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Legion season 1 (new X-Men related tv show)

I know very little about Legion or David Haller, but for those who do, is his sister, Amy, also a child of Charles Xavier or they half-siblings (or step or foster siblings)?

His sister is an original creation of the show. This series is set in its own separate universe with no explicit ties to the X-Men. This version of David may not be the son of Charles Xavier at all. And whether we'll see any other characters from the comics is unclear. We've gotten used to seeing shows and movies that tie in fairly closely to their comic-book sources, but I get the impression that this is more of an old-school type of adaptation where they take one character and do their own self-contained, reimagined, otherwise original version.


I was wondering the same thing, but like kitik said, I'm sure we'll get an explanation further down the road. We don't need everything answered all at once.

I'm not at all sure we'll get an explanation. I don't think this is the kind of show that wants things to have clear explanations. The ambiguity and mystery are the point.
 
Wow, I really loved this, especially the surreal, stylish aesthetic.

It also didn't hurt that it started with The Who. :techman:

Whereas I was thinking more along the lines of a mad dash of Wes Anderson and The Lobster with musical and stylistic trappings of Stranger Things.

I got an early Stephen King vibe, namely The Dead Zone and Firestarter.
 
His sister is an original creation of the show. This series is set in its own separate universe with no explicit ties to the X-Men. This version of David may not be the son of Charles Xavier at all. And whether we'll see any other characters from the comics is unclear. We've gotten used to seeing shows and movies that tie in fairly closely to their comic-book sources, but I get the impression that this is more of an old-school type of adaptation where they take one character and do their own self-contained, reimagined, otherwise original version.

Kind of like the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk. I get what you're saying, and I preface this by saying that I haven't had a chance to see it yet, and that I consider the original Legion arc in New Mutants 26-28 by Claremont and Sienkiewicz to be an all-time favorite classic. So I do have an attachment to the source material. Having said that, it just seems to me that at this point they've made the Hulk red, if you know what I mean. That they've changed too much. I'll still try and catch it, and hopefully judge it without my pre-conceived notions, but it really seems to be "Legion in name only" at this point. Almost as if they decided to make a show about Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, but in the show there was no Rebellion, no Empire, no Leia or Vader, no Yoda, no Artoo, no daddy issues, just Luke and his lightsaber having trippy Force adventures. It might make for an entertaining show, but at that point is it really about the Luke Skywalker that we know?
 
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Almost as if they decided to make a show about Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, but in the show there was no Rebellion, no Empire, no Leia or Vader, no Yoda, no Artoo, no daddy issues, just Luke and his lightsaber having trippy Force adventures. It might make for an entertaining show, but at that point is it really about the Luke Skywalker that we know?

Well, what would be wrong with that? Taking a famous character and reinventing them in a totally different setting can be quite interesting and creative. And yes, it can be about the character you know even if the rest of the setting is different, because good characters are defined by more than just where they are and what they do. Take Sherlock Holmes out of Victorian/Edwardian London and put him in present-day New York, and he's still Sherlock Holmes. If the character's really worthwhile, then bouncing them off a totally different context can reveal something new and interesting about them while still keeping them true to themselves. The question is whether Luke Skywalker is really a rich enough character to achieve that -- but then, a total reinvention of Luke Skywalker might make him a much deeper, richer character than he is while still maintaining the core essentials.

A lot of fans are uneasy with experimentation with the ideas they love. But without experimentation, the ideas they love wouldn't exist in the first place.
 
Well, I watched it again. Just after he talks about the "Devil with Yellow Eyes", before he levitates his bed, you can see a silhouette against his window that is really evocative of Mojo's mechanical spider-like legs.
 
A lot of fans are uneasy with experimentation with the ideas they love.

You think?

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No sense of a plot even emerges until the last ten minutes.
Pretty much.

It's a very bizzare looking show so I want to see where it goes. Felt like I was just as out of it as the main character. If that was their intention, it was very effective. One other thing... Given the clothing, hair styles and rich colors, it looked like the show took place in the 60s or 70s but then we see tablet computers and modern cars.

Anyone notice that his 'girlfriend's' name is Sydney Barrett?
I knew that name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.
The same.

If David switched bodies with Syd and his own body was trapped in the hospital while hers was outside, how did he end up outside when he switched back, and what happened to her? Why didn't his mind go back to his own body inside the hospital? Is this how her power always works, mind switch followed later by full body switch, or did his powers bring his body back to where his mind was?
Couldn't make sense of that either. Looked like he got his body back, clothing and all. I dunno.
 
