Chapter 4 (Legion)

"Chapter 4" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American cable television series ''Legion'', based on the Marvel Comics character David Haller, and connected to the ''X-Men'' film series. The episode was written by co-producer Nathaniel Halpern and directed by Larysa Kondracki. It originally aired on FX on March 1, 2017.

The series follows David Haller, a "mutant" diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. Struggling to differentiate reality from fantasy, Haller tries to control his mutant powers and the sinister forces trying to control them while evading a government agency. In the episode, with David still trapped in the astral plane, the team tries to get him out with the help of more memories.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.750 million household viewers and gained a 0.4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received critical acclaim, with critics praising the character development, writing, performances, visual style and atmosphere.

Plot

A narrator (Jemaine Clement) in an undisclosed location, welcomes the audience, stating that the intention is to show a five-act story that encapsulates fear and empathy. The man turns on a film projector, also revealing that his location is set inside an ice cube.

With David (Dan Stevens) still trapped inside his mind, the team concludes that he created an astral plane that blends reality and fantasy. To find more about him, they check his psychiatrist's office, which shows evidence of a struggle and a bloodied tape recorder. Ptonomy (Jeremie Harris) suspects David may have attacked Dr. Poole (Scott Lawrence) while trying to destroy the recorder but Syd (Rachel Keller) refuses to recognize it.

While imprisoned by Division 3, Amy (Katie Aselton) communicates with an inmate through the cell's wall. The inmate is Dr. Kissinger, David's doctor, whom Clockworks denied his existence. Amy states that David often acted strange and displayed supernatural abilities, such as appearing in different places and claiming to hear voices. David often talked with imaginary people, including someone known as "King". Kissinger believes that it refers to his dog, until Amy explains that they never had a dog.

Melanie (Jean Smart) decides to visit a cryogenic room, where her husband Oliver lays frozen inside a diving suit. She believes her visions may indicate he will wake up, but Cary (Bill Irwin) is not convinced. In the astral plane, David follows a man in a diving suit, who climbs to an ice cube. Inside the cube, the man takes off the diving suit, revealing himself to be the narrator and Oliver himself. The narrator has been trapped in the plane for years, using the ice cube to save himself from a monster, which he describes as a parasite inside David's mind. He allows David to leave the cube.

Ptonomy, Syd and Kerry (Amber Midthunder) delve more into David's real life. Ptonomy and Syd visit Phily, David's ex-girlfriend, and Ptonomy enters her memories. While seeing a memory of a talk with David and Dr. Poole, he memory is glitched by the image of a lighthouse. Before leaving, Syd questions Phily, who states that tried to help David for his drug addiction. She also reveals that David had a friend named Benny, whom he used drugs with. She warns them that "they are watching". The team concludes that someone altered David's memories and replaced Benny with Lenny (Aubrey Plaza).

Ptonomy, Syd and Kerry visit Dr. Poole, who lives in the lighthouse. However, Poole turns out to be Walter (Mackenzie Gray) and the team is ambushed by Division 3 agents. Walter knocks Ptonomy out and Kerry is captured. However, Syd switches bodies with Walter with a touch and knocks Walter out in Syd's body. As agents arrive, she orders to put them in a van that he will use. Back in the astral plane, David is taunted by Lenny, who shows him an image from the real world where Ptonomy, Kerry and Syd (unaware that is Walter), are being driven in a van. This angers David, who finally breaks out of the astral plane and his presence in the road causes Syd (in Walter's body) to crash the van. David frees the team, but Syd gives chase to Walter until she is stopped by David. After morphing back into her body, David sees as Walter shoots Kerry in the shoulder before escaping. In Summerland, Cary collapses from the effects of the shot.

Production

Development

In January 2017, it was reported that the fourth episode of the season would be titled "Chapter 4", and was to be directed by Larysa Kondracki and written by co-producer Nathaniel Halpern. This was Halpern's first writing credit, and Kondracki's first directing credit.

Casting

In October 2016, it was announced that Jemaine Clement would guest star in the series in a recurring role.

Reception

Viewers

In its original American broadcast, "Chapter 4" was seen by an estimated 0.750 million household viewers and gained a 0.4 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This means that 0.4 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. This was a 28% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 1.04 million viewers with a 0.5 in the 18-49 demographics.

Critical reviews

"Chapter 4" received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.0/10 for the episode, based on 18 reviews. The site's consensus states: "The strangest, most gripping ''Legion'' episode to date, 'Chapter 4' still moves the show's storytelling forward in a more traditional and illuminating way."

Scott Collura of ''IGN'' gave the episode a "great" 8.9 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "''Legion'' is still going strong, branching out this week with some new and expanded characters and settings (and ''astral plane'' settings) while continuing to delve into the mystery that is at the center of David's mind. 'The past is an illusion', says Ptonomy. The question when it comes to David is, is any of it real?"

Alex McLevy of ''The A.V. Club'' gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote, "'Chapter 4' explicitly addresses the nature of storytelling, right from its opening sequence of Oliver breaking the fourth wall to address us directly."

Alan Sepinwall of ''Uproxx'' wrote, "Tonight's ''Legion'' may be the weirdest, most abstract hour of TV I've seen since ''Twin Peaks'' ended. Even compared to the previous three episodes — even just compared to the bananas debut chapter, as opposed to the slightly more conventional second and third installments — this was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. And I loved every baffling minute of it." Kevin P. Sullivan of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote, "Looking ahead, it seems like we're finally about to get some real info about the Devil with the Yellow Eyes." Oliver Sava of ''Vulture'' gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The ''Legion'' creative team has to perform a challenging balancing act as the series splits time between mind-bending psycho-drama and X-Men-influenced superhero storytelling, and 'Chapter Four' is the most successful example of this dynamic yet."

Sean T. Collins of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "For the first time, ''Legion'' feels like the show its proponents said it was from the start." Ron Gilmer of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I don't think we're ever going to get a purely linear show as far as plot goes, and that's great, but they moved the needle more towards standard storytelling, and that can only help." Katherine Siegel of ''Paste'' gave the episode a 7 rating out of 10 and wrote, "There's a bit of charm missing from this week's ''Legion''. Where exactly it got lost is hard to say, but the lighthearted quirkiness that has helped balance the show's darker, more philosophical themes isn't really featured — a bit surprising, as David and company's exploration of the astral plane should create more opportunities for surrealism, or just plain weirdness, than any plotline that takes place in real world."

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapter 4 (Legion
Legion (TV series) episodes
2017 American television episodes
Television episodes directed by Larysa Kondracki