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S01.E03: Chapter 3


Tara Ariano

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Saw it on DVR on a half-hour delay. Still trippy as hell. Forgive me if this was said last week . . . who the ever-loving fuck would write that book? Okay, the odds are decent that the book might exist solely in David's head, but damn.

I'm guessing Sydney's experience with David left a residue with her. His balance is still off and he feels phantom long hair, she can see the scariest monsters you can get on an FX budget. Seems like a fair trade.

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1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

Every time that beagle puppy is on screen I get so nervous...

If they hurt that puppy I'm going to need David to go John Wick on someone's ass(es).

I only understand about half of what's going on but so far I dig it.

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 So if I'm following correctly,  Melanie said her husband inherited the land in the 40s and it took him 30 years to build up Summerland?  Is that right?    If so wouldn't that mean it takes place in the 70s or 80s?  

Edited by jcin617
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22 minutes ago, jcin617 said:

 So if I'm following correctly,  Melanie said her husband inherited the land in the 40s and it took him 30 years to build up Summerland?  Is that right?   

Partially, she said he inherited the land in the 40's, but that he, "built this place with Cary thirty years ago."  She never said they started Summerland immediately after he inherited the land, for all we know they didn't start Summerland until decades later.

Edited by Cosmosgravitation
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That was an awesome episode.
There is so much to unpack.
Every episode is so full of little nods and references... It is so much fun because the creators obviously wanted to show and tell and not to lie to the viewer, so... all is clear and obvious, you just have to figure it out. And when done by smart people, it is quite the trippy experience.

I think it would be kind of cool and mean to have Cyd (Sid?) his creation but... I don't think so.
The feeling of Prof X/Moira from the lady (forgot her name) of the place he is strong...

Does anyone else find Sid (Cyd?) eerily resembling Anna Paquin? She even has some of Rogue's mannerisms and considering she is playing quite similar character... I do wonder. Is it intentional? Tie-in? Will more prominent characters show up? So many questions...

The devil is so silly looking but somehow they manage to make him look and feel sinister. The big head... creepy as all hell just as well.
Kudos to the actors, particularly David (the scene with the description of hair was very well done).

About the question when... I have a feeling that it is quite intentional that we don't know and can not figure it out. The language is modern. So are some of the references. So I am calling - modern with a layer of "unreliable narrator" and references to David and his projection of an idealised childhood/growing up memories... also... I am almost sure... those idyllic memories are based on somebody else's' memory. His own memories are in there, intertwined with the rest... but the 50ies/70ies feel? Definitely a combination of another personality. Maybe a parent? IDK...

Edited by Eneya
typos... so many...
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Guys, I need help. I have watched all of Mr. Robot and loved it. I loved Elliott especially and feel for him even though the show, especially in the first season, could be a little trippy. I think I might put this show on hold and binge it, as someone on a podcast suggested, because every episode I watch I get more and more impatient. There is no story.....just a bunch of convoluted BS. I don't believe anyone, I don't even know who the Fuck is real. Why I'm a following this story? Why should I care? Most importantly, I don't like or care about David. He's annoying. I want to like him but I end up focusing on nitpicks like his accent. I hate the flat fake American accent. He seems to be struggling with it. IMO Also, is he a villain? Is he a hero? does he have a mental illness? I find myself sighing through the episodes and just wishing they would explain something..anything. They don't have to explain everything but give me something show! am I the only one with this  frustration? Anyway, I think I'm out for now. I tried.

Edited by Pacodakat
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40 minutes ago, Eneya said:

Does anyone else find Sid (Cyd?) eerily resembling Anna Paquin? She even has some of Rogue's mannerisms and considering she is playing quite similar character... I do wonder. Is it intentional? Tie-in? Will more prominent characters show up? So many questions...

When David was having his meltdown in the examination room and Syd ran in, I kept expecting her to touch him and swap places so as to interrupt his power ramp-up.   I wonder if she could have done that at the end of the episode too when he wouldn't wake up.    I'm not sure if that would mean she'd be in his sleeping body and he in her awake body, or his body would wake up (with Syd controlling) and Syd's body would fall asleep (as David's mind was asleep).  

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I wondered that too. Also, we need more clarification about her touching people. Because she didn't touch anyone and I expected her to hit them with that cushion? Also, the memory guy didn't try to wake the others... he just... watched.
I haven't been this involved in a tv show in a very long time.

