Legion on FX Network: Did Anyone Else Watch?

I recorded it and can't wait to watch it.

Batshit crazy and batshit wonderful.

I still can't believe how much Dan Stevens has reinvented his look, I didn't even recognize him in the previews. His weight loss and plastic surgery did wonders for him.

Look forward to checking this out after work today.

Loved the first episode but I am worried subsequent episodes won't hold up. Stevens was fantastic.

I had my doubts after the previews which seemed to concentrate so much on the mental hospital. I was worried there'd be no real action but it seems there was, athough obviously it all could still just be happening in David's imagination. I just finished watching the premiere and even if I wasn't blown away I ended up liking it quite a lot. The X-Men have always been my favorite superheroes and I love love love to hear the word mutants used since that was the term I grew up with.

I'm hoping we get to see Professor X at some point, or even some of the X-Men from the movies, although I wouldn't hold my breath.

Fucking. Awesome.

[quote] I was worried there'd be no real action but it seems there was, athough obviously it all could still just be happening in David's imagination.

I tried looking up "when" the show took place R5 and apparently the creators stated that - yeah, David is an "unreliable" narrator so we can expect to see a lot of time related things that don't make sense. Just because the show looks like it's in the 70s doesn't mean that it is because everything is through how David sees it.

Yes the time of place seems fluid to me. I thought it was really good and will continue to watch. I am over the superhero shit but I thought this was better and more character driven. Dan Stevens- most boring name for an actor- was excellent. He must have dropped 30 lbs since Downton, he look damn slight. I don't think he had a lot of plastic surgery though, if he did what did he have done? Weigh loss can really change someone's appearance.

[quote]I don't think he had a lot of plastic surgery though, if he did what did he have done?

I'd say he got a chin implant for sure.

Whoever said he had plastic surgery and lost weight must be confused because he looks exactly the same and I knew who he was immediately.

Um, you are the one who is insane r10. Everyone knows about Dan Stevens weight loss, he is very open about how he lost over 30 pounds.

[quote]"I've lost about 30 pounds since New Year, which, in British terms, is about two or three chins," he joked.

Never said you were insane. Just confused. He may have lost weight but I knew exactly who he was the moment I saw him.

I was pleasantly surprised by the pilot.

The storyline is from The New Mutants, illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz- they even visually referenced his style.

Really hope they reference Xavier at some point since David is his son.

I knew nothing about it and really enjoyed it...until it became clear that it was comic book-related. My heart just sunk. Terrific 90 minutes, but now that the cat is out if the bag and we know he's a mutant and not crazy, I'm worried it's just going to become yet another boring comic book story.

Between this and the second season of Fargo, Noah Hawley is turning out to be a real talent.

I thought it was fucking awesome. Tons of style and a really good mind-fuck. Great characters, direction, and casting.

Thumbs up. I'm in for the season. Good, quality television.

R14 Is that Trump?

Aubrey Plaza is exhausting to watch. Just ACTING all over the place with no one to rein her in. Thank heavens for Jean Smart, who adds some grounding to the proceedings.

I love the show. I love how both episodes so far have been total mind-fucks, requiring active participation from the viewer to piece together, sorta like Memento.

Easily one of the better shows on TV right now.

as soon as i head Hawley was in charge i knew it would be great. Fargo anyone? totally engrossing. i'm in for the ride!

I don't know. I swore I'd never watch anything with him in it after Matthew Crawley. Characters getting killed off because an actor wanted to leave is one of my biggest television pet-peeves.

I think this has become my new favorite show on TV.

this and expanse... best scifi on tv right now.

I love the Xmen (movies and comics since the 90s) and can't seem to get into this :(

That's weird, R26, because this is infinitely better than any X-Men movie.

This show continues to be just excellent. Every episode a mind-fuck. Done with amazing style.

It's incredibly intriguing. Love that Jermaine Clements is in it.

This show deserves more love. It's amazing.

Jermain from "Flight of the Conchords" as Oliver Bird was genius casting.

Whoever is responsible for the visual look and style of this show deserves a fucking Emmy.

Every single episode is such a mind-fuck.

I never thought "The Rainbow Connection" song (Kermit!) could be so ... creepy

This whole show is just a big suspension of disbelief, but the one kinda corny thing for me is that sky projection thing they did right after the raid at the D3 facility -- Dr Bird and Cary speaking to each other, with everyone looking upwards and Cary a big floating picture in the air. Convenient in a show with no cellphones (none that I've noticed). Whatever.

Has there ever been anything creepier on TV than the Yellow-Eyed Demon?!?

Dan Stevens and Patrick Stewart were recently on James Corden together. Dan invited Patrick to appear on Legion. Whether it will actually happen, who knows? It would be cool if it does happen. I read that Legion and the X-Men movies are set in different universes.

I got halfway through the last episode and gave up. Took it off my DVR list. It's pretty brilliant, but I just can't bear any more super hero stuff.

That's just ... weird, R38. Sorry. "It's brilliant, but I can't watch anymore because *arbitrary stupid reason*"

I'm liking this show very much so far. As long as it doesn't turn into a CW-like for teens super hero show, I'll be okay. I gotta thank the director for putting in that cool Radiohead song "The Daily Mail" in the last episode - it's my new favorite song.

this show is so off kilter that i cannot even figure where the "kilter" should be. and damn, but i love ot because of that. no idea where this thing is going. but i'm in for the full ride!

OP, here. Still watching. Like some other people have implied the show is in a completely different headspace than most people are used to. Sometimes it can be a bit annoying but I blame the fact that I watched every episode of Mr. Robot which likes to pull tricks like this show does before shifting us into the real world.

This show however, goes all out and never comes back.

However, last episode sold me on finishing this season. The whole sequence where the sound cut out was fricking amazing.

I am on Ep 3 and finding it fairly ridiculous and campy.

The Rainbow Connection and Dan Stevens's ass!

Exactly, R42.

I'm loving this crazy, mindfuck of a show. I'd much rather a show indulge its creativity than be boring and predictable.

Glad FX renewed it for a season 2.

