‘The Leftovers’ episode 7 review: The sad state of Kevin Garvey’s father

Why do we even watch “The Leftovers” at times? Is it for entertainment, discussion, or to feel happy that our own lives are not this terribly tragic? After making it through tonight’s “Solace For Tired Feet,” we have a hard time figuring it out.

For much of the series’ run on HBO, we have been able to appreciate the show for what it does well: Poignant performances, strong scripts, and a show that makes you question how you would live in this situation. It’s real life with a touch of fantasy, but not in a way where it teases and hints answers about what the future could hold.

Tonight, however, felt like something else. Watching Kevin having to arrest his own father, seemingly going crazy and cursing up a local diner, proved to be almost a bridge too far given that we already saw men and women in the Guilty Remnant being pushed down in the same episode, not to mention Jill in a torture sequence and the most unromantic sex scene to come later between Kevin and Nora Durst. The episode was almost wild and devoid of any real humanity from start to finish; instead, it was complete grief, sadness, distrust, and woe. Even the miracle of birth for Tom and Christine was made at first almost to look like a bloody tragedy, with a trail leading into the bathtub where the two welcomed their little girl.

Sometimes, we understand the inner darkness of the show, and the hatred that boils between many characters. Tonight, it almost felt superfluous at times, unwanted, and unneeded. Kevin went too heavy-handed with the magazine, and there is only so much allusions to dogs we can take. The show’s already jarred us enough with the shootings earlier in the season.

We write about television because we enjoy discussing perspectives, themes, and the emotional reactions that a show provides; but even us can start to feel overwhelmed at times despite seeing almost everything play out on the small screen. Tonight was one of those rare nights where the show was drowning. Maybe there is something in here that clouded our emotional subjectivity, or maybe it is the piling on of one thing after another even to the point where the victories feel like failures. But “The Leftovers” is beating us down into oblivion, and we hate to say as a fan of Damon Lindelof’s and a proponent of what he is trying to express here.

In this case, maybe it’s not our night … but it never seems to be Kevin’s minute, night, or year. Episode Grade: C-.