Even for a show renowned for its bold, divisive storytelling, it was immediately clear Episode Five of The Leftovers' third season is something exceptional. In arguably the entire series' best episode, the perpetually misfortunate Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) finds himself on yet another mission of faith, to deliver Kevin Garvey back to Miracle, Texas for the seventh anniversary of the Departure. Of course, as the press release for the episode puts it, "God gets in the way"—this time a little more literally than Matt's previous two ill-fated episodes.

"It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World" represents The Leftovers at its strangest, most beautiful, and most brutal. Also, it’s a journey of faith that involves a boat, a lion-worshipping orgy, and a man who may or may not be God himself. Naturally, we wanted to know everything we could about how it came to be, so we spoke to everyone we could get our hands on: actors, writers, and showrunners.

From extensive conversations with people who worked on the episode, we learned that, like the show itself, The Leftovers crew is something unusual and special. There’s a stunning reverence shared between the writers and the actors, and a sharp-but-at-times-freewheeling vision from the show’s creators. And for a series that can be as sad and bleak as The Leftovers is at times, the writers’ room tends to make its boldest decisions by what gets the most laughs—even when it comes to killing God.

"Oh my gosh, is he doing that? Can he really do that?"

As if to deliberately disorient us, the opening scene this week takes us deep underwater to a previously unseen submarine. Without explanation, a man strips naked, assaults his captain, and, after displaying a feat of human flexibility by turning two keys at the exact same time, launches a nuclear missile.

Nicole Kassell (director, “It’s a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World”): You’re watching like, “Oh my gosh, is he doing that? Can he really do that? How can he do that? What am I seeing when he does that?”

Lila Byock (writer, "It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World"): That was a big Nick Cuse idea [another writer on The Leftovers]. He often would come in with the most completely off-the-wall pitches. We felt, in the middle of this final season, we wanted to kind of ramp up the sense that people are starting to lose it a little bit. To put some pressure on the characters.

Kassell: I’m blown away by the actor we got. There’s a sweet, innocent look to his face, yet this darkness lurking underneath.

Byock: There was an attraction to doing a planes, trains, and automobiles episode. You know? I mean obviously in the first season, the first Matt episode is called “Two Boats and a Helicopter”? And in this episode we’ve got a nuclear submarine, a cargo plane, and a ferry.

"We're fucking with him the way God was fucking with Job."

This is the final entry in an unofficial "Matt Jamison Trilogy" of episodes, in which Matt feels "tested" by God in some way. In a show full of downtrodden characters, Matt might just be its most mistreated.

Christopher Eccleston (actor, Matt Jamison): Yeah, and abusive at times. [laughs] He is both repellant and sympathetic and certainly that's the way I've experienced life. I've behaved badly and I've behaved well. I mean, Tony Soprano is a great example. He's pretty repellant in many ways, but he's deeply human. There's a real appetite in audiences for that character, and certainly from an actor's point of view, that's what you want to play. You want to play rounded individuals and that's down to Damon really—the brilliance of his writing.