Legion

Episode Title: Chapter 3
Originally Aired February 22nd 2017

“Have you heard the one about the poor woodsman and his wife?” A simple story about things not being what they seem and leaving well enough alone, told to us by a Pee-Wee Herman inspired coffee maker, hints at the underlying themes of the show. Is everyone who they say they are, or are they even who they think they are?

An aggressive visit from Lenny makes David question Melanie’s motives and his own reasoning for not going to save Amy. Is he unwilling to risk this new life where he is surrounded by people who don’t think he is crazy, they even think he is important, and of course Syd is there.  By the end of the episode, we no longer wonder where his loyalties lie, Amy and Syd are one and 1a in a distant second is Melanie’s compound. Who is David is he just a misunderstood powerful mutant who will one day be the one who turns the tide in the war against Division 3, is he a scared child stuck in an adult’s body? Is he James McAvoy from Split, with an untold number of personalities fighting for control, or is he actually the yellow eye demon? How does the thing with the yellow eyes have so much control over what is going on in David’s head, is he trying to control him, steal his powers or is he just an underlying personality trying to exert itself.

Those three possibilities give us an idea of who the villain of the season actually is. If he is trying to steal David’s abilities, he may be a reimagining of the comic character the Shadow King. The Shadow King is a powerful psychic who is always trying to challenge other telepaths in an effort to control them and increase his power. We have no idea how powerful David actually is, each week we seem him do something we’ve never seen before. At one point Ptonomy even asks David “what are you” after he teleported the three of them 600 feet into a building while he was in a trance.

If they wanted to tie the show into the movies in a small way then the demon could be Professor Y. He is a comic character that is the manifestation of David’s resentment for his father Professor X. This seems unlikely for multiple reasons, most notably because it would be the only major tie in to the X-men other than hints and random x’s around the building; it is its own story. We also got a strong indicator to the time that this story is taking place. Melanie’s husband inherited the compound in the 1940’s and he spent 30 years building it with Cary. That means we are somewhere in the 70’s or early 80’s at the most. That would explain the outfits and most of the technology. The items we cannot explain can be chalked up to mutants made it or secret government agencies kept it to themselves.

If the true identity of the yellow-eyed devil is Mojo then the most popular fan theory will be correct. Mojo is a character known for putting others into battles to the death or other intense situations all for TV ratings. In a previous episode, we see a field of TVs showing moments of David’s life, which could hint at this being true. Maybe every time they access David’s mind they are coming one-step closer to revealing the truth and releasing David from the Matrix. All three outcomes have something different and exciting to offer that at this point I still cannot decide if I have a way I want it to go. We could end up with a psychological thriller as a man battles his own mind because of his past. Alternatively, we might get a different take on how our society views TV and the harm it could be doing to us, and the people behind our favorite reality shows. Finally, we could end up with an all-out psychic battle, which would be the most exciting to watch. With the reliance on visuals that has played a large role in the series to this point, a psychic battle could give us some very interesting images.

The relationship between David and Syd is still my favorite part of this show. The funny moments as they discuss what they did or did not do while in control of the other person’s body. They also have an intimate moment when Syd wants to be there when they go back into his mind and David is terrified that when she sees him at his worst she won’t want him anymore. The confirmation of the existence of the soul was particularly fun, as we hear about some of the other bodies Syd has taken for a ride.