‘The Leftovers’ episode 4 review: Justin Theroux shines, but the show gets sadder

For the fourth episode of HBO’s “The Leftovers,” the story continued to shift and evolve … but the question remains whether or not this is a story worth being told or being watched.

The problem that this series suffers from for the time being is simply that of direction. While The Guilty Remnant are present, are they really the villains? Who are the heroes? There can be ambiguity, but this much of it can make you feel not connected to the show. We have a hard time of knowing where this is going, and we’re basically moving down a raging river without anything to grab onto for safety.

For Justin Theroux’s Kevin this week, even figuring out who stole the fake baby from a local nativity scene was tough work and involved interrogating his own daughter. Then, in the midst of his silent wife Laurie wanting a divorce, this because the one thing that he could pull off in order to make himself feel better in the end. Nothing can. The man is just miserable. Theroux is doing a great job in this role, but however interested we are in the Kevin character, that doesn’t change the rest of the story around him.

As of right now, we’re still watching mostly because of the care that we know Damon Lindelof is putting into this universe. With that being said, someone needs to remind him that the joy of “Lost” came in the little moments where you started to think that these people could have some hope. There isn’t a whole of that on this show right now, and the despair present here is almost too much for the summer. Laurie searching for that memento under a grate is almost our feeling for this show in a nutshell: So close, and yet far away from perfection. Grade: B-.

What did you think about Sunday’s episode of “The Leftovers”? Share in the comments.