The Leftovers poster

The Leftovers

★ 8.3 133K votes 2014–2017 3 seasons · 28 episodes Ended HBO
Stuck the LandingFinale "The Book of Nora" scored 9.5, one of its highest-rated episodes.
MelancholicA wistful sadness woven through the story, even in its lighter moments.This show: 10/10Emotionally heavyDemands real emotional stamina from the viewer.This show: 10/10Existential dreadMortality and meaninglessness confronted head-on.This show: 9/10Character studyInterior life matters more than plot.This show: 9/10Faith & religionBelief, doubt and religious institutions.This show: 8/10PhilosophicalBig questions of meaning, ethics and existence.This show: 8/10Gut punchWilling to devastate you, and remembered for it.This show: 8/10BleakGrim and heavy, with little easy relief. These shows sit with suffering instead of softening it.This show: 8/10
Rate this series
Starring
Justin TherouxAmy BrennemanChristopher EcclestonLiv TylerChris ZylkaCarrie Coon
Written by
Damon LindelofTom Perrotta
Starring
Justin TherouxAmy BrennemanChristopher EcclestonLiv TylerChris ZylkaCarrie Coon
Written by
Damon LindelofTom Perrotta
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
04k8k11k15k

The Leftovers Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10
S18.47.97.38.87.68.18.87.98.69.19.3
S29.08.38.78.38.68.98.99.39.68.49.5
S39.08.88.68.49.28.79.09.39.5

Download Infographic

The Leftovers episode ratings heatmap infographic

The full episode-rating heatmap as a shareable image.

About

"grief turned into a genre-bending fever dream"

When 2% of the world's population vanishes without explanation, no rapture, no reason, the show follows the people left behind as they try to keep living. It's less mystery than meditation on grief, faith, and meaning, unfolding through surreal imagery, cults, and quietly devastating performances. The pace is slow and often heavy, favoring emotional truth over plot answers. It swings between bleak realism and dreamlike strangeness, building into one of television's most acclaimed, unexpectedly moving finales.

Watch it for

the devastating performances and its willingness to sit inside grief instead of explaining it away.

Maybe skip if

you need mysteries fully resolved or find sustained emotional bleakness exhausting.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Season 12014
8.476K109h 14m
This one-hour drama focuses on a suburban town whose preconceptions are shattered after a global event dubbed “The Departure” (which may or may not have been the Biblical “rapture”), in which 140 million people – 2% of the world’s population – disappeared without a trace. Seen primarily through the eyes of a beleaguered police chief, the series shows how ordinary people react to the inexplicable.
Season 22015
9.077K109h 49m
Season two begins in Jarden, Texas – renamed “Miracle” after it was discovered no one departed. The town has since become a magnet for tourists and people who are convinced it is special and can keep them safe. It is there we meet the Murphy family: John, Erika, and their twins Evie and Michael. While trying to protect his town from frauds and charlatans, John gets an ominous warning from a man who claims to have psychic powers. Soon afterwards, Kevin Garvey, Nora Durst and Jill Garvey show up in Miracle. This newly formed “family” left Mapleton to start over but Kevin Garvey cannot seem to escape his past. Soon, Kevin, The Murphy family and the town of Miracle experience a mysterious event that will that change their lives forever.
Season 32017
9.057K88h 5m
Seven years ago, 140 million people inexplicably vanished. In the third season, families come together as they desperately grasp for a system of belief to better explain what defies explanation. The world is crackling with the energy of something big about to happen, a corresponding bookend to the Sudden Departure that sent them all spinning years earlier, bringing their journey Down Under.

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Justin Theroux Kevin Garvey
Amy Brenneman Laurie Garvey
Christopher Eccleston Matt Jamison
Liv Tyler Meg Abbott
Chris Zylka Tom Garvey
Carrie Coon Nora Durst
Margaret Qualley Jill Garvey
Ann Dowd Patti Levin
Kevin Carroll John Murphy
Jovan Adepo Michael Murphy

Crew

Damon Lindelof
Tom Perrotta

Similar Series

Close in taste Nearest neighbors in our taste profile comparison: shared tone, themes and style.