Still one of the best shows on TV.

Tonight's episode was brilliant... just fucking brilliant. So many reveals too.

Next week is the season finale. The show is so good, it sucks we only get ten episodes.

Wow - this is not a good show to watch just before bed. There is so much visual stimulation and so many twists and ideas and wackitude that I can't shut my brain off and fall asleep.

That sequence in the hospital hallway was so good. Dan Stevens busting into various rooms looking for Syd, then him "powering up" from anger was cool. Aubrey Plaza as Edwardine Scissorhands was funny, but she was scary when she showed her power and folded The Eye into a little square.

One thing that feels off to me is that Melanie is so low-key after seeing her husband upright after all these years. I understand he doesn't remember her but, damn, you think she'd be a little more emotional.

R50 Perhaps she's shocked at what she's seeing? He seems so brain damaged she's probably finally realizing her husband really has been dead all this time and this is just a poor imitation, not much better than an espresso machine with his voice slapped on.

So brilliant, on every level. The look, the cinematography, the writing, the acting, the editing... holy fuck it's the best thing on TV.

Finally a series that doesn't fit a formula, doesn't need to explain everything to you, and looks incredible. Although I'm on the fence with Aubrey and her bulging eyes.

I'm not on the fence at all ... she's fucking AMAZING as the fake face of the yellow eye'd demon... the shadow king.

She was simultaneously hilarious and terrifying in the "silent movie" sequence in the hallway....

I can't get over the fact that the two main characters look like the romantic duo of Catherine Deneuve and Ben Stiller.

Excellent show, though. Unique styling.

This show is great. By far one of the most creative shows on TV. One of the best of the season, by far. How did Noah Hawley do this and Fargo? Amazing.

It's an excellent show but it doesn't seem to be generating much conversation, right? I mean, there's only so many ways you can gush over it. It's much more fun to bash garbage like Iron Fist.

Every week I'm blown away by how amazing, imaginative, creative, unique, beautiful, mind-boggling, and intense this show is.

I was a bit disappointed by the final episode, but overall I still loved the first season.

The ending was a bit too deus ex machina with Melanie's husband coming to rescue them and then becoming unfrozen.

Well, since the final episode will not air until tomorrow night r59, you are either remarkably prescient or just out of touch.

Lol, well I was disappointed with the most recent episode that I thought was meant to be season finale. And I am happy then that it was not the season finale.

R59 But when you look at it carefully, was it really [italic]deus ex machina[/italic] when Oliver has already been introduced four episodes ago? Their shared delusion was happening on the astral plane where he resides so of course the writers would want to connect the two. It was also heavily implied that he couldn't do much by himself but needed others to decide by themselves to visit his ice cube.

His only contributions basically boil down to helping Carry reach the realisation about the Shadow King and letting him borrow his diving suit and "reality glasses", and forming an astral shield out of letters to protect Syd from the bullets. But even this latter (and his most significant) effort went tits up when the Shadow King caught him.

So in the end, he didn't [italic]really[/italic] do anything in the physical world that would merit calling him a saviour. It was a team effort all around.

I am enjoying everything. A caveat might be it can be a bit fluffed out - the intrigue in episode 6 for example, just meandered along. I am also not very scared anymore of the devil with the yellow eyes - he's starting to look like Trump lumbering around behind Hillary Clinton in the debates. Still overall, I'm impressed.

Aubrey is amazing. She can really be hit or miss but I think this REALLY steps up her game as an actress and she should find some more good roles soon.

[quote]But when you look at it carefully, was it really deus ex machina when Oliver has already been introduced four episodes ago? Their shared delusion was happening on the astral plane where he resides so of course the writers would want to connect the two. It was also heavily implied that he couldn't do much by himself but needed others to decide by themselves to visit his ice cube.

Exactly R62. Oliver was slowly revealed. We still don't know how he got into that ice cube, however. They also established that David still doesn't have complete control over his telepathy.

The other thing I'm not sure if people caught but when Oliver is discussing the Shadow King with Cary, he already knows exactly who he is and mentions his real name Amahl Farouk.

My guess is, the team has encountered Amahl Farouk before.

There was something about them knowing who the demon is, yep.

He also looks like this very trolly old professor who would chase around the Cornell gym when we were trying to get our rocks off in the steam room and nooks and crannies of the old castle like building.

Well, I'm sure Professor X told his closest circle about this threat after he had defeated him.

I wonder who the actor playing him is. I think it would be pretty neat if they revealed that it was Dan Stevens in a fatsuit and contact lenses all along.

Binged the season over the last week. Cannot wait for the episode tonight, but I doubt I'll be able to sleep afterwards.

Gay couple with an adopted son... I don't think anyone's mentioned that yet.

Spoilers of course ....

Was upset the bad guy was gay ... but glad that he might not really be a bad guy. (Hate that trope. We're going to have a gay but we're going to make him evil.)

They did a bit to humanize him at the beginning by showing him with his husband and adopted African American son. It seems that even though he was injured, they didn't do the trope of him becoming mean and nasty towards them as his "hatred" for David built up.

They did reference that they felt that he did genuinely "like" David.

At least the government now knows the real problem is the Shadow King and not David.

And I figured they'd find a way to keep Aubrey Plaza around.

[quote]It seems that even though he was injured, they didn't do the trope of him becoming mean and nasty towards them as his "hatred" for David built up.

Yeah, I was expecting (and dreading) that as well and I'm glad they didn't go that route. I enjoyed the fact that his husband works alongside him and isn't just some civilian who works in accounting. That was something new. The camera showing their hands touching at least three times was a bit on the nose, though. We get it - they're gay homosexual husbands. But I guess hets need extra clues as they would assume they're just good friends otherwise. I wonder what the wolf on his cane means.

And while I did like the episode, it just felt a bit... off. Like it doesn't go with the rest of the season. I don't know why exactly. Perhaps because the other episodes were so "artsy" and experimental and this one was just tying up loose ends so couldn't do any of that stuff.

Well, it DID do some of that stuff... the flashing through David's memory while the Shadow King was being evicted was beautiful, for example.

