Legion: Season 1 - Written Review

Created by Noah Hawley and based upon the Marvel comic book series, 'Legion' is the first television addition to the X-Men film franchise, following the David Haller (Dan Stevens) as he struggles with what he thinks as a mental illness, but what government agency Division 3 and the mysterious mutant Summerland group believe to be special telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Told from David's perspective as an unreliable narrator, the series manipulates time, space and even reality itself as it tells the story of a man struggling to find himself.
First things first: 'Legion' is not for everyone. It's narrative isn't so much convoluted, but is told in such a way that at points makes it difficult to understand. If you're willing to watch a mystery series that actually makes sense once it resolves itself, you probably won't have any real problems with this method of story-telling. 'Legion' isn't convoluted...but that doesn't mean it's easy to understand either. The series often flickers between present-day reality, the past, an altered memory, dream sequences, and other dimensions to tell this ultimately small and character-focused story about David struggling with his mental illness. Want to know how controversial the series is? Check out the Rotten Tomatoes page. There's some pretty damning reviews on there, even if I don't personally agree with them.
Despite the complexity of its narrative, 'Legion' makes the most of it with some stunning, surreal imagery that pushes the boundaries of the format to their very limits, making for an often quite intense watch. It's not really a show you can just stick on to pass some time, it has a story to tell and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss a lot. I watched the first four episodes twice, and the second time was just as fascinating as the first. It's hardly ever dull or boring, because 'Legion' throws so much stuff at you that you end up transfixed - regardless of whether or not you actually understand what's happening on-screen.
Is there anything like 'Legion'? Well, think of some of the weirdest "dream" episodes of a television series you've seen, and imagine eight episodes of that. That's pretty much 'Legion'.
Because of this, the production values are through the roof, even if it's entirely down to the stellar photography and editing work. Noah Hawley has crafted something utterly unique in superhero fiction that any detractors would have a hard time arguing against. Think superheroes are too clichéd? Give this a go. Try and predict everything in this show.
Jeff Russo's music is just as erratic as the show itself, with lots of interesting song choices to accompany many sequences. The Bolero sequence is certainly one for the ages. That being said, Russo does craft main themes and motifs throughout the series that remain constant, making the soundtrack very interesting to listen to just on its own. In fact, just give a few tracks a listen and see what you think - whether or not you want to see what strange, bizarre stuff accompanies it in the show itself... Spoiler alert: it's probably pretty amazing.
The whole cast of 'Legion' definitely throw themselves into the series quite admirably, with Dan Steven's lead performance and Aubrey Plaza's turn as Lenny being the two standouts. Seriously, they just go for whatever they're given, especially Plaza who manages to sell an out-of-nowhere two-minute dance sequence along to 'Feeling Good' with no shame. It's quite something.
How best to describe 'Legion'? It's pretty whacky, arguably nonsensical and insanely watchable. And it's on DVD, so...what are you waiting for? Put in the disc and you'll have eight episodes of insanity to entertain you.