FX's "Legion"

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by vince, Feb 9, 2017.

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  1. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I had the last 2 episodes in my DVR and watched one last night. Like some others, I'm finding it a bit tedious at this point. The fact that I'm already allowing episodes to 'stack' up in my DVR shows it's not 'must- see TV' for me. No doubt about the quality of the production, it's very well done but it oddly feels very 'one- note' to me. I'll watch the latest episode over the weekend and hope the writing improves.
     
  2. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    I predict that after you watch the next one (episode five?), you will be fully back on board.
     
  3. jpelg

    jpelg Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Elm City
    I kinda like "digesting" each episode for at least a day or two in between before watching the next. It seems to make the reveals & corresponding epiphanies more impactful.
     
  4. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Like I say, might as well drop the 'heroes' part and just say superpeople (costumed or non-costumed, fancy named and logoed or plain, varieties). It gets very strange to me when they are selling costumes and merchandise of the Marvel and DC characters to little kids. I remember a toy Wolverine's claws! This doesn't seem to apply to Legion, so far anyway, or do the costumes and trademarked logos come into it later?
     
  5. R. Cat Conrad

    R. Cat Conrad Almost Famous

    Location:
    D/FW Metroplex
    That's a bold prediction. Chazro may give Legion another shot, but I have a three episode rule. I've already stretched it to four. The plague of lighthouse keepers[sic] episode only inspired me to give Van Der Graaf Generator more listening time, ...Peter Hammill's artistry is less abstract. :winkgrin:

    :cheers:
    Cat
     
  6. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Yes, episode 5 really brought it all together and was pretty sensational I think.

    Loved the Radiohead tune as well.
     
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  7. dynamicalories

    dynamicalories Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peekskill, NY
    Yeah "Daily Mail" worked really well in that scene. I don't think I've ever really listened to that song before.
     
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  8. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Seeing episode 5 a little late, but yes, it's turned a corner and gotten very interesting! Whew, things are not only making sense but getting deeper too.
     
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  9. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I also finally got around to watching the 5th episode last night. For giggles over the weekend I hooked up a headphone amp to my TV receiver. So I listened to Legion thru my Sennheiser HD600's, and all I can say is WOW!!! There's so much detail and work put into the audio that frankly gets lost when watching normally. In general, I've known this to be true as this isn't the 1st time I've listened thru cans but most shows aren't worth it. Legion is. Didn't hurt that it was a good episode!
     
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  10. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    If you have a 5.1 set-up, they also make use of the full surround field more so than most television shows.
     
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  11. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Funny you mention that. This is one of the rare shows where I bother firing up the AV setup to watch it.
     
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  12. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Legion must be doing something right, as it just got picked up for season 2.

     
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  13. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law Thread Starter

    While this last episode seemed a bit stretched-out, I must say;
    Aubrey's CRUSHIN' IT!
    I haven't seen such a 'sexy bad guy' since Amanda Donahue in "Lair Of The White Worm"!!
     
    Lonson likes this.
  14. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    They again come close to the WTF edge without actually crossing it as they strategically insert details that help to orient the viewer WRT what's happening in the 'real' world. While I appreciated seeing Aubrey hoofing it in that trippy scene, I felt that that sequence did cross the BS line.
     
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  15. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Watched last night's episode. That was *ridiculous* and tedious beyond belief.

    The pilot had some self-indulgent stylized wankery as previously discussed in the thread, and then a couple episodes in, the ratio of style vs. actual substance/plot got a little better. But last night's episode was the worst. Pretentious and self-indulgent. A full episode exercise in just letting the actors do something different (usually it takes until the fifth of sixth season of a show for actors to get bored enough that the want to play totally different "versions" of themselves) and essentially design backdrops to music videos, just (mostly) without music.

    I think the show may have jumped the shark officially when Aubrey Plaza's face appeared in a piece of discarded cherry pie on the floor. It started reading like a parody of pretentious TV at that point.

    This whole episode should have been, *at best*, a 10 or 15-minute segment in an episode of the show.
     
