that was disorienting

[ratcreature]

I watched the Legion pilot and I'm quite confused.

It started with me trying to figure out when this was even supposed to be set. Obviously it's not supposed to be present day, but it's not the 1960s, 70s or any other consistent era either. And even more disorienting, David's childhood flashbacks didn't seem to be offset in an earlier era than the main story either.

I mean, clearly both the design, the psychedelic interludes and the disjointed story telling are all intentional, but I'm not sure that this works for me. I had a really hard time trying to decipher events and understanding what was going on in between the hallucinations, flashbacks and the body switching in the present? Or was that even body switching? I'm not clear what actually happened with that mental hospital escape.

Though I'm willing to stick with the series for a bit longer.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

I liked it too, though it didn't give many answers! There's no clear time indication yet. I wasn't too thrilled with it until right at the end when the proto-possible-X-Men showed up, but I loved them instantly so I'm definitely going to keep watching.

The body swap really happened, I think - when David touched Sidney's skin, she went into his body (with his powers) and he went into her body. He left the asylum in her body, and she couldn't use his powers properly and accidentally sealed off all the rooms and Lenny got stuck in a wall and died (probably). Then after a while the bodyswap wore off but the bodies went to where the their minds where, so David was still at the cafe, now in his own body. Sidney was presumably still in the asylum, back in her own body.

[umadoshi]

but the bodies went to where the their minds where, so David was still at the cafe, now in his own body. Sidney was presumably still in the asylum, back in her own body.

Oh. That part confused me, so thank you for explaining!

[ratcreature]

Yeah that confused me too. I thought that the person looked like David was meant internally because in the first switch the mind moved places and that's how the trope usually goes too. But it would fit the later events and explain them if in the switch back their bodies followed their minds.

[ratcreature]

Okay if the switch wore off by moving their bodies that would explain things. I wish they had indicated that more clearly though, because usually with this trope the mind is the mobile part and in the initial switch it was.

[lilacsigil]

Yes, usually they snap back into their own bodies, but this time it was in reverse. I don't know if it's a clear indication of how Sidney's powers usually work, though, because of interaction with David's powers.

[sealie]

i'm sufficiently intrigued to see where it goes. The writers/directors are an experienced and clever bunch, so I'll give them a chance. The problem is (to my mind) is that David, as the pivot to the story, will be difficult to identify with due to his practically godlike powers and different personalities (coupled with the psychedelic narration).

As to the confusion with respect to Sidney's possible abilities and body swapping. Sidney might have abilities similar to Rogue's but David also absorbs others minds (hence in part his dissociative identity disorder).

So confusing, and also meant to be confusing.

[ratcreature]

Yeah. I realize that it's intentional, but my tastes are fairly conventional when it comes to narration. Like, I prefer to identify with a hero, have a story I can ultimately follow or at least piece together from unreliable narrators, and then have an unambiguous resolution at the end. This might not be the right series for tastes like that.

OTOH like you said it's intriguing thus far so I'm going to give it a chance.

[thirdblindmouse]

This was exactly my reaction to it. I've been wondering if the child isn't him. My theory for the setting was the future or an alternate universe, but nothing quite fits.

[ratcreature]

I guess with his powers it's also possible that the child is him but not in the past but some other personality in his head or something, but that's even more confusing.

I can go with their stylized comics 1960s (or whenever) being different from reality but different eras in their story should look different from each other in some clear way.