Starting off the episode with the glimpse into the other side, humanizing them, was also completely unusual and very well done.

R71 See, that sequence is exactly what I was talking about. I just saw Dan Stevens in front of a green screen with "previously on" scenes playing in the background. That didn't excite me in the slightest. Or maybe it was the music choice there that I wasn't feeling, I can't really tell.

I agree that starting the episode with the glimpse into the other side was great. I usually hate when the finale or the episode just before the finale does something like that and grinds the momentum to a near standstill. And I was already bracing myself for at least half an hour of [italic]very[/italic] slow TV, seeing this guy's emotional and physical rehabilitation. When that didn't happen and it took only a couple of minutes to resume the main plot, I actually cheered and appreciated this glimpse even more.

Though did I think the montage was starting to get a bit repetitive at times. Too many pans over them lying in their bedroom. They should've shown more variation, though I'm sure they wanted to convey the drudgery of his recovery process. I also thought his flashbacks to the pool scene were a bit of a cheat, showing us only those shots we've already seen. If you want to show us the other side of this fight, go into that idea fully and maybe show me [italic]his[/italic] view of the action? At least [italic]a second[/italic] of it that is different from David's perspective. [italic]Anything[/italic] that would distinguish his experience from what we've already seen. Otherwise, it's just retreading old ground at best and a summation of the season at worst.

Anyway, it's a very good sign when the viewers become extra nit-picky and demanding. It means you have something pretty special on your hands.

I watched the whole first episode thinking "this guy kinda looks like a younger, thinner Matthew Crawley." Had no idea it was Dan Stevens, he looks "different."

Weight loss and a chin implant r73, it did wonders for his look and thus his career. Crazy how it has taken off.

R74 I've just spent five minutes comparing photos of his chin from the two stints and can't see [italic]any[/italic] difference between the two. And I'm usually pretty good at spotting these implants. I think all that facial fat melting away had the effect of drastically sharpening his facial features. He also had [italic]quite[/italic] the neck fat back in the day; like he was swimming in it, in fact.

There are some angles and shots in Legion where I'm like [italic]damn this guy is fucking gorgeous[/italic]. I bet all fatties dream of such a transformation.

I'm already counting down the seconds until someone accuses me of being Dan Stevens.

I made it through whole season. Very style over substance but still watchable. Doesn't come back until 2018.

Stevens was much hotter in The Guest. He needs to go back to this look.

R77 The show needs him to be a bit goofy; hence the silly haircut and the lack of scruff. He goes for a hotter look in his public appearances. Although he seems to have one of those beards that don't grow out fully so he really should just stick with the killer look in [italic]The Guest[/italic].

Okay... am I the only one not seeing ANY replies on this anymore? I see the OP, see 78 replies at the base of the OP... and then nothing but this text box to type a new reply. 78 replies are there-but-invisible.

Weird.

...and now that I posed this reply, suddenly everything is visible. REALLY weird.

R80 blocked all of us b*tches. So I guess that makes r80 the real beyotch.

I liked "The Guest" but I don't know that Dan will ever break through to A-list. He's in the biggest movie of the year, but in Beast make-up.

R81 He lost all that weight for Hollywood so he's determined for sure. He also went from Downton Abbey to The Guest, Legion, and now Beauty and the Beast in a relatively short amount of time. Even [italic]with[/italic] the makeup for BatB, he's part of the Disney family now. That alone is an excellent position to be in, going forward.

I wonder what his first total and utter bomb will be.

I was shocked, in a good way, that Hamish Linklater's character was gay. Yay for gay male representation.

R83 And it came out of nowhere as well. No queer-baiting by the network or the actors before the episode aired, like with some recent movies. I find that usually just sets you up for disappointment.

And we can look forward to seeing the husbands in the next season too!

I kept wondering if David could heal the bad guy's burns and make him look like he did before. It was weirdly distracting. Still, what makes them think Division 3 is suddenly going to team up with them and stop harassing them to pursue the Shadow King? Never trust people who think they are doing God's work or protecting future generations.

The arty approach has made the show slightly hard to watch but it's also made it something special. I really enjoyed the season finale.

[quote]I kept wondering if David could heal the bad guy's burns and make him look like he did before. It was weirdly distracting.

That's what I was thinking. It's obvious David can "warp" reality if he wants but David didn't seem to be "angry" at the guy once the Shadow King was gone. And, once again, Kerry pointed out that he does in fact kind of "like" David.

The guy wasn't wrong, a guy like David could do a lot of damage but the guy did notice that the Shadow King was a separate entity from him and maybe, at the least, that will get the government to hate him less.

[quote]Still, what makes them think Division 3 is suddenly going to team up with them and stop harassing them to pursue the Shadow King? Never trust people who think they are doing God's work or protecting future generations.

It seems like the enemy of my enemy is my friend, in this case. They will probably team up to stop the Shadow King. What if he jumps into someone like the President? That could be bad news. My guess is, as long as David is willing to work with them, they'll be fine with him. When he isn't, they'll want to take him down. Right now, it suits them to work with him and use him as a weapon. It will also get them off of David's back, his sister's back and they can help Melanie get her husband ... back.

r87 taking over the prez would go a long way to explain trumpie.

[quote]I kept wondering if David could heal the bad guy's burns and make him look like he did before.

And maybe fix Syd's gap in her teeth and lift Melanie's boobs a little while he's at it? I don't think it works that way. He'd have more luck manipulating the mind of every single person on earth so they would interpret the bad guy's burns as normal skin, than fixing that amount of damage on a cellular level.

Of course it's distracting. That's why burn victims have to deal with incredible physical pain AND stigma that comes with having a deformed face at the same time.

I was more bothered by that grey wig. What was that all about? He looked like a shaking head doll from behind.

R88, if anyone, the Shadow King is more likely to jump into Bannon. The un-accountable man behind the face of power.

