Nora takes care of unfinished business in Mapleton before heading to New York for the Second Annual DROP conference (Departure Related Occupations and Practices). Upset that her ID has been pinched, she scours the convention for her imposter while wearing a “Guest” badge, and ends up getting detoured by an amorous salesman, a best-selling author and a rogue attendee.
Memories: Nora has brief memory flashes of Jeremy, Erin and Doug (later revealed to be footage from "The Garveys at Their Best").
The Bible: One of the protestors holds a sign citing Matthew 24:40, which says, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.” Another has a sign citing Acts 20:31, a passage which Wayne in the Pilot claims his son quoted to him in a dream. Wayne quotes Ecclesiastes 9:4 to Nora.
Cultural references[]
Patrick Johansen quotes The Rabbit Hole from Alice in Wonderland.
Literary techniques[]
The 3rd episode of the series was based on Matt. The 6th episode is based on his sister Nora.
In Mapleton, everyone knows Nora and her story, and that bothers her. This episode's plot is based on the fact that at the conference nobody knows who Nora is, and so an imposter can take her place, provoking Nora even more problems.
The only one who knows Nora recognise her because the previous year she started a fight with her.
Nora kisses the replica of Marcus in front of the real Marcus.
Nora explains the hotel manager that somone is stealing her identity because losing all of her family generate compassion. The hotel manager, hearing this, feels compassion, and starts believing Nora.
Trivia[]
This is the first episode not to feature Laurie and Patti. Matt is featured only in voice. Kevin and Nora remain the only characters to have appeared onscreen in every episode.
This is the episode with the fewest series regulars in Season 1, with only Justin Theroux and Carrie Coon appearing onscreen, and Christopher Eccleston's voice being heard.
Nora’s DSD ID number is 42ECN. 42 is one of the Numbers on Damon Lindelof’s prior series, Lost.
One of the protestors outside the conference has a sign that says “Tomorrow’s Family Today,” referencing the cult Agent Kilaney mentioned in “Gladys.” A banner for Heaven’s Converts (mentioned in the Pilot and “Gladys”) says, “We are left in Purgatory.” One conspiracy theorist has a sign claiming, “World Health Organization did it.” A protestor advertising PopeLives.com claims that the Pope is hiding in a basement in Sicily.
The DROP conference is held in Manhattan’s historic Roosevelt Hotel.
Patrick Johansen was initially going to be a much larger part of the episode, which was planned to explore the dynamic between him and Nora, but ultimately he became a more subtle background element for most of the episode.[1]
The first conference Nora attends is “The Prophet’s Dilemma: A New Coping Mechanism,” foreshadowing events in the following episode and throughout the rest of the series. Other conferences listed include Pre-Natal Departures (foreshadowing “The Garveys at Their Best”) and Managing Stress in Your Employees.
An entity called Arivesa sponsors the Prophet’s Dilemma conference. Margery works for a company called Linden-Bix. Other attendees work for a company called Traynor Global, according to their badges.
There is a breakout session on the Brandenburg Carousel, last referenced in the Pilot.
A bearded man is seen throughout the episode with Tom Noonan’s character Casper, and is seen near the end happily greeting Nora on the street, after Wayne has presumably removed his pain. This character, Mark Johnson, is the same man who beat Matt up in his church at the start of “Two Boats and a Helicopter.”
According to her badge, Mital Shahane works for a pharmaceutical company, explaining her access to non-FDA-approved drugs.
Book author and series co-creator Tom Perrotta has said that the scene between Nora and Holy Wayne in this episode is his favorite scene of the entire series.[2]
Book to Show[]
This episode introduces the book character Kylie Mannheim (last name not mentioned on the show), the “fresh out of college” preschool teacher at Little Sprouts Academy with whom Doug had an affair. Her hair is “boyishly short” (as described when Nora encounters her in the book’s present day), but she is missing the tattoo sleeve on her left arm described in the novel. Nora watching Kylie at work is an invention of the show, although Nora fantasizes in the novel about confronting Kylie in the school. In the book, the first time Nora sees Kylie after learning of Doug’s infidelity is when Kylie approaches Nora at the Mapleton Means Fun November Adult Mixer.
