Legion has been one highly engaging, brilliantly crafted, visually captivating, and conceptually compelling series from beginning to end. Never would I have imagined such an interactive (as it encourages the audience to pay close attention to every single detail being shown) and beautifully presented series stemming from the X-Men universe. Not only is it great to finally be able to say that we actually have a live action X-Men TV show to begin with, but the fact that it's something that creatively transcends anything that the genre has ever put out truly speaks volumes of the team and vision behind it. So, what makes Legion such a massively successful series out the gate?
The simple way to answer that would be to point out the overall quality of the show. Every single frame shown to the audience, piece of dialogue spoken, or even musical choices are all carefully thought out delivering on the overwhelmingly intricate package that is Legion's story. I have never found myself so intrigued by the tiniest of details in a show encouraging me to actually list down everything that popped out to me after multiple viewings alongside the various interchanging theories and speculations about what's taking place on the show. That's the type of show that Legion is. It's a series that opens up the door with welcoming hands for viewers to constantly pause and breakdown every single thing that they see discovering all of the little clues and hidden secrets scrambled around.
As far as characters go, Legion has quite the gallery of fascinating individuals considering the nature of its universe. Much like the X-Men properties of the past, we do get to follow along people with unique special abilities and interesting stories of their own. Mutant powers aside, what really makes these characters shine is the distinct personalities that coincides with their traits. Everyone has their own "thing" that perfectly separates themselves from everyone else which is something that I really admired.
You have our central character David (played by Dan Stevens) who is essentially put through the gutter of mental chaos due to a parasite that's been digging through his subconscious since practically forever. It is through David's mind for the majority of the show (or so we can assume) that we're able to see the world through a dangerously powerful and terribly fractured perspective. This is where Legion's beautifully bizarre and unconventional storytelling stems from.
We're also introduced to Syd early on in the series who plays as David's girlfriend with the unfortunate mutant powered barrier that stops her from being able to physically touch anyone without dire consequences. This opens up the door to some interesting character interaction scenes between the two which can also be said about some of the other mutant pairings on the show. My favorite of the bunch would have to be the Cary-Kerry relationship which includes two separate personalities that can join together at will. Both characters are entertaining and interesting enough on their own, but together, displays one of the most charmingly peculiar dynamic duos that I've ever seen.
Without diving into every single character on the show, I must point out Oliver Bird (played by Jermaine Clement) who immediately became my favorite supporting TV character of 2017 so far. With an enthralling sense of mystery and power surrounding his existence, and a lovable, hilarious, and scene stealing screen presence, Oliver became one of the greatest things to ever grace the small screen. Every moment where we're able to sit down and listen to him explain something or awkwardly interact with someone else due to his questionably long separation from the real world had me glued to the screen and grinning with excitement. I do hope he sticks around for a very long time as he adds a distinct layer of charm and levity to the show.
As far as story goes, here's where things get slightly difficult to discuss (which is sort of the beauty of the show). As I mentioned before, many of what we see takes place through David's perspective which is brilliantly set up for the viewer to take in with a grain of salt. Can you trust everything that you hear or see? That's one of the central questions that is asked to the audience with every scene depicting an event taking place. We watch David as he is rescued from an anti-mutant military organization's grasp and is brought over to a place called Summerland where he discovers the secrets of his power. The hook however comes within David's mind where a parasite dwells and feeds on his mind attempting to completely take over. It's an incredible concept and the execution is nearly flawless.
Let's talk about that parasite who acts as a main villain for Legion played by Aubrey Plaza (alongside other candidates). The parasite known to us eventually as the Shadow King has got to be arguably the most compelling antagonist in the comic book TV genre conceptually speaking. It is through this character that we're given pure visual insanity, terror, and entertainment as it frequently changes form to fit the context of the setting and situation at hand. We're talking about a villain with god-like abilities that is given a vast amount of free reign to whatever it pleases for the majority of the show.
Words cannot describe the amount of crazy imagery showcased surrounding this character alone, and with Aubrey Plaza's magnetic performance eating away at the screen, The Shadow King was placed into a praiseworthy rank and category of its own. Simply put, we have never seen such a multi-layered, superbly designed, and intoxicating villain like this in the genre giving Legion yet another accolade to hold onto.
Speaking of performances, I can confidently say that the acting here is solid all around the board with a few spotlights mentioned already. Everyone definitely brings their respected characters to life without ever coming across as either too over the top or horribly dull. Dan Stevens is given the most material to handle here with David's turn from a twitchy and paranoid mental patient to a confident yet sometimes terrified Omega-level mutant. However, there a couple of brief moments where Stevens may have smirked his way into a cartoon character, although one does have to take into account how tremendously unbalanced and eccentric his character is in the end. With the amount of layers that he is tasked to bring out to such a high level of crazy with David, Stevens absolutely nailed it in the end.
At the end of the day, Legion is a series that I honestly had no idea what to expect going in, and after watching the first season in its entirety, I still have absolutely no idea what to expect moving forward. That my friends is the real beauty of this show. You start off each episode with several questions and theories only to have them answered in ways that opens up more speculative discussions down the line. The technical craftsmanship deserves an award on its own considering the amazing editing, visual direction, and production value. The storytelling is positively unpredictable and each episode continuously opens up the floodgates for fresh and imaginitive ideas to explore.
Overall, the first season of Legion is a successful package of fun, intrigue, and stylistic glimmer paired up with the potential of appeasing comic book fans in the future. I look forward with excited and impatiently curious eyes to seeing what Season 2 brings for us. I can now happily place Legion on my list of top favorite television series of all time.
Season Rating: 10/10
No comments:
Post a Comment