I wasn't distracted by the burns, I was distracted by the healing idea. David has many different powers and I was thinking about that, about whether they would introduce his multiple personalities or not and some other things. I guess my Ritalin had worn off. :-)

I've seen bad burns before and yes, they are distracting at first but then you get used to them and they are just another part of the background "noise" of the person who has them. Especially on television.

I hope The Shadow King / Amahl Farouk won't be back next year. I'm personally not a fan of fiction where a large part of action turns out to be happening in someone's imagination, and with Farouk that would probably be the case once again. I mean it's not like I always hate it but with Legion's way of storytelling I found the whole thing distracting. I disliked Inception because of this as well. Then again since according to the showrunner "[italic]the series is depicting the title character's "subjective reality"[/italic]" everything might still be happening in David's imagination on Season 2 as well. Or was it all because of Farouk? I haven't ready any Legion comics, and didn't even know he existed before the show was announced.

It crossed my mind as well that David could heal the burns, but that was mostly because the baddie was cute and gay. Then again when they surrounded David and others in the woods he told his men they should kill everyone else besides David. Not a nice guy at all.

The fact that storytelling was not linear AND that much of what was onscreen occurred in a character's imagination was very distracting. I binged the season but would not have stuck with "Legion" week after week. Too much unnecessary suspense with no payoff. Only shows I watch weekly are:

Designated Survivor

The Good Fight

American Crime

Great examples of storytelling. Everything else is binged.

R92 I'm afraid that due to the mental nature of David's powers, this kind of storytelling is inevitable. It's also an established tradition/trope in comic book genre that protagonists battle someone on their level and with a comparable power set. Otherwise, it's a child's play, like what David did with those soldiers. So Amahl Farouk isn't going anywhere for now.

Two posters have now mentioned they wished David would fix that guy's burns and I'm just... perplexed by that, to be honest. There are burn victims watching this that are probably happy with their representation on TV (like we are with the husbands) and would probably feel like shit if David would undo those burns with a finger snap. A bit like how paraplegics would feel if David were to make Professor X walk again, I'd imagine. It would also take away his intimate emotional journey that we saw in the last episode and just cheapen everything in general.

I know this is a mainly gay message board, but come on, looks aren't everything. I barely noticed those burns after the establishing shot in the hospital!

R93 See, those reasons you mentioned are [italic]exactly[/italic] why I love this show. For me, it's a respite from all other shows with a linear structure, i.e. all of them. I just luxuriated in it every single second, from the first shot to the last. It's also the reason why I wouldn't classify it as a binging show because I needed a breather after every episode.

Those shows you mentioned, now [italic]those[/italic] are binging shows for me. I've seen so many shows like that in my life that it all sort of starts to repeat itself so I always fast forward through the boring parts or filler dialogue. I distinctly remember that it took me ten minutes to watch one of the previous episodes of The Good Fight. And then I just gave up. Not even Baranski's acting is enough sometimes.

[quote]A bit like how paraplegics would feel if David were to make Professor X walk again, I'd imagine.

I like your perspective on this. I appreciate the angle you've taken in describing this issue, one which I'd never thought of before.

I'd add, though, that it's about what the character would want and not necessarily what the audience would want for that character.

When comics Professor X was given the opportunity to walk he took it. He had many periods over the years when he was mobile. The film one would most likely be no different.

Clark/The Burned Guy is dealing with a mutant who can warp reality. It would take a lot of "good writing" for him to turn down David if he offered to fix his burns.

[quote]The fact that storytelling was not linear AND that much of what was onscreen occurred in a character's imagination was very distracting

That's precisely what made this show the best show on TV, bar none. It wasn't distracting. It was fascinating.

Right there with you, R95.

The style, the story-telling, the acting, the writing... this show was literally unique and heads-and-shoulders above any other show I've watched on TV in ages, probably ever.

Utterly brilliant. It blew me away with every episode.

Rachel Keller who plays Syd reminds me of Gwyneth Paltrow.

Wonder Woman's Saïd Taghmaoui will be joining the show’s cast as Amal Farouk aka The Shadow King.

Hawley's also doing the Dr Doom movie, so between this and Legion, a new season of Fargo is a long way off.

New speculation from Comic-Con:

[quote]Will Professor X ever make an appearance as David's father?

[quote]"We're working on it,” Noah Hawley cryptically reveals.

Come on, Patrick Stewart. One last dance!

One of the best shows on TV... I'm very much looking forward to season 2.

I hope they can keep the magic going.

Navid Negahban (Homeland) has been cast as Ahmal Farouk aka the Shadow King after Said Taghmaoui (Wonder Woman) dropped out.

Season 2 is slated to premiere in April.

The premiere date was announced today: April 3rd at 10 p.m. ET.

My prediction: the show will struggle in season 2 to find an audience after the departure of executive producer Bryan Singer.

R106 Luckily for us, you had very little to do with the show, Bryan. This one is all Noah Hawley's work.

You're right, I had little to do with the show. Because if it were my show, I would have pulled every gay mafia string in Hollywood to make sure Aubrey Plaza was nominated for a supporting actress Emmy last year for Legion. The fact that she wasn't is as criminal as Kevin Spacey teaching middle school Phys Ed.

Disturbing teaser featuring teeth chattering.

omg can't wait!

First full trailer for season 2.

Season 2 start tonight! AV Clubs gives it an A- so that's promising. Says the first season looks almost restrained by comparison.

Anyone else excited?

Stevens looking dapper af at the premiere. I wish I could pull off a pink suit.

Would you look at that footwear! A coincidence or a clue? You'll just have to tune in to see...

WTF happened to Dan Stevens's looks?

r115 How do you mean? He looks the same to me as in the first season.

R116, compared to this.

r117 But he's not shirtless on the red carpet. Who knows if he doesn't look like that under that suit?

Also, this particular role doesn't call for huge muscles. Quite the contrary, actually.

round 2 back on the tv! loved the what ever it was i watched. dance off was so good, with the lab cut into it.

Dear gods, how I loved this! It's unlike anything else on TV. Art directed to within an inch of its life. And that insane dance-off battle! Those telepath ladies with moustaches are freaking me. the. fuck. out. As good if not better than the first season already.

