Spoilers for Legion follow. Don’t read on if you’re not caught up! Shall we begin?
Last week’s premiere Legion episode seriously broke our brains in the best way possible, but it also left us with a lot of unanswered questions. Luckily, tonight’s regular-length episode hit the ground running with a few interesting answers, so letâs do the same and get right into it.
After a harrowing escape from Division Three, a government organization that hunts and kills mutants, David finds himself at a secluded pro-mutant facility called Summerland. There, he’s officially introduced to his rescuers: in addition to Syd there’s the badass fighter Kerry Loudermilk, the neurotic scientist Cary Loudermilk (have fun keeping track of them), the “memory artist” Ptonomy Wallace, and their leader Dr. Melanie Bird, whoâs sort of like what you’d get if you crossed the nurturing mentorship of Professor X with the regal authority of Emma Frost. Needless to say, I love her.
Unlike Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters, Summerland has a unique way of getting through to its residents. Using Ptonomyâs memory-projecting abilities, Dr. Bird journeys with mutants into the past events when their powers began to manifest, and then talks through these experiences to learn about what triggers their powers and how they can be controlled. Iâve got to admit, therapy makes a lot more sense as a framing device for Davidâs personal growth than an educational institution like Xavierâs School does, mostly because thereâs a lot that goes into running a school, and are Scott and Jean even learning math over there?
David, however, is having trouble with his memory work, and not just because itâs tough for everyone the first time â thereâs something stopping Ptonomy from accessing all of Davidâs past. While watching a childhood memory Davidâs fatherâs face is obscured, and the bedtime story heâs being read, The Worldâs Angriest Boy In The World, is seriously disturbing. Who writes a childrenâs book about a boy decapitating his own mother?
While inside Davidâs brain we also pick up some new details about his past; he and Lenny werenât just friends at Clockworks, they were drug addict buddies together on the outside. David was also in therapy prior to being institutionalized, after an incident during a fight with his girlfriend that appears to have triggered his telekinetic powers.
Ptonomy canât access the memories of that either, though, and it starting to seem like itâs not David whoâs blocking him. Syd sensed “something there” while she swapped bodies with him back at Clockworksâso odds are this presence isnât just an invention of Davidâs imagination. (Sidenote/spoiler for non-comics readers: Instead youâre gonna have to blame the imaginations of comic creators Ann Nocenti and Arthur Adams. You know, if it is Mojo. It totally is, though. I mean, look at him.)
In addition to his mutant therapy, David also begins medical treatment under the care of Carry Loudermilk, who may or may not also be Kerry Loudermilk at the same time. While in an MRI machine heâs asked to think of a happy memory so Cary can monitor his brain waves, and he recalls his idyllic country childhood with his sister Amy.
Unfortunately, happiness is not for X-Men, and the memory quickly shifts into a vision: Amy’s gone searching for David after he disappeared from her house, and now she’s being captured and tortured by Division Three. Itâs such a traumatic thought it triggers Davidâs powers once more, sending the MRI machine exploding out the wall and into the forest outside Summerlandâs campus. Oh well, those arenât expensive, right? Xavierâs mansion has blown up, like, seven times in the comics, so thatâs pretty mild in comparison.
Now Davidâs all fired up and ready to pull a Luke Skywalker to save his sister. Thankfully Syd’s a more persuasive talker than Yoda was, and she convinces him to stay and “do the work” so that heâs better prepared to face off against Division Three. After all, they wonât kill Amy â “sheâs bait.” But heâd better work fast, because the Interrogatorâs buddy (referred to on IMDB as “The Eye”) has a tank full of leeches, and thereâs no telling what heâs going to do to Amy with them…
Thatâs all for Chapter 2 of Legion, and odds are itâs only going to get more intense from here. What do you think so far? Let us know in the comments!
Images: FX Networks