The season premiere of FX’s new Marvel series “Legion” is quite mindblowing, and could confuse new viewers who are not acquainted with the schizophrenic telekinetic’s comic book background and origins.
To recap, E!’s synopsis of the show is as follows:
"The Noah Hawley-created Marvel series, making its series debut tonight on FX, tells the story of David Heller (played by Dan Stevens), a diagnosed schizophrenic whose abilities go beyond what any average human is capable of. As he's thrust into a world that has him questioning whether anything he's witnessing is actually happening—hearing voices all your life will do that to a guy—viewers will experience a visual thrill ride that's equally as challenging as it is rewarding.”
And what a visual extravanganza indeed. In episode one, David finds himself biding time at Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital with Lenny (Aubrey Plaza). He then meets (and kiss) his future love interest Sydney (Rachel Keller), whom he accidentally switches bodies with, opening his mind further to a possibility that his diagnosis may be very well a superpower.
Den of Geek said “Chapter One” has a lot of things going on, but it may all reveal in the later episodes. Moreover, certain characters in the show, particularly Melanie Bird (Jean Smart), are unclear whether they are villains or will help the superhero find himself. Although a CBR profile paints her and her team of experts people who will open David’s eyes to an extraordinary new world of possibilities,” anyone will quickly assume that she’s a baddie after all.
Meanwhile, it was quite a shocker to see Lenny get killed off in the first episode. However, “Legion” creator Noah Hawley told TVLine that Lenny will definitely be in longer in the series.
“We are exploring memory, and the reliability of memory. And if your whole life, you thought you were mentally ill and you have all those memories, then that’s the reality. But what if some of those memories aren’t real? What are you, really, and how do you figure that out? But she plays a character that evolves. And it was a challenge for [Aubrey], I’m sure, to say, “Wait, I thought I was this person Lenny, but now who am I?” It’s not clear, necessarily, over the first few hours, and then it becomes clear,” Crawley explained.
And will we see a father-son reunion? Eagle-eyed fans spotted a bald figure that could have been a younger, walking Professor X. After all, the David in the comic books is the son of one of the most powerful telepaths in the Marvel universe, and it would make sense that their story arc will be shown in the series.
Although Crawley hinted something that would be easy for his and the producers to include a Professor X story arc, it appears that the focus will be more on David’s journey into understanding and getting a hold of his own self and his superpowers.
