Legion: Chapter 5
March 9, 2017 10:10 AM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe

David, having escaped the Astral Plane, returns to Summerland. The crew begins to plan an assault on Division 3 to rescue Amy. However, David is frustrated with the cautious approach that Melanie has proposed. After finally finding a way to be physically close with Syd, David takes off on his own, leaving the other mutants to follow in his wake. Back at Summerland, Cary continues to uncover the murky truth of David's powers.
posted by codacorolla (43 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
It just seems to be getting better and better. I think that the physical (meta-physical?) intimacy between Syd and David was handled well, although I'm suspicious of how much of that was David, and how much was Lenny/Benny/King/Devil.

The little trick of everyone being muted during the house exploration was very cool. My assumption is that the Devil did it in order to prohibit communication, and to funnel them all up to the bedroom where it could trap them in its little psychiatric hospital pocket dimension. I'm hoping that's what that is, anyway. I don't expect it of the show, but a fake-out of that degree with the first 5 episodes being a false memory would be... bad.

Other cool flourishes were the sky hologram as a way of Cary to talk to the crew (which is a lot more visually interesting than other more realistic approaches they could've taken), the absolute carnage of David's assault on Precinct 13 Division 3 (especially the security camera footage of him playfully waving to the guards before he vaporizes them), all of the stuff w/ the Angriest Boy and the Demon were actually super scary, which is hard to pull off on TV. The scene of the Devil chasing Syd around the room reminded me of some of my own bad dreams.
posted by codacorolla at 10:19 AM on March 9, 2017 [4 favorites]


With the mutism, I assume it was simply to shut up Amy. The fact that he just casually makes the entire area mute with her is part of him being waaay too powerful and unrestrained.
posted by politikitty at 10:43 AM on March 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


So glad they didn't kill Kerry/Cary.

Wow. Division 3. A one man wrecking crew.

Wondering how much of David's powers are the parasite's and how much are his. Maybe David has a particular power or maybe his power is more raw and unrefined. Maybe the parasite brings it's own powers. Wondering if the parasite can be removed, if that means David is no longer a god; maybe he's not even a mutant after that.

The White Room was so sweet and beautiful (until it got creepy and scary). Impressed with the way they pulled off that shift in narrative and tone.
posted by kokaku at 10:50 AM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


In the show, they discuss that the parasite feeds on his psychic powers, but they're not sure where David starts and the parasite begins. I'm guessing this happened when the stars starting talking to him.

Also, I'm appreciating that FX just runs it back to back. I'm usually so awestruck by the ending that I just don't change the channel when they repeat the episode. (I should be going to bed, but no.)
posted by politikitty at 10:58 AM on March 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


This was so good, and I have no fucking idea what's going on.
posted by rtha at 11:04 AM on March 9, 2017 [11 favorites]


I'm guessing this happened when the stars starting talking to him.

Yeah, I totally agree with this - the main mysteries of the show right now are "who's/what's the yellow-eyed devil?" and "what did the stars say?". They've gotta be related - maybe that ugly fella is a sort of psychic energy alien? Doesn't explain the tattered business suit, or looking vaguely human, though.
posted by destructive cactus at 11:42 AM on March 9, 2017


Man, I never appreciated how hard it was for the GOT fans in the show versus show/book threads.

Some of the shots are so gorgeous to look at. Like the blue room/red bathroom/pale blonde touched by purpling light? Pause on that and it's just beautiful.

I'm guessing this happened when the stars starting talking to him.

I'm so excited right now.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 12:13 PM on March 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


Other cool flourishes were the sky hologram as a way of Cary to talk to the crew (which is a lot more visually interesting than other more realistic approaches they could've taken

See, that just knocked me out of the narrative for a moment.

Like you're a secret mutant group that remains hidden and invading the territory of some secret mutant hating paramilitary group, of course you project your scientist with all the answers up into the sky for anyone around to listen in and catch a glimpse. HEY ANYONE NEARBY WE'RE GIVING AWAY FREE INFO!

