TV Review: LEGION: Season 1, Episode 8: Chapter 8 [FX]

Legion Chapter 8 Review

FX’s Legion Season 1, Episode 8: Chapter 8 brings an end to the first installment of David Haller’s (Dan Stevens) journey.

Artistically, Chapter 8 is an homage to the visual style representing David’s mental state for the full season. It is the moment that David is the most himself and less connected to the Shadow King.

This episode didn’t have the fancy sequences of earlier episodes. This is because David is no longer in the jittery mental state. He is now has a decent grasp of reality. The creative shift will probably continue into season 2. Fans who may not have been impressed with the season finale, because of lack of artistic craziness, may a hard time adapting to the new mental status of David.

It will be interesting to see how the show decides to illustrate David’s new-found clarity.

Chapter 8 focuses less on the visual style and more on the concluding narrative.  While the Shadow King (Aubrey Plaza) is locked away in David’s mind, however, she still has an open line to Syd Barret (Rachel Keller). The Shadow King uses Syd’s love for David to manipulate her. Lenny states that if they try to remove her, David won’t survive.

When Lenny appears it is clear the Shadow King has deteriorated. The Shadow King isn’t in full form. She doesn’t have the same level of abilities as when they were all on the Astro Plane. It is clear David’s surge in wellness is a contributing factor.

Now that David has some control, it is taking everything the Shadow King has to wrap herself around David’s mind. It becomes a strong possibility that David may not have the ability to beat the Shadow King back.

Then, this leads to a heroic/dumb decision on Syd’s part. She doesn’t want her lover to die at the hands of the Shadow King. In an attempt to save David, Syd does the one thing she has been avoiding the whole season. She kisses David. This moment of physical contact allows the Shadow King to transfer from David to Syd.

The domino effect is obvious. Once the Shadow King sees Kerry Lundermilk (Amber Midthunder) in the room she transfers from Syd to Kerry.

It’s a smart decision. Kerry is a fighter and just the kind of person with the physical abilities to possibly get out of the sticky situation.

In a way, it is good thing The Shadow King picked Kerry. Once all the dust has settled her and Cary Lundermilk (Bill Irwin)seemed to have made up. Beforehand Kerry was still mad about Cary inadvertently abandoning her in the Astro Plane. Hopefully, Season Two will explore their relationship and backstory more.

But thankfully the moment we’ve been waiting for arrives. David versus the Shadow King. It was hard not to hope for something that looked a lot like the battle between Professor X and the Shadow King. But slow motion running, followed by a built up of crazy energy is okay too.

Sadly, just after Oliver Bird (Jermaine Clement) recalls that Melaine Bird (Jean Smart) is his wife he is taken over by the Shadow King, leaving the door open for more conflict between David and his former passenger in the future.

Like a Marvel movie, the ending Easter Egg of him being taken away in a floating Pokeball leaves a lot of question makes as we await Season 2. It isn’t immediately clear who the floating ball belongs too.

It was mentioned in an earlier episode that if Division Three couldn’t deal with David, Division One would be called in. Whether these actions are by Division One or a new enemy all together is a great way to open up the possibilities of what lays in wait for David and his friends.

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