18 Best TV Episodes Of 2017 (So Far)

6. Chapter 7 - Legion

Legion Lenny
FX

Until Twin Peaks: The Return rolled around, Noah Hawley's Legion had a strong claim to being the weirdest TV series of the year. A dizzying portrayal of David Haller, superpowers, and mental illness, it rarely made much sense, and didn't always engage viewers.

Chapter 7, though, took everyone that made Legion so great and hurled it at the viewer in a mesh of kaleidoscopic visuals, mutant powers, and silent horror movie homages.

It's here Legion proves it's a really unique beast: we get two versions of David interacting, with a knockout performance from Dan Stevens; a sprinkle of genuine humour from the interactions between Cary and Oliver; a glorious animated sequence that answers some big questions and connects the series firmly to the comics that inspired it; and that black-and-white sequence, set to Bolero and featuring title cards, is one of the most thrilling, terrifying of the year (confirming Aubrey Plaza as its not-so-secret MVP).

There was a big question over where Legion was headed: Chapter 7 not only gave us some satisfactory answers, but did so in the kind of mind-bending style it quickly became known for, and without losing sense of the characters and performances at its heart.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.