#it was kind of cool to tie in the astral plane from the live episode

[the-desolated-quill]

Chapter 8 - Legion blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Cliffhangers are great, but they can get a bit wearisome. Overuse them to the point where you prolong a mystery beyond its sell by date, and you run the risk of alienating your audience. That’s what happened to shows like Lost or the current series of Doctor Who. Withhold answers for too long and people will just get sick of it and switch off. Chapter 8, whilst having an open ending, thankfully makes the smart choice of resolving the primary conflict.

It’s a rough road getting there, mind. I would have thought getting the Shadow King (snort) out of David’s head would have been engaging enough, but no. We have to throw in Division 3 as well. Granted the return of the Interrogator from Chapter 1 was a nice surprise and I loved the brief montage of what happened after the events of Chapter 1. Oh and he’s gay! Isn’t that cool? (Apparently some people have a problem with this, crying SJW propaganda and the like. I take it those same people have been watching this show and other X-Men properties with their ears covered and their eyes closed. Seriously, if you have a problem with a character in an X-Men story being gay, you’ve clearly missed the point of X-Men by a fucking mile). And the end of Chapter 8 does seem to imply that Summerland and Division 3 will be working together to find the Shadow King, so that should be interesting. The trouble is it all feels a bit superfluous. There isn’t really any reason for the Interrogator or Division 3 to actually be here other than because its the finale and finales have to be big. But the fact that David is able to deal with Division 3 so effortlessly only highlights just how pointless Division 3 really are to this episode.

Oh yes. Let’s talk about David. So he’s got this metal halo on his head that suppresses the Shadow King’s influence, but it’s not strong enough to contain him indefinitely. So you’d imagine that everyone would be in a hurry to get the Shadow King out of his head, right? Everybody seems more preoccupied with interrogating the Interrogator, and I don’t know why. I’m sure he can wait. I think the ultra powerful mind parasite should take slight precedent. And yes, reinforcements from Division 3 are preparing to retaliate, but are we supposed to forget about the big fight that occurred at the end of Chapter 1? And that was just four mutants. A whole school of them shouldn’t have a problem, surely. And then it gets even stupider when they ask David to interrogate him.

Why does David need to interrogate him?! Guys! MIND PARASITE! Priorities people!

Once we get past all the pointless faffing about with Division 3, the stuff with the Shadow King is actually really good. David is surprisingly reluctant to get the Shadow King out of his head, and you can understand why. Like it or not, the Shadow King has been inside him since he was a baby. He’s become a part of his identity. Naturally he’s going to question what the future is going to be like without him. The scene where David confronts Lenny is incredibly well performed and quite touching at points. I just wish they didn’t have to resort to a death clock countdown at the end. Why couldn’t they have just kept it purely psychological. Maybe have the Shadow King try to emotionally manipulate David a bit more to convince him to let him stay. The prospect of death just seems a bit old hat and not very suspenseful because we know David is unlikely to die. 

Uncertain futures seem to be a big theme for this finale. Over the course of this season, Syd has quite a rude awakening as to the reality of what dating somebody like David is going to entail. And she, in her naivety, believes that removing the Shadow King will magically cure David, but of course its not quite as simple as that. Something this show has been getting right consistently is its depiction of mental health and I simply loved David’s line about how the most dangerous thing about mental illnesses is when it tricks you into thinking you don’t have a mental illness. Showrunner Noah Hawley just gets it completely. There is no easy fix when it comes to mental health. It’s an ongoing struggle, and while removing the cause of trauma can be a huge help, David will have to live with the symptoms for the rest of his life.

David and Syd’s future isn’t the only one that’s uncertain. I’ve already mentioned the relationship between Summerland and Division 3, but there’s also Kerry and Cary whose relationship has become quite strained. Kerry is clearly still shook up from everything that happened in the astral plane and angry at Cary for abandoning her. It’s become abundantly clear that she’s as reliant on him as he is of her, and while they do reconcile at the end, they’re probably not ever going to be as close as they were before. And then there’s Oliver and Melanie. Isn’t that typical? Just when Oliver starts to remember his wife, the Shadow King infects him. This should give Melanie added incentive to defeat the Shadow King once and for all, and get Oliver back. I’m also curious as to what the new dynamic is going to be with Oliver and the Shadow King. Part of the reason why the Shadow King had so much influence over David is because he’s been inside his head since childhood. Oliver is a full grown adult and fully aware of the Shadow King’s existence. It’s going to be a whole new ball game for the villain.

While Chapter 8 isn’t a perfect finale, it does manage to tie up all the loose ends satisfactorily whilst opening up possibilities for Season 2. So, after all that, is Legion the greatest superhero show of all time as some have been suggesting? Well it’s definitely the most unique. I love the show’s visual style. The central plot has been incredibly engaging and well written for the most part, and I admire how Noah Hawley has managed to sensitively portray mental illness, putting us in the mindset of a schizophrenic whilst remaining respectful at all times. Where I think the show kind of falters is with its characters. Most of the supporting cast are given little development and while Dan Stevens is a compelling lead, its the mystery that surrounds the character of David that makes him interesting rather than the character himself. Hopefully this is something Season 2 can improve on.