The Leftovers season 3: Justin Theroux on Kevin’s Nora realization
What is the big takeaway from The Leftovers season 3 episode 7? This episode was complicated, but in the end, its message may have been rather simple: Defining love. In a world where so much is unexplained, all we have as humans is each other. The brave are the ones who are there through thick and thin, and the cowards are the ones who run and resort to extremes, floods, or other conspiracy theories in order to make themselves feel better.
The question that Christopher Sunday asked Kevin in this episode was almost indicative of the entire episode’s message — there was no reason for him to be there. He didn’t believe the ramblings of his father. With that, he was simply hiding from the fact that he didn’t love Nora Durst (Carrie Coon) enough to be there for her be vulnerable or trusting. She is a flawed and complicated person in her own right, but anyone with such a history of abandonment would be.
In speaking further about Kevin’s though process and the takeaways from this episode, Justin Theroux had the following to say to TV Guide:
“It’s the notion that he had dug in and, having left Nora for second time, he abandoned his family to an extent. The first time happens in Season 1 in Episode 9 in that flashback episode before the world falls apart … He has that moment with his father where he says, ‘This is it. Is this as good as it gets?’ And his father’s like, ‘Yeah, this is it. This is the good stuff though.’
“And he regrets that decision to kind of step out once his family implodes, and he does it again in Australia when he walks out on Nora and basically says, ‘enough is enough’ and leaves her and realizes he’s either afraid of intimacy or afraid of having exactly what he wants.”
If the ending of the series is meant to be something so simple as “love matters,” it would be a beautiful way to circumvent the typical genre tropes of trying to provide answers or tie up every loose end under the sun. It’s a bait-and-switch that doesn’t feel malicious or deceptive. Sometimes, you need to be thrown through such chaos to have a guttural reaction to the truth.
Do you think that The Leftovers season 3 is carrying with it a message that is so simple? Share in the comments below!