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  16. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    To me, I'm less concerned with not understanding what's going on or even not having any actual plot to chew on. I'm just finding the 100% style-over-substance thing to be tedious and boring at this stage. At one point in the episode, I checked the time and it was only ten minutes into the episode. I didn't know whether to be more annoyed that it felt like it had already been an hour, or annoyed that I knew the rest the episode was surely going to be like this.

    I still feel like I'm waiting for the series/show to actually *begin*. Everything that has happened so far feels like a prologue that should have been distilled into an episode or two.

    This is apparently an 8-episode season, and they're six in and so very little has happened. I know that the short-run, serialized model is all the rage with cable and streaming services. But I think that model may be the undoing of this show, despite the second season pickup. If this show remains as obscure and oblique in the second season (and the remainder of the first) as it has been so far, I don't think people (and possibly even critics) are going to stick with it forever.
     
  17. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    You are entitled to your opinion of course, but I couldn't disagree more. They have decided to do some unique and unusual with this series, which I think we all need to applaud, that's a good thing to take some chances, but it means that it won't click with everyone. You are better off saying that the style of the show isn't for you rather than saying its tedious or wankery or other nonsense. That's not good criticism.

    I have friends that struggle to watch a David Lynch film. It doesn't mean its a bad film because they don't get it.
     
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  18. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Certainly "wankery" is a bit of hyperbole. I don't think calling something "tedious" is an invalid criticism at all. I'm pretty sure many film and TV critics (and music critics, etc.) have used the term "tedious" and "self-indulgent" many times.

    I'd argue that "it's just not for me" is poor criticism, at least if such a statement is left hanging without any context or explanation.

    "Not getting it" doesn't necessarily mean something is "bad." But it *could* mean that, to some people/critics. Further, I went to pains to point out the problems I have with the show objectively outside of whether I "get" the show or not.

    I'm sure somebody at some point called David Lynch's work tedious, perhaps sometimes with good justification. Maybe he did make a tedious film some point, and maybe it *was* "bad" by some measure or opinion. That's all it is, just opinion.

    Regarding "Legion", I have problems with the show, and explained in some detail what my problems were. I'm not telling anyone not to watch or subverting in any way the *painfully obvious* fact that everybody is going to have their own opinion.

    I've often "applauded" or otherwise ascribed some credit to art that I may not enjoy but find a good "direction" to take. But I'm not certain I'd even make *that* argument when it comes to "Legion." I think at times it becomes ripe for parody, and/or in fact occasionally *becomes* a parody of pretentiousness. If someone wanted to get into the more short-run, serialized sort of TV material out there and started with "Legion", they might well be turned off from the idea of only having eight episodes to convey, well, something. There are other excellent, atypical shows out there of this sort that pack more content and less pretentious filler into one episode than "Legion" has done in six.

    On top of any attempt at objective criticism, it is of course obvious that "Legion" isn't doing "it" for me. I'm actually still watching; I'm going to follow through on the last two of this season for sure.
     
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  19. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    I think I 'get it', but there have definitely been self-indulgent show-offy bits. I liked The Prisoner (original Patrick McGoohan in particular) and a lot of people thought that was a load.

    Episode 6 had a lot of running in place to it, but expecting some advancement in 7.
     
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  20. Veltri

    Veltri ♪♫♫♪♪♫♫♪

    Location:
    Canada
    Any more Pink Floyd references? A couple of episodes ago was the last I remember with Jean Smart saying "Just a little pinprick."

    I'm waiting for "There's someone in my head but it's not me."
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2017
  21. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

  22. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Bowie's Oh You Pretty Things featured in episode 6, but not by Bowie. Always connected that to mutants anyway myself because of the homo-superior lyric. The song I remember from episode 5 most was Paul Williams' Rainbow Connection.

    :righton:
     
  23. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    Read a comment somewhere what a casting coup it was to get Mama June to be a cast member!;) Also read about how the show's initial numbers weren't better than Taboo, no surprise since Tom Hardy was in it but the article also stated how The Bastard Executioner's numbers were better. Now THAT'S a surprise!
     
  24. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I love it. I agree, Aubrey is "crushing" it. She's amazing. Wonderful cinematography and direction. Best comic book series, perhaps even better than Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
     
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  25. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    Other episode 6 song was the Bassnectar remix of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" for the scene where Lenny dances through David's memories.
     
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