It’s been quite some time since we last saw David and his friends. When we first met David, he was in a psychiatric hospital and convinced he was mentally ill. Through the help of his girlfriend, Sydney, he discovered he was not crazy after all. David’s illness was a result of his mutant powers and a mutant parasite living inside of him, the Shadow King. David had to determine what memories and illusions were real and what were results of the Shadow King. David finally was able to rid himself of the Shadow King, but the monster moved into the body of his friend, Oliver. Then, as David and Sydney are talking about the Shadow King, a mysterious orb flies out of the sky and kidnaps David by trapping him inside of the orb itself.
Ptonomy and Carter discover David in a nightclub and he is brought to Division 3 headquarters. Division 3 is a government agency that specializes in handling mutants. Division 3 has research, investigation, tactical, and strategy teams ready at their disposal.
This episode has a strong start and is just as crazy as ever. Each scene is so unique and has its own style. It feels like each was directed drastically different from the last, while still remaining under one weird umbrella. This craziness keeps my eyes glued to the screen and I’m glad LEGION is still the same weirdly fantastic show as it was last season. It’s just as trippy as ever with mind-blowing visuals and optical illusions that make you want to watch every scene twice before moving on.
Inside Division 3, David wakes up very hungry (waffles!). David discovers Summerland is now working for Division 3 and he has been trapped in the mysterious orb for nearly a year.
David and Sydney finally reunite after a year, but for David, it just seems like yesterday. Sydney waited for an entire year not sure if David was dead. She begins to catch David up on the events of the past year and she tells him the Shadow King is still inside Oliver and there have been sightings of him around the world, so they think he is looking for something. During the search, they found that wherever Oliver goes, he leaves people around him in a completely frozen state, except for their chattering teeth. They think it is a psychological virus.
One of biggest strengths in LEGION is telling a story while simultaneously keeping the audience in the dark the entire time. The creative methods they go through to achieve this is extremely well thought out and easily the best part of the show.
David explores Division 3 to learn more about it. David and Carter talk for the first time in a year and Carter tells David he thinks he is lying about his memory loss. David then meets with Admiral Fukyama, the director of Division 3.
Fukyama is an entity made up of four people so their mind cannot be read. When he was a boy, machines were put into his head and now he is a “machine that bleeds.” Fukyama sheds some light on the Shadow King and tells David that when the Shadow King was defeated on the astral plane, his body was hidden. To kill the Shadow King, they must also destroy his body. However, no one, including the Shadow King, knows where the body is hidden. If the Shadow King finds the body, he will be “unstoppable.”
The whole presentation of Admiral Fukyama is strange and makes me uneasy. However, that isn’t a negative. There was obviously a lot of thought put into this character’s design and the strong set design of Fukyama’s lair. I can’t wait to learn more about Fukyama and the strange ways he operates.
In order to find the Shadow King, David enters an amplification chamber that is being run by Cary. Inside the chamber, David has memory flashbacks of him inside of a nightclub, the same one he was found in.
The nightclub scene was very dark and eerie at first. The color red is still widely used for a feeling of fear or when David is not safe. David sees both Oliver and the Shadow King as two different entities, but as David backs away from them, his world turns blue and safe. David regains his confidence as the entire world around him turns blue. David and the Shadow King / Oliver then begin to dance as if they are in some sort of competition. The music is a great combination of orchestra and techno music that creates an intense and strange mood. Then we are thrown back into the present and see everyone in the club now frozen in a dark room with all of their teeth chattering. It seems that wherever the Shadow King goes, he infects normal humans with a perceived psychological virus.
After this experience, David talks with Sydney and she thinks David is keeping secrets from her, which he is. David hasn’t told anyone he danced or had a vision of him dancing with the Shadow King in the club. He may still have a part of the Shadow King inside of him, or he may just be driving himself crazy with the idea that the Shadow King may still be inside of him. David and Sydney go to bed and as David is lying down, we see a flashback of what happened to David while he was inside of the orb.
David sees an older and wearier looking version of Sydney emerge from the darkness. David attempts to talk to her, but there is no sound coming from her in this world. Sydney takes a light and starts to draw out messages for David to interpret. David realizes she is telling him she is from the future and the Shadow King is trying to find his body. The strange illusions of Sydney then tells David that she sent the orb to tell him he needs to help the Shadow King find his body. The lighting in this scene was beautiful and highlighted the strong emotions of the fantastic actors.
I loved the ending of the episode and the new premise of the season. It’s going to be really interesting to see how David moves forward. Whether he likes it or not, the Shadow King has been a huge part of his life since he was a child and now he has to adjust to life without a parasite in his body. David feels there may still be the presence of the Shadow King in his body, but it also could just be his mind playing cruel tricks on him. As to whether or not the Shadow King is actually still lurking in David, we’ll have to wait and find out.
Written by James Philbrick, LEGION Beat Writer
Related Posts:
Watch the LEGION Season 2 First Look Featurette VideoWhat's Really Real? LEGION Season 1 Recap Video
LEGION Creator Teases Psychic Showdown in Season 2
Comments
Post a Comment