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That creepy book is giving me serious Babadook vibes.

It always takes me a day to get around to watching but I'm actually really enjoying it, pacing issues aside. I suspect that if this were on Netflix and I could binge-watch the entire season it would be addictive. And there had better be some Emmy nods next awards season, because the sets and props are perfection in every. single. scene.

4 hours ago, Eneya said:

The devil is so silly looking but somehow they manage to make him look and feel sinister. The big head... creepy as all hell just as well.

I think what makes him effectively creepy to me is the context. He's mostly featureless, aside from eyes the color of toxic waste, and almost cartoonishly bulbous. When he was rising up behind Jean Smart, his shape was very basic, no angles. Why is that creepy? Because he looks like something a kid would draw.

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2 hours ago, coppersin said:

I think what makes him effectively creepy to me is the context. He's mostly featureless, aside from eyes the color of toxic waste, and almost cartoonishly bulbous. When he was rising up behind Jean Smart, his shape was very basic, no angles. Why is that creepy? Because he looks like something a kid would draw.

He's like half Bizarro Slenderman, half Mark Gatiss' godawful Taboo "makeup" job. 

ETA: With Mac's cat contacts from The Nightman Cometh.

Edited by acid burn
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The guy with the yellow eyes reminds me of Mojo from the comics, weird bulbous voyeur just loitering around on the edges of reality. 

I definitely enjoyed this episode more because it seemed less fractured than the previous episodes. Admittedly it was still trippy as hell with the weird memory regressions featuring random hallucinations and weird psychic defenses/intrusions but more coherent.

It does make me wonder how long the body swap lasts for. Is it time based ? touch based on/off thing?

It was also nice to get a bit more backstory on the Lady in Charge. 

Would have been nice to get an update on what Walter's powers are. Oh well maybe next episode. 

This is definitely a show that will probably be need to rewatched once it over to catch all the clues along the way. 

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They call Walter "The Eye," so maybe some kind of clairvoyance or other sensory powers? He seemed to spot David and Syd when they were astrally projecting (or whatever) at Division 3, but David Selby's character didn't notice them.

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I'm still on the fence...I like the people behind the show and like most of the actors, but after watching I'm always left feeling cold.  It feels like you need to have some background of the source material to actually understand wtf is going on.  I plan on giving it a few more episodes and if doesn't embrace a coherent narrative message I'm out also.

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6 hours ago, wayne67 said:

The guy with the yellow eyes reminds me of Mojo from the comics, weird bulbous voyeur just loitering around on the edges of reality. 

I was thinking that too.  In the last episode he told a story about going with his dad to see the stars and they spoke to him.  He keeps blocking out what the stars said (I think it may have even been what was being recorded on the tape he was trying to destroy in his memory this episode).  If the repressed memory is an alien encounter of some kind, Mojo could fit into that.

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Ah, nothing more romantic then remembering the time y'all switched bodies with each other, and how weird it was being an opposite member of the sex, and do think like use the bathroom but not look, but admit you did grab your new boobs at one point!  Good times!  That was actually a fun scene though, honestly.  I surprisingly continue to enjoy David and Syd, even though I tend not to enjoy romances on television.  I just hope they don't mess it up.

Felt like this episode was slightly more grounded and easy to follow compared to the last few.  I get that basically they are trying to unlock certain parts of David's memories in order for him to reach his true potential and control his powers, but something is fighting them, and it might not be his mind, but something else.  No idea what it means and what this creature is suppose to represent, but I'm curious to find out more.

Really, if your character's sole purpose to show up in your heroe's mind and basically mock and troll them, you better cast Aubrey Plaza.  She was born for this! 

The Eye can see David even he's doing his whole out of body experience.  Interesting.

Still don't fully trust Melanie, but I think she is sincere about helping David.

I wonder when we'll find out what is the deal with Carey and Kerry.  They do seem connected somehow.

The show is still kind of slow, but I'm still intrigued.

Edited by thuganomics85
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8 hours ago, wayne67 said:

The guy with the yellow eyes reminds me of Mojo from the comics, weird bulbous voyeur just loitering around on the edges of reality. 

When I first saw him my first thought was "Mojo!" but I read a theory recently that it also could be the Shadow King. In the comics...

