The potential for a second departure isn't even the weirdest thing to happen in Miracle, Texas. Apparently, Mary Jamison woke up briefly on The Leftovers on her first day in Miracle, according to her husband Matt. That's what he told Nora in last Sunday's episode, and I bet that's the story he tried to tell in church before getting cut off in the Season 2 premiere. Why did Mary wake up? It's a simple question that gets at the root of everything that The Leftovers is about this year.
According to the official HBO press release for the episode "No Room At The Inn," this brief return will be explored and examined. "Rev. Matt Jamison takes his vegetative wife, Mary outside Miracle to seek answers about her condition, but their lives take a dangerous detour when he is barred from returning to town. Racing to get her back into Miracle, he struggles to keep Mary safe from desperate tourists squatting just outside the town’s gates." Since it's a little early in the year for a Christmas episode, I presume that the episode title is referring to the plight of the Jamisons.
If you remember from Season 1, Mary's condition is an expected consequence of such an event that I used to see all over bumper stickers when I lived in the Bible Belt. In the moments following the Departure, Mary and Matt were in a car accident when a vehicle's driver vanished. It was an ordinary accident that occurred due to an extraordinary event. So, why did she wake up? It's a little difficult to keep track of the timeline on The Leftovers with so many episodes this season taking place at the same time, yet in multiple locations. Mary having a moment of clarity would be almost easier to explain if it had happened the same night that Evie disappeared and Kevin allegedly put himself to sleep with the fishes. Alas, nothing on The Leftovers is easy to explain, and that's kind of what makes the show so great.
There are a lot of "ifs" at play here. Every piece of evidence is contradictory, so not everything can be true. Basically, this all boils down to whether or not Miracle is a miracle — the central question of The Leftovers Season 2, and whether or nor Evie got Departed — the conflict of The Leftovers Season 2. If they end up finding Evie, then perhaps Miracle is a miracle town that has been spared and Mary was granted her old life for a day. That river is gone, we know that for a fact. What went with it is still a mystery. Or, Miracle could be like a Hellmouth on Buffy The Vampire Slayer or the Island from Lost and Miracle, Texas attracted the Supernatural as a result of the Departure. Like, who is this dude in the tower and what is his whole life about?
I honestly hope that all of this is leading somewhere good. Otherwise, Janel Moloney got the easiest acting gig of all time. As an old West Wing and Donna Moss fan, I want to see more from Mary's character on The Leftovers and this kind of sucks for me.I hope Matt isn't lying or delusional, though that is a possibility in this world where ghosts walk around literally rick-rolling us.
Image: Van Redin/HBO; Giphy (2)
