FX's Legion season 3, episode 5 recap: Chapter 24

“Chapter 24” of Legion was kind of a blood bath. But, David doesn’t care. We learn more about Switch. And there’s a sing-a-long. We’ve got the recap!

Man, alive! Legion is one of the most emotionally charged shows on television right now. A lot of that is thanks to show creator Noah Hawley. I’ve become emotionally invested in these characters over the past 24 episodes. We’ve seen them come a long way in their arcs. Almost everyone has been emotionally ravaged in some way. Some characters have grown stronger, others more evil, and a growing number are starting to die.

“Chapter 24” was written by Noah Hawley (Fargo) and directed by Arkasha Stevenson (Channel Zero). The episode follows up on the dread of “Chapter 23.” There’s an eerie, trapped feeling to the episode. The characters feel it, too. Everyone is on edge. No one believes what they see or hear. And a couple of people crack under the pressure. War has begun.

It’s Always Blue

More from Show Snob

“Chapter 24” opens with David (Dan Stephens) hijacking a Division 3 bus. He doesn’t want the bus. He wants information. Where is Switch (Lauren Tsai)?

Clark’s (Hamish Linklater) husband Daniel (Keir O’Donnell) is in charge of the bus and warns David that he’s been trained against David’s methods of extraction. David rolls his eyes, likely thinks of Inception, and comes up with a solution. That training is in Daniel’s long term memory. So David erases it. Just like that. David erases Daniel’s entire long term memory. Daniel looks like he’s been lobotomized. He gives up info on the air ship and then tries to remember what his name is. This was horrifying.

David returns to the commune. Everyone is having a great time. Blue flowers, blue leis, and blue energy are flowing through the Legionites. They all want a piece of Daddy. All David wants is Lenny (Aubrey Plaza). It’s time for war. He needs his number two. When he can’t find Lenny in the crowded commune, David just goes ahead and kills everyone except for Eloise (Margaux Brooke), Dora (Dan Cathcart), and Cynthia (Samantha Cormier).

Legion–Credit: Pari Dukovic/FX

Lenny makes their entrance and is still clearly devastated at the loss of Salmon and Violet Violence to the Time Eaters. “I lost my whole family!” Lenny can’t shake the feeling holding their baby and watching their rapidly aged, elderly daughter die. I mean. I can’t, either. David tries to counter by saying it was all a trick. “We are your family.” And, he goads them with a hint of false hope that maybe they can undo the damage.

But, Lenny wants to focus on the plans they had before Clockworks. Those were some grand plans, man. There were many, many years wasted on being something ‘other.’ But the plans Lenny and David had would have avoided all of these feelings and new realities. Lenny stabs themselves in the jugular. Unlike Amhal Farouk (Navid Negahban), David allows her to die. He could stop it, but they had made their choice. Lenny looks up and flashes back to season one in their own head and quotes David. “It’s blue. Why is it blue?” David responds with Lenny’s “It’s always blue.” As Lenny dies, David cries. He’s crying way more for himself than he is for Lenny.

More. Legion season 3, episode 4 recap: Chapter 23. light

These Soldiers are Cowards

Back on the air ship, Clark watches Daniel’s long term memories on a projector. Yup. This is Legion, folks. Carry (Bill Irwin) has Switch encased in a glowing-green black hole. David won’t be able to find her. But he’ll be able to find the ship at some point. Syd (Rachel Keller) is worried. Ptonomy Main Frame (Jeremie Harris) crunches some serious numbers with the Vermilion (Lauren Shaw). The best option is to enter a low Earth orbit. Kerry (Amber Midthunder) exclaims, “We’re going to space!”

But, Farouk thinks is cowardly. He thinks he can beat David. So, he finds David in the astral plane and allows him to track the air ship’s location. He tells David that he is a god and it’s time to punish people. David dispatches Eloise, Dora, and Cynthia. They eject all of Division 3’s guards into space. They also beat Kerry within an inch of her life. Meanwhile, David finds Clark. Unphased, Clark tells David that he should have killed him the first time he met him. David goes, yeah. And then Eloise, Dora, and Cynthia arrive and eject Clark out into space. He always was a cold bastard.

Legion-Credit: Suzanne Tenner/FX

David encounters Syd, who says that she’s no longer mad at David and understands his actions. David, and the entire audience, believe none of this. But, Syd even throws in the location of Switch. It turns out to be a ploy to get David all up in his feelings. When he’s lost in Syd’s eyes, she touches his cheek and switches bodies. As David, she drags her own body to Kerry and uses it as a distraction so that she can kill Eloise, Dora, and Cynthia.

Syd tells Kerry to kill her while she’s in David’s body. He won’t be able to fight back. But, Syd is drawn into the Legion Plane. She meets the other Legions who keep declaring, “We are Legion! It’s our time!” They realize they need David back and rob Syd of her conscious. She’s like a computer without an operating system. This allows David to switch back in time to throw Kerry hundreds of yards against a wall before she can slice him in two with her blade.

When an unencumbered David goes to retrieve Switch, he is greeted and restrained by Farouk. But, he’s too arrogant. David unlocks Switch, who promptly sends Farouk to the Time Eater’s World. Reunited, David and Switch break out into a rendition of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.” David is short on friends at the moment, so he reanimates Lenny, Syd, and the floating frozen Clark to sing along with him. It was an essential Legion moment.

The Time Traveler’s Burden

I’ve been wondering why Switch is so meek and eager to please. We get a little more insight in that time traveler guide that she pumps in her headphones. The time traveler is never a part of anything because they are always in motion. Why attach yourself to the moment when you can be a part of all moments? Well, to not be lonely. The meals that she shares with her family in the television are current. When she passes the potatoes, they are eaten in a present time perceived in a different era.

Stranger Things beyond Hawkins: What we want in season 4. dark. Next

Switch said that she liked to pretend to be a robot. We see that she actually installed a wind-up in the back of her neck. How much pretending is there? Could she be a robot? Or, is she just desperate to be a part of some reality? As David and Switch enter time with a new plan, we learn something happens. Melanie (Jean Smart) and Oliver (Jermaine Clement) are reunited in a different looking reality. Luckily for us, Oliver seems to realize that there was another version of time. And Melanie realizes that Syd may be the key to everything. But, is the apathetic David too powerful to ever be stopped?

What did you think of “Chapter 24” of Legion? Do you believe everyone who died is dead for real? Let’s discuss in the comments!

Home/Legion