‘The Leftovers’ season 2, episode 6 preview: Is tension brewing between John, Erika Murphy?

On Sunday night’s new episode of “The Leftovers,” you are going to see conflict form with many romantically-involved characters on the series … and it really does not quite matter where you turn. You can assume already that Nora Durst and Kevin Garvey are going to continue to have their problems, and the same goes for John and Erika Murphy.

The season 2 premiere was the last time that Kevin Carroll and Regina King were truly in the spotlight for an extensive period of time, but you are going to see more of them, including some tension that forms over whether or not John is relishing his role of “caretaker” of the Jarden community a little too much. Is he keeping out potential threats for the sake of being a good person, or because it is fulfilling some sort of need that he has to be violent?

This is something that Erika is going to need to figure out about John, just as we still have plenty to figure out about this man, as well. At this point in the series’ run on HBO, we’re still not altogether sure whether or not this is someone we are meant to treat as a hero, a villain, or neither. His motives are a little bit of a mystery, and we’re not getting a sense that he is the sort to start to open up. with Evie missing, some of that anger festering inside him may only continue to do so.

Here’s the unfortunate thing about Sunday’s episode: There is no guarantee just yet that we will see any more of Christopher Eccleston immediately after the best episode of the season, and maybe one of the best hours of television we’ve seen all year. Then again, the entirety of this season has been outstanding in its own right.

If you’re interested in getting some further TV updates, including some exclusive teasers, sent right over to you, sign up here for our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: HBO.)