Spoiler

...the Shadow King was a psychic entity that was an enemy of Professor Xavier's who could inhabit other people. The bodies he took over usually became grossly overweight because he had incredible appetites for food and drink. In the comics Legion is Prof X's son and was possessed at one point by the Shadow King. 

Shdwkng.jpg

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I've watched the first 3 episodes, and I'll flat out admit that I'm pretty much left wondering just what is really going on most of the time, but I still like watching.  I think it's the challenge of trying to figure things out that holds the most appeal.

Maybe someone who knows the source material well can fill me (& us) in on a few things, but I'm getting a strong sense that something in David's childhood - specifically with his 'stepfather' [his real father is supposed to have been Charles Xavier, right?] or mother - and that is root source for the book in memories and the egg-shaped devil man.  I'm thinking abuse of some kind.  I'm unsure of which parent to 'pin the blame on', because while the father reads him the story, its the mother who gets beheaded.

Amy seems to know about mutants and abilities, since she wasn't disputing their claims, ie "What are you talking about?  Mutants??  There's no such thing.", etc.  I was under the impression she believed schizophrenia and not something else.  I do wonder, now, if we'll see memories of what the one guy was telling her, about David doing things couldn't be explained when they were younger.


I think I might have preferred binging this series, at least per season, because weekly viewing feels somewhat slow-paced and with all the different stuff to pay attention to and remember, a week to wait between episodes [on a show like this] is a long time if you don't have super good recall.

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11 minutes ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Maybe someone who knows the source material well can fill me (& us) in on a few things, but I'm getting a strong sense that something in David's childhood - specifically with his 'stepfather' [his real father is supposed to have been Charles Xavier, right?] or mother - and that is root source for the book in memories and the egg-shaped devil man.  I'm thinking abuse of some kind.  I'm unsure of which parent to 'pin the blame on', because while the father reads him the story, its the mother who gets beheaded.

The show differs incredibly from the source material and I only know one Legion story from the books but it's his first appearance/origin so I'll give it a go. 

Spoiler

 

In the comic when we first meet David/Legion he is catatonic, and brought to Charles Xavier for help. It's also revealed that he is Xavier's son. His state is a result of his inability to deal with his telepathic powers on his own though most of his life he's been misdiagnosed as autistic and schizophrenic. Xavier and several others go into David's mind on the astral plane to try to help him. 

They find that David's mind has been shattered into separate entities as a result of a trauma, though it wasn't child abuse. It was a terrorist bombing. Due to his powers David ended up with the disembodied mind of one of the dead people in his head. So at this point he has at least two different people in his head, himself and one other, in addition to having created other identities. Each identity has a different mutant power. One is a firestarter, one is telekinetic. If you pay attention in the show when David is rescued from the pool one person  has firestarting powers and one has telekinetic powers. 

There's also at least one person/identity in his mind who is actively working against David, destroying and corrupting his memories in order to take control and be in possession of David's massive powers. In the show I believe this is who the Yellow Eyed Devil is. I don't think those memories they see of the creepy book are real so much as it is this Shadow King trying to break down David's mind in order to control it. 

 

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I got some "Inception" and "Insidious" vibes from this episode. It's like both movies got drunk and had a baby together. At one point, I noticed I was sinking in my couch while being freaked out by the creepy things inside David's mind...

As someone already pointed out, this felt like a (slightly) less trippy episode, in the sense that I was able to understand more of what's going on (at least a bit more than just the end credits, like in the previous episodes). I was sitting on the fence regarding this show (too trippy, lots of flashy stuff and unintelligible content) but this episode ended up being the deal-breaker for me and now I'm definitely on board till the end. I want to know what's going on and what's real and what's not and who's who and son on.

In an unrelated note, this is my very first Previously.tv comment (this site being the best alternative I could find after that terrible decision at IMDB headquarters). Hi, everyone!

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On 24/02/2017 at 10:43 AM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Welcome, @kinky.  Its not quite as trippy here (in general) as a Legion episode, but its a good place to interact and share/read thoughts & comments about the shows you like and watch.  I like these forums, anywho.  Enjoy your stay.

Thank you, @iRarelyWatchTV36 (love the irony of your name)! I've been an offline lurker for a few days, before I decided to sign up for this community. I've noticed people here seem to be more open-minded and respectful than that troll cesspool that was the IMDB discussion boards. I really hope it stays that way.

