Legion Review: Chapter 14 (Season 2 Episode 6)

Legion Season 2 Episode 6, “Chapter 14,” takes a look at what could have been as it strolls across the multiverse.

At this point in the series’ run, it’s not unusual to refer to an episode of Legion as weird. It’s had plenty of previous ones that would qualify as that. It should come as a surprise to no one, then, that “Chapter 14” is as weird as anything Legion has done this season.

“Chapter 14” follows David through multiple separate timelines, looking at all of the ways his life could have turned out.

Some of them are good, like David eventually becoming a billionaire after starting as a coffee boy in an office. Others less so, like David becoming an old homeless man that eventually gets cut in half by Kerry Loudermilk.

Then, of course, you have the version that the series is set in (which is better and worse, in very specific ways, compared to the other universes).

The running theme throughout these alternate versions is David’s relationship with his sister, Amy, who was killed by the Shadow King in the previous episode. In most of these universes, there’s Amy desperately trying to help David with his “sickness,” even when it’s hazardous to herself and those around her.

In a way, this episode is so essential to what is likely to come after this point.

The death of Amy is going to galvanize David in a war against the Shadow King, and that’s something that we’re going to need a real emotional investment in. Given the fact that Amy has been gone for most of the season, reminding us of her importance here is the best thing the show could do.

“Chapter 14” also brings into stark contrast this idea of David as the “hero” of the story.

The universe, other than the proper one, where we see David at his most normal and functional is when he is a coffee boy and is able to somewhat eloquently explain his psychic abilities so that it could benefit his boss. This version of David gives way to him as a slightly cruel billionaire.

Whether it’s that David or the one that loses control and vaporizes enemies, they’re similar sides of the same coin — or perhaps a dice. Maybe that’s all David is: a random game of luck and chance that could, at any moment, be the most dangerous weapon on Earth.

Regardless, what all of these timelines demonstrate is the barely concealed darkness that exists within David, and the definition of that changes with each iteration that exists.

In a Cloud Atlas sort of way, the best that we ever see of David is the show’s timeline in which he knows Syd, and that’s substantial to the larger question that the series is wrestling with: Will David break bad?

“Chapter 14” seems to say yes to that, but perhaps it’ll be even more likely should something ever happen to Syd, forcing David to be alone.

In its own way, much as The Leftovers could be, “Chapter 14” is an off-kilter, oddly beautiful look at all of the different ways your life can go and how much free will or fate pushes you in one direction or another.

What did you think of this episode of Legion? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Legion airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on FX.

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