After last week’s cliffhanger, I was expecting a great battle between Division 3 and Summerland, but was disappointed to see David overpower them so quickly and easily. However, it goes to show how far David has come since Clockworks and how well his powers are developing. I hope in the future the show can find new challenging ways to test David so he isn’t easily overpowering all of his conflicts. As for Carter, it was nice to give him some screen time and explore his backstory and motivations a bit more. It gives the audience a solid reason to believe in Carter as a character and helps us understand his drive for revenge against David.
While Carter is in captivity, and being watched by Kerry, the rest of the group try to figure out what to do with him. Ptonomy wants to kill him, but Sydney says they can’t murder people. Melanie says they should read Carter’s mind to find out everything about Division 3. However, Cary is focused on getting the Shadow King (a.k.a. Amahl Farouk) out of David’s head. Cary says the halo is losing power and if it fails the Shadow King will completely take over David. While this argument is taking place, it is obvious David is in a mental battle with the Shadow King. He is beginning to twitch and looks exhausted. He can also hear Lenny’s voice talking to him while he tries to listen to his friends.
While the group is arguing, Carter sits in a sealed room and seems very calm. The makeup on Carter is done extremely well and it looks real. Carter’s eye is very creepy and looks cloudy and lost. His eye, along with his evil glare, makes his character very unsettling and untrustworthy. Melanie then goes into the room to talk to Carter and he says he is part of a government agency that will completely wipe out Summerland. Melanie is unaware Clark has a cane with a camera inside for Division 3 to watch everything taking place. She tells Clark he was right about David and how powerful he is and says because of how powerful David is they are no longer afraid of Division 3. She tells him the age of mutants is coming.
Meanwhile, David is meditating and trying to keep the Shadow King at bay. Unlike most of the episodes before the finale, David is now completely aware of the Shadow King and is in a constant mental state of fighting back against him.
Cary is boosting the power of the halo while David and the group talk to Carter. However, the voices inside David’s head keep whispering to him and he doesn’t look too good. While David talks to Carter, Sydney is suddenly transported to the Astral Plane where she encounters a beaten up Lenny. Lenny explains to Syd they are connected because of Sydney’s power and her body exchange with David in Chapter 1. She goes on to explain she will kill David unless Sydney helps her get away to another host.
Once again, the make-up and creativity are excellent in this episode. Lenny looks spectacular and it truly gets the point across that David is putting up a fight and the Shadow King is losing. I love the contrast inside the Astral Plane of the all-white and light colors and then the dark and beaten up Lenny. It makes Lenny stand out and seem out of place in a spectacular way. Color and composition shine once again, just like it has been throughout the series.
Back in the real world, David passes out and is taken to Cary’s lab to be tied down. When David wakes up, he says he can feel the Shadow King trying to force himself out. Cary tells David he has a plan as he turns on a machine and leaves the room. The machine identifies the second set of brain waves that is the Shadow King and will suck everything out of David that isn’t him. When the machine turns on David has sudden flashbacks of everything that has happened throughout his life and he watches it all as if he was in a 360-degree movie theater. While the machine is working, Sydney can hear Lenny inside of her head telling her she will kill David. David begins to scream and seize while Farouk appears on the monitors. Inside of David’s mind, Farouk, who has taken the form of Lenny, once again confronts him. It is obvious the Shadow King has become weak. Lenny’s shoes are melted and she has crazy hair along with cuts and bruises all over her body. Lenny tells David she isn’t leaving and begins to choke him.
In order to save David, Sydney kisses him. There is a huge flash and explosion. Syd stands up and she has Farouk's yellow eyes. She goes to Kerry and touches her and Kerry inherits the Shadow King as Syd falls to the ground. Kerry beats up Ptonomy, Cary and Melanie and walks out of the lab. Carter sees Kerry and attempts to hit her, but Kerry uses the Shadow King’s psychic powers to throw him across the hall. The hall becomes blue as David flies down and fights the Shadow King. However, when David and the Shadow King collide — Dragonball Z style — there is an explosion and the Shadow King leaves Kerry only to enter Oliver’s body. Oliver quickly leaves Summerland and drives away with Lenny in his passenger seat. After the fight, David wakes up and regroups with everyone. He also encounters Carter, who decides they may need to work together to defeat mutants like the Shadow King.
Color, again, plays a huge role. While the Shadow King is chocking David the room he is in turns completely red along with Cary’s lab in the real world. I also love how when David flies down the fight the Shadow King the hallways is lit blue.
Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed by the season finale. I wasn’t expecting a huge fight scene between the Shadow King and David, but I was expecting more than just a collision. I wish we got to see more of the mental battles between David and the Shadow King. I was expecting more of a resolution instead of another cliffhanger. The Shadow King was not defeated and judging from Lenny’s look it seems she is back to full strength. It is unknown if Carter will be able to convince Division 3 to stop their fight against Summerland and I feel like LEGION could have benefited from one more chapter / episode.
And just like that, Season 1 of LEGION is over. LEGION is definitely the strongest comic book show on television and can easily be compared to the quality of Netflix’s JESSICA JONES and DAREDEVIL. Everything about LEGION worked. The acting was fantastic and although I am not satisfied with the Shadow King getting away, I am extremely excited we will get to see more of Aubrey Plaza. She shined in this series and brought life and horror into a character that could have easily fallen flat. The series started off very focused on David but soon started developing other characters that deserved more screen time. I’m excited to see more of Cary in Kerry as they explore their powers and relationship in Season 2. Another thing which stood out in this series was the soundtrack; each episode used music to the full effect and it resulted in engaging and suspenseful scenes. I love how each episode had a unique style; it made me want to come back week after week. I hope the writers and producers stay the same for LEGION Season 2 because what they have done with Season 1 was incredible.
Like many Marvel products, LEGION Season 1 had an after credits scene. In this short scene, David and Sydney are at Summerland and he says the Shadow King is heading south. A drone appears from above, approaches David and scans him. Suddenly, David is sucked into the drone as it flies away with David screaming for help inside of it.
The drone seems to be unrelated to Summerland and their objectives. I feel like this cliffhanger didn’t need to be added because of all the loose ends currently waiting to be tied up in Season 2. However, it will be refreshing to see David and Summerland fight an enemy outside of Division 3 and the Shadow King. Either way, I will still be counting down the days until LEGION Season 2.
Written by James Philbrick, LEGION Beat Writer -- Click to read James' posts
FX Renews X-Men Spin-Off Show LEGION For Season 2