example, Alan Sepinwall stated during his initial review of True Detective Season 2 that Vince Vaughn was having troubling reciting the stylized dialogue of writer Nic Pizzolatto.  Before Alan's statement, I had yet to hear anyone say anything remotely similar to this. Once Alan said this, countless critics adopted the same point in subsequent weeks.  The point is, I'll be avoiding my usual overconsumption of opinions in order to stay true to my own takes. That being said, I will not be avoiding your takes or Blake and Mary's. This approach only lasts until I've written my reaction post to each episode.

Lastly, what made LOST such a great experience was the discussion of the questions raised in each episode and the subsequent theories among fans.  Each week, we're given a few more pieces of the puzzle and then we see how they fit alongside the rest of the pieces we've already assembled to that point. Regardless of what the answers end up being, the point of my weekly posts is to have fun going down the rabbit hole together and explore what could be.  Like many of you, I am in this position because of Damon's work on LOST as it completely changed the way I watch television. I certainly don't mind The Leftovers echoing that approach.

Walter White Had Flies; John Murphy Has Crickets

Breaking Bad told the story of a high school chemistry teacher turned murderous drug kingpin. As Walter White accumulated more ill-gotten gains through the manufacturing of methamphetamine, his guilty conscience was never going to let him escape his crimes no matter how long he remained at large.

Walt's guilt manifested itself in the form of his irrational obsessions that the people around him would often find to be inconsequential.  When you distract yourself to the point of irrational obsession, you're doing anything you can to avoid thinking about the existing or future ramifications of your actions. 

For example, in season 2 of Breaking Bad, Walt began obsessing over the rotting floor surrounding his home's leaky hot water heater.  The rot was caused by a fungus that slowly ate away at his home's foundation (figuratively, not literally).  The rot was just another representation of Walt's guilt eating away at him.

Walt's guilty conscience culminated in Season 3's "Fly" when Walt discovered a fly in his laboratory. Fearing contamination of his product, he pursued that fly the entire episode.  Once again, the weight of the situation Walt had created, whether it was the meth manufacturing itself or the dangerous alliances that came with it, led to his obsession over nothing more than a common house fly.  Jesse, Walt's lab partner, eventually came to assist Walt in hunting down the fly but even he couldn't understand why Walt was so consumed by this fly considering the fact that they cooked poison for a living.

Eventually, the fly was killed by Jesse, not Walt, as Walt had fallen asleep.  To close the episode, Walt, now in bed, awoke to the sound of a fly buzzing. He began to stare at the flashing light of his smoke detector only to see the image of a fly flash subliminally before his eyes. This once again proves that your guilty conscience will never let you escape your actions.  There will always be reminders of your past transgressions. In the case of the fly, Walt feared contamination. In actuality, he was the contaminate in his family's life.

* As you can tell, I love Breaking Bad and you can bet that this won't be the last time I compare both shows to each other.  After all, Damon Lindelof went as far as creating a fictional beer, Heisenbrau, to pay homage to Breaking Bad.

So what does this have to do with The Leftovers?

The Murphy household's cricket is John Murphy's version of Walter White's fly. Aside from his deep sleeping habit (which he likely developed in prison given the noisy living quarters) as well as his character-informing choices in literature (Mandela, Lenin, The Road to Terror), John Murphy's first introduction to us is at the breakfast table where he interrupts the family's bacon talk to obsess over finding said noisy cricket.  You can tell John has been aggravated by this for quite a while.

Like Walter, this irrational obsession is how John's guilt manifests itself since we later learned of the atrocious acts he commits in order to "protect" Miracle from "frauds and charlatans."  Like Jesse Pinkman, the rest of the Murphy family wasn't phased by the cricket as much as John; they were even annoyed by his obsession. Again, when you're leading a double life like John or Walt, you're going to get hung up on anything that keeps you from thinking about your own guilt, whether it's cooking meth or forcing people from their homes only to burn them down.

I think John (and whomever he's working under) are Miracle's (as well as this season's) version of The Guilty Remnant in Season One.  They will do anything it takes to protect Miracle from being overrun by cults or Holy Wayne-types that plague the rest of the world from their perspective. In doing so, they've created a booming economy due to the overwhelming demand for a "safe" place with virtually no vacancy.

Or, per my belief, John is protecting the town from anyone threatening to expose Miracle for not being what it claims to be.  Again, look at the economic impact that "Zero Departures" has on the town.  Tourism is thriving; merchandise sales are through the roof and one can easily assume that real estate prices are a fortune given the limited supply of homes and overwhelming demand for safety (or the illusion of safety).

Perhaps the home burning is a way to kill two birds with one stone (from John's perspective). You rid yourself of someone with the power to reveal the town's true nature (such as Isaac) and you strengthen the town's economy by selling that property to someone willing to pay top dollar for it.

Remember, The Leftovers takes place in a world where companies profit from re-creating lifelike dolls of departed loved ones. Isn't it possible that a small town could sell the illusion of safety to the world?  Who controls the census in this town anyway?  Perhaps everyone lives in fear of John and co. so they've kept their mouths shut.  Maybe John, not Isaac, is "selling the lie that folks are buying."

