Legion: A Review (NO SPOILERS)

Lemme tell y’all a thing about a show called Legion. I seriously think it should be getting more attention. At first, I was unsure, but now that I’m almost done with it and have been processing it, I’m like, “Yes! Definitely!”

So what is it, exactly?

It is connected to Marvel’s X-Men comics, so it’s “one of those shows”, if you want to be snarky about it. However, (at least at this point), it’s not really an action show. It’s more of a “what the heck is happening?” show. It’s very mental (in every sense of the word).

What’s the plot? 

The main character, David Haller, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia since a young age and has been in and out of hospitals for years. However, at age 30-something, he’s permanently institutionalized. One day, he meets a new patient, Sydney, who refuses to be touched and is drawn to her. After an unexpected occurrence between the two of them, David begins to realize that perhaps there is more to his supposed schizophrenia than initially appears.

And that is just the basic setup. There is SO MUCH going on in this show! Seriously, it throws a ton at you and you feel like there is no way you can handle it... but believe it or not, you can. At first, I was very critical about it, thinking it was sloppy to introduce so many characters, plot points, etc. all at once... but then it was handled so well, that I let it go. You don’t forget anything, you’re not allowed to. It never introduces anything and then completely drops it. You’ll be reminded of it again shortly thereafter (not that your questions will be answered necessarily, but you’ll be reminded that it exists). 

I was critical of that at first too. Why were they showing us all this random stuff and not telling us anything about it? But then I realized looking back that I was actually learning stuff about it, just very, very slowly. That’s the thing with this show, it reveals things SO slowly and it’s enjoyably frustrating. It will raise questions and then suddenly cut away to something completely different apparently unrelated and you’re just like, “Wait. What about that other thing? Why are we watching this now?” You’ll be so confused about what you’re actually looking at. Is it a memory? Is it a flashback? Is it actually real? But then you eventually realize how it all connects and why everything is important.

But, there are some VERY random parts where after it’s over you’re just staring at the screen like, “...wut?” (random dance numbers, random cinematic tone changes [like, suddenly it’s a black and white silent movie or whatever], etc)

But the point of the entire TV show is to give you a sense of mental instability. Once you grasp that, even those random moments makes sense. 

The show is told from an “unreliable narrator” POV which is interesting. You don’t see that a whole lot, especially in movies/TV shows. We are figuring everything out along with the characters. There’s not one really stable character that we can relate with. Not that the characters aren’t relatable, just that often when it comes to storytelling, there’s usually a reliable character who can tell you what’s up, whether it be the main character or a wise side character.

When I was first watching the show, I was so lost, but I kept watching like, “GIVE ME ANSWERS!!! EXPLAIN THIS BULL-CRAP!!!” And then as I got more answers, more questions were raised and I was just eternally frustrated, yet I kept watching. However, I can safely say that with one episode to go, almost all my questions have been answered (at least the big ones that have been haunting me since the first episode) and stuff is about to go down (in the most exciting way possible). I love seeing people discover things about themselves, unfathomable potential, and all that. At first all the explanations seemed like “just because”, but believe me, everything is explained eventually. This show is so good! 

There’s only seven episodes (out of eight potential) and one season. All are on Hulu. Go watch them! Go be frustrated, confused, and pleased with me!

WARNING: There might be some risqué language and little tidbits. But watching it on Hulu, the language is cut out (I didn't even realize there was stuff in there until I saw things quoting it and I was like, "...I don't remember that." The other "tidbits" are like sex scenes and stuff. You don't see any full frontal nudity or anything, but at the same time, they're not something you'd want your children in the same room as you while watching. They ARE quick and pretty rare though, so... not that I'm trying to rationalize them, just... If you're expecting a super graphic and horrible show, that's not what it is, but if you're expecting a 100% clean one, it's not that either. (I remember Hulu would always warn me that this show was for "Mature Audiences" and when I first saw it, I thought "oh, if there's anything super graphic, I just won't watch the show", but then there was nothing. And I would always be super confused every time it warned me because there was really nothing to indicate that it was for "mature audiences".) 

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