The Girl on the Train and The Leftovers: Synergy?

Written By: Missy Ortiz

Hey, Lefties! I finished watching our favorite actor Justin Theroux's new movie, The Girl on the Train and it was extraordinary! The mystery, the drama, the thrill...it all unraveled perfectly. Now, the reason I am bragging about this awesome film on The Living Reminders Blog is because this movie struck many nerves and hit home for me. There were SEVERAL references and similarities that occurred throughout the film that reminded me of The Leftovers. Believe me, when I say this, I had to go straight home and do my research to see if there were any handshakes shared between Damon Lindelof and Tate Taylor, who directed The Girl on the Train. If you haven't seen the movie yet, please do before you read any further because I don't want to spoil anything for you. This is your SPOILER ALERT. For those of you who have seen it, then feel free to agree with me here because you're going to be amazed at how many puns or easter eggs seemed to be intended for us fans of The Leftovers. Check this out Lefties:

The Post-Apocalyptic World of Tom Perrotta in The Leftovers

Written By: Missy Ortiz

I'm sure everyone is missing The Leftovers during this off-season, but for me, there is no off-season. Even while in school, I find ways to incorporate our favorite show into my classes. This semester, I was assigned a literary analysis paper that was for a major grade, and I was allowed to choose my own topic. Without question, I chose Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers book. Now, don't get me wrong, this assignment was tough, even though I love the book. Either way, I gave it my all and submitted it. This weekend, I received feedback on it and my final grade...I got an A! Bestowing excitement and joy, I would love to share it with my fellow Lefties. A little something to read to help us get by until Season 3 starts production... Enjoy!

The Leftovers Season 2 Blu-Ray Review

Written by: Blake Larsen

The Leftovers on HBO was supposed to be Damon Lindelof's glorious return to television. It was dark, mysterious, and laser focused on it's characters. And if you're a Lindelof fan, you know all of these traits fall right into his wheel house.  And while there is an extreme and unreasonably loud minority who were disappointed in Lindelof's masterpiece of LOST, it was apparent that Damon had learned from his LOST experience.  Instead of keeping the spotlight of The Leftovers on it's highly tantalizing mystery of 2% of the world's population disappearing, both he and show co-creator/author of The Leftovers, Tom Perrotta, decided to willingly admit that they were NOT going to tell you why the departure happened or where the departed went.  It was an interesting choice, and it preemptively cut all of the old LOST naysayers right at the knees. Season one, although shrouded in some controversy about it's tone and storytelling structure, was, in this humble podcaster's opinion, excellent television.

So it's easy for me to say that if season one was excellent television, then it's second season was nothing short of transcendent.  Sure, there was a fair amount of tweaking done to season two in terms of characters, setting etc.,  but these were all changes that were unexpectedly positive, needed, and most importantly, well earned. In other words - it was a huge improvement and I think that not only was it the best show of 2015, but season two of The Leftovers stands firmly among the top five of any season of television I have ever watched. Click "read more" for a comprehensive review of The Leftovers Season two Blu-Ray.