What I’m Watching: Legion

Legion: Season 3, Episode 5 “Chapter 24” (B+)

We learned two very crucial and troubling things about David in this episode, and they sort of contradict each other. When Syd was in David’s body, she was ambushed by the many Davids who kept saying “I am Legion,” a distinction that this show hasn’t officially made in the past but shows that he’s losing his grip on his own mind. When David was talking freely with Syd, who was pretending that she forgave him so that she could swap bodies, he explained that no one dies who is really dead, meaning that he believes that nothing he does matters since it can all be undone anyway. That’s a dangerous philosophy, especially because he has no clue what will happen, and isn’t at all in control of how time will correct itself. Syd’s question about whether it hurts to be erased is a valid one, and not one he can hope to answer. Sending Clark into space felt like a more valid revenge for David, and it’s crazy to imagine that, villainous as he seemed on day one, Clark was actually right about what a threat David would become. David believing that Lenny abandoned him by killing herself shows that he can’t see beyond himself, and only Switch remains loyal to him, likely because it gives her a sense of irreplaceable purpose. Farouk had the upper hand for a moment until Switch appeared to banish him to the time between time, and now we’ll see another jaunt back into the past that can’t possibly go as smoothly as David hopes it well. I probably could have done without the musical number, but this show never delivers the way I expect it will, which at least makes it monumentally mesmerizing.