Violet recaps Season 1 Episode 5 of The Leftovers, titled Gladys, where Gladys, a member of the Guilty Remnant, is kidnapped, and Kevin has to deal with the fallout! Meanwhile, Patti takes Laurie on a little field trip. Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts on the episode.
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Episode Recap of The Leftovers, Season 1 Episode 5: Gladys
- Gladys, a member of the G.R., is kidnapped, brought into the woods, taped to a tree, and stoned to death. Her attackers ignore her verbal pleas to “Please stop.”
- Patti finds out Gladys is missing, then loads everyone up in the van to go looking for her. While in the woods, the dog killer guy shoots and kills two dogs running by. Soon after, Laurie finds Gladys’s dead body still taped to the tree.
- The next morning, Patti stops by Kevin’s house to let him know what happened. Kevin and the police investigate the crime scene, and he tells the G.R. to stay off the street. Patti agrees. He briefly speaks to the dog killer. He then stops by the school to tell Jill what happened so she won’t worry about her mother.
- Meanwhile, Laurie collapses and is brought to the hospital, but the doctor says it was a panic attack. Patti picks her up and takes her to motel, getting a separate room for each of them to stay the night.
- Kevin gets into an argument with one of his detectives who jumped the gun and called in the Feds. Kevin tells the mayor that he wants to implement a curfew: no one out after dark. Kevin tries to call the ATF agent, Kilaney, but no answer. He has a beer and falls asleep in his car, to be awakened by a barking dog the next morning.
- Patti leaves some normal clothes for Laurie to wear, and a note telling her to meet her in the restaurant. Laurie is surprised to hear Patti greet her by speaking to her. We learn that it has been 8 months since Laurie has spoken, and Patti tells her that she’s giving her the day off. Yet, Laurie still refuses to speak.
- Kevin tries to reach Agent Kilaney again, but no luck. He stops at the dry cleaner to pick up his white shirts, but he doesn’t have a ticket and they can’t find the shirts. He runs into Nora on his way out.
- Kevin questions the priest, Matt Jamison, to ask him where he was the night of the incident. Matt requests to see the body, but Kevin says no. He’s then called into the Town Meeting to talk about the curfew. The dog killer guy speaks out against it. Everyone on the City Council votes against the curfew.
- Kevin stops by to talk to the G.R. and drop off some whistles. He asks Meg where Laurie is, but she tells him she doesn’t know, and that she’s not his wife anymore.
- Patti informs Laurie that she also brought Gladys to this restaurant a year ago when her son died, and she also never spoke. Patti tells Laurie she understands the pull to go back to her family, because their work is hard, but there can’t be any doubts.
- Kevin picks up Matt to bring him to see Gladys’s body, but when they get to the morgue, the body isn’t there because Agent Kilaney already ordered the body shipped to Virginia. Kevin leaves an angry voicemail for the agent.
- Kilaney finally returns Kevin’s call, but he says it’s too late to send the body back. Kilaney offers to have armed agents come in and “eliminate the infestation” of the G.R., but Kevin declines. He gets drunk and goes to the dry cleaners, who are closed, demanding to be let in and yells at the guy to look for his shirts. The guy finds some white shirts and gives them to him.
- Patti leaves a bag with the name “Neil” written on it on someone’s doorstep. When Patti and Laurie return, Meg is dressed in white and is no longer speaking. Matt and his prayer group bring a PA system and pray outside of the G.R. houses. Laurie goes outside and blows her whistle in Matt’s face.
- Kevin comes home and tells Jill that he and her mother are getting a divorce, and that he’s sorry. He breaks down and cries alone in his bedroom.
- We see ATFEC employees unload Gladys’s body from a crate, among other bodies, and then we see Gladys’s body incinerated.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 5 of The Leftovers: Gladys
Wow, that stoning was pretty brutal. I thought they might stop when Gladys actually spoke and asked them to stop, but nope, they kept going. In case anyone still had doubts about the dog killer guy being real, I’d say this episode puts those doubts aside.
