That's really a good point about the world-building both in Mad Men and TMITHC. In fact, I thought TMITHC was really overdoing it with the swastika imagery, to the point where it was distracting from how alien this world was supposed to be. It's like the imagery couldn't just "step aside" and let the uncanniness of…

If the show is continued, I don't think they're going to go with the alt-story in the novel, because one of the first things which happens in the alt-novel is that Roosevelt is assassinated in 1933.

Exactly, when you consider that in the original book, the "alternate history" was a novel within a novel. It's a lot easier to write/publish a book than fake the whole of World War II in pseudo-documentary style, especially when this takes place in a pre-photoshop world.

With enough real brutality in the world, I find it hard to get involved in this fake one.

Agree. It seemed like every standard cheesy Nazi trope got dragged out of the back of the closet. Made me want to go watch Inglourious Bastards again, just to get the taste out.

Sorry, wasn't clear. What I meant was, the syringe was there to convince Kevin that Virgil was really going to "wake him up." I don't think Virgil had any such intention. But without the assurance of an "epinephrine shot" to revive him, I don't think Kevin would have drunk the brown goo.

Supernatural the show, or the events in the show are supernatural? Wayne's holy hugs didn't seem to last long with Nora, and I'm interested to see if Tommy really had / has that ability.

Point. If Jarden is like everywhere else, there goes the real estate value.

Yeah, I thought the goopy brown drink was a psychedelic; the syringe was a fake-out for Kevin's sake, just to get him to down the goopy drink, and Kevin's in for a helluva spirit-journey ride.

She can probably double her money on that house: that auction was pretty intense. People all over the world want to come to Miracle, and many of them are probably very rich.

She's also taken on the responsibility of her sister-in-law. I don't blame her for "snapping."

Yeah, that was pretty clear from S1, Episode 1.

The hypo was probably simply part of the ruse, to convince *Kevin* to drink the goop, thinking that he could be revived. My guess is that it was purely for show.

That's because like with Lost, some viewers are confusing world-building (as in how do we show how weird and unsettling this post-Departure world is, especially in a hot-house like Miracle) with "clues" necessary to "solve a mystery."

I think Lindelof has already taken the wind out of some of those sails by telling people not to speculate on the cause of the 'central mystery.' The rest is basically colorful world-building. Take the guy on the pillar. He's not a "clue." He's not a "mystery." The only reason St. Simeon is relevant is because…

If there even was a drug to begin with.

Good point about Stephen King. Sometimes I wonder if these comparisons between Lost and the Leftovers really boil down to *both* of them being so highly influenced by The Stand. IOW, we're recognizing The Stand elements in both.

He swears beautifully, I agree.

Ha, have an upvote!

He lived in a trailer. It's in rural Texas. A lot of people there live in trailers.