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 faces additional challenges at home with his daughter, Jill, who’s lost in a cloud of apathy with her friend Aimee, and son, Tom, who has gravitated to a cult led by the charismatic Holy Wayne. 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, an unexpected member of the Guilty Remnant, and Meg, a recently engaged young woman, converge.

In the wake of a series of disturbing encounters, Kevin pays a visit to a therapist. Tom finds himself in a precarious situation with Christine, a favorite of Wayne’s. A frustrated Meg is asked to part with pieces of her past. Jill and Aimee tail Nora Durst, who became a local celebrity when her entire family disappeared in the Departure.

In the face of dwindling church attendance and threats on his life, Reverend Matt Jamison continues to preach his gospel: that many who disappeared in the Departure were sinners and not saints. Matt’s campaign is detoured when he learns he may lose the church to foreclosure, forcing him to launch a desperate, last-minute plan to come up with the cash to keep it.

A holiday display goes wanting, sending Kevin scurrying to find out who is responsible. Tom and Christine run into trouble at a hospital and on the road. Kevin retrieves a surprise detainee from a neighboring police station, and receives unexpected visitors at home. The Guilty Remnant put its stamp on the holiday season.

Laurie’s resolve is put to the test in the wake of a brutal hate crime. After his latest initiatives to maintain the peace in Mapleton fall short, Kevin turns down an outside offer to rid the town of its problems. Matt brings his pulpit to the street. Meg takes on a new role.

Nora goes to New York for the second annual Departure Related Occupations and Practices (DROP) conference, but discovers that someone else has her ID badge, so she searches the convention as a "Guest," and has encounters with a salesman, an author and a rogue attendee.

After learning his father has escaped the psychiatric hospital, Kevin orders an APB to track him down. Jill attempts to break an endurance record. Holed up in Indiana, a disillusioned Tom makes an unsettling discovery.

Kevin fears he’s losing touch with reality after inexplicably finding himself in a difficult situation involving Patti Levin, a leader of the Guilty Remnant. Meg loses control during another encounter with Matt; Jill confronts Aimee about her relationship with Kevin; Nora stands up to Laurie, and finds her privacy invaded.

Kevin tries to suppress his bad habits while tracking down a marauding deer in Mapleton. Laurie receives not-unexpected news amidst a rising sense of foreboding. Tom connects with his past, against his better judgment. Nora has a job interview; Kevin Senior receives an honor.

An unexpected ally helps Kevin get out of a jam near the town of Cairo. Meanwhile, an elaborate Memorial Day initiative by the Guilty Remnant plunges the town of Mapleton into chaos. Holy Wayne grants a final wish, Tom copes with his new reality. Nora makes a life-changing decision.

Three years after Miracle, Texas was overrun by the Guilty Remnant, Kevin Garvey has returned to his role as chief of police. Although he seems to have moved past the incredible events surrounding his “resurrection,” the Seventh Anniversary of the Sudden Departure is just two weeks away and many believe another apocalyptic event may come with it.

In her official capacity as fraud investigator for the Department of Sudden Departure (D.S.D.), Nora travels to St. Louis to investigate a possible scam that involves convincing the family members of The Departed there’s a way to see their loved ones again.

With the clock ticking towards the anniversary of the Departure and emboldened by a vision that is either divine prophecy or utter insanity, Kevin Garvey, Sr. wanders the Australian Outback in an effort to save the world from apocalypse.

Kevin and Nora travel to Australia, where she continues to track down the masterminds of an elaborate con, while he catches a glimpse of an unexpected face from the past, forcing him to confront the traumatic events of three years earlier.

Convinced it is Kevin’s destiny to be in Miracle for the coming seventh anniversary of the Departure, Matt Jamison impulsively heads to Australia in an effort to bring Kevin home. Unfortunately, God gets in the way.

Laurie Garvey, a former therapist, must become one again as she heads to Australia to help Nora and Kevin along their paths.

On a mission of mercy, Kevin assumes an alternate identity.

Nothing is answered. Everything is answered. And then it ends. Series Finale.