Two episodes in and FX’s Legion continues to be a delightful show with very few missteps, but one that’s intentionally so cagey and deceptive that it’s more about stringing you along than answering many questions along the way. “Chapter 2” serves to straighten out and confirm the timeline of events from “Chapter 1,” so if you were confused after that episode, this one should have gotten you right back up to speed. That said, there’s plenty that we still don’t understand, and “Chapter 2” doesn’t really resolve any of that. Let’s try to hit the high points, shall we?
1. Road to Nowhere
“Chapter 2” picks up basically where the 1st episode left off, with David’s arrival at the palatial mutant training facilities known as “Summerland” – run by Dr. Melanie Bird (played by the ever-stoic Jean Smart). We still don’t know much about Dr. Bird, nor the mission statement of Summerland, but they seem like a pretty full-fledged mutant base of operations. It is here that David explores the events of his past with help from a fellow mutant (Ptonomy) who can see David’s past right alongside him, gets time to continue to acquaint himself with Syd, and enters into some sort of MRI scan being conducted by a mysterious scientist named Cary.
The episode also opens with a gorgeous cover of The Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” that gets through the introduction, stopping just before the words “Road to Nowhere” are sung. The opening of the song, in the context of Legion could reflect that David is at Summerland to first figure out where he’s been and retrace the events of his life. He’s told by multiple characters that they need to revisit his past, because knowing that his mental illness stemmed from mutant powers and not from a true psychosis (or so he is told) can be a map to re-contextualizing events from his past – more on that later.
2. Romance of the Mind
One of the highlights of Legion continues to be the relationship between David and Syd. The fact that Syd is uncomfortable being touched is emphasized and relatively affecting, though in the adapted world of the X-Men this is far from a novel concept (it was explored heavily through Anna Paquin’s Rogue in the Bryan Singer films). But it’s more just the simple, sweet moments between them that are so effective. David gets beyond his inability to touch Syd by preferring to think of their relationship as a “romance of the mind” – which is either a very romantic concept or a setup for a tragedy if we happen to find out that a decent amount of this story is literally only taking place in David’s mind. Whatever the case, their companionship feels legitimately sweet at this point, and as far as we know it’s the major tether to pure human emotion that we have in the show.
3. The World’s Angriest Boy in the World
Speaking of emotion, we get a very interesting look into David’s childhood in “Chapter 2.” Specifically, we see images of a prepubescent David running through a field with his sister, helping his mother plant in her garden, and being read to by his father in bed. The father’s face is intentionally obscured and much ado is made of keeping his identity entirely ambiguous, but from a superficial standpoint he does not look or sound in any way like Professor Xavier, for those of you at home keeping track of that element.
The more interesting element of this section is the book being read to David: “The World’s Angriest Boy in the World”, which is a hilarious title whether it’s meant to be real or a figment of David’s id. I like to think it’s a real book in the world of Legion, existing as some weird cross between the overly violent Grimm Fairy Tales and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” – considering the book includes a segment where the Angry Boy cuts his mother’s head off with a Jabberwockian snicker-snap. Much is made of what a disturbing book this would be to read to a child at bed, but it remains to be seen whether this was just a throwaway joke or a manifestation of something more influential to David’s upbringing. Regardless, the obscuring of his father’s identity and the extent of David’s mental problems as a child remain mysteries that seem like they’ll be explored more in future episodes.
Continued below4. Everybody Must Get Stoned
Legion regularly has you questioning what’s real and what’s a trick of the mind, but there is probably not a bigger underexplored wildcard in the story yet than the fact that David and Aubrey Plaza’s Lenny had been doing a drug referred to as “Vapor” while David was in therapy and before their induction into Clockworks. We saw Lenny and David joined at the hip in “Chapter 1”, but the extent of their relationship before their time at Clockworks hadn’t yet been revealed. If we’re to assume that Lenny actually existed in the first place (and given that Syd fully knows that she killed Lenny in the body-transfer event with David, I think we can assume she’s real), then the fact that they had a history of pawning junk for drugs seems like the major revelation of the episode. It seems pretty clear that David does have telekinetic and telepathic powers, and it’s also clear that they existed before he ever became a drug-user, but surely the fact that he took Vapor with Lenny is going to play some sort of role in explaining David’s mental wellness. He saw Lenny as the Devil with Yellow Eyes while they were high. I wonder if the effects of the drug are affecting him to this day, entirely apart from the powers he possesses?
5. Taking the Bait
Near the end of the episode, we see David’s sister Amy inquiring at Clockworks about the whereabouts of David. The lady behind the counter claims there never was a “David Haller” at Clockworks. “Division 3” shows up and captures Amy – an event David seems to see in his mind while undergoing his MRI testing at the Summerland facilities. After reacting to this vision with a bout of explosive telekinesis, David tries to leave Summerland to find and protect his sister. Syd catches him in the elevator and assures him that he must stay and put the work in to harnessing his powers before they can rescue Amy, telling him that Division 3 won’t kill her as long as they can use her as bait to lure David. David knows this is true, but I also wonder whether Syd isn’t being used as a kind of bait herself? We already know that she played a major role in getting David out of Clockworks and into the arms of the Summerland operation. There was something a little off about her trying to get David to stay. Just a little. It’s probable that she simply doesn’t want him in harms way and understands the importance of David getting his abilities under control, but there was just a hint of something I detected as a viewer that told me this could be a future twist in the making. We’ll stay tuned!