I get that they're trying to keep the time period murky in the show so cell phones would have given things away, but even Dick Tracy managed super spy telephone watch and even that would have made more sense. Or a walkie talkie. Or like Warehouse 13's little Skype in an altoid tin.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 12:24 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I totally agree with this - the main mysteries of the show right now are "who's/what's the yellow-eyed devil?" and "what did the stars say?". They've gotta be related - maybe that ugly fella is a sort of psychic energy alien? Doesn't explain the tattered business suit, or looking vaguely human, though.

My impression is that it's a take on the Angriest Boy's look, but upscaled, and deteriorated. If that's the case, then I would assume that the parasite latched onto David's own uncertainty and rage, maybe using that as a way to worm inside of him.

I appreciate the fact that the show seems to be saying: David has a mental illness, but he also has powers, and he also has this adversarial psychic entity, and he also has a history as a person apart from all that, and that doesn't make any of them less important. Often the narrative with this stuff is "you were never mentally ill! you were super powered!" which is a very bad portrayal of mental illness.
posted by codacorolla at 12:32 PM on March 9, 2017 [8 favorites]


This hasn't come again since episode 1, but who has the power of fire that was used to help David escape? Melanie? Or was it plain-old, conventional, non-mutant fire? Hoping they won't leave that loose end unanswered.
posted by kokaku at 1:50 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


"This hasn't come again since episode 1, but who has the power of fire that was used to help David escape? Melanie?"

Man, I've been wondering that all along. When they were heading out to Division 3, I was thinking "what does Melanie add to this team? What does she do?" and I thought, "maybe she's the one with magical-lights-turning-people-into-charred-skeletons powers". But we still don't know.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:23 PM on March 9, 2017


I have no idea what's going on and I love it.
posted by Justinian at 7:26 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


omg the season is just over halfway done
posted by Pronoiac at 8:59 PM on March 9, 2017


Someone made a gif of my favorite scene. I'm so happy they're using Bill Irwin's mime/clown skills.

I have theories as to what might be going on, but I don't see how they can possibly fit into just three more episodes. I've read that the ratings have been decreasing each week, so I'm hoping Noah Hawley has created a story that can be satisfactorily delveloped and resolved in 8 episodes, even if a lot of the ambiguity remains. I can't imagine what a second season would look like, but I'd like to see it.

I am both impressed by and terrified of Aubrey Plaza.
posted by bibliowench at 7:45 AM on March 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


"I am both impressed by and terrified of Aubrey Plaza."

The most impressive bit this episode was where she appeared and was approaching the sister with her wide-eyed weirdness and she reached out for the sister who smacked away her hand and not for a microsecond did Aubrey's gaze shift, nor did she flinch, or even acknowledge with her face that it happened. It was perfect.
posted by komara at 9:32 AM on March 10, 2017 [8 favorites]


I've never really cared for Aubrey Plaza, but man does she nail that sexy, dirty, crazy, evil, funny part so well. Her eyes seem like CGI sometimes.

This show is so good it is tragic it will probably only last this season. It's by far the best Marvel thing I've ever seen, save maybe Captain America 2.
posted by lattiboy at 9:42 AM on March 10, 2017 [5 favorites]


FX renewed Taboo, which had worse critical reception and fan reception - I feel like this will get at least another season, given the wide acclaim for it. FX is very interested in cultivating "prestige" shows.
posted by codacorolla at 9:57 AM on March 10, 2017 [6 favorites]


FX has been keeping The Americans on TV and its ratings are always terrible (because in general people have terrible taste).
posted by LizBoBiz at 1:31 PM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


I've been recording this, and thought I'd just watch the first chapter last night. Now it's 6:30, my eyes are burning, and will only get 4 hours of sleep before work. Worth it.
posted by Marky at 3:26 AM on March 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


From episode one this show has been wonderful and weird. It strikes a remarkable balance of keeping things mysterious, off-kilter and unreliable while anchoring it all with strong characters and emotional relationships. It's done all done with such confidence without ever feeling self-indulgent or smug about being clever.

