... a noted religious scholar that was a consultant for this season. They're older articles based on the first two episodes, but some interesting insights in both of them. A couple passages are pasted below:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/10/leftovers-mysteries-religion-reza-aslan.html

What’s the significance of the prologue, which takes place in the same spot that becomes Miracle?

The episode is called “Axis Mundi,” an ancient thought that goes back thousands of years. The idea is there are parts of the planet that served as a cosmic pole around which the entire universe circles. So for instance, the pyramids at Giza, the temple in Jerusalem, the Kaaba in Mecca are axis mundis... The inherent sanctity and magic of this place — whatever it is — is an eternal thing. It’s not just something that happened at the sudden departure.

Isaac predicts something bad is going to happen to John, who brushes it off. But when he drops his spoon down the sink disposal, he’s afraid to stick his hand in to get it. He’s superstitious after all.

You got it perfectly. The most absolute believer has in the back of his mind, in secret, doubt. And that’s true for the most fervent unbeliever as well. In the post-departure world, there is no such thing as absolute certainty. It just doesn’t exist.



http://www.vulture.com/2015/10/leftovers-questions-reza-aslan.html


But Kevin doesn’t cop to everything — his run-ins with deer and dogs.

Many think Kevin’s losing his mind; some think he’s having some kind of spiritual experience. I like to think of him in the second way, that either a prophet or a shaman. If I were to pick, I’d say he’s a shamanistic character. Prophets usually get messages from the beyond: They hear a voice telling them something, and then repeat that message to the masses. Shamans don’t really have a message. They’re kind of medicine men — that’s how they’re often referred to in tribal society... This is a very common trope in ancient religious traditions going back tens of thousands of years. Often they have an animal guide. In fact, for many shamans, the first part of the initiation is to find a spirit guide, an animal to communicate with and help them see the other world.

When Kevin Sr. is released from the mental institution, he says he’s now doing what the voices say. So was he “crazy” pre-Departure? Were the Kevins chosen before or after?

Is a shaman chosen or made? Most primitive tribes believe shamanism, and even prophecy, is a hereditary condition. Moses wasn’t just a prophet, so was his brother Aaron. Jesus has this prophetic nature, but according to his followers, so did his brother James... Shamanism is passed from father to son in almost every religious tradition. The fascinating thing about mental illness is that it’s also hereditary.


At the visitors’ center, someone tells Kevin he can help with his situation. Does he knows he’s a shaman?

I can’t imagine that in this post-Departure world Kevin is the only person who’s having this kind of experience … Holy Wayne was a really fascinating character because there was so much about him that was compromised, and yet whatever he was doing was actually working. People were dramatically affected by his hugs. Was he a charlatan, or did he have some kind of spiritual abilities? Isaac, the psychic, is example. This ability suddenly came to him. Is he a fraud, or is what happened in the Departure so earth-shattering that it created this psychic shift where people are spiritually transformed?