Why the fuck didn't I watch the rest of this show as it came out?

I remember seeing the pilot episode on a plane, when I was 16, and it really blowing my mind. I didn't have access to the show on cable, but I got a copy of Season 1 on Blu-Ray for Christmas, and I loved it. It wasn't like any of the other Superhero related stuff I'd only gotten into over the last couple of years – it was strange, colorful and experimental, like stuff I was starting to see in movies. But I didn't have anywhere else to watch the show, and naturally I got caught up in other things, and just never got back to it.

I heard things about it here and there – that it was ending after three seasons, that it ended up featuring Professor X – but never got wildly popular, so I just kinda assumed it went downhill in quality. I watched the pilot another couple of times in the next several years, but never found myself sucked back into the show, and forgot about it, as my tastes changed, and I got more into David Lynch than Marvel shows.

And so, a few months ago, my partner and I started rewatching the X-Men movies, which neither of us had seen in about a decade. And two weeks ago, after rewatching Logan, I decided to give the other more unique Fox/Marvel project from 2017 another shot.

I finished Season 3 yesterday. It's taken me a day to even start processing it.

Fuck me. That was monumental television. I truly don't know how they got away with it.

It seems so tremendously rare to get the chance to make something this boundary pushing, experimental, thematically serious and tonally absurd, with an honest to god budget, cast and production team.

LEGION feels like someone unplugged the ear of Fox's Marvel universe and just let everything drain out until it was entirely new and interesting. It feels like someone tricked a demon into paying out their side of the bargain, which involved multiple climactic musical sequences covering The Who and Pink Floyd. It feels like someone realised that if comic book adaptations have gotten this popular, they might actually get the chance to make something as cerebral and challenging as superhero comics had gotten away with in their decades of attempting to remain relevant.

The cast is astonishing, the in-camera effect work is astonishing, the use of music and transition is astonishing, the attention to detail is astonishing. The standalone episodes of the multiverse of Davids and Syd's second childhood are the show just flexing, in addition to all the normal flexing it does.

The discussion of mental illness, the story of intense love stories that burn out into pain and trauma, and the way the show always entwines the personal with power is nothing short of incredible. The show has its shortcomings, but they come from how earnest and overwhelmingly eager it is to be interesting, and I can forgive pretty well all of them. I got to know and love all of these characters, even when I didn't expect to.

I wish I could have watched this show in 2018 and 2019, as I entered film school and learned about the techniques the show uses and why it uses them. And instead I had to catch up on it years later, after it became a cult classic that never achieved the success it deserved. I'm sorry for being part of the problem.

This show rules. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to join you in that knowledge. Let's have waffles.

He even kind looks like Dan Steven’s in the role. There’s a universe where we had Aaron Paul as Legion and im so down with that idea

Hi folks.

First off, I think Amber Midthunder is the weakest actor on Legion. Admittedly, being placed side by side with a next level like Bill Irwin is going to be a challenge for any actor, let alone a young actor. But, undoubtedly, someone on this thread thinks she's great. So for you, my friends in the minority, this is a PSA: Amber Midthunder is one of the actors on the new adaptation of Stephen King's CARRIE, on Amazon Prime. This adaptation is written and directed by Mike Flanagan, who is a freakin' genius. Y'all should check it out.

Everybody else in David's cult might've been brainwashed and worshipped the ground he walks on, but Switch didn't. So, why'd she decide to help him?

The guys with safes on their heads that were all sitting around the giant plughole in Chapter 18. Is there any word on who they were supposed to be? Or was it just another bit of inexplicable Legion oddness?

I don’t know if I’m just missing stuff, but in my head it’s in the 2010s, but then Oliver and Melanie’s ages don’t make any sense. I would assume the 90s after that?

edit: Ty for the answers, I love the show but was wondering if there was an official timeline (I’ll stop trying to figure out the show that’s supposed to be a confusing masterpiece) thank you!

We can vote for our favorites!

Can the Vermillion think and speak on their own, or is it always just Admiral Fukyama speaking through them?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

So, if you look at season 1 and 2 Fahrouk is very powerful, a practiced master.

He is especially cruel in the first one with killing, manipulation and deception. His name is known by many due to his reputation.. as soon as he gains 'control' he kills everyone in the hospital.

IMO it's as if David had the main control of his body, Fahrouk was trying to weasel in, gain power (he said as much in season 2).. Towards the end of Season 1, where his manipulation and power peaked and he started again killing etc.

He traps David in a box and takes full control! He doesn't care at all for David at this point other than a means for an end, something to control.

In season 2, it showed that monks knew about him.. his body reacting, being buried, etc.. you have him doing way more murder, way more manipulation.. then you have Syd saying he drugged her (he didn't.. he made her forget), you had Fahrouk suddenly power-nerfed, and you had everyone flip on something David might do in a certain future based on Fahrouk's manipulation.. letting him free!?

You have someone who HAS committed crimes, and instead of first punishing him and then dealing with David sensibly and calmly, you attack David with a criminal by your side?

