FX’s Legion
Chapter 13
Directed by Tim Mielants
Written by Noah Hawley & Nathaniel Halpern

* For a recap & review of Chapter 12, click here.
* For a recap & review of Chapter 14, click here.
At Division 3, Clark (Hamish Linklater) sits down with Lenny (Aubrey Plaza). She’s not totally feeling good, needing a fix of some kind to settle down. She answers a few questions for Clark, such as giving her real name— Lenore, named after her “salty broad” grandma— and a bit of psychological testing-type stuff. She isn’t forthcoming about how she went from a “consciousness without form” to a “living, bleeding body.” So, are these tricks by Amahl Farouk (Navid Negahban)? Has the Shadow King enacted a plan, or is it something else entirely? Lenny just keeps on rambling about her family, as well as asking to speak with David (Dan Stevens). Although she does mention Farouk knows where the Mi-go monks put his body. But what about the body Lenny’s actually using? We know she was a figment of David’s imagination, a roaming consciousness, so there’s still more to comprehend here.

Great use of “Heroin” by the Velvet Underground, as Farouk cruises a desert highway with Oliver (Jemaine Clement) driving them. Bird wants to know if he’ll have to get dirty and actually touch the body when they find it, concerned about his fancy suit. He wants to know the specifics of their little archaeological dig, so Amahl explains there’s a bit of digging ahead. When they get there, Oliver gets pretty damn dirty after all, then the Shadow King uses his powers for the last haul. When they have the coffin out, there’s a “device” inside, as well. One originally stolen from Division 3.

“So my theory is,
there is no present,
there’s only past and future.”

Ptonomy (Jeremie Harris) is trying to figure Lenny’s head out, so he takes a look inside. Doesn’t go exactly as planned. He sees himself, lying in bed with one of those creatures about to crawl in his ear. Then he sees Fukuyama, but with a head shining like a lamp. When he comes to he’s choking Lenny. Whoa. That was creepy.

Narrator Jon Ham talks about how Jesus will appear to people— in a “piece of toast,” or wherever else. Because humans seek patterns, as we once did in nature, having to fend for ourselves. Even today, we still seek patterns in the clouds, in the numbers on the slot machines, in the news and other media. To the point we reject what will not fit our longing for the pattern. This is how coincidence then transforms into conspiracy.
In the desert, Farouk and Oliver discuss morality, from a superior standpoint. They’re not human beings, they’re god-like in their power. So, it’s similar to how we, as humans, decide the lives of animals, below us on the food chain. Certainly not the conversation Oliver wants to be having, after the Shadow King brings up Dr. Melanie Bird (Jean Smart).

At Division 3, Lenny gets a visit from David, who talks about her grandma, when they met years before. He’s brought her a Twizzler, too. She admits the Shadow King is still controlling her, that he sewed “spiders” into her brain; sort of like what happened to Ptonomy. There’s some greater purpose, though. Whose body was Lenny shuffled into? Starting to freak me out. I love the surrealism of this show, so thorough.
We see David’s sister Amy (Katie Aselton), living in a little house out in the desert, near where we’ve seen Oliver and Farouk following some military men; coincidentally, they came out of a hole in the desert, similar to how we saw Lenny emerge from one, only she was naked, birthed into corporeal form from pure consciousness. Amy has been having strange dreams. Her man Ben (Ryan Caldwell) feels like something bad’s going to happen. Suddenly, they don’t see the military men outside anymore. Then Ben disappears into nothing but ash, and Amy discovers Oliver in her kitchen.

David figures out Farouk didn’t find his own body, he found Lenny’s body, from when she got stuck in the walls at Division 3. Oliver used the device they stole on Amy, telling her he’s “finding the sculpture in the stone.” They used Amy to bring Lenny back into physical form. Does this mean Amy’s dead? Well, at the least she’s gone, someplace else. Into absent consciousness. A horrific thing for David to realise.
And at the same time, Lenny’s other body is being carried out of the desert. What will this mean? So many things happening. Dig it.
Bring on Chapter 14. Legion and its narrative qualities only get better and better, including the “Apparently, on Legion” during the recap, which brings into question the reliable narrator, and all sorts of ideas of truth. Amazing show. Groundbreaking TV.