This year’s television showcases intelligence, humor, defiance and hope. Here are some highlights picked by The Times TV critics:

• ‘Inside‘: Written and Filmed in a Single Room Bo Burnham’s comedy special streams on Netflix, igniting internet life amid the pandemic.
• ‘Dickinson‘: The Apple TV+ series is the origin story of superhero literature that takes it very seriously. But still not serious about yourself.
• ‘Inherited‘: In HBO’s Hilarious Drama About a Family of Media Billionaires Rich and not the same .
• ‘Subway‘: Barry Jenkins’ Colson Whitehead Novel Adaptation Is Incredible

Rewind season one of Matt-centric Two Boats and a Helicopter and you’ll notice many similarities between that hour and the hour aired tonight, in both episodes, under different circumstances. Matt had to face a huge controversy. including incidents that resulted in head injuries Struggling to get the money he desperately needs, gambling (either at a casino or a converted Swede named Elmer) in an unreasonable effort to fix his problem. and became a victim after trying to help a stranger with car-related problems. Even in the wider Leftovers narrative, Matt was Groundhog Day-ing it (it’s worth noting that in Two Boats and a Helicopter he has a series of head trauma visions. including one picture of him loving Mary).

as a believer Matt has always believed in two truths: Good people are rewarded. And finally, God will alleviate the suffering. Not surprisingly, Brett’s character Butler asked Matt to name his favorite Bible book, Job said. It was Job who said: I came from a bare mother’s womb. And I’ll go back naked Maybe that’s why, at the end of the episode, Matt returned to the refugee camp. Take off your clothes and quarantine yourself in the warehouse. Matt looked at himself in Job’s image. He was impeccable and upright. Those who suffer with all their might before reap the benefits.

But is Matt flawless and honest? We learn now that Mary is pregnant. Which was shocking when it was revealed at first was met with joy until it began to Matt that no one would believe what he said happened: a baby pregnant for such a short period of time. When Mary wakes up again If you never really wake up as john Murphy argued What Matt did was rape. He had sex with his wife in a coma, basically without consent.

This is the second time rape has occurred this season. The first was Meg’s rape of Tommy, a visual representation I thought intended in a murky way. Apparently, something happened against Tommy’s will. but when it happens There seems to be a flickering connection between the two that makes sex seem almost consensual. Even if not, for Matt and Mary we have a more vivid example of rape, but maybe not. The Leftovers keep coming back to the topic suggests that it’s a metaphor for the series’ questions raised about faith. and whether they are forced to people who do not have the ability to resist.

If the evidence is considered reasonable Matt appears to be guilty of raping Mary. When he got mad at her and said, ‘Look at me, he saw a picture of himself in a laptop camera recording the two of them. He reacts as if he had just seen an unfamiliar picture of himself in the mirror after Matt was nailed in his head by a guy with a broken car. He has an image of Mary speaking, which seems more like a hallucination than reality. Indicates that other times.

The way she talks to him may also be in his imagination. With the way Christopher Eccleston plays the character – a kind man with a smile that opens like a magical sky. But also having the ability to take pictures – it’s not hard to imagine him losing it one night and keeping his wife awake when she was unconscious. the night she came back He didn’t mention that they were in love with each other.

and in a show about millions of people mysteriously disappearing into the air You can’t ignore the idea that Mary might actually be awake and willing to have sex with her husband. By naming the episode No Room at the Inn and portraying Matt and Mary as a prospective couple with nowhere to go, writers Damon Lindelof and Jacqueline Hoyt clearly evoke the story of Mary and the Child Jesus. Perhaps that miracle happened in a miracle.

Of course, one might argue that Matt simply denies about the sins he committed. and manages it by dropping Mary over to his sister so he can lock himself in a pen, that is, punish himself. with the actions of believers who have come to the same conclusion time and time again no matter what That is, God is testing him. He was sure that his wife’s awakening and pregnancy was a miracle. and know that all he has to do is what Job did: suffer in his name until God finally hears his cry.