“B.J. and the A.C.” – no, I don’t know what that title refers to either, so if you do please enlighten me – was probably the most narratively straightforward episode of The Leftovers so far. After last week’s stellar bottle episode, it was necessary to check in with some characters besides Matt Jamison (who appeared this week to give all of two lines). It’s a good thing, but it made this episode inherently more scattered.
Things between Kevin Garvey and the Guilty Remnant are coming to a head. For all of The Leftovers run, Justin Theroux has been adept at showcasing Kevin’s barely-restrained anger, but in “B.J.” we saw another emotion, this one seemingly evoked only by the GR: disgust. As the episode opens, Kevin is meeting with Patti, the leader of the GR, asking her to stay away from the dance at the end of the week. Kevin and Patti both know that it’s a futile request, and Kevin says as much after he arrests her at the dance: “You know, for a second I was worried you were an actual human being and you’d stay away tonight.” In fact, Patti might be the show’s first outright villain; the brakes in Kevin’s car fail, almost causing him to crash, and while it’s never said that Patti and the GR are responsible, I think the timing is far from coincidental. Moreover, Laurie shows up at Kevin’s house to present him with divorce papers, and his first question is, “Are they making you do this?” Theroux maintains an admirable intensity, which is necessary in a show like The Leftovers, where every scene builds on the tragedy of the last. Tragedy is in this show’s DNA.
The Guilty Remnant do indeed show up to the dance, but only as a decoy. Other members of the GR are out around town, breaking into peoples’ homes and removing pictures from their frames. Which is a pretty shitty thing to do.
Tom is losing faith in Wayne, as it’s been six weeks since the raid on the ranch and Wayne hasn’t been in touch. But Christine is pregnant with his child, and she’s also being yelled at by a bottomless man (not a metaphor, the guy has no pants on and is totally hanging dong) about being in his dreams. He screams “they’re all in white” and “you walk over the dead,” and lo an behold, later in the episode, Christine is walking amongst dozens of cadavers in white bags. The Tom/Christine/Wayne subplot is The Leftovers at its most metaphysical – if Matt Jamison represents the show at its most human – and I like the way that Damon Lindelof is slowly teasing out clues and questions. Let’s just hope that more of them get answered than did on Lost.
Aside from Christine’s pregnancy and Kevin’s maybe-divorce, I don’t see a lot of the events of “B.J. and the A.C.” having a huge effect on The Leftovers overall narrative, and that’s okay. I don’t think this show is capable of producing a “bad” episode, and last week’s was incredibly hard to top. One major gripe I did have about this episode, though: the baby Jesus imagery was a little much. I get it, the people of Mapleton are looking for a savior and Kevin Garvey is in no rush to find one for himself. One thing I really liked: Kevin is now driving Dean’s truck, which, coupled with his complete lack of fucks to give, can’t be a good sign.
Hopefully next week abandons the obvious imagery and tells the great story that The Leftovers is capable of.
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