Legion Chapter 6 Plot Summary:
After Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) traps David (Dan Stevens) and crew in purgatory back at the hospital, she tries to keep everyone in check, as some begin to question their current reality.
There was no way Legion was going to be able to match the masterpiece they delivered last week, but this was a pretty big drop off. I hate to do it, but this had the feeling of a bad Lost episode. Meander. Meander. Meander. That’s what it did. We end in the same place we began, with the exception of one last second shot that moves the story along at a snail’s pace. That’s what we call a filler episode. I appreciate what this episode tries to do, but its execution is a whole other ball of wax.
The crème de la crème from last week was the villain. Lenny got her chance to shine, and boy did she ever. She eviscerated everyone with blunt force trauma mind games, so it only makes sense she would begin to screw with everyone individually, and in a more subtle fashion. I’m all for that. Too bad it was underwhelming as hell. While this was a good excuse to learn more about our characters, including Ptonomy’s (Jeremie Harris) tragic back story, they don’t capitalize on it. After we learn about Ptonomy’s mom, we only see a couple quick images, and then they move on. For a series that isn’t afraid to dive deep into the soul of its characters, that was disappointing.
Another wasted opportunity was how Lenny screwed with Kerry (Amber Midthunder). I love this idea of separating her form Cary (Bill Irwin), making her truly alone, but it falls completely and utterly flat. This is basically reduced to Kerry walking down empty hallways looking sad. Seriously? That’s it? Let’s ramp this up!
While some of the characters suffered from wasted potential, there were others who never got off the ground. The way Lenny messes with Syd (Rachel Keller) is just confusing. Maybe I need to re-watch these scenes, but this was pretty convoluted. Then we have Melanie Bird (Jean Smart), who essentially just walks slowly towards a person. That’s it. That’s her arc. At least her performance was good.
And that’s ultimately what saves this episode – the performances. Per usual, they were awesome. Some of the actors have to act particularly weird, such as Katie Aselton and Jean Smart, but they nailed it. Aubrey Plaza should get Emmy consideration. We’re used to the crazy, Joker-ish Lenny, so it was nice to see a more sinister, analytical turn. While the episode crawled to the finish line, her last scene with David packs a punch. While we get to see a new side of Lenny’s villainy, there’s no shortage of crazy Lenny, don’t you worry. The entire episode turns into a warped Bond music video at one point.
That’s the other positive this week – the visuals. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – why wasn’t this Doctor Strange!? They are not afraid to get weird. Some of the odd music cues also worked well with the weird imagery. This show is six episodes in, and it already has a distinct style.
This was easily the weakest episode of Legion so far. It was filler. The characters as a whole were still engaging, they just didn’t get much to work with. And as much as I love Lenny as a villain, the other baddie hasn’t impressed me at all. The Eye (Mackenzie Gray). Can someone tell me what’s interesting about this guy? He looks creepy and stares at things. They need to step up his game significantly. He’s not far off from an MCU villain. I went there.
Rating: 6 out of 10 (“Meh”)