Too bad this place is only for TV, so no movies discussion around here... But, as far as TV shows go, this seems to be the perfect place to come to and discuss episodes with others.

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Welcome, kinky!

There is an off-topic Movies forum, so maybe there are some movies of interest being discussed.  I just checked out the Oscar speculation.

I enjoyed most of this episode - about 40 minutes in I felt it starting to drag - but the pacing in the first half was pretty good.  Of course, it probably helped that I waited to watch until after it was almost over so I could FF through the commercial breaks.  (DS' acting over-reliance with all the tics can be a bit much at times.)  What happened to the dog??

So, hubby inherited place in '40s, it took 30 years to create Summerland (or that happened 30 years ago?), but we still don't know the when of the show?  I know this was discussed up thread, but I should have listened to that part again (I guess I missed the "ago").  

(Wow, it's only Saturday and I'm already foggy on the details!)

Edited by indeed
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When Angriest Boy started showing up in kidDavid's nightmares to torment him it dawned on me that he's the same symbol?/trauma?/memory?/entity? as the Devil with Yellow Eyes in grownupDavid's mind. And, yes, David, you could both be not sane and have powers.

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I also feel like the Yellow Eyed Devil is a evolution of the Angriest Boy "persona" (for lack of a better word).  The Boy has this bulbous head and the Devil's face looks melted.  I was thinking it looked like a melted version of the Boy's head.

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This is more like it, much less jumping around to scenes that have nothing to do with the others, much more of an actual narrative. I like works that go into someone's head to try to make the viewer interpret what they are seeing (I'm a fan of Psychonauts and Silent Hill for instance) but up until this episode it was too jumbled to make any actual sense of. Being trippy is fine, having layers the average person wouldn't know are there is fine, but the average person still has to be able to follow things to a certain extent with a story like this.

Edited by immortalfrieza
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Maybe it'll take the whole first season to get to the cause of David's anxieties, then fully able to command his powers.

But are they only going to rely on him to do the fighting or are there other powerful mutants?  I thought when he was freed from that pool, the other two killed all the soldiers around the pool but it may have been David, doing it unintentionally?

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I think this show is moving a bit too slowly for my tastes. I'm interested in figuring out what's going on, but don't feel like we've really made any progress. Yes, David has powers, but he may also be mentally ill. I don't feel like we've gotten any farther than that.  I'm in for now, but felt like most of the memory stuff, while interesting, did not advance the storyline very much. We already knew he was a junkie, we already knew he has some unknown traumas in his childhood.

I'm not sure I trust Syd. 

Did anyone notice that the coffee machine telling the story about the woodcutter was Dan Stevens using his natural British accent? At first I was confused as to why David was slipping into a British accent, as I thought he it was his memory, not the machine actually talking. (and perhaps the voice of Jean Smart's dead husband?)

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OK so the first episode I watched after eating a magic mushroom candy and once the episode was over I remember thinking, "man that shit was EXTRA trippy! These must be outstanding mushrooms!" Then the second episode I watched while smoking some really great weed and once it was over I thought, "huh, that was bizarre and beyond normal trippy!" This episode I watched completely sober, no shrooms, no weed, nothing and......this show is so freekin TRIPPY!!!! It's like.....if the show Hannibal had a fully psychadelisized younger sibling or something. I dont really know what's happening, dont know what's real, what's a dream or memory or hallucination or drug trip (my own or the show's). I'll stick with it at least this first season.

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Wow, an episode of TV that actually creeped me out! That hasn't happened to me in ages! Something about that freaky looking kids book character coming to life in David's memories was just...brrr. The music cues and the atmosphere are super creepy.

I don't mind the slow pace, at least for now. Its only episode three after all. This episode at least seemed to be somewhat straight forward (everyone goes into David's dream to figure out how to unlock his powers, while David wants his sister, and Syd is trying to be a supportive girlfriend), at least compared to the first two episodes.

I still don't know if I trust Melanie. Maybe she does want to help, but I feel like she has ulterior motives for helping David. I can see her as a "will do anything or manipulate anyone to defeat the bad guys" kind of character.

