Review by An Honest Fangirl
We take a step back this week (or I guess technically last week, sorry) in order to see all of the puzzle pieces that were only hinted at in "Chapter 16."
Let's start where the episode did: with Melanie. She really hasn't been a presence at all this season, and we finally got to see what she's been up to. Which is completely losing her grip on reality.
That's probably the saddest part for me, and the part that I'm having trouble buying. Melanie has always seemed like this competent, put together woman. I would have expected her to be the one leading the charge to get Oliver back safe and sound, especially since Division Three wants to kill him. She was working at Division Three at some point, so what changed? We didn't get to see that moment, and I'm really curious as to what it was. What made her give up on reality itself?
It was interesting that Farouk/Oliver kept making Melanie young. She sacrificed her youth and vitality waiting for Oliver to come back from the astral plane, putting her dream on hold in order to run something that the pair of them built together. Her bitterness as she explained that to Syd felt a lot more potent and understandable now than it did in the season premiere.
Because Syd is facing the same situation now, isn't she? Right now, she's willingly following David anywhere in pursuit of his destiny or future or whatever you want to call it. But we're already starting to see some of the tension that that has created. I'm honestly not sure how much longer Syd will be able to do that without cracking or doing something drastic. (Like say end the world? I'm still sticking to that theory.)
Regardless, it still felt like there was a scene missing in Melanie's arc. It felt like we went from her being bitter and angry towards Oliver and his attitude towards their relationship to her having no grip on reality and willingly working with Oliver. Did I miss something? What caused that shift?
The other prominent player in this episode was Lenny, Queen of the Cornflakes and Stunning Eyes. Like she told Farouk, as soon as she broke free, she started living the hell out of her new body. It was all fun, sex, drugs, and parties until Amy showed up in a way that was genuinely creepy and unnerving. I'm not sure where they're going to go with that. Amy obviously wants her own body back, but is that possible? What happens to Lenny if it is?
Amy kept insistently asking "Are you a good person?" and I appreciated Lenny's answer, which essentially boiled down to "not really." Is Legion angling for a redemption arc here, spurred on by Lenny's love for David? That reveal didn't really shock me, but it was nice to hear verbal confirmation of one of my theories. I don't know. I could very easily see Lenny continue her redemption into next season, but I could also just as easily see her killed off.
You know who else is throwing up death flags? Cary. We had yet another conversation about how he's getting older and that Kerry should prepare herself to live without him. Death isn't something that can just be defeated with some knives or fancy fighting. Unless Legion actually goes ahead and personifies Death, I can only see tragedy in their future.
Despite everything that happened, we really only moved the plot forward by inches. David did implant specific instructions in his allies' heads, and we watched most of them play out. Lenny's now in the desert with a weapon, looking at people with baskets over their heads while that bizarre minotaur creature is coming up behind her. Kerry and Cary are still at the Blue Octopus. David and Syd are presumably still in the tent. And we ended the episode exactly where we started: with Melanie knocking Clark out and dragging him away. You know, the same place that we ended last episode.
Without the Meds, It's Really Hard to Keep Things Straight
David now fully intends to destroy Farouk's body and simply deal with the end of the world later. Syd does not look like she thinks that this is a good idea.
According to Future Syd, Farouk is the only one who can stop the cataclysmic event that will destroy the vast majority of the population. Therefore, David cannot bash his head in in the desert like he's supposed to.
Farouk wants to find his real body. Unfortunately, the only person, a monk, who knew the location of the body jumped off a roof. Regaining his real body will greatly increase Farouk's power. He is on his way there now.
David and Syd are also technically on their way there, but they cannot reach their destination until David finds "the secret." It looks like they're stuck in a time loop or a "geographical disturbance."
Oliver and Farouk used Amy's body in order to bring Lenny back to life. Amy is still trapped within Lenny's head and is kind of acting like a conscience.
Lenny is now in the desert ready to help David with his plan.
Melanie is fully under the control of Oliver/Farouk and has a very tenuous grasp on reality.
This was a solid episode, but I'm really ready for some actual plot progression now, pretty please.
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An Honest Fangirl loves superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and really bad horror movies.
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