I've been a fan of Dan Stevens ever since The Guest and I really think he's a standout with a really difficult role to pull off. Though everyone is doing great work.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:21 AM on March 11, 2017 [1 favorite]






I'm really nervous about getting to the point when stuff really starts to be clarified. I know it can't be mystery meat for every meal, but the moment where the enemy and the disorienting surroundings are clearly defined is often a huge letdown. The payoff doesn't do the build-up justice.

The headset that Cary made had a whiff of that to it. On what basis did you design your magic demon-parasite-isolating copper wire technology?

Don't get me wrong, this was a fantastic episode and is one of the most utterly fascinating superhero stories I have ever consumed in any medium in four goddamn decades. I am in love with this show. Which is probably 90% of the reason I'm waiting for it to pull a LOST or something on me.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:35 PM on March 11, 2017


Patrick Stewart Is Totally Open to Playing Professor X in 'Legion,' Too

I have extremely conflicted feelings about this. I adore him, I adore him as Charles Xavier, and if he wanted to come back, this would be the place to do it, but Logan was the perfect point to stop, and I'm not sure I want this show remotely even kind of related to any other continuity.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:38 PM on March 11, 2017 [6 favorites]


Rainbow Connection! The color scheme thing is actually significant! My brain goes all these places: Frog! Green! Not easy... We'll find the _connection_ with all these monochromatic fantasy scenes. The bad guy parasite's avatars are all reddish, and the light goes red when he's nearby, but the parasite himself is kind of green. The vaping frog(!) and its blue mist. The white room going blue right before things go off kilter. The yellow (Oliver's color) triangle on David's otherwise black outfit.

We'll find the connection.
posted by mneekadon at 7:58 PM on March 12, 2017 [3 favorites]


I love this show, the visuals, the pacing, the production value, but two things jarred me out of the story in the episode. Perhaps they are essential to the plot or the reveal, and I am not looking for spoilers but...
What David did to Syd in the opening scene seemed like assault to me. It was totally sexual and totally un-agreed upon.

And the "you're adopted" line. Aren't we past casting monstrous characters that way?
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:11 PM on March 12, 2017


It read like bordering on assault to me, too, but David was "off" in a lot of ways, so I assumed that was intentional. Most of the time, his mannerisms, cocky attitude, creepy head-tilt, the way he skipped through D3 wreaking destruction, looked like he was channeling Lennie/fat guy. We really don't know what kind of person David is.
posted by mneekadon at 4:28 AM on March 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, pretty much the point of that episode regarding David was that the parasite that we can't name yet is taking over. Therefore the creepy confidence and the focus on "taking care of" his obstacles, i.e., claiming what's "his". Not to mention all of the straight-up gleeful torture and murder he did. I don't want to mitigate what happened with Syd in the least, but that last point was way more unambiguously non-consensual and horrifying.

The vaping frog(!)

How the hell did I miss that.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:33 AM on March 13, 2017


And the "you're adopted" line. Aren't we past casting monstrous characters that way?

David's not the monster.

This was so good, and I have no fucking idea what's going on.

This should really be the show's tagline at this point.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:04 AM on March 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


That was a lot more mangled corpses than I'm used to seeing on basic cable. Even in serious war movies, really.

(But I guess it wouldn't even register as remakable in a video game.)
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:48 AM on March 13, 2017


Shout out to David's yellow triangle t-shirt and its relation to the yellow triangle-head monster. They sort of hit you in the head with the parallel towards the end of the show and now I need to go back and see what's up with all the other t-shirts (possible spoilers).

I have no idea what's going on and I love it.

Same. My favorite part of this show is how they are bending the medium of television. They're innovating on TV in a way I haven't seen since Twin Peaks. Every other show after Twin Peaks stole the serial drama / ensemble cast. Legion stole the crazy.
posted by Nelson at 7:50 AM on March 13, 2017 [3 favorites]




The vaping frog(!)

How the hell did I miss that.

middleclasstool, I think it's the second episode, where David and Lennie are sitting in his apartment and his girlfriend walks in on them getting high on the blue vapor coming out of a green ceramic frog on the floor.

