‘Legion 2×02’ Review
When watching the first season of Legion there were many times that David (Dan Stevens) appeared to have lost his mind. Now in season two, it is fair to say that he may end up losing his mind and the audience will along with him. If this is the way we go though, it will be a glorious experience.
With David agreeing to help find the body of Amahl Farouk (Navid Negahban) he still has to hide his true intentions from the people around him. When Oliver (Jemaine Clement) and Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) pay a visit to Division 3, it leaves the Loudermilks (Bill Irwin and Amber Midthunder) in an interesting predicament.
What we have to remember with Legion is that everything we see takes place outside of the reality of the show. This is the world of David, and we see it just like he does. What this means is that many times we are inside his conscious and given a glimpse into what he is actually working to achieve in this season.
In many ways he is a gullible character, especially in the way he is interacting with Oliver, Lenny, and Farouk who are all the Shadow King. In this episode we see David meet Farouk for the first time, even though we have glimpsed him in the first episode. The mental sparring they do is an example of just how experimental and impressive Legion can be, and shows just how brave it also is.
New viewers watching this episode would be very confused as to what is happening, but for the audience that is in it for the long haul, the battle is very good. To see the Shadow King actually teaching David just how powerful he is, and forming a bond with him shows the audience not only how powerful this enemy is, but also how honourable. Not only that though, but he is very devious so in true form for Legion, nothing is as it seems. This truly is a show that you have to watch from the beginning, or you’ll lost.
We see this when Lenny starts to question Amahl Farouk about giving her back her life. We finally see her façade of the Shadow King slip, as she shows herself as merely a tool for his power. His questioning of what she would do with a life brings out an insecurity about her and makes her realise that she will never be free, and Farouk doesn’t even need to tell her that, merely suggests to her the fact of how useless a life having would be (when she is in fact already dead in physical form).
While David is battling his inner demons, we also see the Loudermilks being attacked. While not killed, their power of being able to be two people (Cary and Kerry) is taken away from them and Kerry has to take the main form. This not only gives Amber Midthunder the chance to take main stage, but it also allows her to show how insecure her character is. Kerry is used to being hidden in Cary until she has to kickass. To have to be on the outside and deal with reality is something she isn’t really prepared for.
The fact she also seems to be weakening is also something that is a worry. This is especially the case for me as the Loudermilks are my favourite characters, and I don’t want Legion to lose such a badass duo.
This episode of Legion defines the story for season two well, but raises many questions that need answering, who is the Monk and how will he be found? Should we trust the future Syd? (Rachel Keller) and can the Shadow King really be trusted? The way Legion works, we can be sure that there will be many answers before the end of the season, and they will all be as surreal as the show itself.
The start of season two of Legion has shown that the show continues to not only be one of the best shows on television, but also one of the best shows to be connected to Marvel. Through being connected to the world of the X-Men but being in its own dominant little reality it gives us something different from what we expect from a superhero show and shows just how much the superhero genre needed something like this. Now to hope Legion never changes, because it is perfect how it is.
***** 5/5
Legion: Season 2 premieres in the UK on Fox TV April 17th.
