Review by An Honest Fangirl
I wish that I could say that this is the strangest image that I've seen on Legion, but we all know that is a lie.
Oh, I don't have a good feeling about this. At all. For a penultimate episode, "Chapter 18" did it's job. The stakes were raised. Our heroes are now firmly set on a collision course with our villains that will meaningfully and drastically shape everyone's future lives. Relationships were broken and tested. And the episode did all of this with wonderful visual aplomb. I just... really didn't like where this episode went.
I know that we've been warned all season about the upcoming Dark, Evil and Insane David, but it still felt wildly out of character to me once we finally got to it. Torturing Oliver simply came out of left field, at least for me. I could buy and understand the glee on David's face as he did it – we've seen him take pleasure in using his abilities against people before – but I just couldn't buy that he would jump straight to the power tools. I couldn't. I would be very curious to hear from other people who felt differently. Are there scenes or interactions that I'm forgetting that make this course of action more understandable?
At least Oliver isn't dead. I thought for sure that he was, but I guess not. Hopefully now he can finally reunite with Melanie, assuming that she isn't dead or previously injured from her time as Farouk's vessel. I'm not quite sure how/when Farouk possessed her, but it was clear right from her first interaction with Syd that something was very wrong with Melanie.
While I didn't like the ultimate outcome, I did love the back and forth between the two of them. All of those scenes were simply spot on, and were full of too many awesome moments to list. Syd's entire arc this season has been one of uncertainty and worry towards David, coupled with a feeling of loss and wistfulness for the relationship that they shared before he disappeared.
Random side note: did we ever learn who kidnapped David in the sphere last season? I can't remember.
As encouraging as it was to hear Syd dismiss the parallels that Melanie tried to draw between their experiences with their men, Syd did eventually come around to Melanie/Farouk's line of thinking. David will always choose his power, his "destiny" over the love that he has for Syd, which means that he will end the world, which means that Syd needs to stop him.
Except that I don't think that that's true. Melanie told Syd that she was going to tell her a story, and that's what she did. She told Syd a fictional story. Most, if not all of those scenes that she showed Syd in her magic bowls were all taken out of context. And I didn't even remember the backlit scene of David kissing another woman. Did you? David has kissed Syd and Future Syd. As far as I remember, that's it. Melanie told Syd that she couldn't trust mind readers because they told you what you wanted to hear. But what's Melanie's power? Farouk's power? Telepathy and mind reading. We can't trust anything she said.
I think I'm still sticking to my theory that David isn't the one who actually ends the world. We got a repeat of that same scene, but we still got no verbal confirmation of who the hero was that Farouk was referencing. Yes, I know that we got a shot of David's face, but like I said, I'm fairly certain that Melanie was manipulating what Syd saw in order to better suit the story that she was trying to tell. Or maybe I just want Legion to surprise me by not taking the easy way out. Seriously, if this season ends with David actually becoming Legion and ending the world, I'm almost going to be disappointed.
The one thing that's giving me pause was our opening shot of David on his throne, surrounded by skeletons and holding some kind of sphere. What was that about? A peek into the future? David's spiked up hair was a nod to his comic book appearance, so maybe it was just a fun easter egg thrown in for visual flair? I have no idea.
Besides all of that, we also had some small pieces of Kerry and Cary. I'm not sure how much of that was meaningful and how much of it was filler. What was up with the people in the hole? My subtitles called them Box Men, probably because we first saw them with boxes on their heads. Are they also monks of the Mi-Go Order? They seemed the be defending the hole, albeit not very well considering all of the people that went into it. I have no idea. Their sonic weapons were cool, though, and they were very creepy when they climbed out of the hole like some kind of zombie. Hopefully, they don't vanish next episode.
The powered up Minotaur was also very cool and creepy, especially with how it scuttled along the walls. I kept expecting Syd to touch it and swap consciousnesses with it. When she had her glove off all episode, I thought for sure that we were going to have some body swapping at some point. Either way, she certainly isn't in a good spot right now. I doubt the Minotaur will kill her, but I have no idea what it'll do instead either.
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.
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.
Syd has decided that David is the true monster and is going to stop him instead of Farouk. David, for his part, seems self-aware and concerned that he might be heading down a dark path.
At some point, Farouk left Oliver's body and entered Melanie's. He has since regained control of his own body, greatly increasing his powers and abilities. Both Oliver and Melanie are now in poor shape.
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.
Kerry and Cary are also in the desert, although Kerry and Syd are dealing with the Minotaur and are apparently losing badly.
Farouk has gotten rid of a key point in David's plan, the Choke, which would have dampened everyone's powers for a few minutes.
Next stop: finale!
---
An Honest Fangirl loves superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and really bad horror movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.