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HBO is making a show about those who didn't get spirited away after God's Rapture? Awesome. Damon Lindelof is behind it? Ehhhhhhh.
Luckily, the premise is based off of Tom Perrotta‘s (Election) book The Leftovers which is trades the Left Behind Bible-thumping for actual intrigue. Either way, we're one step closer to seeing this actually happen, because Vulture is reporting that HBO has ordered a pilot for the series. If the show sticks closely to the book, the whole thing should take place three years after the global Rapture. Perotta is attached to produce (and hopefully pen a few episodes, should the thing go to series) and Lindelof is reportedly on board as showrunner. Here's hoping Perotta doesn't let this one sink into another Lindelof morass of Daddy issues and pregnancy obsession. Here's the official synopsis of the novel from Amazon:
What if your life was upended in an instant? What if your spouse or your child disappeared right in front of your eyes? Was it the Rapture or something even more difficult to explain? How would you rebuild your life in the wake of such a devastating event? These are the questions confronting the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, a formerly comfortable suburban community that lost over a hundred people in the Sudden Departure. Kevin Garvey, the new mayor, wants to move forward, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized neighbors, even as his own family disintegrates. His wife, Laurie, has left him to enlist in the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence but haunt the town's streets as "living reminders" of God's judgment. His son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a crooked "prophet" who calls himself Holy Wayne. Only his teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she's definitely not the sweet "A" student she used to be.
Through the prism of a single family, Perrotta illuminates a familiar America made strange by grief and apocalyptic anxiety. The Leftovers is a powerful and deeply moving book about regular people struggling to hold onto a belief in their futures.