I appreciate the showrunner getting Dan naked or at least shirtless at every opportunity. He looks just a bit less muscly than in the photo at r117. Delicious body.

And was that the owner of DL's fave celeb cock, Jon Hamm, narrating the two sequences?!

yes, Hamm was the voice.

It was like watching a music video.

I mean, honestly, how good was that?!

I just realized this Terminator pose goes along with all the other time-travelling elements this season.

Wonderful second episode. Loved the language-switching by Amal Farouk.

Anyone else concerned while watching the episode that the trans activists would jump on Hawley for referring to these androids as "he... she... them"? I feel like everyone's walking on eggshells these days when it comes to the depiction of gender, myself included.

You guys realize there's a specific SEASON TWO thread, right??

Why do we need a special Season 2 thread when the thread title of this one is season-neutral?

The second episode got a B from the AV Club because... it slowed down and reminded everyone it's a superhero show? That reasoning seems so weird to me. It's like that mentality from a couple of years ago that we can like something despite it being a superhero show, not because of it. So condescending.

[quote]Credit to tonight’s director Ana Lily Amirpour. I was looking forward to seeing what the arthouse weirdo would do with the visuals, and from David’s 2001-meets-Tron trip outside space-time to Farouk rubbing out the fortune teller booth, she didn’t disappoint. Bonus credit for Lenny and Oliver continuing to sing as they vaporized soldiers.

I agree with that, though; she did great. But the writers get the real props for being self-aware enough to call that wrestling sequence homoerotic!

I want to see those cyber bitches in action already!

What do you think their name (collective noun?) [bold]Vermillion[/bold] refers to? The DC comic, the village in Illinois, the red pigment...? Place your bets now!

R127, it's Datalounge Tradition to have one thread per season. For some shows like Game of Thrones, it's one thread per episode.

Why would you want to mix it all up with old messages and old threads?

Focus. There's a specific thread for season two discussion. Use it.

r129 The Legion subreddit doesn't have any suggestions when it comes to those androids, which is weird. They all seem to be fascinated by those huge green hands pointing to David instead. And by the Shi'ar reference. That one especially.

I wonder who's changing the diapers on all those teeth-chattering people in the storage...

How come no one's brought up Oliver's body in the first episode yet? I kept wondering if that was CG because there's no way someone in their sixties would look like that. So I looked up the actor, Jemaine Clement, and he's only 44! That period costume in the first season really aged him up, bigly.

He's pretty handsome when he cleans up, isn't he?

r132 Yeah, he's a sexy man for sure. Mostly because he just oozes suave.

Here he is younger and playing a satyr of sorts. Oh, be still, my beating hole!

You've never heard of "Flight of the Conchords"?

r135 No, I wasn't yet that deep in American pop culture at the time that was airing, but I do notice people mentioning it left and right whenever Clement is brought up in any context.

It is actually New Zealand pop culture by way of America, and definitely worth checking out.

I know exactly what it is but thanks, I guess.

The AV Club has so many of its staffers watching and discussing this show that it's offering their (five) takes in addition to the main episodic review.

Amahl Farouk was perfectly cast, wasn't he? Negahban has such innate gravitas. Although I'll always wonder what Taghmaoui of Wonder Woman would have done with the role. Perhaps he couldn't pull it off so they recast him? I guess we'll never know.

He has such a sexy nose as well.

Although the plastic sunglasses did throw me off a bit and didn't really go with his period Egyptian suit. But I'm sure it was a deliberate styling choice, to convey the sense of timelessness. Loving their shape, though.

God, but I am loving this season. Sure, it's a basic MacGuffin plot but it looks like comic book pages came to life this season. Especially that background story with the monks. Who or what the hell was making all that racket in the funeral egg? Residual psychic energy?

The meaning f that cow is definitely going to be revealed at the very end of the season, right?

And it was so cool to see Amahl battling Professor X from some random bar. Though I didn't like Hamm's intro this week as it wasn't rooted enough in actual psychology; tics most certainly don't spread like yawns or laughter.

Those android bitches are completely fucking useless, aren't they? Sashaying around the place is about the only thing they're good for. How the hell did that monk manage to overpower them, anyway?

I'm glad Admiral Fukuyama is still alive. I like him.

r143 A bald guy with no special physical powers kicking three moustachio'd androids who are supposedly immune to psychic attack does seem weird. Perhaps he had some help from those child soldiers? But even that sounds ridiculous. I feel like they really are maybe just for show and to intimidate/disorient people with their gender non-specificity. That whole admiral's chamber does look like all style and little substance right now.

Please give the beautiful Ptonomy a boyfriend and a steamy sex scene, to balance out all the straight sex scenes we've been getting. Thank you. Speaking of hot black people...

That woman driving Amahl's corpse was definitely his henchwoman who will enter the picture later on, right? I sure hope so because she was just [italic]fabulous.[/italic]

R142, actually, that intro was rooted in an actual fact where a physical tic spread across a group of cheerleaders ... to this day nobody knows what actually happened there, but it is a medical fact.

r146 Was that a recent event or did it happen a long time ago?

Someone at the AV Club posted this Claremont/Byrne version of Professor X's and Farouk's battle from X-Men #117 (1979), which obviously served as the inspiration for what we saw on the show.

So badass.

What/who in the hell is that minotaur in Melanie's head?! I'm so terrified yet incredibly turned on at the same time.

The latest “tutorial” narrated by Jon Hamm is based on a true story. The cheerleaders shown coming down with uncontrollable shoulder tics harkens back to the mystery of 18 cheerleaders in Le Roy, New York, who all came down with vocal and physical tics in 2011. The cause of their affliction is still unknown.

r150 Thanks, I read the NYT expose on it just now and it's all very interesting. It made me think of this column I had read last year, by the actress Betty Gilpin. She went into a full-body spasm due to stress and it reads like the exact same thing we saw on the show.

