Kevin Nguyen, GQ digital deputy editor: Tom, my fellow Leftovers fan. We’re nearing the end: just one more episode until the series is over. I have a lot of thoughts (mostly positive!) about this season, but before we continue, I’m going to have to ask you to confirm your identity by using the penis scanner.

Tom Philip, GQ contributor whose penis scanned correctly on the third try: Hello! What a bonkers season/series this has been. I’m still trying to figure out whether I can ethically… recommend this show to people?

Kevin: I am a newcomer to the show, having only watched it for the first time a couple months ago, based on your recommendation. And I’m glad I caught up—it’s easily one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time—but also I am ten times more depressed than I used to be.

How The Leftovers Pulled Off Its Best, Strangest Episode Ever An oral history of the show's greatest hour.

Tom: Would you agree, having seen all but the finale, Season Two is the best/ultimate Leftovers season? It functions almost perfectly as a self-contained limited series.

Kevin: It really is. Everything about Season Two feels unexpected and yet somehow inevitable. Which is maybe part of the reason that the third season comes across as a bit weaker. In many ways, they’ve pulled exactly the same moves: a new location, a fight between Kevin and Nora, a bottle episode for Matt, another afterlife episode for Kevin. And while many moments and episodes have been excellent, I can’t help but feel like the show is taking fewer risks as it heads to the end. Do you agree?

Tom: Definitely. There isn’t that anxious urgency, which seems ironic given this year we’re dealing with the literal END OF THE WORLD. There’s also no Ghost Patti to lighten up Kevin’s trudging journeys. Theroux is an excellent performer, but his self-seriousness had such wonderful foil last year.

WITH ALL THAT SAID: I am digging a lot about this season. Matt’s bottle episode, once again, is a season highlight. I may even say this year’s is the series’ best single episode, distilling most of what the Leftovers is all about.

Kevin: What would you say The Leftovers is “about”? To the credit of this season, I feel like that question is becoming clearer to me. In a lot of ways, the show has characters who, on the surface, act irrationally. But after the Departure, these have become irrational times, and it seems like the more spontaneous Kevin or Nora or Matt acts, the more it seems like they’re adapting. Basically, I’ve been getting Melancholia vibes (one of the highest compliments I can give!).

Tom: It’s so hard to in any way define what it’s “about.” Is it about grief? Life? Just straight-up fucked-up people? We have one episode left and I doubt we’re going to be left with a “family is everything” happy ending like we got with the pseudo-series finale in 2015. I think what I most respond to in every episode is each character’s interpretation of and ultimately doomed quests for “meaning,” which manifests in so many different ways. You’ve got Matt, who is still steadfast in his old-fashioned approach to belief and religion; you’ve got Kevin, who, demonstrably, can barely function in the real world anymore; then you’ve got Nora, who is played with such poise and strength by Carrie Coon, but her compass is just spinning, man; Kevin Sr. taking on his rain-dance mission. Everyone’s trying to find some logic, some control, in a world that has shown there is none.