UNspoiled! Legion

Alright, guys. I'm not going to type much here. If you liked this finale and you want to hang onto that, I would recommend giving this episode a miss. I pretty much tear the whole thing apart from start to finish. Ye be warned. Also, trigger warning for rape talk. Because we sure needed more of THAT this week.

Hey there, folks! I'm back to a full schedule this week, and Maggie and I discuss the rather disappointing penultimate episode of Legion. It's really too bad, because I came into the second season with so much goodwill and excitement, but man they have fumbled this season pretty hard. To be fair though, a lot of the things that I didn't like about this episode Maggie didn't have as much of a problem with, so it's possible this worked a lot better for other people. In my eyes though, they squandered some really interesting opportunities and focused on stuff I really couldn't care less about. Unfortunately, a great deal of this episode revolves around Melanie and Sydney, two characters that have nosedived from interesting yet flawed to completely incomprehensible. There's a "Devil On Your Shoulder" sequence where Melanie tries to convince Sydney that David is a psychopath, but she uses feeble arguments that Sydney seems to fall for anyway. I dunno, guys. There's something really weird happening here, and they've only got one more episode to course-correct, so I am a little worried. I guess we will see how it goes!

Every time I think that me and the show Legion have come to an understanding about what I care about and want to see more of, they do something like this and reassure me that they weren't listening at all. Are there sections of this episode I loved? Sure. I mean, who isn't going to enjoy a hot lesbian sex scene with Aubrey Plaza and some weirdo girl who thinks she's pregnant by it? I'm not going to sneeze at a montage-like scene of Cary/Kerry stealing a weapon and a car and then watching as Lenny vanishes in front of their eyes. But in order to get to those moments, I have to slog through the Melanie bullshit, and let's all be honest...nobody gives a shit. She was an interesting character with a lot of strength last season, and they completely ruined her for nothing, and now she's just a pawn, and it's so disappointing. Here's hoping that huge drain plug in the desert is a little more interesting next episode.

Alright, folks, it's time for us to get serious about searching for Farouk's body. And by "get serious" I mean "wander aimlessly through the desert with no apparent purpose or method". There are certainly scenes in this episode that I liked, don't get me wrong. Pretty much everything with Ptonomy being in the weird tree of knowledge is rad, along with his discovery of the monk and his takeover of one of the Vermillion. I think I like Ptonomy better when he's doing things off-screen. But when it's David, I'm not really loving what's going on. His relationship with sydney is being played in a really strange and unnatural way by both of them this season, and they're not talking to each other in the way that I think human being normally communicate. I get that these aren't your average human beings, but for fuck's sake, sometimes their conversations barely make sense, like they're each hearing a completely different sentence than what was actually said. Of course, what was going on with Farouk was interesting and I'm definitely interested to see what the hell he's got up his sleeve next. I guess we're going to be finding out soon! Thanks for listening, and we will see you next week with a new episode!

Oh boy, listeners, what in the hell is going on here? This episode of Legion is the first one where I get a pretty satisfying conclusion (kind of) to one thread of the story, which is the one about the delusion-bug. I've known that it invaded Ptonomy's mind, but I wasn't sure that this was going to get resolved before the very end of the season. For that matter, I'm not sure that it actually has been resolved, but there's at least been a confrontation. Also, I really like the way the confrontation has been handled, and that David is able to control the reality in which he fights it. It's pretty damn satisfying to watch David stare down the delusion-bug and squash it. Heh. Also, it turns out that David is going to be the Big Bad this season? It's not actually a sure thing, but if it were, it wouldn't be surprising. This all depends on whether we believe future-Sydney, and as we all know I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. If you're interested in Maggie's article, you can find it here! https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/blogs/coffee-or-die-magazine/what-it-s-like-to-hunt-with-falcons-in-mongoliaThanks so much for listening!

