legion

So what am I going to watch until Legion comes back?

I just binge-watched the series on Hulu. Like so many of the new series popping up this days this show has comic book roots. But it's not a show about a guy or girl solving crimes while wearing a cool suit. It's not a show that's easy to describe.

The series opens with the main character, David Haller (Dan Stevens), living in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt. But all is not as it seems. In fact, in Legion, nothing is like anything anyone has seen before. The show was created by Noah Hawley (Fargo). Viewers learn early on that Legion is part of the X-Men universe, and David and many of the characters he meets are mutants. The X-Men are always, at their heart, stories about outsiders, and David Haller is as outsider as they come. Diagnosed as schizophrenic when he was just a child, David's grasp on reality is tenuous at best. As the series progresses we learn a bit more about his childhood and his abilities, but it becomes clear that the show and David may just be scratching the surface of what he is and what he will become.

Telekinesis ...

Alternate reality ...

Don't mess with David

Legion is not just action-adventure, but it is also a love story. When David meets Syd at the institution (Rachel Keller) it is love at first sight for the pair, and the course of their romance runs smoothly - except for the part about Syd not wanting to be touched ...

"Holding hands"

Hawley has assembled a great cast for Legion. Dan Stevens takes on a very different role from his previous appearances in Downton Abbey or Beauty and the Beast. Other stand-out performances include Aubrey Plaza as David's pal Lenny, and David's Scooby gang: Bill Irwin, Jean Smart, and Jemaine Clement.

Jean Smart as Melanie Bird

David and Lenny

Legion sets itself in ... well, it's not exactly clear. The show has a late '60s, early '70s look, but so much of the show takes place in David's mind that it's hard to tell when we are exactly, or if he just really likes the look of films like A Clockwork Orange and classic television shows like The Avengers and The Prisoner. I know I like those shows, so Legion appeals to me aesthetically. I don't want to tell too much more about what happens in the show, as it's best experienced spoiler-free. Maybe a rewatch is in order until David and the gang return in February 2018 ...

Syd at Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital

downton abbey is a cruel mistress

Everyone who's interested has already watched the season finale of Downton Abbey, in all of its "Who Shot J.R.?" glory. Yes, folks, that was a heckuva cliffhanger. Not so much considering the fate of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), who we (sob) saw dead at the side of the road. The real suspense for next season involves the rest of the Downton crew. How will Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) handle being a 1920s-era single mom? Will she sink into a deep depression and ignore her newborn son? Will she become a dedicated mom to honor her dead husband? Will she go off the rails and become a flapper with a vengeance? Will she ever be nice to her sister, poor Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael)?

But Mary is hardly the only one who will be affected by Matthew's death. Will Downton revert to his progeny, or is their another far-flung relative to cause problems on the horizon? Only show creator Julian Fellowes knows for sure. What about all of Matthew's modernistic designs for the estate? Will Tom Branson (Allen Leech) and his father-in-law the Earl (Hugh Bonneville) manage to carry on with his plans? That is, without killing each other? There are plenty of other cliffhangers too. Edith is considering surrendering her virtue to a married man. She truly is the most thoroughly modern Crawley. Cousin Rose (Lily James) is on her way to Downton as a ward of sorts, and will certainly keep the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) and her aunt, Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), busy trying to prevent her getting into too much trouble. Good luck with that, ladies.

Hello, and goodbye

Anyone who has internet access had probably heard that Dan Stevens was leaving the show. Even if one assiduously avoids spoilers, there were only a few ways this could be accomplished; by shipping the character off somewhere, re-casting, or killing him off. Suddenly Downton Abbey is treading on Game of Thrones territory, with two major characters gone this season — Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) also wanted out at the end of her three-year contract.

What I found most annoying about Matthew's fate, apart from the cheap theatrics of it all, was how it minimized some really nice moments that happened earlier in the episode. Viewers may have been a little bored or confused at first by the Crawleys' trip to Scotland, but the payoff was well worth it. They got to see Molesley (Kevin Doyle) drunk dance, O'Brien possibly secure a new post for herself in India (Siobhan Finneran has also been rumored to be leaving the show), and most importantly, see the Earl realize how good exactly he has it at Downton, as he learned his friend "Shrimpie" (father of Rose, played by Peter Egan) was losing the family manse and going to live out his days in an Indian outpost with a wife (Phoebe Nicholls) he doesn't love who doesn't love him. Back at Downton, the local fair attended by the (mostly) downstairs crowd afforded some both amusing and touching interactions between characters, and continued Thomas's story in an interesting way. Part stalker, part hero, he may have finally found a way to connect to his crush, James (Edward Speleers) — by being his friend. Rob-James Collier was very touching when he asked the young footman if that was a possibility. Thomas has certainly gone from a character you love to hate to one you might not want to admit it, but are starting to love.

