David wages war.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of FX's Legion.
"Chapter 24" was written by Olivia Dufault & Ben Winters and directed by Arkasha Stevenson
David has not been deterred about using time travel in order to get what he wants. He continues to see it as the cure all for the many problems in his life. He doesn't want to take any responsibility for any single action he takes because he figures he has the ability to go back in time and change things. He views Farouk as the cancer in his life. As soon as he cuts that out, then he will have a much more productive future. And yet, the show is really highlighting how David was always destined to be erratic and out-of-control when it came to his powers. He doesn't need Farouk in his head in order to continue clashing and debating with over voices that might reside within him. In fact, this hour is pretty frank in saying that he may be schizophrenic after all. When Syd trades places with him in her latest attempt to kill him, she is quickly overpowered because of the influence and chaos that is actually going on within his body and soul. It's gotten to the point where David no longer sees himself as an individual. He is a collective identity even though he isn't talking about the community he has assembled to protect himself from the hunters wanting to kill him. He goes on the offensive here. He attacks the Division 3 ship because they have taken Switch from him. He gave her purpose and identity. The profession of time traveling is very lonely and dangerous. Switch is the one who always has to carry those consequences. She is the one losing teeth because of David's pursuit of a better world. She still instinctively trusts him though. She fights back against Farouk because he is the person who threatens to take David away from her. As such, he gets stuck in the place that exists outside of time completely. He had the power to come and go from that plane an episode ago. But now, it presents as a cell for this mutant who views himself as the only person powerful enough to stop David from destroying the world. That still seems like an inevitability at this point. David's erratic nature makes him this very enraged and destructive individual. He kills so many people without a care in the world. He doesn't view it as mass murder in order to advance his villainous agenda. He just sees it as the obstacle preventing him from getting what he sees as the best possible thing for the world. Going back and changing the past won't just be beneficial for his life. It will help everyone he has ever met in this world. Now, that's probably not true at all. He doesn't have a plan for how he will approach this latest attempt to change the past any differently than he did before. He didn't expect just how difficult it would be to keep Farouk from taking ahold of him as a child. David believes he's the most powerful mutant in the world. But he still reacts to a universe that has a very different agenda for what should happen. Of course, this hour lures the audience into the belief that all of these characters are actually dying. Now, that's probably not true at all. They will likely be revived because of the time travel premise at the heart of the narrative this season. That does lesson the impact of this hour overall though. It's unlike the premiere in which David was successfully killed several times. At that time, the show was introducing Switch and her powers without really making everyone believe that it was dramatically changing the narrative. But now, there is the sense that the world may be ending. David is responsible but doesn't care at all. That proves that he is a monster who will kill the people he once knew as friends. He does so without any outside influence at all. That shows that all of this power has made one extremely delusional and disillusioned mutant. That's the overwhelming and blatant hook throughout this hour.