Is it just me, or does anyone else kind of feel like the mayor is against Kevin? I mean, she seems to superficially be on his side, but when it comes down to it, it feels like she’s just trying to make him look bad. Like last episode she tells hims to replace the Baby Jesus and everyone will like him, but no one cared, and then this episode she’s all for calling a town meeting to implement a curfew, but everyone votes against it. I mean, I guess it’s not her fault how the townspeople react, but it still feels suspicious.
“It’s easier to stay silent than it is to speak truth. Killing these people is pointless. They don’t care because they’re already dead. What I want is to bring them back to life.” This line spoken by Rev. Matt Jamison is what I feel is the underlying theme of this episode. We get a little more insight into what the G.R. is about. It sounds like they want to eradicate all emotion, all feelings, all ties to anything. I was surprised to find out that Laurie had only been speechless for 8 months, meaning she hadn’t been with the G.R. much longer than that. For some reason, I thought she would have been gone much longer. That makes the hurt of her asking Kevin for the divorce sting that much more, because it really hasn’t been that long that she’s been a G.R. member. I’m still not sure why Laurie is a G.R. member. None of her immediate family disappeared. Why does she insist on being dead inside? Like most people probably thought, I actually thought for a moment that she might be going outside to pray with Matt when he invited the G.R. to do so. I thought maybe all the recent events had finally gotten to her, and she wanted to take a step toward going back to her family after all. But nope, she just blew her whistle at him to make him go away, to make him stop trying to make her feel again.
I find it kind of ironic that Patti was praising the fact that like Laurie, Gladys never lost her resolve, and didn’t speak on her supposed “day off” – and yet, Gladys did end up speaking in her final moments. Maybe these people aren’t as dead as they think they are. Case in point, Patti, who broke down at breakfast with Laurie – and she’s the leader of the G.R.
It would have been so easy for Kevin to take Agent Kilaney up on his offer to “eliminate” the G.R., but obviously the one thing holding him back was the fact that his wife is a member, and it was pretty clear that the G.R. members would probably all end up dead. But were Matt’s words also part of that decision? Did Kevin agree that killing them would be pointless, and does he hope that Matt, or something else, can bring them back to life?
I think it’s safe to say, this show has me hooked. I want to know more about the G.R., and how they came about. I want to know why Laurie joined. I want to know why Patti joined, and who “Neil” is. Hopefully, we’ll get more insight into these answers soon!
Josh’s Thoughts: The Leftovers , Season 1 Episode 5: Gladys
I was shocked when Gladys spoke, as she was being killed. It was a very sad scene, but I would have thought she would have kept to her “faith” and remained quiet. Especially after Patti tells Laurie about her meeting with Gladys before, and how she remained quiet.
We do hear Patti talk, however. I am curious what exactly her motives with Laurie were. Was Patti testing Laurie? If Laurie spoke, or wore “normal” clothes, would she have been disavowed from the G.R.? Or was Patti being sincere in giving her a break? I would guess the former, as cults typically don’t offer a “break”.
I am wondering if we will find out who the murderer of Gladys was, and the motives behind it. Was it someone who just doesn’t like the G.R.? Was the killer victimized by some of the “antics” the G.R. did? Or was it just a hate crime because they are “different”? Or could it have been someone else? I hope we get some answers there.
But speaking of devotion to faith–Matt Jamison is certainly devoted to his. Despite the G.R. taking his church, Matt wanted to “help” her, even after being accused of her murder briefly. I have to wonder though–is it a coincidence that Matt was hit by a stone, and that Gladys was killed by a stone as well? Or is this just a common weapon used against the G.R.? Or is there perhaps a secret group that attacks the G.R. with stones that we haven’t officially met yet?
Regardless, the show continues to be really good. I really want to know why the departed are departed though. I hope we get some sort of indication soon!
Scenes from The Leftovers, Season 1 Episode 6: Guest
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Leftovers, titled Guest:
I just watched this episode and agree that the murder scene was crazy. I get the feeling that it was the G.R. who killed Gladys. I think Laurie was given that day off because she took part in the killing. Didn’t she have a short flashback of the incident?