You know all those pictures of Justin Theroux running around in a police uniform that have been clogging up the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame over the past year? Well, this week, they'll finally get an explanation as his new show The Leftovers hits our screens.
Set in the fictional town of Maplewood, the show is riding high on the world's current obsession with all things sci-fi. It takes place three years after The Departure – a biblical-esque event in which 2% of the world's vanished into thin air. Now, three years on, the same thing happens to Maplewood – which was previously unaffected. How the town goes forward and tries to rebuild is the focus of the show.
Here's why you need to watch it.
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Justin Theroux
So far we've pretty much only got to know this chap as Mr Jennifer Aniston, always hearing the word 'actor' bandied about but with nothing to base it on other than that epsiode of Sex And The City where he couldn't get it up. The Leftovers means that finally we get to see what this rather attractive chap has up his sleeve skills-wise. The opening scene shows the actor (cousin to Louis, brother to Sebastian, blah blah you all know) taking a morning run through his sleepy town before stopping for a naughty cigarette from a pack he’s taped underneath a postbox. Basically, he comes as close to looking as cool as you possibly can clad in minging sweatpants and a bumbag. Also, he’s got this raise-y eyebrow thing we're really into. Also, if we're talking about the cast –Liv Tyler as a woman all wrapped up with a cult? A welcome return.
It’s freaky at hell
Despite the town of Maplewood being set up as a perfect suburban enclave, the location feels unsettling from the outset. Be it the confused deer in heat that breaks into a local school, the nihilistic anixieties of a therapy patient, or the all-American teenage boy who laughs just a little bit too loud, the whole thing's unnerving from start to finish, even before anything unexplained even happens.
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America loves it
Well, most of America. Entertainment Weekly and* New York magazine* weren’t exactly enthralled, but that’s not been the case across the board. Time magazine called it ‘slow, and absolutely gorgeous,’ and The Washington Post said: ‘The show delivers on an exceedingly intriguing premise with some of the most beguilingly morose performances delivered this year.’ The audience figures are hovering around eight million and it’s just been renewed for a second season.
The Leftovers starts 16 September on Sky Atlantic at 9PM
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.