This episode also features the first flashback appearances of Doug Durst, Jeremy Durst and Erin Durst, who are discussed extensively in the backstory of the book. The three were previously glimpsed on the show in a photograph seen in “Two Boats and a Helicopter” and “B.J. and the A.C.”
In the book, Nora watches episodes of Jeremy’s favorite show SpongeBob Squarepants twice daily. In the show, she has some similar rituals: she keeps the house stocked with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms and Nesquik chocolate milk mix, and leaves the house largely untouched from the time when her children were there (including an unfinished puzzle, a child’s drawing on an easel, and a children’s music book on the piano).
The focus on the paper towel rack alludes to Nora’s experience at the moment of the Departure in the book, as later adapted in “The Garveys at Their Best.”
Nora’s ritual of being shot by prostitutes is an invention of the show. In the book, she engages in the healthier pursuit of riding her bicycle for miles daily.
Neither Nora nor Kevin ever gets a divorce in the book, although Kevin plans to file the papers Laurie gave him once he manages to break the news to Jill.
Nora asking Kevin to go to Miami occurs in the book when she calls him on Christmas Day, planning to ask him to coffee and spontaneously blurting this invitation out instead. In the book, in contrast to the show, Kevin immediately agrees to go with her.
The verse cited on a protestor’s sign, Matthew 24:40, is quoted by Matt in the novel when insisting to Nora that 10/14 was the Rapture.
The grenade reading, “Any time now,” is reminiscent of the title of the sixteenth chapter of the book, “Any Minute Now.” In the book, Wayne’s Boston friends the Falks say this to Tom when assuring him that good news is coming about Wayne pleading guilty to minor charges that will result in no jail time.
Insurance companies refusing to pay out on Departed family members is a detail from the book (in the book, the insurance industry rules the Departure an “act of God”).
Wayne telling Nora he doesn’t give a shit about her is vastly different from his persona in the book. However, the rest of his spiel is similar to the novel, including asking Nora’s name, then inquiring if she has lost someone. In the book, he asks for the name of a “special someone” the person misses, whereas the show ignores this aspect of his ritual. His line, “Then let me take it from you,” resembles similar sentiments he expresses in the book (telling a crowd, “I want you to let me hug you and take away your pain,” and selling T-shirts reading, “Give it to me / I can take it”). His psychoanalysis of Nora is not part of his standard ritual as depicted in the book, and adds to the inference that on the show, his “powers” may be a result of psychological manipulation and the placebo effect. Likewise, the show drops the book's more dramatic depiction of the pain-transfer, with Wayne reacting as if he has been punched in the gut while the person he is taking the pain from typically goes limp in his arms.
Wayne foreseeing his own death is an invention of the show, as is his continued habit of quoting the Christian Bible (first demonstrated in the Pilot). In the book, Wayne starts out as a much more secular figure (when appearing at a church as part of an ongoing lecture series, he claims, “I guess I didn’t realize I was supposed to be speaking from a Christian perspective. I’m not really sure what my perspective is”), although as his cult takes off, Wayne does begin talking about receiving messages from God and calling Jesus his brother.
Music[]
"Angel of Death" by Slayer (Nora plays this to cover the noise of the prostitute shooting her)
"A Taste of Silver" by Until the Ribbon Breaks (hospitality suite party)
"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House (hospitality suite party when Marcus shows Nora the Loved One)
"A Blessing" by Max Richter (Wayne hugs Nora)
"Pass Them By" by Agnes Obel (end credits)
Goofs[]
The empty paper towel roll did not appear in Nora’s kitchen in “Two Boats and a Helicopter”; in fact, a full roll could be seen in a different part of the kitchen in that episode.
Margery’s last name is “Botet” on her nametag, but she is credited as Margery Rasmussen.
