as someone who ended up kinda hating Watchmen but who loved Leftovers and most of Lost, I was nervous about this but I actually really enjoyed it? most importantly it tells a complete story in 8 eps no muss no fuss so it gets my piracy recommendation. it's a hard show to describe but you will probably know pretty quickly if it's For You or not. betty gilpin fuckin rocks. that's my slop report
don't want to say much about the politics except that there's zero Watchmen style copaganda this time which is nice, and also it will make tradcaths EXTREMELY mad if it finds any kind of audience at all
Edit: some lightly spoilery CWs for the curious:
- lots of Catholic lore
- a horse is imperiled
- a few scenes of comic gore
- child endangerment/injury
- suicidal ideation
The copaganda in Watchmen turned me off completely, and made me hesitant to bother with Lindelof going forward despite also really enjoying The Leftovers and most of Lost. I'll have to check this out.
This basically feels like him returning to the themes of Leftovers (construction of meaning, religious fervor, collective experience) in a much less grim tone/format. You can tell he was working with a sitcom vet - there's a lot of jokes. If anything it pushes the whimsy a bit far on occasion.