John openly mentioned his time in prison to Kevin, Nora and Jill.  Is 6 years in jail enough time for attempted murder?  Perhaps he got an early release if he agreed to do the bidding for someone of great power and influence, someone who hatched the plan to market Jarden as a safe haven from departures.

Regardless of the validity of Miracle's claims that it was spared from the departure, the biggest issue here is how the town conducts itself. Safe or unsafe, tyranny is wrong no matter what the town's true nature is. When John commits acts of terror on residents that he believes to be a threat to the town's reputation of being "safe," that's certainly not what a higher power would want from its "chosen land."  If your town was truly given this rare gift, it should be a safe place for everyone, not the select few that an ex-con deems worthy of taking up residence.

By limiting entry, John and Co. boost the local economy and protect themselves from outside "evil" like the various cults and prophets that terrorized people (to varying degrees) in season one.  But who governs John?  To paraphrase Skyler White, "Someone has to protect this town from the man who protects this town."

Did someone create this illusion of safety to profit from it? Or is the town's claim actually true despite its oppressive governing body?

Are John, Erika, The Reverend (and others) manipulating the world for the aforementioned reasons or are they completely selfish when it comes to sharing their special town with the world?

To answer Al Michaels' question, I don't believe in Miracle.

Random Takes, Theories and Observations 

• What the cold opening immediately tells me is that Jarden/Miracle is not immune to bad things happening, such as The Departure. More importantly, it shows another woman stepping forward to raise another woman's baby. What is Nora also doing? She's raising another woman's baby (Christine/Lily). What did Kate do on LOST for a short while? Raise another woman's baby. What did Ben Linus do with Rousseau's baby?

• Sydney, Australia is the New Russia (while being yet another connection to LOST).

• Speaking of LOST connections, Evangeline 'Evie' Murphy + Lily Garvey = An Homage to Evangeline Lilly

• Of course, Michael is yet another common name between LOST and The Leftovers.

• And another LOST reminder, Dr. Goodheart reminds me of Horace Goodspeed.

• Michael's words during the church service, "See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone..." were certainly chosen for a reason (by the writers and/or by Michael) since they came after John's destruction of Isaac's home. This also happened to be John's first church visit in quite some time from the sound of it. Does Michael have his own agenda in the works? He must know about the sins of his father by now. Given his secret prayer session with Virgil, something he did not disclose to John when leaving to deliver more food to The Pillar Man, I have to think that Michael is up to something.  Was Evie a part of this plan too? (I have more to say on this during the The Living Reminders podcast.)
  
  
  

• Overall, I keep coming back to the old expression and mindset, "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil."  It seems The Murphy parents want everyone in Miracle to feign ignorance and follow this mindset despite the evil taking place in and around this town. John views anyone with psychic ability as a charlatan which allows him to justify his tyrannical ways of ridding the town of people who "speak evil" or "see evil." The man burned down his childhood friend's home! More importantly, Erika is hearing impaired which means she, too, feigns ignorance to the oppressive ways of her husband, thus, she "hears no evil." Since Erika can't hear the evil in her own household or town, she doesn't stop to see evil either. That explains her steadfast support of her husband when stitching up Isaac and her lack of compassion for him. She even ran by the ruins of Isaac's house without stopping to see the damage created by John. How do Michael and Evie really feel about their parents behavior?

• The episode title, 'Axis Mundi,' according to many religions and philosophers, is believed to be the connection between Heaven and Earth. Could that explain where the water went? Or, is it a more practical explanation such as someone wanting to share this "magical" water with everyone, not just Miracle residents?
  
  
  
  
  
• Take note of the sign at the spring where Evie eventually disappears: "Residents Only - Visitors Prohibited." There's a tag written on the sign that says, "No Fair!" I'll expand on its possible meaning during my follow-up to Blake's Sudden Theory of the Week.
  
  
  

• The palm print on the Evie's friend's Mercedes-Benz caught my attention right away in the closing scene. Since we were introduced to Isaac and his palm-reading ability, I think that palm print will play a key role in explaining what happened to these girls and whether someone was there to facilitate their "disappearance." Isaac knew it was coming so did he play a role in Evie's disappearance in order to get back at John for burning his house down? Could it be Dr. Goodheart who we met at the spring earlier in the episode? The Pillar Man? Virgil, the man Michael prays with after feeding The Pillar Man? Perhaps it's someone else we know already. Again, I'm holding back on my main theory here as Blake and I will explore this on the podcast's aforementioned Sudden Theory of the Week.
  
  
  

Questions for You

• By interrupting Matt's story, did the Reverend protect Matt from John during the church service?

• Or, is the Reverend trying to control what people hear about the outside world so their illusion of safety remains in tact?

• Do you think Miracle is what it claims to be?
• Let me know your thoughts about the points or questions I've raised. I can't wait to read them.

About Brian Davids

Brian Davids is co-host of the Film Schlubs podcast which covers the world of TV/Film every week. Brian also co-hosts Better Talk Saul, a Better Call Saul podcast, and contributes to the Heisenberg Chronicles blog. Brian lives in Newport Beach, CA and owns/operates a marketing agency. Follow Brian Davids on Twitter,  comment below or email him directly with your takes, questions or feedback regarding this post.