PatternRec

The "Audio Quiz" joke was funnier when it slightly interrupted Chris rather than him hanging a lampshade on it.

Melissa Villasenor was on @Midnight last night: http://www.cc.com/episodes/nm0idb/-midnight-with-chris-hardwick-extended---thursday--march-16--2017---uncensored-season-4-ep-4078 I'm only three minutes in and she just seems like she's having a blast.

There's been some good shit in the show. Re-watching Chapter One, Shadow King/Lenny, when talking to David about how she died, she says this: "She was just a passenger riding around in your body. Don't give a newbie a bazooka and act surprised when she blows shit up." The first sentence clearly foreshadows what we know now in Chapter Six. And the second sentence confirms that the Shadow King is "not a newbie" (ie. its been around for a while - before David) and that it considers David to be the bazooka of human hosts.

I'm not sure but I think it was about keeping David happy? I think Lenny was creating a happy place for David's mind so she could basically use his body. Once it started to fall apart she just used blunt force to trap his mind instead.

Sweet! Thanks. How recent? I'll look for it on YouTube.

My roommate randomly asked me the other day if I remembered Toonces!

I wish I knew. Hopefully they clear up some stuff about him before the end of the season.

It's possible. I hadn't thought of that before.

That sounds about right unless a wizard did it. Yeah I really like them together. I laughed when she came out of him, spiked bat ready to go!

No she said her parents got pregnant with a girl and nine months later had a little white boy instead. I think what they meant was ultrasound showed a girl but when Cary was born it was a shock and broke up the family. That was my take at least. Then Kerry didn't come out again until they were eight. Dunno why they were the same age at that point but I suspect it's an inconsistency they decided to include because Kerri/Cary works so well as a character.

Season one of Legion is two X-men storylines combined and I think I know who The Eye is. I also posted this at reddit as well so if I'm right I can be internet famous for a day :D I’m working on a theory here and I’d love some help developing it or poking holes in it to see if it’s solid. Also, most of my X-men comic book knowledge is from the earlier period: 70s, 80s, 90s were my comic-reading days so I’d appreciate any info from later x-books or the Ultimate universe, if any of that comes into play. It’s no leap of logic to say the first storyline is the Muir Island Saga (MIS). Legion gets taken over by the Shadow King and starts taking over X-men and X-men adjacent mutants. Hijinks ensue. The second storyline, and I’m super excited if this comes true, is the Dark Phoenix Saga (DPS). I think The Eye is the show’s version of Mastermind. In the DPS Mastermind’s power is that he creates illusions by projecting things directly into people’s minds. From what we’ve seen in the show The Eye’s powers seem eerily similar. He was able to appear as David’s psychiatrist and the telepathic dude from Melanie’s team. I think that’s how he was able to set the trap for Syd and Ptonomy - he projected an image/illusion into Philly’s head of the lighthouse because he knew Ptonomy would see it. The Eye’s powers are mental in nature so he can *sense* things like when David and Syd were astrally projecting, and he’s powerful enough to be able to fool even an Omega level mutant like David (or in DPS Phoenix herself). There’s no way he’d have survived the attack on D3 if he couldn’t shield his mind as well as his body from David. He can’t read minds though, which is why he and D3 had to rely on the torture/interrogation of Amy to find David. As for the plot and character arcs, the show has other major elements of the DPS. An Omega level mutant becomes connected to a stronger entity that makes the Omega even more powerful but also dangerous. Said Omega goes over to the Dark Side and has to be taken down by their friends. Syd is Cyclops, the the one in a relationship with the Omega. Melanie is Professor X. (Btw, if Xavier’s group is called the X-men can we call Dr. Bird’s team the Bird-men?) There was a great visual nod in the show to the DPS too. The headband that Cary creates is right out of that storyline: http://imgur.com/a/EpfPu Of course not everything lines up but that’s because we’re seeing a mix of the two storyline. The biggest diff being that YED is already evil whereas the Phoenix Force isn’t. There’s also elements of Grant Morrison’s Cassandra Nova story, but that in and of itself was already a mish-mash of those two previous storylines. Also the show’s reference to its timeframe points to a re-telling of mid-70s to-mid 90s X-men. Oliver is mentally in the 70s so I’d assume that’s when he “went under.” Dr. Bird says he’s been down for 21 years which would put the show about mid 90s. Even if the show isn’t set in a specific decade the show’s visual elements all scream pre-millennium. Thoughts?

