LEGION Season 3 Review: Chapter 23


Season 3 of LEGION is shaping up to be an excellent wrap up to the story. Each episode in this season builds upon the characters we love, and their flaws. There is a sense of a grand scheme going on in the background and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. 

This episode begins with Kerry reminding us of how things used to be. Back in a time where Ptonomy was still alive, David and Sydney were lovers, and Division 3 worked together. 

Now that time is over, and the instead of fighting threats together, they are now fighting against David while trying to fix his mistakes. 

In last week’s mind-blowing episode, we got to see yet another version of Charles Xavier and how he met the Shadow King. David tried to travel back in time to stop the Shadow King from ever taking over his life, but he is unsuccessful. David’s actions have released demons into the world as a result of Switch going too far back in time. 

Division 3 begins to notice objects and people are beginning to randomly jump through time. At first they thought it was part of an attack formed by David, but they eventually realize this is happening to everyone. 

Luckily, the Shadow King has some knowledge of the beasts. They are known as time eaters and live inside gravity holes where the laws of time don’t apply to them. 

Let’s be honest – we have seen time travel executed in movies and television over and over again. With the direction the season was taking us, I was a little nervous we would get the same travel traveling conflicts as any other piece of media. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see LEGION once again go above and beyond by finding a new way to deal with the consequences of time travel. The concept may be similar to what we’ve seen before – but the execution is unique and creative. 

The monsters are unpredictable, and the show uses that to its advantage. Their movements, along with the variety of objects in a scene moving throughout time, gives us yet another reason to keep our eyes glued to the screen. I know a lot of people like to watch TV while on their phone or multitasking, but LEGION is not the show for that. There are so many “blink and you’ll miss it” moments that keep the show fresh. 

LEGION also utilized extremely fast editing throughout the episode. This helps exaggerate the time eater’s movements and gives the viewer the same amount of control as the characters – which is none at all. The lack of control makes every attack feel very unsettling. 

The time eaters attack each person in a different way. When David is attacked, is transported to a strange place where he sees his mom locked up in a cell. We are treated to a tear-jerking scene as David tries to warn his mom about the future, but his mom disregards David as crazy – just like everyone else in his life. 

As for Sydney, she comes across a younger version of herself. The two talk about the struggles of their power and just when Sydney is at her weakest, the time eater reveals himself and attacks. 

One of the heaviest tolls of the episode was watching the time eaters attack Lenny. They lure her into a room and Lenny is forced to watch as her girlfriend gives birth to her child and eventually dies. Lenny must then try to grasp every few seconds she has with her daughter before the time eaters eat all of it. Lenny’s daughter is born and dies in a matter of seconds – all while Lenny watches helplessly. 

Another highlight of this episode was when the Shadow King travels to the Astral Zone to try and defeat time eaters. The scenes are presented as short photos, like a slide show. The mood of the scene affects how fast the pictures move and the combination of grainy edges with a crystal clear focus is intriguing. LEGION continues to find new ways to tell a story, I’ve never seen anything like it. 

Eventually, David is able to defeat a time eater. David leaves another one alive to warn his friends that they will die if they try to eat any more time. This stops the time eaters for now, but the damage has already been done. Not only that, but Cary and Switch have escaped from David. 

David wages a new war against Division 3 right as the episode ends. After seeing how cruel David has gotten this season, it scares me to think what Division 3 has in store for themselves in Chapter 24.

Written by James Philbrick, LEGION Beat Writer


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