Let’s take a stroll to where it all began.
1. Charles Xavier Makes His Debut
One attention grabber about Legion’s final season was the announcement of Charles Xavier’s (played by Harry Lloyd) appearance. In “Chapter 22” we actually get to see a lot of him. We see him use his power’s in World War II and we see him tinkering around with Cerebro. We see more of Xavier than I expected.
2. “Chapter 22” is a Love Story
What I enjoy about “Chapter 22,” is that David isn’t the main focus of this episode. We actually don’t see him much. We get a breather from the current day and that’s good. The main focus of “Chapter 22” is Gabrielle (played by Stephanie Corneliussen) and her relationship with Charles Xavier. Despite the sadness of how they met, Garbrielle’s and Xavier’s relationship, in the beginning, is charming. Their relationship is believable, thanks to the acting of Corneliussen and Lloyd. The setup of the relationship is believable too. It’s very believable that a victim of the concentration camps in World War II and a soldier would bond with each other and want to help each other get past their trauma.
3. Creepy Doll Returns
It’s clear that everything is not okay. When we first meet Gabrielle she’s in a vegetable-like state until Charles helps heal her mind. Charles notices a box and inside that box is the creepy doll from season one. This doll is tied to The Shadow King or at least it seemed to have been tied to The Shadow King. I guess we’ll have to see later on what exactly the reveal of the doll being Gabrielle’s means.
“I’ve seen blood on fire.”
It’s clear that Gabrielle has seen horrors no one should ever go through. A relationship isn’t going to solve those problems. She needs real help. In “Chapter 22,” even though his intentions might be good, Xavier goes for the easy fix. This shows that Charles is kind of an arrogant jerk, especially when he lets himself get obsessed with finding another mutant and leaves Gabrielle alone with a newly born David. This is all very much in tune with Charles Xavier in the comics. Xavier is known for letting his obsessions get the best of him. Though Charles does come back towards the end of “Chapter 22,” he comes back too late.
The scenes of Gabrielle questioning her reality is interesting too. Maybe Xavier is a manipulator like David? And well, we already know that David has a problem with reality. Maybe David’s issues with his mind are partly from a mental illness passed down from Gabrielle.
4. Sleep is Important
David and Switch end up not being able to stop The Shadow King from infecting baby David’s mind. David thought that going back in time would allow David to intervene more and that ends up not being the case. He’s only heard in certain moments and when he is able to get through, David’s mother just thinks it’s her mind playing tricks on her. At one point Charles does notice him. Charles uses his powers to send him back because he thinks David is related to Farouk. And since Switch has never gone back in time this far, she has grown too tired to continue. The mission is failed and Switch is passed out.
All of this makes sense because Switch wouldn’t exactly know what she’s getting into since she is a beginner time traveler and well it would have been to easy if the story of “Chapter 22” went any other way. Now there is even more tension added to season three now that David’s plan failed. Will he try to go back in time again?
Really the biggest takeaway of all from “Chapter 22” is that if you don’t get enough sleep, you might lose a tooth.
5. Legion went back to its Horror Roots
There’s no hippie sci-fi in this non-linear walk down memory lane, besides the glimpses of David trying to communicate with the past. Most of “Chapter 22” is grey in tone representing sadness and horror. Plus there’s Farouk in the form of the Devil with Yellow Eyes, the creepy doll, and what is basically a haunted house. “Chapter 22” is more horror, with all its revisits to season one, then trippy and it’s unique for a show to be able to pull off both.
Join me next week for Legion’s “Chapter 23.”