And what about season 3? Fahrouk is suddenly on the good side? It shows him in the past with immense power in David's mind? Fahrouk is both weak but powerful enough to time travel without a time traveller? He apparently met a time traveller before ("why are you always female?") - and knew about them.

It's just so tiresome how season 2s end and season 3 just essentially sucked.

The song that plays in season 1 episode 5 when they see David on the security cameras in D3 making people vanish specifically. It's so good

Was it in the show and I missed it? Or did anyone find out what happened to this scene from a season 3 trailer? please let me know the episode and time if I did miss it somehow

I guess they're saving him now for ucm's x-men plotline.

This is a rant cause I'm sick of the excuses and David hate. Just rewatched for the first time in mad long and looking at old posts is wild! The excuses, All the excuses r so stupid. O but the show said things about insanity, if all the apples are bruised then the unbruised one is bad and all season hinted it's them not David that's crazy. If so why did the show take David to a room and literally show those scenes on a TV David was forced to watch. O he raped syd. No. He got SK idea that screwed her up out her head. They did it to everyone he did that to. And he slept with his girl omfg. SHE is the rapist. Literally. And let the guy go to prison for it. O but she was shown David turns in the future. Yea the future that never happens because SK didn't die. They had him locked up and could have used him. It's cool for Oliver and everyone else to be used by SK is cool tho. David kills ppl at division 3 and he likes it. Somehow even tho he was locked away in his own mind. O he tortured Oliver to and liked it. Well it was SK who's tortured him his whole life and lost sys and wanted to get her back. David literally wouldn't hurt anyone. Omg he was killing the SK. Yea do I need to explain why that would be enjoyable to anyone? O but he left her AGAIN. Even tho it was her and SK both times. Syd is THE WORST B IVE SEEN IN A SHOW! PURE EVIL! She's God awful. It's so twisted and ass backwards the Kerry literally watches sys point a gun at David and fire, no comment. David does something... O now that's bad! Not trying to murder him! It's obvious doing this is making David turn! Obvious to anyone! And no, it's not the SK doing! He didn't manipulate most these ppl at all! They turned way before that AND DID THIS TO DAVID WHEN SK POWERS WERE GONE! Syd literally got talked to. By someone being mind graped by SK. And still it's, o poor Syd she got betrayed! And SK loved David the whole time really like a dad! Even while he made out with David as a demon Lenny....wtf? Even after all this David is doing NOTHING EVIL and they STILL try to kill him! And SK is the one trying to help David soooo the ppl r still against David because of SK!? The excuses I hear r insane. David put everything on the line and fought hard AF to save everyone. Wouldn't hurt anyone even division 3 when it was him! They came and tried to kill them all and David said NO LETS MAKE PEACE! This all is insanity fr. Anyone defending Syd, defending turning on David is crazy. Bat shit crazy. After they did all that to him sure he got crazy. But if they left him TF alone things would have been fine. Completely. Turning David in a 180 OUT THE F/ING BLUE IS F/ING WILD! Noah Hawley is a goof for writing this and no one can say o but he meant this or that. He SAID SUD IS THE HERO! NO SHES NOT! She caused everything and raped a person and says she's good. David bad. David trying to undo what SK did wasn't crazy or anything. He even said run away with me. He said the whole time after the SK was dealt with they would leave! So wtf! It's so frustrating and I can't bear to watch season 3! I can't! SK wasn't doing anything to these ppl and the leader of division 3 can't be telepathed sooo yea. He gets final say and no shadow king would NEVER be alone with him. But SK actually loves David. So much really. Anyone think the whole time that really it was love? Yea the way he tormented him as a kid, scared the f out of him, drove him insane, killed his sister all the bs. It was love! It's cool for Melanie to twist ppl against men and hate men but u know she ends up in love and with her man. Good thing she told everyone else to hate men. David did EVERYTHING what Syd told him for syd. That's it. But Syd is amazing.and the whole everything is from David's perspective is a joke. No. We see ish without David ALL THE TIME AND ITS STILL THE SAME ISH HAPPENING!!! So no, no it's not a unreliable narrator.

TLDR- Summary, no the explanations about insanity weren't about everyone else. Syd has no logic in her argument, the SK didn't brainwash everyone. The leader of division three can be telepathed and has final say. David never killed anyone ever literally. The future was changed by SK not dying so that isn't it. David undoing what SK did to her isn't evil it's what they've done the whole time to everyone he's f/d in the head. Saying he betrayed syd IS A F/ING LAUGHABLE THING TO EVEN WRITE! Even after season 2 David STILL doesn't kill or do anything evil and they try to kill him. Everything isn't through David's perspective. David truly really isn't a flawed character at all. Being crazy after 30 yrs of his life but still being nice kind and caring isn't flawed! Syd can literally rape someone and send them to prison and cause everything and writer still calls her a hero. Future crimes in a future that doesn't happen. Malenie can turn everyone against men and love but ends up with her man and in love. Meanwhile Syd wants to MURDER BABY DAVID! AND SK IS FORGIVEN AND EVERYTHING IS COOL! F OFF!

This is the most amazing television series I have ever seen.

Not after upvotes/karma farming.

