Legion: Good Sci-Fi

[legion]

Is anyone else watching the new show Legion on FX? And no, this series has nothing to do with my chosen handle.

I've always thought that good Sci-Fi allows us to explore the human condition by taking normal circumstances to currently impossible extremes. It lets us reason through if certain truths are really true in all conditions. I think one of the best examples of this was the reboot of Battlestar Galactica.

Legion takes place in the X-Men universe, but doesn't make any mention of this (so far). Prior knowledge of Marvel comics is not required to enjoy it. (I don't have any and I enjoy it quite a bit.) The series basically explores the concept of people with superpowers and mental illness. Many of the major characters have been institutionalized because their "powers" (or claims of powers) were mistaken for mental illness. The main character clearly has "powers", but it is unclear whether or not he is also schizophrenic, faking it, or something else.

Rather than casting "superheroes" as people who are morally superior and always justified in using their "powers", it explores the practical implications of what would really happen if one were to use these gifts. In one particularly memorable scene, one character describes how her teenage self used her newly acquired powers in a way that lead to an unintentionally horrific conclusion.

The series has a unique visual style and story-telling method. One episode, where the main character is confused about himself, is told through a series of confusing, disjointed flashbacks. The episode doesn't make you understand the character, it makes you understand his confusion. Colors, shadows, sound, silence, music, dance--all are effectively used to tell the stories. In one scene, "The Rainbow Connection" is sung in such a terrifying way that it would make the banjo player from Deliverance frightened.

In conclusion, I HIGHLY recommend this series to Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans. Or people that like psychological thrillers. Or people that like shows that don't spoon-feed them.

[varmint]

Read the original comics way back when.


So far the show is more style than substance. But great style.

[JackDidley]

Sounds like a show I need to watch.

[JD159]

Legion recommending legion???

[cashflyer]

I had all of the episodes up to current recorded on DVR.
Friday night I watched about half of the first episode and then deleted them all.

I found it to be *meh*.

[legion]

I watched the whole season and loved it. It's more of a psychological thriller than your typical superhero fair. The cinematography and pacing of the storytelling remind of a movie from the 60's. Not a whole lot of on-screen violence--lots of panning away or showing the aftermath.

[legion]

Season 2 is a month away!

Some highlights from season 1:

[Crowbob]

I don't know what it is but the 'Superheroes' genre feels like a waste of my time. These new movies seem like live-action comic books which, I guess, is exactly what they're suppose to be. They don't call them comic books anymore. I think the term is 'graphic novels'.

[GH85Carrera]

I just finished all of season one.

I will admit it is a very different science fiction that I am used to, in fact I would say it is pure fantasy, not science fiction at all. It had to be written be some folks with heavy psychedelic drug use.

The only thing I have seen that is as weird is the "Jean-Claude Van Johnson" series on Amazon.

[legion]

I've watched Season 1 like six times now. I actually thought it was most rewarding to watch the second time. It's like watching "The Sixth Sense" the second time, when you realize what is going to happen and see how cleverly everything was set up to make you assume certain things.

[legion]

Season 2, Episode 1 (Chapter 9). It was a total mind****.

[legion]

[GH85Carrera]

I know you love the show. I watched all of last season, and the new episode. Maybe the fact I never tried mind altering drugs at all (except beer) and I’m not even a little mentally ill, or crazy, I have trouble grasping the show. I can say for sure, Legion is NOT science fiction, it is pure fantasy. And a weird confusing fantasy for a sober person. Maybe some LSD or mushrooms would help, but that is not an option for me.

[RKDinOKC]

A lot of the "Science Fiction" instrumentation could have easily been strategically placed tin foil.

[legion]

From a few episode ago...

[legion]

Well, season 2 ended on a real downer. Apparently we are to think of David (Legion) as "Walter White with superpowers".