'Legion' Series Premiere Recap: "Chapter 1"
Cameron Lee ’20 / Emertainment Monthly contributor
Spoiler Alert: This recap contains spoilers for the pilot of Legion
We live in the age of the superhero. Besides a few exceptions such as Deadpool and the Marvel shows on Netflix; the superhero genre is starting to feel stale. Noah Hawley has already proven himself with two amazing seasons of Fargo, but Legion may just be his best effort yet. With one of the best pilots in recent memory; Legion has shown itself to be the most unique superhero show ever created.
We start with a slow motion montage of the life of David set to the music of the Who’s Happy Jack. We watch as a cute young boy transform into a psychotic young man who hears voices in his head and tries to commit suicide by hanging (What an intro). David, played by the always amazing Dan Stevens, is in a mental institution for his Schizophrenia. In the Clockwork hospital (nice reference) David finds himself falling head over heals for Sydney (Rachel Keller) who doesn’t like to be touched. What follows is a romance straight out of a hipster YA novel; Mr. Hawley makes life at this insane place look like something out a of a Wes Anderson picture, David’s romance with Rachel is charming, off-kilter, and endearing. Their relationship serves as the focal point for the entire pilot because, soon after their relationship starts, Rachel sneaks into David’s room and tells him that she’s leaving. We then cut to David being interrogated by an unnamed man in black ops facility. The interrogator (Hamish Linklater) is trying to figure out what the hell is going on with David’s power.
We also find out that Rachel isn’t in the institution’s database, which really confuses David and us as the viewer. We also find out that something really bad has happened at the hospital. So this is a flash forward. Has the last half an hour all been inside David’s head? How crazy is David? We get a flashback to David first discovering the extent of his powers. He’s in his dorm’s kitchen arguing with his sister when suddenly all the cabinets and items start exploding out all around him. David is screaming and trying to ignore the voices in his head. The whole sequence is shot like a scene from Inception and is marvelous to look at. We cut back to David asking for a break from all the questions. The interrogator agrees and, in a beautiful long take, walks back to the command center. The interrogator tells the officials in charge that David might be the most powerful mutant they have ever encountered; oh right, this show is based off an X-Men comic. The thought of this being a superhero show doesn’t cross the audience’s mind until this moment.