@hincandenza oddly most of what we saw in the first three episodes was real. It only seemed psychedelic because we kept being exposed to memories of things happening differently, but the memories were fake. YED and Angriest Boy added a horror element to the memories and the unexplained mutant powers we saw made it batshit weird because there was no Arrow-verse style explanation of each character and what their power/skill set it. . As for when we go deeper David is telepathic and can go into his own head, bring others in there, etc. He can also connect to the astral plane, which is like the internet for telepaths. Telepaths can travel there and can shape reality because it's a "mental" space. In this analogy if the astral plane is the internet, telepaths are the developers and coders. Btw, I'm not sure of this but I think in the old X-men comics the astral plane they referred to was a shared telepathic space and different from the astral plane of Dr. Strange but my comic-reading phase has been over for decades so I don't know if Marvel ever really differentiated between them or not. I *think* at some point in this episode David's/Amy's childhood house is on something of the cusp between reality and the astral plane. I think we have enough info now to say The Eye is a strong telepath as well, or at least that his powers of deception and illusion are mental in nature. As a matter of fact I have a theory about who he is I'll post in the spoiler thread.

Also, someone in a Youtube video I just watched about this episode said "The Eye may have illusion powers." Makes me wonder if The Eye isn't based on Mastermind, who was also a major villain in the above-mentioned Dark Phoenix Saga.

More giant Xavier/"Cary" headshots:

I think this was a another visual nod to the comics - in X-men/New Mutants (the books where the Legion first appeared) Professor Xavier would often telepathically contact people and it was always depicted as a big floating head they talked to. There's a *lot* of visual nods to the source material even when so much has been changed. edit: linked picture from New Mutants #1 with Giant Xavier Head!

Here's three images from the Dark Phoenix saga that I believe they drew the idea for Cary's headband device:

I'd buy that. I wonder if they'll ever give us a timeline or just let us fill some of the gaps in. Not sure, since in the comics Prof Xavier was David's dad and Hawley has said he wants to keep that in the canon, but no concrete info's been released on that.

I think you nailed it. Nice job!

I had another thought about this. Dr. Bird has been at this a long time. She knows full well how powerful David is, and when you see a sudden change of behavior in someone like that you don't show them that you're freaking out, you do what Dr. Bird did - act like everything is fine. In other words, this isn't the type of show where they call a meeting of the Scooby Gang to discuss everything.

I'm doing my usual second watch of the show now. I'll add thoughts as they come up. so far: Dr. Bird may be telepathic as well? Dr. Bird is telepathic: She speaks first to David when there's glass between them, before he even sees her. She also initiates conversation during her discussion with David and Syd. When discussing David Dr. Bird tells Syd that Syd "saw something similar with Walter." Isn't Walter the name of the guy who became The Eye? Then why didn't Syd recognize him in their two encounters? (more to come/watch this space) edit: The headband that Cary builds is *right* out of another, much earlier X-men storyline - the original Dark Phoenix saga. I have a digital copy so I can get a cap of the page that shows how Beast makes something designed to work exactly the same when the X-men have to fight Dark Phoenix - an omega level mutant with reality-warping powers that was taken over by an evil entity or possibly insane or both. Lenny/The Shadow King convinces David to leave Syd behind when they hit D3. I think this is to keep her from seeing David wantonly killing first-hand. Having her see the aftermath and video footage leaves a level of distance that keeps the mental/emotional attack on Syd at a steady but brutal pace. David and Syd buttcrack scene #thumbs up Syd's story is horrifying without falling into cliche of "mom's bf or dad abused me." It also preceded my fave quote of the episode: "who teaches us to be normal when we're one of a kind?" Given that so many shows have sort of betrayal as a capper to beating the Big Bad there's a part of me that thinks were gonna find out Dr. Bird's operation is Division 2 Syd acting like a teenager when Dr. Bird confronted her was further proof that she's under King's control loosely part of the time, not just just being lied to by David while he provides her with intimacy. That's very unlike her. The aftermath of David's attack is horrible :( It's only the second time we've seen the telekinetic dude but it's nice to see one who's got his shit together. None of this "holding my hand at my head then a screwdriver moves slightly" followed by a training montage before they're even moderately powered. This dude throws around bodies and chunks of metal with ease. David used his powers similarly to this episode in the first chapter. It was edited subtly but I've been waiting for them to show more before I went back and clipped it. Later tonight or tomorrow. The playfulness and glee with which DUI* killed the soldiers mimics how the Shadow King was presented in the comics when he was abusing the hell of of controlling a very powerful mutant. The use of the term schizophrenic is so wrong it makes me angry even if they change the words to "split mind" I think it's supposed to be the mid-nineties? Dr. Bird says Oliver's been out for 21 years, and he's stuck in the early seventies mentally. It also gels with Syd being mentally disarmed by Rainbow Connection - she would have been at an impressionable age when The Muppet Movie came out. The Eye can definitely cover his traces or make people see things that aren't there telepathically. It's probably the only thing that saved him from being killed. It also means he's powerful enough to fool DUI Aubrey Plaza is amazing in this. Amy's secret that David was adopted? I wonder if they're sticking with Prof X as his dad or Oliver/Melanie or some combination thereof. When they get to David and Amy's old house, when all the sound goes off was amazing. I don't think we can take that at face value because it doesn't make sense for David to just remove sound. I think it's a way in the medium of TV they've crossed into the Astral Plane, which would have a dream-like quality to it, which this scene had. The bit where Dr. Bird sees Cary first but Ptonomy can't tell who it is yet was well done. Kerri has a nail bat in there. Does it hurt Cary? :D Lenny and David in front of Syd :o did I mention Aubrey Plaza was amazing? Cary's quiet protesting for a peaceful resolution to things I think is less about morality than it is about getting beat up all the time when Kerry comes out :D The white room scene at the end with the King is horrifying. The ending: King's got them all now and can start to control them just like it is David, with the "astral plane group therapy" I think representing the King's ability to "get inside their heads" and root out secrets. The ping pong sound throughout the end credits! perfect! And I'm done. Wait! One more! If the King is now actually in control of the group of them as the end implies maybe Lenny and Benny weren't just friends who King stole their likeness in David's mind. Maybe they were the King's first puppets outside of David. And only now is King powerful enough to control more than one other because it has more control of David. *David Under the Influence

