Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta have repeatedly said they have no intention of explaining the Sudden Departure. That truth is simultaneously a cop-out and the greatest philosophical strength of The Leftovers (2014), a series that contains more questions than answers and operates in a quasi-realism we’re never sure how to interpret. The series’ first season frequently pitted faith against logic and leaned heavily on the shoulders of both; a trend the second season has administered differently, but still continues. But the eighth episode of the second season, “International Assassin,” took the show’s mystique to an all-new dimension.

Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) was pulled from the world we know and given a chance to experience an alternate, purgatorial version of life where he was an international assassin and Patti Levin (Ann Dowd), the deceased cult leader who has been haunting his brain throughout the second season run, is a controversial Senator running for President. The episode took a polarizing turn: Did Kevin literally transport to an “other side” world of the dead? Is this the show’s way of providing evidence that there is more to life in The Leftovers’ world than we can see? Or is this merely Kevin’s poison-addled brain manifesting a crazy way of dispatching the memory of a woman who has been driving it crazy, with us just coming along for the ride?

One thing is clear: Kevin didn’t die. He crawls out of a shallow grave after being buried by Michael (Jovan Adepo), just like those birds Michael’s mother (Regina King) repeatedly buries in boxes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean everything we witnessed actually took place. Kevin could simply have survived the poisoning, and in the meantime we got to see what went on in his traumatized head.

When The Leftovers assigned Ghost Patty to Kevin’s character, it brought into the series a conflict between mental illness and some sort of ghost/demonic possession. Either reality can be argued as possible since the beginning. Is Kevin seeing Patty because she’s truly haunting him, or is he just insane? Clinically, we’re teampted to believe he’s nuts. Even his psychiatrist ex-wife Lori (Amy Brenneman) tells him he needs professional help. She doesn’t suggest it or ask if he thinks he is being haunted, she flat-out tells him he’s gone off the deep. But the series counters these logical interpretation of Kevin’s condition through characters like Virgil (Steven Williams), who appears to have abilities beyond those of a normal human. “I can help you,” he tells Kevin, a stranger, the first time they share physical space. Virgil speaks of having died and resurrected before, and his apparent clairvoyance suggests there is something legitimate in his mystery. This juxtaposition of elements keeps us constantly questioning the nature of Kevin’s issues and, as the Garvey/Durst families seem to serve as a microcosm of the world’s larger traumas, the greater mysteries of The Leftovers as a whole.

Of course, when Indiewire asked Tom Perrotta if Kevin’s trip to the “other side” was literal or just an illusion created by a poisoned mind, he said, “You’re welcome to take it however you like.” It’s possible that, like the Sudden Departure itself, the truth of these events may remain ambiguous.

“There is the experience that Kevin has and that we witness, and then there is the question of the framework,” Perrotta continued. “And there’s a framework I can place over this experience to look one way, but there’s another framework I can place over this experience to look another way. So you and I might say, ‘Well, I don’t believe there are people who can visit the land of the dead and return.’ But throughout human history many, many people have believed that there are people in their community who can communicate with the world of the dead and come back. And yeah, they’re obviously operating from a different framework, and they have experiences that feel real to them within that framework. I think what the show is trying to do is show characters in desperate need of a framework to make sense of their experience. The framework that works is the one that works. So, Laurie saying to Kevin: ‘Go to the mental hospital. Take medication for years.’ You know, ‘Lose your family. Struggle back to some version of health.’ Or Virgil saying, ‘This is the only viable way to deal with your problems. You may still have a life with Nora, have a life with your family.’ Kevin chooses this bold solution. There are other frameworks, and we’ll see if it works for him. It seems to have worked in the short term.”

When he first wakes on the “other side,” Kevin is presented a variety of wardrobe options. “Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly,” the wardrobe reads; a quote from first-century Greek philospher Epictetus. A police uniform (which looks strikingly similar to his first-season Mapleton P.D. jacket) is one choice, as is a religious robe and a suit. He picks the suit, which turns out to be an assassin’s outfit, and finds there is no going back from his choice. “Know, first, who you are,” the wardrobe threatened. Kevin should have identified with the police outfit, but he chose something else. Does the subtext of this movement say something about Kevin’s evolving character and psyche? Deep down, does he not just want to kill Patty from his brain, but kill everything that reminds him of his life? A character in the episode suggests the life of an international assassin must be so freeing, having no obligations or rules or commitments. Is this Kevin’s subconscious fantasy? Or did he simply avoid the police outfit because he wanted to stay incognito? It could just as soon be his means of protecting the family and connections he has, as they are the only things keeping his mind grounded. After all, he does proceed through the events of the episode in a manner parallel with what he thinks will eliminate Patty and return him to good old normal Kevin Garvey.

Identity is tricky with Kevin just as it is with Jarden, Texas, and The Leftovers as a whole. This episode not only raises questions about the real world vs. the spirit world, but about the mysteries of identity. Are there really miracles in Miracle? Where did The Murphys’ daughter, and the water in the lake, go? Are Virgil’s claims real? Is everything from Ghost Patty to the Sudden Departure somehow connected?

Perrotta continued, “I would say Kevin’s sanity is not a question to be answered. It’s a thing. It’s a process that he lives with, and I think the question for the show is, again, the question of framework. If Kevin lived in Laurie’s rational, therapeutic world, he’s insane — there’s no question about it. But if you suddenly say, ‘No. Kevin has the power to move into realms that are closed off to other people. [He’s] someone like maybe his father.’ If you accepted that there is a reasonable way to talk about his experience, then it may not be the most useful thing to say Kevin is insane.”

If Kevin’s trip abroad was literal, it changes everything about the way The Leftovers can be interpreted. It confirms there is more to existence than our linear, organic lives. It gives some context to the Sudden Departure and opens discussion for new possibilities as to the fates of 2% of the world’s population. Its implications would go way beyond the mental issues of Kevin Garvey.

The episode not only lives to address identity as it pertains to Kevin, but to Patty as well. Niner Times writes, “The core of the episode is Kevin’s final confrontation with Patti. Strip away the scenes of Kevin playing action hero or dream like elements and you have a story that gives us some insight into who Patti is as a character. For most of the series, she has been a villain but here we learn that her involvement in the Guilty Remnant and prickly personality traces directly back to the toxic relationship between her and her husband. Whatever purpose is pushing Patti down the well served, it’s clear it allowed her to reach some sort of peace and Kevin to come to some sort of understanding and apathy toward her as a person.”

Even if The Leftovers avoids giving concrete proof that Kevin’s journey actually happened, that still leaves the possibility in tact. Being unable to confirm of deny the journey goes hand-in-hand with the series’ analysis of logic vs. faith, and the episode’s exploration of identity added much to the show’s overall philosophy. “International Assassin” is a bold entry in a bold series, and one which expanded the discourse of an already ever-discussable show.