Legion: Chapter 25

July 30, 2019 10:11 PM - Season 3, Episode 6

Fairytale! Deeply weird but always great to see Oliver and Melanie...
posted by artlung (10 comments total)

Jason Mantzoukas is the greatest Big Bad Wolf ever.

"There's only one way this can end: a rap battle."

I almost fell out of my chair laughing.
posted by Marky at 11:48 PM on July 30, 2019 [6 favorites]

I love the facet of love shown by Cary/Kerry when he takes her back inside to heal her wounds so she can fight again.
posted by kokaku at 3:35 AM on July 31, 2019 [6 favorites]

Jason Mantzoukas is the greatest Big Bad Wolf ever.

He's no Hiphopotamus, though.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:54 AM on July 31, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure I get the allegory here. Is Cynthia David, and is the wolf Farouk?
posted by whir at 7:07 PM on August 1, 2019

I totally loved this episode, but I definitely get the feeling I'd have understood it better had I been watching the series from day-1.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:04 AM on August 2, 2019

She said she lived a lifetime - it seems like Oliver and Melanie, stuck in the astral plane, are there to assist her in navigating and understanding... life? A pocket universe into which some perspective is gained? I'm not sure if the Wolf is meant to be an allegory for David, or Farouk, or just - chaos, or something else.

I feel hesitant to parse the show because it's such a dreamscape, but I definitely am open to other interpretations.
posted by artlung at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2019

The Wolf is an allegory for knowledge - specifically, knowledge of all the bad stuff in the real world, which Melanie and Oliver were attempting to shield Syd from, long enough for her to be nurtured positively and have the hope required to change the real world, despite the nasty stuff out there.

In other words, her 'original' upbringing was extremely imperfect (like David), and it led to bad decisions and events. Melanie and Oliver attempted a reset or re-strengthening, another chance, so that Syd with her powers and willpower and hope could maybe save the world?
posted by destructive cactus at 1:15 PM on August 2, 2019 [4 favorites]

Which, when you think about it, is what David is trying to do for himself, but he's doing it horribly, and in a very extremely destructive and chaotic way - but the intent is the same - to correct a deeply improper upbringing, because the world is just not set up to handle people like Syd and David.
posted by destructive cactus at 1:20 PM on August 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

Not sure whether it's obvious, but Cynthia is one of David's elite hit squad - the so-called (and possibly tastelessly so-called) Manson Girls. She's also lost her mind and wandered in from the Real World, and is not metaphorical.
posted by Grangousier at 11:19 AM on August 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

Unless everybody is metaphorical, of course, which is still and in some ways increasingly a possibility. I'd be fine with that being the case while also realising things would be thrown at screens.
posted by Grangousier at 11:38 AM on August 4, 2019