How Legion Elevated Television Form
One of the most creative and cinematic television shows in recent memory has concluded its first season, and to not anywhere near enough fanfare.
**spoiler warning…kind of**
There’s a moment in episode 7 of Legion, the penultimate episode of FX’s collaboration with Marvel Studios, where Cary (played by Bill Irwin) is about to let out a fountain of exposition, when he is interrupted by Syd (Rachel Keller) saying “No shit.” and “I’ve been paying attention.” before she proceeds to spout of the same exposition herself. It’s a funny moment, partly because it subverts expectations, both in terms of story convention and gender roles, but also because- in an even more meta-textual sense-it’s a moment depicting a show straining against the very idea of exposition. Exposition, is a staple of television shows, and on some shows it makes up the majority of the script, but it runs contrary to what Legion was trying (and for the most part succeeding) to be, which is a television show that is “pure cinema.”
There are a number of challenges that show creator Noah Hawley faced when adapting Legion for FX. The first was to create a television show based on a relatively obtuse comic book character while navigating the even more obtuse rights agreements between Fox and Marvel and the continuities of their respective cinematic universes. The second was to make a show about mutants with super powers without a Hollywood tent-poll budget. The third, and most challenging, was to make a show where a majority of the “action” takes place in a cognitive landscape, that is-inside the main character’s mind. In doing this, the creative team behind Legion ended up making a show that relied heavily on visual metaphor, and one of the most vibrantly cinematic series in history.
Pure Cinema is the name of a film movement started in France in the 20’s, but the term is based off of the essential elements that make motion pictures what they are — that is motion, and pictures. “Pure cinema” relies most heavily on motion, visual composition, and rhythm. These are the elements that are unique to motion pictures as a medium, and when something is said to be cinematic, that means that is making good use of these elements. Yes movies have had sound since 1927, but they don’t NEED sound to be movies. They do need pictures. That’s where the purity in “pure cinema” comes from.
For the majority of it’s history television has been lazy when it comes to form. Most television produced as been people standing around talking to each other from wide angles. It can be great, but it’s not exactly cinematic. The old writing adage “show don’t tell” rings especially true in cinema. You want to let me know that your character is sad? Instead of giving them dialog where they say “I’m sad.” SHOW me their sadness. That’s often easier said then done. Legion wants to let you know that David Haller is unknowingly an extremely powerful psychic who is plagued by an ancient psychic entity that has attached itself to his consciousness like a parasite and has either manifested or augmented the symptoms of schizophrenia while distorting both David’s perception of reality and memory in order to disguise Its presence. What makes that moment in ep 7 feel like such a cathartic exhalation is because it’s the first time in the series that all of this has been said out loud. But while the show doesn't tell you all of this until ep 7, it does show you. It does so through visual metaphor, montage, juxtaposition of images, and it does so in a way that reflects David’s own understanding. The show starts out chaotic and disorienting and gradually becomes more cohesive and focused as David gains more agency and self awareness. Rather than delineating this truth it more accurately intuits it-which of course leaves room for misinterpretation, but if, like Syd, you’re paying attention, you could understand what’s happening.
Legion is additionally ambitious in its willingness to experiment with style. The show has some of the most brave uses of genre, color, title design, and aspect ratio. It has animated sequences, silent fight scenes, dance numbers, even a sequence using Chaplinesque title cards instead of dialogue. It’s not the first show to take risks like this, but Legion does have the most varied use of cinematic technique on TV in recent memory. Yes, it’s a confusing show, but it’s also a joyful one, it celebrates cinema, and deserves to be celebrated in return.
You can stream Legion on FXnow
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