TV - The Leftovers Season 1, Episode 3

Nate Mckenzie continues his viewing of The Leftovers with episode 3...

A man is on the roof of his house surrounded by flooding waters. Eventually, man in a boat comes along and tells him to jump in.

The stranded man says "No thank you. God will provide!"

An hour later a second, larger, boat comes by full of people. The man driving the boat tells the man on the roof to come with them.

Again, the man says "No thank you. God will provide!"

As the waters rise to the gutters on the roof, a helicopter flies over head and hovers above the roof, dropping a ladder for the man to climb.

The man again refuses. "No thank you. God will provide!"

Of course, the man drowns. Once in heaven he is upset with God and asks why he wasn't saved.

God responds, "I sent two boats and a helicopter! What more did you want?"

That is just one deviation of this particular joke and along with being eponymous to the third episode of The Leftovers it also provides some very clever insight to the storyline itself.

Two Boats and a Helicopter is most easily described as a Matt Episode as it focuses singularly on the Reverend in his quest to save his church from being sold by the bank. Rev. Jamison's financial troubles extend to his personal life where the caretaker for his invalid wife, who was injured in a car accident at the moment of the Departure, is upset because she hasn't been paid in weeks. The episode plods along for the first twenty-or-so minutes as it begins to feel like something of a throw-away episode. That feeling dissipates quickly as the action picks up.

The rise and fall of the plot is an absolute roller coaster ride. The overcast feeling of dread that surrounds the characters in this show is amplified this episode. In the first few weeks, I felt that Matt was vexing. He wasn't necessarily an antagonist so much as antagonizing and annoying. This third chapter definitely creates a likableness in (or at least a sympathy for) his character that wasn't really present before, at least not for me.

Also, it's hard to beat an episode of anything that features an ironic use of a song by Captain and Tennille, another lucid dream sequence (which is becoming one helluva recurring staple), and end credits that are accompanied by Hozier's "Take Me To Church".

The culmination of Matt's efforts to save his church are revealed in the final few minutes and is either exactly what you wanted or an unexpected brick to the side of your head.

My only issue with this episode is that it seems to do less to further the entire plot of the series than to frame Matt as someone that you can support in future episodes. We will see how that pans out. Independently, this episode would receive higher marks, but as a piece of a greater whole?

Image - IMDb.