Legion season 3
| Legion | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Release | |
| Original network | FX |
| Original release | June 24 – August 12, 2019 |
| Season chronology | |
The third and final season of the American cable television series Legion is based on the Marvel Comics character David Haller / Legion, a mutant diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. The season is produced by FX Productions in association with Marvel Television. Noah Hawley serves as showrunner.
Dan Stevens stars as Haller, with Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Irwin, Navid Negahban, Jeremie Harris, Amber Midthunder and Hamish Linklater also returning from previous seasons to star. They are joined by newcomer Lauren Tsai. A third season of Legion was ordered by FX in June 2018, and FX later confirmed it would be the final season in February 2019.
The season premiered on FX on June 24, 2019, and consists of eight episodes.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1 | "Chapter 20" | Andrew Stanton | Noah Hawley and Nathaniel Halpern | June 24, 2019 | XLN03001 | 0.377[1] |
| 21 | 2 | "Chapter 21" | Carlos López Estrada | Noah Hawley and Olivia Dufault & Kate Thulin | July 1, 2019 | XLN03002 | 0.381[2] |
| 22 | 3 | "Chapter 22" | John Cameron | Nathaniel Halpern | July 8, 2019 | XLN03003 | 0.370[3] |
| 23 | 4 | "Chapter 23" | Daniel Kwan | Olivia Dufault and Charles Yu | July 15, 2019 | XLN03004 | 0.277[4] |
| 24 | 5 | "Chapter 24" | Arkasha Stevenson | Olivia Dufault and Ben H. Winters | July 22, 2019 | XLN03005 | 0.288[5] |
| 25 | 6 | "Chapter 25" | John Cameron | Noah Hawley | July 29, 2019 | XLN03006 | 0.332[6] |
| 26 | 7 | "Chapter 26" | Dana Gonzales | Noah Hawley and Olivia Dufault | August 5, 2019 | XLN03007 | 0.288[7] |
| 27 | 8 | "Chapter 27" | Noah Hawley and John Cameron | Noah Hawley and Olivia Dufault | August 12, 2019 | XLN03008 | 0.365[8] |
Cast and characters
Main
- Dan Stevens as David Haller / Legion[9]
- Rachel Keller as Sydney "Syd" Barrett[9]
- Aubrey Plaza as Lenny Busker[9]
- Bill Irwin as Cary Loudermilk[9]
- Navid Negahban as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King[9]
- Jeremie Harris as Ptonomy Wallace[9]
- Amber Midthunder as Kerry Loudermilk[9]
- Lauren Tsai as Jia-yi / Switch[10]
- Hamish Linklater as Clark Debussy[9]
Special guest stars
- Jean Smart as Melanie Bird
- Jemaine Clement as Oliver Bird
Recurring
Notable guest stars
- Jason Mantzoukas as Jerome / Wolf
Production
Development
In June 2018, the series was renewed for a third season.[12] In February 2019, it was announced that the third season would premiere in June 2019, and will serve as the final season of the series. Hawley's plan had always been for three seasons, he stated, "I think endings are what give stories meaning. I always thought about this as a complete story, and it felt like three acts of a story."[13] He continued:
What the show is following is this cycle of mental illness. We met David [Dan Stevens] who had been at his lowest point and tried to kill himself, then he meets Syd [Rachel Keller] and he gets balanced out. He's on his meds. He gets out and everything's going great for a while, and he thinks maybe I don't need these meds. He goes off the meds and spirals down, which is where we find him now," Hawley said. "The question now is can he get back to some kind of good place, or is he gone for good? Once we tell that story it feels like we'd be going back to the beginning of the cycle.[13]
The season consists of eight episodes.[14][15]
Casting
Returning from previous seasons to star are Dan Stevens as David Haller, Rachel Keller as Sydney "Syd" Barrett, Aubrey Plaza as Lenny Busker, Bill Irwin as Cary Loudermilk, Navid Negahban as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King, Jeremie Harris as Ptonomy Wallace, Amber Midthunder as Kerry Loudermilk, and Hamish Linklater as Clark Debussy.[9] In January 2019, Lauren Tsai was cast as Switch, "a young mutant whose secret ability serves as the key to executing David Haller's plan". She is loosely based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name who was male.[10] In February, it was announced that the characters Gabrielle Haller and Professor X would appear played by Stephanie Corneliussen and Harry Lloyd, respectively.[11] Jean Smart and Jemaine Clement also return in special guest roles as Melanie and Oliver Bird in "Chapter 25".
Design
Reinforced by the idea of David leading a cult, inspirations for set design as well as clothing were drawn from psychedelic visuals from the 1960s and 70s, all while integrating with modern-day elements to avoid dating the series.
