‘The Leftovers’ episode 4 preview: Justin Theroux’s Kevin and a tough confession

What lies ahead next on HBO’s “The Leftovers”? The first particularly-notable thing to keep track of here is simply that for Sunday night’s new episode “B.J. and the A.C.,” Justin Theroux’s character of Kevin will have a prominent role again. This comes after he was sidelined and Matt (Christopher Eccleston) took center stage this past week.

Unfortunately, this change of pace does not mean that the show’s recent tradition of being both pensive and also thoroughly depressing is over by any stretch of the imagination. The sneak-peek clip below from HBO shows Kevin sitting in front of a Christmas tree having a not-so-merry time, especially when a letter is read to him from his now-silent wife Laurie (Amy Brenneman). Even though she not longer chooses to speak thanks to her Guilty Remnant association, she does not feel it is right for him to hear this letter without her being present for it.

At the end of the day, we cannot imagine this being good news that really puts Kevin on the right path again. This doesn’t seem like a show where there are victories throughout. It’s more of Damon Lindelof’s style to give you moments around finale time where you start to think that things can get better, only for a new twist to remind you that there are more threats that you haven’t even considered. We appreciate that the show makes us think about the complicated layers that make up mortality, even if we do wish there was just a little more ground behind it some of the time.