The Leftovers is approaching its final days on HBO. Although the series only ran for three seasons, critics and fans alike are rabid to find out what constitutes the end of the show.
During the third season, The Leftovers will follow Nora Durst and the Garvey family as they make the trek to Australia, where they learn that the world is actually predicted to end two years after 2% of the world’s population disappeared. The third and final season is set to premiere on April 16, and Variety reports the creators behind The Leftovers wanted to reassure the audience about what they’d be heading into.
Tom Perrotta, who co-created the series and wrote the novel the show is based on, told reporters, “Moving to Australia really heightened the sense of spiritual searching. Our characters are really going to the end of the world to see if they can find some peace.”
Peace, for a show that centers around chaos and mystery? If that sounds like a hard pill to swallow, let actress Carrie Coon’s words soothe you: “I think in a show like this, you can have a really explosive, shocking ending or you can have something that feels really truthful and I think that’s what we have. I was so proud to be a part of it, and I’m a big part of it.”
Setting us up for this ending is Damon Lindelof, who is a bit notorious when it comes to show endings. Admittedly, the creator has received serious amounts of flack for endings of his shows (Lost, anyone?), but Lindelof tells Variety in no uncertain terms that “this is it.” He goes on to say, “We left no dangling threads, no to be continued, no spinoff possibilities. We made pretty sure that this was going to be the last season of the show. The audience deserves as satisfying an ending as we can give them. I don’t think anyone wants to see a question mark at the end of this.”
In an age of unending revivals and cliffhangers, this idea is almost a novel one. Here’s hoping the third season can answer as many questions as the series posed.