Today I want to continue delving into the amazing sci-fi show LEGION. Being a massive fan of the show, I just can't believe that it's finally over after 3 exquisite seasons.
This is a superhero show based on MARVEL comics so if you are as much into MARVEL and DC as I am you should definitely give it a go.
The interesting thing about this show in particular is that it is not centered around the typical hero who comes to save everyone from impending doom but rather on a kind of "antihero"- "lunatic" sort of bloke who people think suffers from mental illness.
AND THIS IS WHY I love it so much. I'm fascinated by the intricacies of the mind, the illnesses connected to it and the corresponding behaviour analysis that derives from it or surrounds it.
Season 2 of this show has the brilliant idea of introducing each episode or a group of episodes with a psychological observation accompanied by a beautiful visualization. These introductory narrations are read by the incredible JON HAMM (voice over)
I will share all of the texts periodically - some of which will have the corresponding video - starting with these two:
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 1: "Chapter 9"
[Part 2: The Madness Of Crowds]
There is a maze in the desert carved from sand and rock. A vast labyrinth of pathways
and corridors a hundred miles long, a thousand miles wide, full of twists and dead ends.
Picture it... a puzzle. You walk, and at the end of this maze is a prize just waiting to be
discovered. All you have to do is find your way through. Can you see the maze? Its walls
and floors, its twists and turns? Good, because the maze you've created in your mind is
itself the maze. There is no desert, no rock or sand. There is only the idea of it. But it's an
idea that will come to dominate your every waking and sleeping moment. You're inside
the maze now. You cannot escape. Welcome to madness.
And now we must speak of Zhuang Zhou, who fell asleep one day and dreamed he was a
butterfly. For hours, he fluttered in the warm winter sun, until he no longer remembered he
was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he awoke, and he was Zhuang Zhou again. But in that
moment, he didn't know. Was he Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a
butterfly who was dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou?
A delusion starts like any other idea, as an egg. Identical on the outside, perfectly formed.
From the shell, you'd never know anything was wrong. It's what's inside that matters.
Albert A had an idea. One day, as he was walking, he stumbled. And for a moment, it
seemed that his right leg didn't belong to him. This is how it begins. The leg was clearly
Albert's. It was attached to his body, and when he pricked it, he felt pain. But despite that,
the idea grew. Such is the power of an idea. With every day that passed, Albert became
more and more certain that this was not his leg. He decided he didn't want it anymore.
And so one day, he went to the hardware store. You see, an idea alone isn't enough. We
have ideas all the time, random thoughts and theories. Most die... before they can grow.
For a delusion to thrive, other, more rational ideas must be rejected, destroyed. Only then
can the delusion blossom... into full-blown psychosis.