[quote]Then, slowly, it began. It was so tiny at first that I thought I was imagining it. My left shoulder started to jump. It was minuscule, like I was doing the smallest mouse dance possible to a continuous beat. I laughed a little at it. Then, the shrugging began. My shoulder leaped up to my ear, stayed there locked for a few seconds, then rolled back intensely, the muscles in my upper back seizing and flexing. Ingrid reminded me that the first priority was not to appear high-maintenance, so I waved it off and naturally … got in my car. To get on the highway.

Seems like a psychosomatic disorder, mixed with mass hysteria when it goes "viral". Which almost never happens.

I wish it was about THIS Legion.

I think that would be a fun show, r152.

r152 Is that another comic book by the name of Legion? Speaking of...

Do we think they're ever going to refer to David by that name on this show? It's such a cool name for one character to have. It instantly conveys the fact that he's an omega-level mutant and someone you don't want to fuck with. Has it been ever mentioned in the comics if he's more powerful than his father? Or is he somewhere on the same level?

They totally cribbed the lighting from this on the season opener:

r155 That doesn't look familiar to me. Any particular part of the episode you're referring to?

How do you know this movie, if I may ask? Is it a famous classic or something? The name Clouzot does sound like something I've heard before.

Hmmm... I don't know what to think of that episode. I was waiting for this big revelation and then Syd ends up with a speech that doesn't sound like anything that was portrayed during those loops. It also didn't sound like the Syd that we know. It came out of nowhere, basically. I do love that they got Lily Rabe to guest star. And they literally waited until the 40-minute mark to do the opening titles. That was pretty cool, at least.

I was certain Syd's mystery would be that she switched places with her mother the moment she was born, but a commenter under this review said mutant abilities in the comics don't usually manifest until adolescence or in extremely stressful situations. So I was way off there.

Fun fact: Ellen Kuras, who directed this episode, was also the cinematographer for 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. Pretty apt, I should say.

r156- it's the season opener, episode 9, when David first meets future Syd, right before she starts drawing light pictograms.

I've never seen the movie I've mentioned (I believe it's from the 60's), but I remember seeing the clip on the internet and noting the lighting for reference - I'm a makeup artist.

r159 Oh, yes, I see it now. That lighting technique was so distinct and it was doing the weirdest thing to Syd's facial contours (almost like she was getting older and younger at the same time) that I got unnerved and intrigued during the first viewing, but then forgot about it until you brought it up. It does look similar. Great use of lighting to convey a sense of distortion, temporal or otherwise.

One of the reviewers mentioned those strangely grotesque paintings in the gallery were the work of the Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele and that his life story is... not particularly uplifting. So I decided to look it up, thinking it'll tell me something more about Syd. Beyond depressing. He eventually died of the Spanish flu at the age of 28, which made me think Syd was not long for this world either.

But then I looked around some more and discovered the real connection - the character of David Haller was partly conceived by artist Bill Sienkiewicz after he saw Schiele’s "Self-Portrait". How wonderful.

You can read more about this piece on the Met website.

That's very interesting, r161 / r162. Thanks for sharing that.

Holy crap r162, I never knew, and was a fan of the "New Mutants" because of Bill's work. So really all of those paintings are facets of David in Syd's subconscious. The production really did their homework.

This is the first issue of Legion comic:

I was thoroughly confused by the proceedings in this episode until the moment Malcolm put that device to work. What an exceptionally cruel thing to do. And to what end, exactly?

Loving Hamm's didactic inserts more and more. The one about conspiracies this week seems especially timely.

Is Admiral Fukyama even human?!

The staging and the direction in this show make it look like comic book panels came to life on screen. Not even the big budget Marvel movies can achieve that, at least in my eyes. So, so pretty to look at.

[quote]Is Admiral Fukyama even human?!

This is the screenshot of his face. Some are saying it's the magnified head of that delusion chick that's infected Ptonomy's mind so he now thinks the Admiral is part of a huge conspiracy. It works great with Jon Hamm's narration in that episode as well.

This show continues to amaze.

Great homage to Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" in tonight's episode.

What a singularly bizarre hour of TV that was. And a lovely tribute to David's sister (played by Katie Aselton) who is deceased in a way, but not really. However, that CG ladyboy was... something else.

John Cameron is credited as the director in the episode itself but IMDb says Charlie McDowell. Hm.

R168 Yes! That put a smile on my face.

Great write-up, R169... god I love this show. It's just brilliant.

r170 Yeah, that write-up and the comments under it clarified to me just what the hell this was all about.

[quote]It took me a while, but I got it: This is how the most powerful psychic in the world mourns his sister.

So the whole episode was really a beautiful elegy.

The Entertainment Weekly reviewer deeply misunderstood this episode as a (failed) social commentary and slapped a C+ on it.

[quote]The affectation of the goons, rather than evoking Kubrick’s classic, makes light of this type of bullying, and the abrupt resolution cuts off any sort of emotional resonance.

[quote]The segments focused on this David almost decided to have something interesting to say about the over-prescription of unnecessary drugs in the U.S., but they decided against it. Likewise, they could have made a statement about the need for more mental health training for police officers, but they didn’t quite make it there either.

[quote]As in the scene with the overpass bullies, the immediate and disproportionate inversion of the aggressor-victim dichotomy here takes what could have been an affecting commentary on social injustice and replaces it with a sci-fi setpiece.

Christ! Can an episode of TV not just be about grief once in a while?

well, it was EWeekly. so......

The Avengers are going to have to employ all sorts of temporal mechanics when they could have just brought David Haller on board to dispense with Thanos in no time. Don't you just love it whenever psychic superheroes go full Phoenix?

This happened on this show and don't you ever forget it!

That was fuckin' awesome, R175

Amazing show!

This week’s episode made up for last week’s, which didn’t have the impact it should have with Amy’s death. They should have reversed the order of the two. As it was, this was one of the best episodes of the season, along with the one that was Syd’s backstory.

The ending of this ep was quite devastating, especially noting that Farouk told him he could essentially will any of the timelines into being, and yet he knew he had to continue this timeline, even though Amy died a horrible death. I just wish they had reintroduced her earlier in the season. Her reappearance was bizarre and jarring and disconnected. This ep went a long way in fixing that, but it just seemed like a narrative failure that could have been easily handled and noticed.