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I do admire that they're trying for their own look and feel, but the plot has no strings to pull right now, and that's never good for a show. Even if you have misdirection and red herrings, there has to be something to follow, or people will tune out sooner rather than later. I'll keep watching for now, because stylistically and conceptually, it's very interesting.
 
Found this bit on Wikipedia...

Hawley wanted to show Haller as an "unreliable narrator", including mixing 1960s design with modern-day elements, and filming the series through the title character's distorted view of reality.​
 
Found this bit on Wikipedia...

Hawley wanted to show Haller as an "unreliable narrator", including mixing 1960s design with modern-day elements, and filming the series through the title character's distorted view of reality.​
It also says this about Plaza's character:

Busker was originally written for a middle aged man, until Hawley met Plaza and rethought the character. However, Plaza insisted that the character's dialogue not be changed for her, instead choosing to play the character as both male and female. This led to Busker "making crass remarks about women and muttering vintage phrases".
 
It also says this about Plaza's character:

Busker was originally written for a middle aged man, until Hawley met Plaza and rethought the character. However, Plaza insisted that the character's dialogue not be changed for her, instead choosing to play the character as both male and female. This led to Busker "making crass remarks about women and muttering vintage phrases".

Her name being "Lenny" gave me an Of Mice And Men vibe. Of course, there are some parallels between George and Lenny and David and Lenny.
 
I enjoyed the second episode.

FYI: there was a mention of time travel in the background. I had to rewind and turn on closed captioning to figure out what was being announced. Apparently they have a class on time travel.
 
Not as exciting as the first episode.

About the
father character: We're not supposed to assume that's Charles, are we? Is it possible it's a stepfather while this continuity's Charles, wherever he might be, is the biological dad? Or is the show going to ignore the Charles angle?
 
I enjoyed the first two episodes a great deal.

The surreal look is fantastic. The acting is excellent.

I like how David's jacket is reminiscent of The Prisoner.
 
Chapter 2 left me with some questions:

Who is the guy with the top hat in the bed next to David's?
Does Syd have Rogue's powers?
Did Lenny know David before the Clockworks asylum?
Why doesn't the clock have hands?

Heard over the PA during the goat scene: "Reminder - the dining hall is a levitation-free zone."

And then this:
"When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone"
- Pink Floyd The Wall - Comfortably Numb

Charles Xavier didn't know he had a son, so that can't be him reading the bedtime story.

EDIT: I still think it's Mojo.
 
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I love the memory reviewing and manipulation and how it blends in with the unreliable narrative. What parts are flashbacks, what parts are recollections or memory reviewing via the MRI or the memory work? I love the unclarity of that presentation. Reminds me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of my favorite films.

We didn't get to see much of him in this episode, but I loved the scenes with Bill Irwin. I've been a fan of his since Northern Exposure.

Interesting how David's powers seem to include long distance communication (without technological boosting like Cerebro) and teleportation. Covering all of the teles.

I hadn't expected David and Lenny seemingly to know each other prior to the Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital. Makes me wonder about the circumstances of their admittance into the hospital and whether they were admitted individually or not.

I also wonder if the Devil with Yellow Eyes exists entirely in David's head (but as a living creature) and somehow arrived there when David "heard" the stars.

About the
father character: We're not supposed to assume that's Charles, are we? Is it possible it's a stepfather while this continuity's Charles, wherever he might be, is the biological dad? Or is the show going to ignore the Charles angle?
I suspect he's a stepfather and not actually Charles.

If David switched bodies with Syd and his own body was trapped in the hospital while hers was outside, how did he end up outside when he switched back, and what happened to her? Why didn't his mind go back to his own body inside the hospital? Is this how her power always works, mind switch followed later by full body switch, or did his powers bring his body back to where his mind was? Or was some of that not even real? I expect we'll be asking a lot of such questions over the course of this series.
I was wondering the same thing, but like kitik said, I'm sure we'll get an explanation further down the road. We don't need everything answered all at once.
I'm not at all sure we'll get an explanation. I don't think this is the kind of show that wants things to have clear explanations. The ambiguity and mystery are the point.
Looks like we did get an explanation: When Syd was rescued by Melanie, Ptonomy and Kerry, they thought they were rescuing David because Syd looked like David. When David and Syd switched back, their physical appearances were restored.
 
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