I’m not really getting the incoherent/confusing vibe people are talking about. There’s constructive ambiguity, for sure, but the show is up front about it and it’s not particularly hard to follow. I found the first episode of The OA way harder to follow (possibly because I wasn’t as engaged, to be fair). And the second episode is almost straightforward, narratively.
“And the other?”
“Secured, but feisty”
I see what you did there.
This show just keeps getting better.
Really liking this and the ramping up. It’s almost, but not quite, too slow at the pacing. Last episode creeped the hell out of my wife.
Also looking pretty definitively that mojo is out (sad face) and it’s the Shadow King. Can’t believe I didn’t catch the dog’s name before. Wtf.
Only if you figure out everyone’s super powers and how they are constantly using them to fuck with the audience. If you pay attention, and have a good background in comic books, sure, it’s not terrible hard to follow. Otherwise it’s no wonder people might be confused.
The thing is, there is absolutely no way to know whats reality and whats not. No matter how much you feel you understand, unless you are a show writer, you can not possibly know. It all may be in Davids head or Syd’s for that matter. And then Syd may or may not be real. She comes off as Davids idealized girlfriend a bit too well. It could all be mostly real and only bits are Davids imagination. All of it could be real since it seems that David can create what ever reality he wants. But then is it David that is creating anything? Yeah, that as clear as mud.
I think the intent is always clear, and that’s important.
We’re supposed to believe David is a real person. We’re supposed to believe Syd’s a real person. We’re supposed to believe Kerry, and Cary, and Ptonomy, and Dr. Melanie Bird are real people, etc. Scene to scene, episode to episode, they’re presented consistently enough that we can buy into their narrative.
Whereas we’re supposed to be confused about the nature of Benny/Lenny. Was Lenny a real person from the hospital who was killed when David and Syd escaped, whose memory has been hijacked and used by the devil with the yellow eyes that’s riding around in David’s head? Or was Lenny an identity for that thing that it used prior to the hospital stay that opened the season? That’s more ambiguous, but intentionally so. We’re supposed to be questioning that.
There are scenes that are taking place in the present day (whatever that is in the movie), there are scenes that are taking place in the past that are presented clearly as “typical” flashbacks, and there are scenes that are presented as exploring the past through memories inside of David’s head. So far, that all makes sense too.
Last week’s episode opened with something confusing! Who is this “beat poet” in an ice cube? But if you stick with it and pay attention, you realize everything you need to know about it by the end of the episode. And you understand this week why the rest of the team has cause to second guess Melanie’s motivation for rescuing David. It fits, it’s consistent, it’s raising questions but not without answering some and filling in detail slowly.
You’re right that at any point anyone—or everything—could turn out to be a dream/hallucination in David (or anyone else’s) head. But the same is true of The Walking Dead. I realize that as a trope, it’s more likely to show up in a show that’s already dealing with an unreliable narrator. Yet my point is that of course everything could be a lie, but that’s always a risk and we can decide to watch and find out what happens, or we can bail on a show that’s proven itself entertaining so far because of the fear that it might at some point disappoint us. That’s up to you, but I think Legion is firing on all cylinders right now.
You misunderstand my statement as a negative view of the show. Its not. I am thoroughly enjoying the insanity. My point was that no matter how you feel about the characters and the continuity, they have given us nothing to anchor to that does not have the possibility of being unreliable. That’s not a critique, it’s an observation.
I can follow everything that is going on in the show. I can see the connections and sense when it appears reality is shifting, even if it is just shifting perspective. What I can not do is, state what in the show is real with any form of absolute certainty. And the final scene in the last episode just threw a huge amount of shade on everything.
Gotcha, sorry I jumped to defensive mode!
Two weeks in a row I’ve gotten mixed up and thought this aired on Tuesdays, only to be disappointed. Bumping this thread today isn’t helping! Though I guess having The Americans back to watch on Tuesdays is nothing to complain about.
Picked up for a second season!
Episode 5 had a pretty big answer to a big question. I’m really loving this show.
Always happy to see a Cordyceps reference in pop culture.
That might have been the most wild, out there episode yet. Interestingly enough, it is also the episode that has likely brought the most clarity, plot wise. Also strangely enough this series has brought a new reality to me that I never thought would exist. There is now a reality in which I want to bang Syd Barrett.
Oh and major props to Aubrey Plaza. She has been amazing in this series and she really showed her chops in this episode. If this show gets award worthy attention, Plaza should be first in line for an award. And that’s saying a lot, as the entire cast has been fantastic.
Its a great day for renewals, first Legion gets the nod and then later I found out that The Expanse also got renewed.
When’s the Expanse finale, by the way? I’m desperate for it to show up on Netflix UK and I daren’t go in the thread.
April 19.
If you’ve got to do an exposition dump, that’s a pretty entertaining way to do it.
Yeah, the boy and I thought this was one of the strongest episodes of a fantastic freshman season, and it aired with the best episode of Arrow since season 2. Excellent night of TV all around.
Its amazing how they have managed to tie all of the completely out there weirdness into a cohesive storyline. Everyone has been fantastic in the series but damn, Aubrey Plaza is just killing it. They need to hand her an emmy right now. Sadly there is only one episode left and then its going to be wait a year for more.
I will admit that TV is a vast wasteland of garbage for the most part but if you believe that there is nothing worth watching on the telly, with networks taking chances on shows like Legion, Preacher and Mr Robot, you are not looking hard enough.
Well that was a lot of fun. Disappointed that we’re going to have to wait a year to find out where we go from here