That's how I remember it, anyway. But now I want to go back and make sure that's what I saw. I kind of feel that way about the whole series up to this point, actually.
posted by mneekadon at 6:53 PM on March 13, 2017


I think the frog drug paraphernalia is a humidifier, isn't it? Same principle anyway: put liquid into that is dispersed into the room.
posted by codacorolla at 7:13 PM on March 13, 2017


What everyone is saying about this show.

In addition to the mental illness+omega-powers* vs MI=OP vs MI/OP, the "occasional nice guy" IRL persona is seriously at odds with the very very creepy core persona.

Wondering when show characters will start realizing that David's a creep, that's being blasted in the background.

*I had just done some light google/wiki
posted by porpoise at 8:24 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


If you want to refer to the books, you might want to use this other thread for that.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:37 PM on March 14, 2017


middleclasstool, I think it's the second episode, where David and Lennie are sitting in his apartment and his girlfriend walks in on them getting high on the blue vapor coming out of a green ceramic frog on the floor.

No, sorry, I saw it, I meant how the hell did I miss the connection between that song and the frog. Normally I catch stuff like that.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:39 AM on March 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


You know who else wanted to bang their girlfriend on the astral plane?
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 3:06 PM on March 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


...
sublimely incomprehensible.
...
(makes me think of "Life on Mars" a little too - or "Awake" - and "The OA" and also "Heros" - shows each exploring where's the weird today? What can it mean? How does it work, psychologically? I feel like this shows is the best exploration of that. I really really really like this go at it.)
posted by From Bklyn at 5:32 AM on March 24, 2017


I'm fascinated by all of the little choices that are made that should take you right out of the show. There's this moment right after the team gets to the house and gets silenced where the camera pans up to The Eye in the distant treeline and does this hard, looping zoom in on him like a bad spaghetti western or incredibly over-the-top telenovela shot of a mustache-twirling villain and it's the best thing.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:25 PM on March 27, 2017 [1 favorite]


I appreciate the fact that the show seems to be saying: David has a mental illness, but he also has powers, and he also has this adversarial psychic entity, and he also has a history as a person apart from all that, and that doesn't make any of them less important.

I've just hit this point in the show, and I was/am really worried that this episode was saying that he was never mentally ill and it was always just the parasite thing - isn't that what sky-Cary said? - which, if true, would be a MASSIVE letdown for me.

Did I misinterpret something, and/or are the characters possibly misinterpreting something? Or did this ep definitively say 'David isn't really schizophrenic'?
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:07 AM on April 1, 2017


I don't know that we could say the ep was saying that definitively, but it's certainly hinting at it and it's what (some of) the characters believe at this point. Before I continue I'm kind of tempted to trace out what each person likely believes at this point (and earlier points?), but that seems like a lot of work.

I too would be disappointed if David is actually not mentally ill and the show just pins all his "troubles" on an external (well internal I guess right now, but alien to him) evil entity. I hope it doesn't, but I'm not going to try to guess where the show goes at this point.
posted by ODiV at 9:50 AM on April 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm most interested in Lenny/Benny right now, honestly. Benny was a real guy, probably, I think? Then covered over with Lenny in David's memory. Then the same thing happened with someone else at the hospital? But then Syd saw Lenny too I think, so maybe the way the real Lenny looks was taken by David and/or the parasite to use for other things (including memories of Benny)? Or maybe David/the parasite is so powerful that it is manifesting a whole other person who is there sometimes called Benny/Lenny? Yikes.

I'm still kind of in the "David is someone who is mentally ill" camp, but I'm worried the show is going to say that it was entirely because of the parasite or that it was a result of trauma that the parasite caused, not something that is just intrinsic to David.

Not sure what David being adopted brings to the table really, but I guess we'll find that out.

Oh and I'm 100% not feeling the Syd/David relationship unfortunately. It's likely supposed to feel this way because of their individual issues and experience, but it just seems as if there's no depth there.
posted by ODiV at 11:41 AM on April 13, 2017


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