Mega Buzz: How Does Patti Continue to Appear on The Leftovers?

Ann Dowd and Justin Theroux, The Leftovers | Photo Credits: Paul Schiraldi/HBO

Season 2 of The Leftovers features a dramatic change in scenery, but most of the major players from Season 1 -- including Ann Dowd's former Guilty Remnant leader Patti -- remain. But, wait, didn't Patti kill herself?

Relax, you're not going crazy. As you will see in her first appearance Sunday (9/8c, HBO), Patti is a haunting presence for Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), who witnessed her suicide firsthand last season. And it only adds credence to the idea that Kevin's cheese is slowly slipping off his cracker.

"It's a Shakespearean device," executive producer Damon Lindelof tells TVGuide.com. "On Dexter, for example, or Six Feet Under, those characters, Dexter and Nate, respectively, speak to their fathers, but we understand they're not literally seeing them. We are trying to express that Kevin is literally seeing and hearing Patti. For now, at least, Kevin is ignoring Patti. He is refusing to acknowledge her, and she's demanding to be acknowledged. That will probably shift as the season goes on."

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Patti's first appearance this season clearly rattles Kevin -- enough so that he moves thousands of miles across the country. "There's a big difference, and a big shift in Kevin," Lindelof says. "He's acknowledging, 'I need to start over.' But... that idea is a little bit naïve, and that begins to get expressed as soon as he gets to Jarden. There's no real shortcuts to these things. If Kevin has a fundamental problem to solve over the course of the year, it's: How do I exorcise this demon that is Patti Levin?"

As you will see, Kevin's first attempt to do just that is plenty shocking -- and very dangerous.

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This article, Mega Buzz: How Does Patti Continue to Appear on The Leftovers?, originally appeared on TVGuide.com.