One of the reasons why Legion is such a tough nut to crack is that it’s always playing upon our expectations. The narrative may be confusing at times, but it’s not impenetrable if you follow closely and think about what you’re watching. But even if you do that, Legion still sets you up to knock you down. “Chapter 11” established for the viewer what a person’s “mind palace” would generally look like by showing us Ptonomy and Melanie Bird retreating into fantasies under the spell of The Monk. In “Chapter 12”, we’re set up to think we’re experiencing a similar event with Syd Barrett, but we soon find that all is not as it seems. I have thoughts about all that and more, but first a disclaimer. As always, this column will be full of spoilers so please watch the episode before reading any further. Without further ado, let’s get inside the mind of Syd.
1. “It might be over soon”
Modern television is filled to the brim with dramatic montages set to pop music and indie songs that gain popularity through association with imagery that potentially makes them memorable. After all, who among us does not remember Marissa dramatically shooting Trey to the haunting sound of Imogen Heap’s “Hide & Seek” all the way back in 2005? (You didn’t expect a reference to The OC in this column, did you?) Legion is not shy about peppering music from all imaginable genres into its proceedings in an attempt to capture the tone or feeling they want. Last week during David’s heroic psychological rescue attempts, drone music punctuated the mystery of it all. The season premiere memorably featured a slowed down cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” to a similar psychedelic effect. With appearances from Bon Iver, The National, Tame Impala, and not one but two slowed down covers of popular songs from decades past, “Chapter 12” was perhaps the most aggressive use of dominant music cues I can remember in a television show. Some of these music pulls definitely worked better than others. The episode opened with a mental reenactment of Syd’s life from birth through adolescence, Bon Iver’s self-realization hymn “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” playing (twice) over the events. This is a beautifully shot and paced sequence, adding tangible layers to Syd’s character in a matter of five minutes or so. In fact, this sequence is so good that it may do more effective work in enhancing what we know about Syd Barrett than the rest of the episode, which is almost entirely about Syd throughout. We see several moments of pain throughout her childhood, many of which are things that any kid could go through (bullying, sexual harassment, etc) but the complications of which are even more confused by Syd’s inability to physically connect with someone. Bon Iver gives way to one The National’s more punky songs to show Syd’s eventual teenage rebellion. I imagine this sequence works better for someone who isn’t a fan of The National (yours truly is a card-carrying fanclub member) who doesn’t realize that The National are a band of middle-aged guys led by a literary wine-dad who likes wearing old timey vests, but I digress.
Less successful is the cover of “Burning Down the House” that plays into the end credits of the episode. By that point in the episode, not only did all the music cues feel indulgent, but the dirge-like cover only made you wish you were listening to the original Talking Heads version with David Byrne barking out the verses. I’m sure it would be more expensive, but the effect of hearing the original would have perked up ears a little better, I think. It doesn’t help that the trailers of so very many modern action or horror movies have slow-burning covers of pop songs in them for dramatic effect. If “Legion” is going to make a habit of doing these, the comparisons to Marvel movie trailers are going to be unavoidable.
While on the subject of aesthetics, the paintings in the exhibit in Syd’s mind are the work of Egon Schiele, an Austrian expressionist. It’s no coincidence that the featured paintings are mostly self-portraits and studies of his wife, Edith, as the episode deals very much with Syd’s impression of her own life and how she wants David to examine it. It also stands to reason that most of Schiele’s works were portraits and many of them were nudes, which Noah Hawley probably could have gotten into the episode on the basis of them being classic works of art, but probably didn’t need to press the issue. Whatever the case, these are some of Schiele’s most famous and representative works.
Continued below2. “You have to get this turtleneck”
The prominence of the color yellow with regards to Syd is so obvious at this point that it cannot be coincidence, but it’s also not giving me any more support to my original feeling that Syd was in some way being corrupted by the Devil with Yellow Eyes. In fact, this episode went out of its way to establish Syd as the driving motivational force behind the “good side” of the battle ahead. I suppose there’s a chance that there could be a villain reveal or heel turn involving Syd yet, but that would almost certainly undo the emotional work and the eventual catharsis that Syd and David reach with one another by the episode’s end. Still, let’s consider where we see the color yellow, and perhaps why.
