We snap back to Kevin, who is driving down a dark road, tuning the radio. A radio host is talking about the upcoming three-year anniversary and invites a guest to offer his take. All I picked up was “Corinthians 15:51” before static overcomes the radio. Kevin tries to fix it, and as he changes channels, he hits something in the middle of the road. His windshield shatters. Stunned, he slams on the brakes and opens the door to check on what he hit. Judging by the high-pitched screeching noises coming from behind his car, it’s certainly not human. It starts to bang against the car, and Kevin leans closer, only to see a hoof lash out. Panicked, he wakes up.
Before we continue, let’s take a brief look at that dream. 1 Corinthians 15:51 actually focuses on the Rapture, reading as follows: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.” The next line, 52, is, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” Paul believed that the Rapture was a secret of sorts, something that needed to be uncovered, something that had been hidden by God. In a series as purposely enigmatic as The Leftovers, that’s definitely appropriate. The section also ties into Wayne talking about his sons saying that people have been asleep – now that it’s time for them to wake up, maybe the revelation of the Rapture isn’t too far away.
Anyhow, when Kevin wakes up, he realizes he’s late for the Heroes’ Day Parade. If that wasn’t bad enough, Jill never came home, and the kitchen has been totally trashed. Rattled, he heads to the parade, which appears to be going smoothly. He sees Lucy and warns her that the GR will definitely be coming. They wouldn’t miss everyone together like this. “Maintain the peace,” she commands him, unwilling to cancel.
We see scenes woven together of the GR members walking to their cars outside their houses while the parade marches through Mapleton, holding signs like “Gone But Not Forgotten” and some bravely fending off tears. All of this is set to the eerie, tension-building sound of James Blake’s excellent “Retrograde” – one of many great music choices in this episode. Kevin spies Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) yelling at the crowd, “She beat her children! It was not the Rapture,” as he holds up a picture of one vanished woman. Though the character only gets a tiny part here, he becomes much more important in future episodes, so he’s worth mentioning. Really, do you want to do this today? Kevin asks him. “Especially today,” he responds.
Kevin sees Jill and confronts her about being out all night. As he tries to pull her away, she brings up the dead dog, which stops him. Then, the Mayor takes the stage, and he’s forced to fall back to the stage. After a brief speech, the Mayor unveils a statue by a local artist of a woman soaring skyward to embrace a baby flying down to meet her. Girl Scouts take the stage and read the names of Mapleton’s lost residents. It seems like things are going well, but Kevin’s still tense. Then, Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), who lost her entire family in the Departure, takes the stage to talk about her loss. She recounts her best day, a “perfect” trip to the beach, and then another day, when she and her family all had the stomach flu and she felt near death. “I’m not greedy, I’m not asking for that perfect day at the beach,” she states tearfully. “Just give me that horrible Saturday, all four of us sick and miserable but alive and together-”
She breaks off, but not due to emotion. She’s spotted a mass of men and women dressed in white walking together from the far end of the park.