Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The figure at the center of any superhero show should be its hero. But Legion is no mere superhero show. Season 1 of Noah Hawley‘s visually stunning drama was all about building David’s (Dan Stevens) odd world, while Season 2 questions what exactly separates a hero from a villain. Where does David fall in this world? And is he even a hero at all?
David has always been a character suspended between his own warped conscience and his unbeatable psychic ability, and the friction between those elements of his character only increases in Season 2. At the end of last season, after finally embracing his mutant powers and bringing peace to the haven of Summerland, he was sucked into a mysterious orb and taken away. This year, the man who emerges is more confident in his abilities, less conflicted about his desires, and, most terrifyingly of all, more skeptical of his allies.
Compared to other Marvel characters both in the MCU and on television, David Haller does not make for a good hero. He dismisses his team, often choosing to lean on his instincts rather than talk through problems with his more knowledgeable friends. He hides things. He lies. Legion always presents a good reason for David’s deceit; but never a good reason for why he decides to lie so quickly, infusing this new season with a creeping sense of dread. Every time his ostensible allies Cary (Bill Irwin), Melanie (Jean Smart), or Ptonomy (Jeremie Harris) defer to David and his powers, they’re getting the help they need while inflating his ego. And as we’ve seen in the past, a more confident David is a more reckless David, and the more the pedestal David has been forced to stand on threatens to collapse.
And then there’s Syd (Rachel Keller), the only thing really keeping David grounded. Stevens and Keller’s chemistry has transitioned from the magnetic flare we were first introduced to in Season 1, into something that feels distinctly more trusting and tender. Though they haven’t been together long, there’s a confidence to their relationship that has never existed before.
On the flip side of the coin, there’s Aubrey Plaza‘s Lenny and Jermaine Clement‘s Oliver Bird, who once again steal the show. They’re both pawns (or maybe aspects) of the show’s overarching villain, Amahl Farouk, a.k.a. The Shadow King. But as David’s power grows, their power has lessened. There are still traces of the manic overconfidence that defined Lenny last season, but this version of the character feels less like an all-powerful villain and more like a desperate pawn in Farouk’s grasp. Oliver, meanwhile, is just along for the ride (at least in early episodes), and the choice channels Clements hangdog lothario character well. While we’re starting to trust David less, these moves with Lenny and Oliver make us like the show’s villains more, further blurring the lines.
Heroes, especially the simplified heroes we often see in television and film, are supposed to almost innately know what is right. Even Marvel’s morally conflicted heroes like Jessica Jones or Luke Cage eventually have a shining moment where they realize exactly what they have to do and who they need to save. Legion has constructed a perfect superhero story complete with a reliable superpowered team, a shady government organization, and a terrifying bad guy. But instead of Steve Rogers, it’s given us David Haller, a hero who is hiding a villain’s arc underneath his good guy exterior.
The show’s jaw-dropping visuals help emphasize this: David has far more closeup shots this season, and he’s often shot in scenes with either a deep blue and black or red and black. There’s always a duality to David, and it’s always haunting.
Legion has grown from “just” the most visually inventive show on television, to become a brilliant yet terrifying story about what it really means to entrust the fate of the universe in the hands of an unreliable protagonist with unlimited powers. It’s still stunningly beautiful and will be responsible for some of the most insane moments of 2018 television; but this time around the only superhero show worthy of awards attention might be hiding a supervillain origin story right below the surface.
Legion Season 2 premieres on FX Tuesday, April 3 at 10 p.m. ET.
