Legion: Chapter Seven

Legion isn't for everyone.

It is a swirling cacophonous mass of psychopathy, magic, love, horror and humor.

That's why I love it.

But I can imagine someone coming into the show for the first time Wednesday night and seeing this...

And this...

  And this...

 Annnd this... 

...and wondering what the hell they just wandered into.

Heck, there were times when the episode seemed like Mack Sennett silent film gone horribly awry.

I can see how some had their patience tested while others watched with rapt attention.

Lets take a look at the good, the bad and the crazy.


Kerry & Cary

 
Last week I may have given short shrift to the Kerry/Cary conundrum.  Not that I wasn't interested.  I just didn't think it was central to what the show  was pursuing. 

Wouldn't you know they start out the episode with Kerry being stalked by "The Eye".  Kerry has been left behind while her counterpart, Cary, has joined with with Oliver.  Oliver, for his part, had sought out Cary in order to defeat "The Devil".

This turned out to be an important alliance because it laid the groundwork for defeating The Devil.  Unfortunately, Kerry felt abandoned by her other half.

 

All this came to a head when Kerry refused to merge with Cary.  She was left alone and she deeply resented it.  

I sympathize with Cary.  He was doing the right thing.  David had to be freed and The Devil defeated.  Cary still wore the scars of Kerry's wounds she previously incurred.  But this cross was not enough to bear in Kerry's mind.

It's been established these two need and compliment each other.  How will a long term separation affect them?  Will Kerry's scientific work suffer?  One episode to go and this seems dire.


Defeating The Devil

We had a bit of a flashback to the point where Cary had his meeting with Oliver in his astral plane ice cube. This is what preceded Cary's visit to free Syd from cricket hell in the last episode.  (And we are introduced to "Jules Verne".)

These two are comedy gold.  What with Bill Irwin's facial gymnastics and Jemaine Clement's snarky hipster delivery.  I'd pay to see their stand up routine. 

But there is more important work to be done.

Oliver reveals the identity of The Devil as Amahl Farouk, the "Shadow King".  ("King" as in the name of David's imaginary dog.)  Many had suspected as much on the internet so when it was revealed here it wasn't so thunderous a reveal.

Despite his faulty memory, (Chinese wife?) Oliver knows the import of defeating Farouk.   He tasks Cary with arming his foot soldiers with the appropriate eye wear and sends him forth to give Syd the lowdown.

 
 
And here we have more merriment.

Syd is anxious to impart what she deduced where it took poor Cary to travel to another plane of existence to learn.

Rachel Keller shows us her comedy chops as she constantly interrupts Cary.  (See how it feels Cary?)  She jumps in front of everything Cary tries to tell her and is one step ahead of him.  

Syd flashes her keen intellect that was no doubt abetted by her link with David.

Hmm, maybe Keller can be the warm act of the Irwin/Clement vaudeville team.  

Armed with the eye glasses given to her by Cary she sets off to find David and free the others.

In the meantime Farouk is in a bit of a tizzy.

He is haranguing his captive nurse Amy and obsessing about "What did he do with it?"

What did do with what?

Something David hid away?  Oliver's ice cube?  Cary's Halo?

Or, if I can take a leap here, something David's father has hidden away?  (More on "Dad" later.)

I loved Farouk's Bond villain hideaway.  He seems to be able to observe things at a global level and naturally he has a damsel in distress

So, the plans are in place and the battle is set to be joined.  Here is where things slow down a bit.


David's Chalkboard Chat

I have to admit, I squirmed a bit during this sequence.


To me, it was an obvious piece of exposition to make sure we are all on the same page as a viewing audience.  Also, to provide the imputes for David's self-actualization and escape.


I mean it was fun.  David talking to his imaginary English self. (That called him out on David's affected English accent.)  Then the walk through David's misery.

 

 Coming to grips with Farouk's plan.  (World domination!)

It just seemed a little tired and slow.   I guess the show felt it had to do what it had to do.  But, this being the seventh episode of an eight episode season, it seemed out of place.  Squeezed in.


The Battle is Joined

This final showdown actually took place on three fronts.

There was the hallway confrontation between evil Lenny, Kerry and Syd.

The rescue effort to stop the bullets and free David.

And the period of self-actualization for David where he sought to free himself and maximize his powers.

So here we go.