First of all, the newborn nursery staff during Baby Syd’s birth are all wearing bright yellow scrubs. To me, this immediately signals that yellow is not meant to reference back to the Shadow King at all. There is no evidence here that anything sinister is afoot with Syd’s birth, other than her basic mutant quirk. In fact, the head-to-toe yellow outfits almost make the medical staff look like a hazard crew (or “Damage Control”, wink wink) cleaning up nuclear waste. Perhaps that’s the extent of meaning behind the color choice here.
Later, the three mean girls who bully Syd are all wearing similar shades of yellow, albeit in very different outfit configurations. While the girls may be acting sinister, there is again no evidence that this has anything to do with the Shadow King. I’m ready to drop my theories about this. One last thing of note: the style of outfit that these girl’s wear is extremely similar in style to what Syd wears as an adult. There’s a heavy-duty retro feel to all their outfits, something that Legion owns as a visual aesthetic, but most often through Syd’s style choices. I thought it was interesting that these 3 girls who helped traumatize Syd as a young girl would all dress in a style that Syd would later happily adopt. Perhaps more evidence of her steeling herself; of her scars making her a stronger person in the end, as is her closing thesis in the episode.
3. “Consolation for the old wound now forgotten”
“Chapter 12” played out like one big dream-sequence — a full episode version of the two mind maze set pieces from “Chapter 11,” but there’s something different about it. The other Legion characters comment on this by remarking that both David and Syd are “awake” even though they’re lying on tables in catatonic states in Division 3 headquarters. Perhaps I’m reading too far into this, but it almost felt like a corrupted version of one of David and Syd’s “white room” fantasy sequences. In previous episodes, and going back to last season, David and Syd would make love in a “white room”, where they seemed to be free from the problems and mental anguish that basically haunts them their entire lives. This entire episode is mental anguish, but it all ends with David and Syd holding hands together in a completely white space. It’s worth noting that the episode didn’t feature a Jon Hamm-narrated lesson on behavioral health (thought the commercial breaks did feature a Hamm-narrated Mercedes-Benz ad), but isn’t that what Syd basically gave David over the course of “Chapter 12?” It was a lesson about her.
4. “I must seem more like a friend in need”
Because this was a Syd Barrett-centered episode, I want to highlight what a good performance Rachel Keller gives. As she forces David to do the work of trying to understand where she’s coming from, she plays Syd as determined, frustrated, stoic, playful, and ultimately dominant over David, who may be the most powerful mental mutant in existence but has been a passive character with only Syd as his compass to guide him. To Keller’s credit, she does wonders with some very wonky dialogue near the end of the episode. It’s not enough for David to “get it”, but the viewer has to get it as well, and much like Cary over-explaining the mind mazes in “Chapter 11,” the script really spells the message out for the viewer in the end. Keller is basically asked to explain the subtext of everything we’ve just seen from her life, and while I half-expected to hear her tell David that he “doesn’t love her, but loves the idea of her”, it’s a compliment to Keller’s performance and the chemistry between Keller and Dan Stevens that it ultimately works.
Continued below5. “Hold tight, we’re in for nasty weather”
“Chapter 12” really broke the Legion mold. On one hand, it was perhaps the most straightforward narrative from beginning to end. All of the side plotting (hell, even the main plot) was kind of set aside in service of giving Syd a feature episode. While we’ve seen some amount of backstory for almost every principle character on the show, Legion doesn’t really do “bottle episodes” or full episode character features. “Chapter 12” was a real departure in that way. On the other hand, the narrative was extremely circular and still potentially confusing if you weren’t paying attention and following along attentively. At one point, Syd even says “watch again,” which is an instruction for David but could easily be heard as a fourth-wall-breaking command to the viewer. The one other thing the episode accomplishes right at the very end and in extremely short order is to prepare the viewer for the storm that’s coming. By the time Syd has David’s shit together, it’s very clear that she’s prepared him for something big that’s coming. After all, that’s what all of her warnings from the future have been about. “Chapter 12” is a great standalone episode, but it also feels like a clear bridge episode. The big villain reveal is right around the corner.
The end of the episode also gives Aubrey Plaza’s Lennie a literal new lease on life. Plaza has been the standout performer across two seasons, so it’s no surprise they found a way to bring her back and potentially expand her role beyond “Farouk’s puppet” again.
