Less than the sum of his parts

A scene from Legion. Confused yet? So are we.

Legion,
Foxtel, FX, Thursday, 7.30pm

David Haller lives in a state of confusion and after watching the first episode of Legion – he’s not the only one.
Based on the Marvel Comics tale by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, Legion – starring man of the moment Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Beauty and The Beast) – is about a troubled young man who may be more than human.
Since in the original comics he is the son of Professor X – Charles Xavier (though there is no mention yet of this being the case in the series) it is probably a fair bet he isn’t your garden variety human being.
Diagnosed as schizophrenic as a child, he has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and is close to being institutionalised – he enjoys the regimentation of it. Well he does, until he meets a girl named Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd reference anyone) played by Rachel Keller.
From there things go strange and loopy and you aren’t sure what is real and what isn’t and who to trust and if Dan’s nails on a blackboard American accent is meant to be annoying or just is.
This is Marvel’s latest foray into the world of TV and is officially a spin-off of Xmen but one episode in and it feels disjointed and confusing and it’s hard to know what you just watched.
But maybe that’s the point? Who knows? If you are a Marvel fan you might just want to stick around to find out. If not? Well, let your friends watch it and then catch up later if it does start to make sense. So far though I’m more confused than the main character and that’s saying something.
– Tania Phillips