Well listeners, I know I say pretty much every time there's a new episode of Legion that it was "weird", but this time I mean it in a slightly different way than usual. I mean yes, the episode is plenty weird, don't get me wrong, but instead of it just being the content, I'm also a little puzzled by the timing. Doesn't this seem like a strange point in the story to have an episode like this? My running theory is that this episode is meant to serve as a reminder to the audience about the importance of David's sister Amy, since we haven't seen her on the show since last season. It didn't really occur to me to wonder what was going on with her yet, because frankly there was a lot of other shit we didn't know and that seemed like the least of our concerns. But every timeline where Amy isn't a force in David's life has him living on the street and maybe strung out on meth (well except for the one where he's a drone at a desk watching a rat sing and dance). So I feel like that's what we're supposed to be getting from this, is a reminder that she's been the only person looking out for him this whole time. I feel like there were better, more effective ways of showing us that, though, so I'm not positive that I even buy into my own premise. I am fascinated by these alternative realities, though, and naturally have a lot of questions. Will these timelines play into anything later on? We end the episode, as usual, with more questions than answers.

Greetings, brave adventurer. We're here with the next chapter of Legion, and holy shit is this one a doozy. This is one of those rare instances on this show where you get the answer to a bunch of your questions almost immediately. And then, as it turns out, you kind of wish you hadn't, because the answers are terrible and upsetting and really really messed up. I have to concede the fact that Farouk has been so goddamn entertaining this season that I kind of...forgot he was the bad guy. As it turns out, he's like, way worse than I thought. He does what he does here purely to hurt David, because he could have picked anyone. But he picked David's sister. And then he made sure that David knew it. This show, y'all. Damn.

Hey so this was a weird one, huh? I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this episode. I think Maggie was more annoyed with it than I was, on the whole, because she feels like the way they're epicting Sydney isn't really in line with what we saw last season and they haven't really done the work to get her to this point with her character. I can totally see what she means, and she may be right, but to be honest there's so much bizarre shit happening that it's hard for me to think about it in a linear way and make a judgement call on a lot of it. Going into this episode, we believe that we're watching David trying to help Sydney break out of the "maze" created by the monk's weird brain-spell. Partway through the episode, however, we're notified that everyone was freed from this spell when the monk committed suicide, and David is actually being led through a very specific set of memories that Sydney has chosen to show him. She's trying to give him insight into the formative experiences of her life so that he can understand why her philosophy regarding love and its role in her life. As far as that philosophy goes, I think it's bullshit, but hey. Thanks for listening, and I will see you soon!

Hey there, listeners! Maggie and I will not have an episode of Legion for you next week, as I will be traveling to see family, so hopefully this one will tide you over. I will miss you! This chapter of the story was one of those pieces of the puzzle that feels like it should be more meaningful than it is. The bits where John Hamm narrates factoids about the nature of reality and the history of societal manipulation are interesting, for sure, but they don't necessarily feel like they're actually relevant to what's happening on-screen. There's a suggestion here that the weird historical instances of people all taking on the same physical tic are the same as the teeth-chattering psychic virus that the Mi-Go order monk causes in people...except that he's not affected by this virus. He's obviously inflicting it on purpose. It's a superpower. So why try to undermine that? Then there's what could have been a fascinating look into the minds of those who are infected, but they're not very satisfying. Ptonomy's "brain-maze" is set up like it's going to be this intricate search, but then David and Cary are dropped right into the middle of the maze where Ptonomy is without having to even search for him really, and David wakes him with literally one tap of a finger. Melanie's starts off really promising with her attempt to control the world, but then it falls apart with the lameness of David's message to her. I don't know if this season could possibly live up to the first one when we get right down to it, but so far it's not looking good.

Oh boy. Guys. Amal Farouk is here, and he is AWESOME. I was kind of lukewarm on the first episode, like, "I know how good this show can be so I hope they pick it up because I don't know about this here that I'm watching." Not outright disappointed as much as just non-plussed and a little lost. This episode did a lot to assuage my fears. And you know, when I step back and look at it, there's not really a totally solid reason why I feel so much better, aside from the fact that the casting for Amal Farouk is the best and this actor absolutely kills it and I want to see him in everything. Can one casting decision single-handedly save an episode? Perhaps. That's how good this guy is. I really hope he appears in every episode from here on out.Also I am really enjoying getting a peek into what's going on with Lenny now that things have settled down for her, at least in terms of her "assignment" from Farouk. Like, it appears that rather than just making a copy of her to fool David, he's basically stolen her entire consciousness and now she's trapped. Which is really fucked up.I am so excited to be back on this show now. Yay!