The ladies stuck back at Clockworks  were not having a good go of it.

But, fortunately for them, Farouk (Lenny, The Devil or whatever!) was a bit distracted.

She got caught up in making sure "The Eye" was no longer in the picture.

She didn't need him anymore and in a bizarre sequence she began to fold him up like a piece of origami.  Meanwhile, back where all these players were frozen in time,  The Eye began to bleed profusely.

It was a good thing Farouk was so sidetracked because this gave Oliver, Melanie and Cary the time to free David and stop the bullets.

Sadly for Melanie, Oliver didn't seem to recognize her at all.  (They're married and she's not Chinese.)  A forlorn Melanie drifted off and found Rudy stuck in a closet with a knife sticking out of him.  (The knife in Rudy may explain his incapacitation in the Clockwork's Zone and his confinement to a wheelchair.)

Oliver began to create this magical alphabet soup that served as a wall between the bullets, Syd and David.  Farouk had to interrupt his threats against the ladies and speed off to stop Oliver.

When she returned, this happened.

Whatever Melanie whispered in the ear of the stabbed Rudy it worked and it gave Cary the time to place the Halo over David's head.  (I'm gratified Cary calls it a Halo as I have been referring to it as such all along.  There has been a lot of circles appearing above and around David throughout the show which gave him an angelic look too.)

Boy, I know the frozen room sequence was deliberately filmed in slow motion but, man, it seemed to take forever to get that device on David's head.

David was able to break free of Farouk's spell back at Clockworks and when he re-inhabited his body he used his powers to catch the bullets that were speeding towards him and Syd.

In a flash of light David brought everyone back to the Summerland grounds.  It seems along with separating himself from Farouk he was able to command his powers to move matter without having his emotions deeply disturbed.

Before, David unintentionally transported himself or others when he was in a state of panic or fear.

Full superhero mode now!


Epilogue

Safe and sound and back to as they were as before.  Well, except for poor Rudy.

Melanie once again separated herself from the others with the realization she may be responsible for keeping Oliver in the Astral Plane.

Perhaps partly responsible.  

Oliver also seems to be responsible for his stay there as he seemed intoxicated with it.  I do think we can credit Melanie and the rest with keeping Oliver young by keeping him a deep freeze.  

Well, maybe.

Her gambit worked as Oliver is happily serving breakfast to everyone.  (While his recorded voice is in the background trying to serve coffee to a frustrated Amy.)

I see a red circle or halo in the background.  This means there is either trouble brewing and Division Three is on the way.  Or there is Halo problems.

Cary did warn the Halo isn't perfected yet so there is that and David gets a brief look at the Angry Boy.

 


Sure enough, the "Interrogator" from the first few episodes suddenly appears.  So trouble was brewing and Division Three did figure out where Summerland was hidden.

The Interrogator looks a little worse for where from David's last disappearing act. 

Too bad for him. 

The episode ends with this predicament and we get a brief look at Farouk/Lenny breaking her way out of confinement much like David did.

 
Then we are then almost instantly spoiled by the trailer for next week's chapter.

That was ridiculous.   So much for dramatic anticipation.

I won't spoil it here in case you didn't see the trailer..


Odds And Ends

 
Kudos go out to Jennifer Yale for this particular episode.  She obviously has a great sense of humor.  Some of the episode may be a bit choppy or slow but that may have been due to the direction or editing.

 


We got a couple of clues to the identity of David's biological father.

Pictured above is the famous X for the X-Men on the wheel of his wheelchair.

Here, we see David's Dad doing battle with Farouk and note the bald head and the fact he is not in a wheelchair.

I won't spoil who David's dad is but you can check it out at the link if you want to.

You know, we still haven't learned the fate of David's adoptive parents.  Maybe we will get that in the season finale.

A nice touch going black and white with no sound during the Mack Sennett Clockwork's Zone sequence.

David is back in his triangle t-shirt and out of his Clockworks jacket.

Do you suppose the use of glasses is meant to metaphorically tell us that "perception is reality"?  

I noticed we went to "Letterbox" framing at the end of the episode which is normally used for dreaming or reality shifting.  Does this mean the end was all in David's mind or his own Astral Plane?  Additionally, Summerland seems devoid of it's other members and oddly overgrown with vegetation.

Where are we?

Next week should be a doozy.