Costume designer Robert Blackman continued the theme of mixing fashion from different decades, with prominent features from psychedelic 60s/70s and modern-day fashion. Each character's outfits were updated, with the color palette for each character changed. As the leader of his group, Haller's style resembles that of a guru, particularly his orange tunic. As the second-line leader of the girl group, Busker wears more feminine, violet/blue articles of clothing. Barrett wears predominantly black, drawing stylistic inspirations from Marianne Faithfull. Cary and Kerry Loudermilk both maintain the color palette, although Cary wears more neutral colors while Kerry wears navy and brown. As Wallace has now become a vehicle for the Mainframe, Wallace's clothing has become more muted in color. Other changes include Debussy wearing aubergine suits and Farouk wearing three-piece suits of various neutral colors. With timeless visuals enabled more so by introduction of new character Switch, her timeless style is drawn from mixing Harajuku fashion with pop elements.[16]
New production designer Marco Niro, who worked on Mayans M.C., drew inspirations from his studies and travels to envision new set designs for the show. Hawley and Niro discussed the integration of different time periods and locations as well as how the Enlightenment House does not need to obey the laws of physics, as seen by the blue energy that flows through the whole house. When designing the Division 3 headquarters, Hawley only told Niro he needed a flying fortress; Niro designed an airship for Division 3, with mythological symbols from cultures and references to books and art from his journeys added to the airship set.[17] To create the hall of time in which Switch travels, an elegant shape was applied to the hallway, to which a forced perspective is done to invoke a sense of endlessly traveling forwards or backwards in time.[18]
Music
Composer Jeff Russo returned to compose for the third season. A soundtrack album for the season featuring Russo's score and reimagined covers was released digitally on December 18, 2020. All music by Jeff Russo, except where noted:[19]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Switch 2.0" | 5:12 | |
| 2. | "Syd Theme S3" | 8:05 | |
| 3. | "Lenny's Life and Loss" | 2:08 | |
| 4. | "Sarod Island" | 1:54 | |
| 5. | "Street Squirrel" | 1:23 | |
| 6. | "This Is the End" | 2:01 | |
| 7. | "A Pagan Place" | Jeff Russo & Noah Hawley | 5:51 |
| 8. | "Can't Get There from Here" | Russo & Hawley | 7:09 |
| 9. | "Cinnamon Girl" | Russo & Hawley | 3:51 |
| 10. | "Mother" | Russo feat. Dan Stevens & Stephanie Corneliussen | 6:11 |
| 11. | "Peace, Love & Understanding" | Russo & Hawley | 4:27 |
| 12. | "Rap Battle" | Russo feat. Jemaine Clement & Jason Mantzoukas | 2:37 |
Release
Broadcast
The season began airing on FX on June 24, 2019, and consists of eight episodes.[14]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating for the third season, with an average rating of 7.90 out of 10 based on 71 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "In its final season, Legion remains a singular piece of visually arresting, mind-bending television that never fails to surprise."[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[21]
David Bianculli of NPR praised the series and wrote, "Legion uses visuals, editing, music and sound better than almost any series on television. And I don't just mean any series now — I mean ever. I've seen the first half of this final season, and that's even more true than before."[22] Ben Travers of IndieWire wrote a generally positive review and gave it a "B" grade, writing, "Hawley's series remains ambitious to the end, accepting the flaws that come with such big dreams and daring to keep dreaming bigger. The result is imperfect, but mesmerizing in just enough scenes to keep you coming back for more. Those short stories are adding up to something, and even if Legion isn't the sum of its parts, some of those parts are spectacular on their own."[23]
Ratings
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Chapter 20" | June 24, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.377[1] | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | "Chapter 21" | July 1, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.381[2] | 0.2 | 0.302 | 0.3 | 0.683[24] |
| 3 | "Chapter 22" | July 8, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.370[3] | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | "Chapter 23" | July 15, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.277[4] | — | 0.282 | — | 0.560[25] |
| 5 | "Chapter 24" | July 22, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.288[5] | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | "Chapter 25" | July 29, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.332[6] | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | "Chapter 26" | August 5, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.288[7] | — | 0.237 | — | 0.526[26] |
| 8 | "Chapter 27" | August 12, 2019 | 0.1 | 0.365[8] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
References
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (June 25, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.24.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (July 2, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.1.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (July 10, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.8.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (July 16, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.15.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (July 23, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.22.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (July 30, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.29.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (August 6, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.5.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (August 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.12.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "FX Sets Premiere Dates for "Baskets," "Legion" and "Snowfall"" (Press release). FX. May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019 – via The Futon Critic.
- ^ a b Otterson, Joe (January 9, 2019). "'Legion' Season 3 Casts Lauren Tsai (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c Nemetz, Dave (February 4, 2019). "Legion Casts Game of Thrones Veteran Harry Lloyd to Play Professor X". TVLine. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (June 1, 2018). "'Legion' Renewed for Season 3 by FX". Collider. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
- ^ a b Porter, Rick (February 4, 2019). "'Legion' Will End with Season 3 on FX". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
- ^ a b Armstrong, Vanessa (April 2, 2019). "'Legion' Looks as Bold and Strange as Ever in Its Final Season [WonderCon 2019]". /Film. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ "FX's 'Legion' to wrap after season 3 in 'natural place'". National Post. February 5, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ "Legion - Inside Season 3: Wardrobe - Legion Style". YouTube. July 30, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ Holloway, Daniel (June 19, 2019). "How Production Designer Marco Niro Created a Visual Climax for FX's 'Legion'". Variety. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ "Legion - Inside Season 3: Designing Legion's World". YouTube. July 10, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ "Legion: Finalmente (Music from Season 3/Original Television Series Soundtrack) by Jeff Russo on Apple Music". Apple Music. December 18, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Legion: Season 3". Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango Media). Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Legion: Season 3". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ Bianculli, David (June 21, 2019). "'Legion' And 'Jessica Jones' Played The Long Game — And It Paid Off". NPR. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ^ Travers, Ben (June 24, 2019). "'Legion' Review: Season 3 Takes an Exciting Approach to Time Travel, Even If It Gets a Bit Lost". IndieWire. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
- ^ Welch, Alex (August 2, 2019). "'Big Little Lies' tops viewer gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 1–7". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ Welch, Alex (August 14, 2019). "'Yellowstone,' 'Below Deck Mediterranean' lead the cable Live +7 ratings for July 15–21". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
- ^ Welch, Alex (August 26, 2019). "'Yellowstone' doubles its audience in cable Live +7 ratings for August 5–11". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
