'Legion' Episode 2 Review: David has some dark demons

FX’s Legion continues to impress with daring visuals and nonlinear storytelling. This episode was written once again by Noah Hawley, and directed by Michael Uppendahl, who is not foreign to directing episodes for television shows that premier on FX.

Episode 2 picks up right after the events that unfolded from last week’s premiere. It begins with David being introduced to a method called “Memory Work,” which is a method used by the character of Melanie Bird that not only helps David remember things from his past, but also teaching him how to control his telepathic abilities.

Melanie Bird, played by Jean Smart, was the leader of the group that helped David escape in last week’s episode. This episode really begins to flesh out her character and briefly explain what her motives are, even though it is still quite early to tell on how her character will play out.

There is also more characterization of Lenny, played by Aubrey Plaza, who continues to remain a mystery because of Noah Hawley’s nonlinear storytelling method and David’s struggle to remember certain elements. However, it does appear that David possibly knew Lenny before he was in the mental ward, which will probably come into play very soon.

David gets the most characterization of the night though. His abilities are further tested, whether it is during a visit with his old psychiatrist or while he is implementing memory work with the help of Melanie Bird. Because of Bird’s method of memory work, the audience is able to get a sense of who David was when he was younger and there are moments where a family member may be included in the memory or a time where he was with his psychiatrist. This is such a bold and unique way to characterize the main lead of a new show that is trying things that haven’t been seen on television before.

Michael Uppendahl was the perfect person to direct this episode. The entity that continues to haunt David that appeared in the first episode, made a few appearances tonight and Uppendahl’s background in American Horror Story were really shown because of how eerie some of the scenes were executed.

Hopefully next week comes sooner rather than later as this episode ended with a pretty big cliffhanger! It also appears that Michael Uppendahl directed next week's episode too, so maybe that means more scenes with the scary bald entity!