And of course, the singing mouse, which was genius.

After the cancellation of The Expanse, if this gets cancelled, I may lose my shit.

(hoping against hope for a new season right now)

I recall reading somewhere recently that its ratings are pretty abysmal. God, I hope I'm just misremembering.

There is hope....

r182 Ha! That's exactly the article I had in my mind!

So... are we thinking Admiral Fukuyama is just a pawn to the old black lady and she's another big player? The Vermilion were fucking useless, just as I had suspected. They're glorified nurses, without the attitude.

The pink liquid Farouk was using in that car was concentrated love, wasn't it?

Loving the intros: "Ostensibly, on Legion".

This review points out that Nicolas Jaar's "Mi Mujer" was playing during Ptonomy's egg-whispering nocturnal campaign. So maybe there was a female character behind that, not the Shadow King?

r185 Yes! I'm telling you - it's the old shushing lady pulling all the strings from behind the curtain. I bet you [italic]she[/italic] is the Apocalypse That Was Promised and that only Farouk can stop.

Can you imagine if it turns out that the word apocalypse was actually referring to Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse this whole time? Eugh. I did love him in the movie, mind you, but he doesn't seem the right fit for this show somehow.

^^ Okay, no one on Reddit has that theory so it's probably false. 'Cause those bitches are [italic]smart.[/italic] The grandma's most likely just a personification of the Motherboard, ie. the Organizing Principle.

The coolest thing I did read on the Legion subreddit is that future Syd is actually a copy of Syd's consciousness trapped in the orb which Kerry sent back in time. That's why David and Farouk can't read her mind* or hurt her while she's in there. There was a shot of her looking through the orb's porthole window in last night's episode.

*Though there [italic]was[/italic] a flash of David in her mind which Farouk could see, wasn't there?

[quote]Okay, no one on Reddit has that theory so it's probably false. 'Cause those bitches are smart.

So, r187, you are saying r186 is stupid?

r188 No, I was referring to my own post there. I know I'm not too smart and I'm definitely not ashamed to admit it. I do love to speculate when it comes to my TV shows, though.

the visuals of this show.... just continue to "blow my mind". so well done. and that chicken was not a duck!

R190... YANNY! LAUREL! BLACK & BLUE! WHITE & GOLD!

What a perfect episode this was, from the cool binary opening to the horrifying (and highly erotic) abrupt ending with the minotaur. A couple of random thoughts:

How badass is Professor X that he created what's basically a phantom zone full of timey-wimey tricks just to hide Farouk's body? So meticulous, I love it! The conversation between Clark and Syd was so sweet and I loved the little homo touch Clark provided. I just hope DLers weren't triggered by him saying "girl talk". Those instructions David gave to everyone were basically mind rape, correct? His powers are growing constantly and the lines are getting blurred as well. I'm choosing to interpret Hamm's lesson this week as basically his apology for that hazing incident in college; the delusion of the narcissist, indeed.

Bonus gif of Syd making a motherfucking [italic]entrance.[/italic]

Clock of the Long Now

[quote]The Clock of the Long Now, also called the 10,000-year clock, is a mechanical clock under construction, that is designed to keep time for 10,000 years. The project to build it is part of the Long Now Foundation.

[quote]The project was conceived by Danny Hillis in 1986. The first prototype of the clock began working on December 31, 1999, just in time to display the transition to the year 2000. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the date indicator changed from 01999 to 02000, and the chime struck twice. The two-meter prototype is on display at the Science Museum in London.

[quote]As of December 2007, two more recent prototypes are on display at The Long Now Museum & Store at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

[quote]The manufacture and site construction of the first full-scale prototype clock is being funded by Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, with $42 million, and is on land which Bezos owns in Texas.

Not sure what that has to do with Legion.

I have to admit, I loved last night's episode, but half the time, I had no real clue what was going on or why. I hope someone can link to a decent write up explaining everything.

r194 Did you miss David's instruction to Clark to get The Clock of the Long Now? Pay attention!

r194 What part confused you? Hopefully, this writeup will make it clearer.

The reviewer really hated Hamm's bit this week. And I agree that it was somewhat awkwardly placed. Felt like everything ground to a halt when it happened.

So Farouk definitely sucked that black lady's mind/soul into the astral plane to get her that eternal dream, right? God, I'd like to go out that way as well.

R174 I believe most troupes call that the Gandalf Effect. Jean Grey was normally extinct from the vast majority of missions in the 90's cartoon because being part telepath always mean she could just stop w/e assailant/villain by mind fuckery!

Omega Level mutants like David essentially have little limits on what they can do. That's why normally they are insane or flawed b/c if they were sane and rational they would do the very thing u suggested R174 which would kill the plot. . Marvel let's Professor X stop entire city blocks, malls, and god knows what else.

Also, who are all those people in R152 :O? I only recognize Saturn Girl.

r198 Yeah, I know and I seem to recall another rule from the comics that superheroes should only fight villains with a similar power set. But I find that boring. I just want telepaths and wizards to clean everyone's clocks all the time.

Seriously, R196? Hamm's bit was by far the best part of the episode. BY FAR. And it's by far the best of those bits this season. BY FAR. I want a YouTube video of just that bit to link everywhere. It was THAT good.

R196, what part confused me? What part DIDN'T? I've followed the show pretty well up until last night's episode. I still don't get half of what went on. The whole thing with David and those little signs and the desert diorama thing... what the fuck was that? No idea where that came from or what the purpose was. I'm not even sure if the desert is real or just some mind-scape.

r200 Ha! I like your enthusiasm. I actually didn't mind it as much until I read that review. Just goes to show how much power we give to other people's opinions. Perhaps Hamm could do a bit about that as well.

r201 He was making a plan of attack with that diorama and then proceeded to plant each person's part in that plan into their heads before leaving for the desert. His power of imagination vastly exceeds ours, as was demonstrated two episodes ago when he was imagining different futures where his sister was still alive. Of course, Farouk foresaw all of that and got to Melanie to try and foil David's plan. It's like a chess being played right now, and those people at Division 3 are the figurines.

