David Haller is a patient in a mental hospital. He has been there for several years now and life is pretty much uneventful. Then one day a new patient, beautiful Syd, arrives and he is immediately smitten by her. Little does he realise how his life is about to be turned upside and him discover special powers that he never knew he had. David Haller was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age and has been a patient in various psychiatric hospitals since. After Haller has an encounter with a fellow psychiatric patient, he is confronted with the possibility that there may be more to him than mental illness. This is the first review I have ever written on IMDb, and I decided I needed to write one based on how amazing Legion was and also due to seeing all the negative 1 star reviews on here, in which almost all of these negative reviews were from persons that decided the show was too confusing and didn't watch past the first 2 episodes (in several cases) along with persons who were too lazy to try to follow the non-linear and abnormal plot. <br/><br/>I would argue that the entire point of this TV series isn't around a grounded plot such as most Hollywood formulas revolve around nowadays (prime example being: boy is a nobody, prophecy says he's bound for greatness, boy becomes man, man saves world, etc., etc.), but it is formed around trying to understand a mentally ill and unstable protagonist's mind and past. The mystery of Legion/David's history and the source and meaning of his powers is what drives this narrative forward, not following some linear plot that we have seen a hundred times over again. This narrative is what makes the Legion series so unique, in which both the viewers and David/Legion are trying to uncover these truths about himself, however, because he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia among other things, it makes this journey complex making the viewers ask a long list of questions while the show both answers some of them and throws back even more questions at the viewers for them to contemplate on. The closest thing I can compare this show to is the movie Memento, where Guy Pierce's main character is trying to figure out the mystery of his wife's murder while the viewers are sucked into his story from his perspective even though his perspective is the most unreliable view considering he has brain damage. Legion is also depicted in this manner from David Haller's perspective, which is why everything is warped, the plot is non-linear at times, there are skips and jumps in the narrative, and many things are not ever what they seem. Legion does a magnificent job of this type of complicated storytelling and an illustration through the mind of an insane person who may or may not have impossible powers and may or may not be insane. <br/><br/>I personally find this type of storytelling and theme interesting so I thought this series was a masterpiece and ingeniously done with easter eggs, callbacks, and countless small details in every episode that will blow you away when you notice them. I cannot say the same for persons who prefer only a linear and grounded plot though, so if you find it too mentally tiresome to try to solve a mystery of the psyche and identity of an intriguing individual with unimaginable powers (of the sort we have never seen brought to film or television), then maybe you shouldn't watch this show. It seems like there are already a great many of these viewers giving Legion a bad reputation after only watching a few episodes, so if you don't like films such as Memento, Fight Club or Shutter Island, then you should do yourself a favor and watch something else that is more grounded and formulaic for your taste. I haven't had this much fun with a show since The prisoner or twin peaks. What a wild ride! the directing, pacing, CGI and the acting and the script and the editing and well everything! Just so clever and nuanced. Not a dead moment. The continuity woven out of a plasticity in the time line is amazingly effective and engaging. I love especially the action played out against the Bolero score and use of text in captions, displacing the action, lending a sort of detachment that brings back the sense of David's empowerment slowly to a crescendo along with the scores'.
Jewelabyg replied
296 weeks ago