Scenes like that are what make Downton Abbey addictive. Matthew's shocking demise may get everyone talking, but what will keep me tuning in next season are the changing times and how they continue to affect the characters, upstairs and down. I will miss Matthew, too. Sigh.

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noble vs. nobility on downton abbey

Everyone loves Downton Abbey here in America, both the upstairs and downstairs intrigues. The third season currently in full swing, is already as fun and involving as the previous two. For me, one of the more interesting recurring themes of this and past seasons has been the characters' concept of "noble" acts or behavior. Can a modern person really fully connect with the idea of "doing the right thing," especially if that involves giving up something or someone you love or desire?

noble (according to Merriam-Webster)

of high birth or exalted rank : aristocratic

possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals : lofty

Resident heartthrob and sometimes infuriatingly priggish Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), now married to the lovely and willful Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), has more than once let his noble intentions/ideas muck up the plot. It's amazing that Lady Mary hasn't hauled off and belted him on numerous occasions — just in the first few episodes of this season — but that's where nobility comes into the picture. Such behavior simply wasn't done by someone of her station, and she's pretty sassy when needs be.

Newlyweds Matthew and Mary love each other, but don't always see eye-to-eye

But is Matthew's nobler-than-thou stance something inherent to his personality, people of his age, or might it be a direct result of his lack of nobility? Both Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary and just about everyone else in the vicinity see no problem with Matthew using an inheritance from his almost father-in-law to save and sustain their way of life (the Earl's bad investment skills had threatened the loss and sale of the family home). For all of his vociferous objections to taking money on false pretenses (he no longer loved the man's daughter and she conveniently died, paving the way for him to marry his true love Mary), Matthew doesn't seem to consider or care that his inaction would not just put a potentially serious rift between himself and his bride and his family, but he would also be putting a lot of the servants out of work. The family would not only have to seriously downsize their home, but their way of life, which would jeopardize the future of their staff.

Lady Mary and her family, especially her clever and vocal grannie, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) are trying desperately to hold onto their way of life, which is quickly disappearing in post-WWI 1920s England. The Countess is the essence of nobility, but her motivations many times stray from the noble in order to benefit herself and her family. She frequently coaches the younger generation on how to preserve the family manse — utilizing any means necessary. She was not above encouraging her son the Earl to force the break-up of middle daughter Lady Edith's (Laura Carmichael) engagement to an inappropriate man (of nobility, yes, but too old), even if it would most certainly result in the breaking of Edith's heart and possible eventual spinsterhood.

Edith made a lovely (almost) bride

The ideas about what constitutes proper behavior isn't exclusive to the upstairs residents of the Abbey. The servants are just as bound, if not more so, by convention and ideas of appropriateness, frequently trying to mirror their noble employers. Head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) is shocked and deeply touched when Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) assures her that if she is indeed ill (she had a lump in her breast which turns out to be benign) that she need not worry, the family will take care of her and Downton will always be her home. She is equally amazed that not only has her "secret" somehow worked its way upstairs, but at Lady Grantham's response. Mrs. Hughes and Head Butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) not only run a tight ship at Downton Abbey, but they are constantly schooling their charges on proper behavior and how to best focus on the family's needs.

The Dowager Countess has ways of getting what she wants and what she thinks is best for her family

Of course all of this scheming and characters' back-and-forthing about what's "right" and what they want is what makes Downton Abbey such a delicious soap opera, and at times morality play. It is hard to imagine, however, any modern man or woman hesitating for a moment to "take the money," whatever the source, as Matthew has struggled. Or for Lady Edith to feel that she had to listen to her Grannie or even her fiancee's pleas that they weren't well-suited due to his age. They must have had trophy wives in the 1920s, but the Crawley family certainly doesn't want their daughter to become, as the Dowager Countess views it, a "nursemaid" to her aged husband. A modern Mrs. Hughes might keep her diagnosis under wraps until she was sure, but she hopefully wouldn't be beholden to the kindness of her employer regarding her future healthcare and job retention. Maybe it's a good idea to have these "outdated" concepts of noble behavior to ponder. To see how far we've come in many ways, but also to be reminded that it can be useful and instructive to step back and ponder the moral implications of our behavior.