‘The Leftovers’ Recap: Episode 7 – ‘Solace For Tired Feet’

Kevin Garvey’s family life hit a very rough patch when his father broke out of Mapleton’s mental institution. But, Mapleton’s Chief of Police found some comfort in his blossoming romantic relationship with Nora. Meanwhile, Tom Garvey made a major discovery regarding Holy Wayne.

Here’s what happened to the residents of Mapleton during Sunday night’s episode of HBO’s “The Leftovers,” titled, “Solace for Tired Feet.”

Mapleton

Since Nora got back from the convention in NYC (the one where her legacy badge was stolen), she’s been on four dates with Kevin. Sitting in his car in Mapleton, Nora is ready to take their relationship further (read: horizontal), and she invites Kevin over. Before heading to Nora’s place, Kevin checks in with his teenage daughter. “Hey — you ok without me tonight?” he texts Jill, leaving the where he’ll be and who he’ll be with part out. Jill replies, “Yup.” leaving out that she’s inside a fridge in the woods, trying to beat the local record for surviving inside the old appliance before it runs out of air.

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She does. Barely. When Jill beats the record, her fellow Mapleton high schoolers head over to get her out, but the fridge door handle snaps off. Risking her life quickly goes from fun to real.

Without a moment to spare, help arrives. Someone knocks the fridge on its side and pries it open – her grandpa, Kevin Garvey Sr. “Don’t tell your dad you saw me,” he shouts, running away in his robe and pajamas.

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Two members of the Guilty Remnant – Meg (now committed to the all-white look) and an associate – are waiting outside of Nora’s house when she and Kevin pull up to take the next step in their relationship. Kevin can’t get the watchers to disperse, so Nora breaks out the hose and soaks the GR pair. “That was f***ing fantastic!” Kevin says. Nora admits she usually ignores them, but felt differently today. Inside, the new couple realize the GR dampened the mood, so they make plans to reconnect later.

(Nora and Kevin | Photo Credit: Paul Schiraldi/HBO)

Back at his house, Kevin finds daughter Jill more talkative than usual. She wants to know what grandpa did that got him locked up. “Did he hurt someone?” she asks. When Jill learns that he did, she tells her dad that grandpa escaped.

After searching through Mapleton and definitely not finding him at the Mayor’s house (that relationship is over), Kevin heads home to wait. The waiting turns into some sort of mixed reality/slumber where Kevin sees the chewing tobacco dog killer guy, an angry canine trapped in a mailbox, his son, Tommy, slamming a door, and a vision of his ex-wife, Laurie, and other GR members, dead in the back of the man’s truck.

Dog barking wakes up Mapleton’s Police Chief the next morning. A look down at his hand teaches Kevin that not everything from the night before was a dream. His palm is wrapped in gauze and underneath the dressing is a large round bite mark on the top of his hand.

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Kevin’s day officially begins when he gets a call from his deputy, Dennis, who is battered and bruised and being attended to by paramedics after trying to take on Kevin Sr. (after spotting him on the loose in Mapleton). The younger Kevin heads to the location – the library – where inside, he finds workers trying to clean up the damage. There’s books and magazines (mostly National Geographics) everywhere. A janitor tells Kevin they found his dad computing away and before he fled, Kevin Sr. asked to borrow $200 to get something for his son (they didn’t loan him the money).

Jill alerts her dad when she spots grandpa in a game of tug-o-war with the dog in the back of the Garvey house. Kevin quickly puts his dad into his patrol car and begins the journey back to the mental institution. “Stop!” Kevin Sr. screams unexpectedly (just as they see a Guilty Remnant protest in the road). Without taking a breath, Kevin Sr. uses the moment to make a break for it. Kevin runs after his dad, even knocking Laurie and a friend over while trying to find him, but it’s no use. He’s gone again.

Another day over, Kevin heads home, where Aimee (Jill’s high school friend that lives with them) asks him a few questions he doesn’t have the answers too – like what happened last night, and how he got the dog (she knows and hints she was involved). He pretends he knows what she’s talking about, but stops her from grilling him further in a clever way. “We really like having you here with us, Aimee. Do you like it here?” he asks. She does. “Good,” he says. Aimee says nothing further, so Kevin heads upstairs and begins flushing bottles and bottles of his meds down the toilet.

Poking around the backyard later, Kevin finds the concrete slab the Reverend Matt Jamison moved to get the cash he gambled with earlier in the season. Kevin also spots a poster about a blackmailed judge and a large roll of cash, and begins to figure things out, assuming correctly that the Rev and Kevin Sr. are together. After getting Matt on the phone, Matt explains to Kevin that his dad will meet him at a coffee shop later.

The senior Garvey knows his son has the place surrounded, but they need to talk first. “I tried to keep you out of this, but they wouldn’t change their minds,” Kevin Sr. says as he passes over a National Geographic from 1972, to his son. “I know you think I’m f***ing crazy, but I’m not,” he tells his son. “That whistle blew three years ago and you cannot ignore it anymore. … This is your invitation. This is your purpose.” The younger Kevin turns his dad down. Furious over his refusal, Kevin Sr. slugs his son and calls him a coward. They struggle, but Kevin takes him into custody and back to the institution.

“They’re not gonna let you off that easy, son,” Kevin Sr. says as the father and son part ways again.

At Nora’s, Kevin waves at the GR before heading inside, where the new couple finally consummate their relationship. “You want to talk about it?” Nora asks Kevin, later, in bed. “I think I might be going crazy,” he tells her. “Well, my friend, you’ve come to the right place,” Nora laughs.

Back at his home, Kevin spots the National Geographic he wouldn’t take from his father at the coffee shop. Jill explains she ordered it for grandpa online. Angry, Kevin tosses it in the trash. As the dog outside barks (and jumps at the window) Kevin looks at the mag again and this time, he leans in to pick it up.

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Gary, Indiana

Tommy Garvey and pregnant Christine have made their way to a dirty apartment in Gary, Indiana. She’s been feeling unwell, so Tom heads out to the drugstore to pick up some medicine. It’s there that his yellow flip phone rings. Holy Wayne wants to know how much of the money he gave Tom at that gas station parking lot is left. $6000. Wayne wants half the money delivered in an envelope to a mailbox on Harper’s & 15th. And, he adds, “It won’t be long now.”

(Holy Wayne Photo Credit: Paul Schiraldi/HBO)

Separating the remaining money, Tom heads out, puts half the cash at the drop spot and waits. A blond hipster picks it up and Tom follows him home. “Where’s Wayne!” Tom demands, as he stands at the man’s door. Getting no answer, he busts in and finds a shock. The young man is just like him. He too is taking care of a young, pregnant, Asian woman.

A brief discussion between the men makes them realize Wayne had them both fooled. He used the same story on them all. The young woman grows irate, pulls out a gun and fires. She thought she was the only one.

After fleeing the situation, Tom begins walking back when the Wayne phone rings. Furious, Tom chucks it against the brick wall, shattering it beyond repair.

Back home, Tom finds a pool of blood on Christine’s makeshift bed. Following a trail of blood to the bathroom, Tom finds good news – Christine is all right and her baby has arrived. “It’s a girl,” Christine says, as the little tot cries.

— Jolie Lash