As for the time period, I think its supposed to be ambiguous, because either we are seeing this from David's point of view, and he's pretty messed up, or its ambiguous because they want to see if they can slip it somewhere into X Men continuity, movieverse or otherwise, and the movies alone span a pretty huge span of time. Or maybe its just a retro Pushing Daises style universe, or an alternative universe where technology changed at a different place. Or the people in the show wanted to have cool outfits, but not to fully commit to doing a period piece (X Men: Mad Mutants).

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18 hours ago, candle96 said:

Did anyone notice that the coffee machine telling the story about the woodcutter was Dan Stevens using his natural British accent? At first I was confused as to why David was slipping into a British accent, as I thought he it was his memory, not the machine actually talking. (and perhaps the voice of Jean Smart's dead husband?)

That was actually Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame.

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There were a couple of things that Melanie said in this episode that were red flags to me, as a viewer: 
1) "David, you are super special and may possibly the be most special thing there ever was or ever will be."  (I'm paraphrasing..) 
2) "We are at war." 

The visuals are still trippy - -  but I'm not sure how many more trips down David's memory lane I can muster the enthusiasm for seeing. Our household has already decided on delayed viewing ... I think one more visit to the 'swirly kitchen nightmare'  might do us in. 

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1 hour ago, shrewd.buddha said:

I think one more visit to the 'swirly kitchen nightmare'  might do us in. 

This episode seemed to indicate that something happened after the kitchen explosion that David is blocking so until they reveal that, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing it again.

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5 hours ago, Il Cucchiaio said:

That was actually Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame.

Interesting, thanks. I didn't watch the credits. I never thought he and DS had similar sounding voices, but I guess they do. At least to my ears.

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On 2/22/2017 at 9:03 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Anybody else find Syd's hug of little David sweet and kind of creepy at the same time?

At first I thought creepy but in the context of her powers not working in the "memoryscape" (or whatever we're gonna call it) it was a sweet because it was prob the closest she'll get to a hug with him in a while. 

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On 2/23/2017 at 10:10 AM, Pacodakat said:

Guys, I need help. I have watched all of Mr. Robot and loved it. I loved Elliott especially and feel for him even though the show, especially in the first season, could be a little trippy. I think I might put this show on hold and binge it, as someone on a podcast suggested, because every episode I watch I get more and more impatient. There is no story.....just a bunch of convoluted BS. I don't believe anyone, I don't even know who the Fuck is real. Why I'm a following this story? Why should I care? Most importantly, I don't like or care about David. He's annoying. I want to like him but I end up focusing on nitpicks like his accent. I hate the flat fake American accent. He seems to be struggling with it. IMO Also, is he a villain? Is he a hero? does he have a mental illness? I find myself sighing through the episodes and just wishing they would explain something..anything. They don't have to explain everything but give me something show! am I the only one with this  frustration? Anyway, I think I'm out for now. I tried.

I'm still giving it a chance for now, but I feel the same way about it.

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On 25/02/2017 at 6:00 PM, indeed said:

Welcome, kinky!

There is an off-topic Movies forum, so maybe there are some movies of interest being discussed.  I just checked out the Oscar speculation.

I enjoyed most of this episode - about 40 minutes in I felt it starting to drag - but the pacing in the first half was pretty good.  Of course, it probably helped that I waited to watch until after it was almost over so I could FF through the commercial breaks.  (DS' acting over-reliance with all the tics can be a bit much at times.)  What happened to the dog??

So, hubby inherited place in '40s, it took 30 years to create Summerland (or that happened 30 years ago?), but we still don't know the when of the show?  I know this was discussed up thread, but I should have listened to that part again (I guess I missed the "ago").  

(Wow, it's only Saturday and I'm already foggy on the details!)

Thanks for the welcome and for the heads up regarding the movies forum, @indeed :)

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I'm more than a year late to this series, but so far I'm fascinated by it--though still very confused. In the first two episodes I didn't understand what Syd's power was, but in this one it seemed to become clear that her consciousness switches with someone else's body if they touch...though it's not clear if she can control this. Obviously she avoids touching, and the switch with David happened because he kissed her (so I assume the body-consciousness switch was involuntary on her part).

If the Eye has the power to "see" people, why can't he see David (and the other mutants?) at the sanctuary and send an army to get him/them? Especially since according to Melanie the Eye was there sometime in the past and therefore should know how to find the place again. 

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