*chess pieces, not figurines, sorry

One of the time-keeping mechanisms considered for The Clock of the Long Now at r193 was a tuning fork, which we saw in this episode. David may be planning to disturb the strange time stuff happening in that dessert with it. We'll see.

*desert, Jesus!

Why can't a spellchecker read my mind? It's 2018; make it happen!

Anyone else thought we'd be getting a groundhog-type situation with those corpses? David and Syd made two entrances but then they stopped. Perhaps they'll continue with that in the next episode?

R196, I could not possibly disagree with that opinion piece more about the 'lesson' video. It was by far the best one of the, and the highlight of the episode. That guy sounds like an asshole. Sorry. I can't take his opinion on anything seriously now.

r207 Yeah, the commenters there disagreed with him as well. But he's still in my good graces because of that writeup of the episode revolving around David's sister that helped me understand what it was all about.

The single worst experience I had with a reviewer was Zack Handlen who covered Star Trek: Discovery last year on that site and actively [italic]hated[/italic] nearly all of the episodes. There was a war in the comment section every week and yet I'm still there today, reading that bitch's reviews of The Expanse. I forgive easily, I suppose, though I did [italic]loathe[/italic] him back then.

A slower episode was expected in the final stretch and I enjoyed it quite a bit, especially David's sister haunting and taunting Lenore. That crack den was everything, from the constant nonsensical talk to the crack baby at the end. Having an episode without the lead making an appearance is always a bold creative decision.

Still waiting for that minotaur to be explained. Who's going to be Melanie's Ariadne, I wonder?

Melanie's own warmly-lit crack den looks so cosy. She's like a mug-cradling frau except she's cradling a kitschy elephant-shaped drug vaporizer instead.

The lead DID make an appearance. It was just very brief, and in a flashback/implanted-memory.

Yes, that's what I meant, there were no new scenes with the lead. I still call that not making an appearance.

Renewed for another season!!

HOT DAMN! finally a win for one of my favorite tv shows. (still mourning Luci, Holden and Amos and Hap and Leonard)

r214 Why are you mourning Holden and Amos? The Expanse has been picked up by Amazon!

[quote]What happened for Jean Smart after Fargo? “I was very proud of it. But afterwards? Not a job offer! Not a one. For over a year. I figure it is because of how I have looked, that I have aged. I thought you know what, if I was a guy, I would have had some job offers.”

So depressing.

do not forget: we saw that damn protomolecule hiding under the Roci's skin. that will come back to bite someone!

whoops, wrong thread. meant it for Expanse, but true none the less

Wow! She didn’t get any offers after Fargo? She was terrific. The old straight white men running Hollywood need to be #metooed right the fuck on out of here. Enough already.

minotaur to the death? damn scary dude.

I loved the giant drain plug. I have no idea why.

[quote]I loved the giant drain plug. I have no idea why.

You may want to talk to a professional about that r221.

I loved the plug as well but my dirty mind thought those were anal beads at first.

So now all of the pieces are finally in place for the Big Battle in the finale, can't wait. I've said it a hundred times now - those androids are fucking useless aside from spying and manual labour. Also, I want to fuck that minotaur real bad.

How gorgeous were those Asian and Latino slingers? And we finally get the titular words said on the show!

Hard to believe they can wrap everything up in just one more episode.

His hair at the start of the episode was supposedly mimicking his hairstyle from the comics.

People are also speculating we're getting multiple personalities next episode, which I guess is a thing that happens in the comics? It's going to be tight, time-wise, if they do end up going down that road. I don't want no cliffhangers!

Stevens' bod looked pretty taut in that scene as well. Who's he fucking these days, anyway?

David as full god next season. cannot wait for that!

Well, it ended in a cliff-hanger.

I LOVED the first five minutes. And then loved the next thee minutes. So unlike any other show... amazing.

Hate using this term but the first five minutes were EPIC. I also liked the rest of it and thought Melanie's and Oliver's little segment was cute as well.

Couldn't believe they'd let Farouk out of his chains like that. It hit me like a tonne of bricks that David did, in fact, gaslight and rape Sydney. So awful.

His two split personalities were named DIVAD and DVD in closed captions. Is it the same in the comics?

Omega-level mutant, bitches. Can't wait for the next season!

The AV Club recapper had a meltdown over the sexual assault in this episode and slapped a C on it. The commenters seem to be seeing things differently, however.

I'm split on this. Even if everything we've seen is an illusion created by Farouk, I agree with him that sexual assault shouldn't be used for audience manipulation like that. On the other hand, Syd did use her mother's body to rape her boyfriend and had him sent away as a paedophile, and we don't seem to judge her for that, do we?

Who knew we'd be getting the #MeToo stuff in Legion? Hawley better tread carefully here.

David morphing into Cthulhu at one point made me laugh. Also, was that Stevens covering those songs? Nice singing voice if so.

The Shadow King seems much more powerful when he's operating from the... well, shadows; not so much in direct one-on-one battles.

This whole notion that you can never ever have anything even remotely resembling rape in a story is just so fucked up I can't stand it.

What happened was a very natural extension of the situation and people involved. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, he was in love, and wanted her to love him again. Yes, he did a terrible shitty thing, but it wasn't a reach for the story to go there, it's a pretty natural place for it to go in fact.

All those up in arms about it need to get their fucking shit together. I mean, seriously. Murder is a terrible plot point too, worse than rape, but you don't see every murder being questioned like this. Fucking stupid. Just stop.

That said, David used to talk to himself. Then he had one alternate personality. Now it's two. Pretty soon he'll have many. And then he will be... LEGION.

Yeah, that recap has about four times the number of comments an episode of Legion usually gets, so it seems to be a divisive take.

I mean, Hawley clearly states David is the villain now so I don't think he'll just overlook his sexual assault and rehabilitate him overnight.

More of this in the third season, please.

I wish I'd been stoned for that episode. Wow.

Season 3 to be the final season.

Apparently that was always the plan. Still sucks, because I love this show.