Someone said on IMDB "Marvel vs. David Lynch". Close, and still finally, some great story telling and direction again.

So season 2 future sid tells present Syd that he will end the world. Syd falls into a hole because of a trap by Melisa, who has different powers, and this doesn't make her curious? And with no proof she gets to kill him?

I don't get her. Did I miss something?

I love the score and soundtrack for Legion so much… but the one band that I absolutely wished was used in the show were Stone Temple Pilots. Songs like “I Got You” and “Bi-Polar Bear” remind me of David so much!

So, I found this picture of Syd Barret - the original lead singer of Pink Floyd, several years after he disappeared and came back. This was taken in the studio he went to visit.

Considering he was thin with long hair the last time they saw him, he was unrecognizable to David Gilmour and Roger Waters.

I keep thinking that they based The Shadow King in Legion on how different Syd looked when he returned.

Ok that is cool saw this poster on EBay signed by the cast.

I know it's incredibly complex and can't be boiled down to the binary of good and evil, but I'm still confused.

Like, amal faruhk was Hella evil in season 1 and 2, right? He ruined David's life, tortured him mentally, killed countless innocents using David's body and powers just for fun, and then the season 2 finale rolls around, and David is the evil one somehow? Cause he'll be evil in the future maybe?

Through both S1 and 2, David is doing his absolute best to help the situation, and he essentially does save everyone by resolving the conflict/war with division 5 and defeating faruhk, and it feels like out of nowhere everyone is immediately way too eager to think David's evil.

Yes, David made the really shitty choice with Syd at the end of S2, but that WAS after she actively tried to murder him on the word of faruhk, who I will reiterate, is a sadistic mass murderer. Like, a lot of David's season 3 choices weren't particularly moral, and some were REALLY shitty (read: that shit with Syd), but even then all his murders were in complete self defence, and all he initially tried to do was run away and live peacefully.

Am I misinterpreting something here or what?

Seeing a giant mutant Bill Irwin on screen attacking people was something else

Alright, I've made it through all of Legion now. I only watched the first two seasons when I originally watched it, so this time round I got through the whole thing and it was well worth it. However, this has led me to ask, are there more mutants than we're told about?

In the series, the residents of Summerland (With the exception of Melanie) and The Eye (Walter) are identified as mutants, but aside from them, the only ones actively identified are Farouk and Xavier. However, I'm wondering if some of the other characters we see aren't mutants and we're either not told, or the wiki has somehow misidentified them.

Amy Haller. She remarks about having dreams where she's not herself, and before her encounter with Farouk, talks about dreaming she was one of Admiral Fukyama's Vermillion, even quoting them verbatim. So does Amy have some form of Astral Projection or Dream walking power that simply isn't identified because she doesn't use it consciously?

Similarly so, when we're shown flashbacks to Admiral Fukyama, he's noted to have been chosen for the procedure cause he never gets sick or injured. Is it possible then he has some level of healing factor that allowed him to survive the procedure?

Lastly, the Mi-Go Monk. Since he's actively identified as the cause of the Maze Virus, is this some form of mysticism, or mutation? It ends when he dies, but aside from that, the origin of this ability is largely unknown.

There are some other incidentals that I'm unsure of, Melanie's Minotaur doesn't seem to abide by the limitations we know of and Lenny somehow got a woman pregnant, but I can't be sure if those are their abilities, or just inconsistencies with the mechanisms of Farouk's or David's powers.

Especially given the heavily subjective and esoteric nature of the narrative, I can't say for sure, but I think, at least taking what was shown in these cases as being as real and grounded as the show ever gets, they're fair evidence that these three may also be mutants.

Watching through this show, I am just floored by how incredible Navid Neganban is as Amahl Farouk. Every adaptation I'd seen up to this point, Farouk was always kind of a bland, power for the sake of power type villain, but the series turns him into this very realistic narcissist type character.

Yes, he's still evil, he still seeks power and control, but you start to see how someone like that could come to be. Alive for centuries, he's a tyrant, but as far as he's concerned, he's a better alternative to the colonising white men invading under the guise of being somehow better than him. He understands the idea of the state as a means of control, and since he has so much power, he may as well be the state and he says it all with this charming, multi-lingual conversational gait to his speech. Like he's lived so long and spoken all these languages, they're just tools for him to communicate his will to the lower life forms, he doesn't get angry or emotive, cause why would he? He's talking to people he barely thinks of as people. The only ones he tends to speak to as equals are Oliver and David (At least as far as I've seen) and even then, Oliver is more like a curiousity, he's intrigued by his statement that he'll kill Farouk, but little more, and David he literally sends back to the kiddie table cause he's just a child to Farouk, maybe one day he'll grow up, but until then, he just dismisses him out of hand.

It's incredible work, and I love the way he gestures and emotes, very casual and subdued and downright creepy, meanwhile, cause of the masks he wears, the Demon, Lenny, Oliver, you understand that beneath that calm and collected exterior, he is deeply depraved and fucked up.

Like, Would he help him control his powers, or would he have trust issues with him like his comic counterpart?

I just finished this wonderful series. What a trip!