The Leftovers Premiere Released Online For Free

If you missed last night's series premiere of The Leftovers on HBO there's no reason to worry, because the episode has been released online for free (via Yahoo).

The episode has presumably been released in an attempt to convince potential viewers to go ahead and sign up for that HBO subscription in order to keep watching. The first taste is always free, as they say.

In The Leftovers, three years after millions of people – some 2% of the world's population – vanished into thin air, residents of Mapleton, NY weigh the pros and cons of a "Heroes Day" tribute to the local "Departed." Attempting to maintain a sense of normalcy in his strained community, police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) faces additional challenges at home with his daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley), who's lost in a cloud of apathy with her friend Aimee (Emily Meade), and son, Tom (Chris Zylka), who has gravitated to a cult led by the charismatic Holy Wayne (Paterson Joseph). Also of concern is a silent, white-clad group of chain-smoking men and women called the Guilty Remnant, who team up in pairs to stake out people and places around town. As tension in Mapleton escalates, the lives of Laurie (Amy Brenneman), an unexpected member of the Guilty Remnant, and Meg (Liv Tyler), a recently engaged young woman, converge.

The Leftovers is based on the 2011 novel by Tom Perotta, who co-wrote the pilot with Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof. The episode is directed by Peter Berg.

The Leftovers airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.