Here's my theory - it's a song Syd would have heard in her childhood - another way to get her mental defenses down. If Oliver has been gone for 21 years and he acts like he's from early 70s we can assume this is at least mid nineties meaning The Muppet Movie would have been a big deal to Syd when she was at an impressionable age. edit: as for the D3 song I didn't recognize it but the voice sounded like Thom Yorke at times. I think at that point she was fairly well under the influence too. Even if this kind of intimacy is new for her it's not like her to act like a petulant child. edit: also, as she points out, there's not much of a roadmap for this kind of stuff. even Dr. Bird's supertherapy can't really make one normal after what they've all dealt with. lol thank you :D

I suspect that the Shadow King/DUI* is using a subtle form of mind control here, almost like he mildly psychically anesthetizes them then offers them something they want. In Syd's case the ability to feel physical intimacy, for Dr. Bird the chance to bring Oliver back. I think once he does that he draws them further in. At least one of his powers seems to be some sort of psychic camouflage, where he makes others not see him, or see him as something else. I don't get the sense from how they've showed his powers visually that he's actually shape-changing. I suspect that The Eye was able to somehow hide from David but not able or willing to reveal himself to save anyone else. Well unless this whole season has been in the Astral Plane Ptonomy's other power is "trying too hard" when it comes to style. Srsly a Tommy Gun and that outfit? edit: Also that other telekinetic guy has a second power. It's called "I don't have any lines so they can pay me less." I agree! It's amazing. edit: It's really incredible how they use visuals to tell a story, like the subtle way Kerri/Cary was revealed instead of outright exposition. In the current episode they did it when David hears Dr. Bird call his name. He approaches and we see that there's glass between them. Neither acts like this is weird, but it was Dr. Bird who spoke first. That's important information as it may mean that she has telepathic powers as well. * David Under the Influence (of the Shadow King) - pls can we use this acronym?

Yup that was my thought too. This has become my fave show as of Chapter 4. I was champing at the bit for this week's episode.

@hincandenza no clue And as far as Legion in the media goes, I love this show, and I understand that a lot of sci-fi/comic fans love having cute names for their groups, but if it becomes official that fans are called "Legionnaires," as is inevitable, I'm rage-quitting the internet and moving to Canada. And by Canada I mean @Tara Ariano's and @David T. Cole's guest house in Hawaii. And they'd better have good wifi because I'm sure as hell not quitting the internet. Unrelated, are there squatter's right in Hawaii? I'm asking for a friend.