Relationship Spotlight: David Haller & Syd Barrett (Legion)

Narratively, I think David and Syd’s relationship is a really terrific thing for Legion.  David is very obviously the focal point of the show, and Syd could’ve easily been swallowed up into a flat identity as his girlfriend, especially her initial framing in the pilot.  However, it quickly becomes evident that the show is in large part Syd’s story of navigating David.  These two are far closer to equal standing than many TV couples, and given where they started, I’m quite impressed by that (premise spoilers.)

As I said, Syd’s introduction on the show leaves a lot to be desired.  She’s the beautiful girl David sees across a crowded mental health facility, and he’s taken with her far before he ever meets her.  Hearing her talk for the first time in group therapy (and realizing “she’s not like the others”) seals the deal in David’s mind – it seems a foregone conclusion that she’ll be a narrative device more than a person, someone whose love David will believe can “fix” him.  The show takes a slightly different direction with when Syd is revealed to be a fellow mutant who rescues David from Division 3 and is positioned to help him explore his own powers, but the basic set-up still appears to be that she’s made to be a function within his story.

Not so.  Once the work begins at Summerland to find the truth of David’s past inside his fractured memories, it’s immediately evident that David’s mind is thornier than any of the folks there bargained for.  They realize that, in order, to better into David’s psychological trauma, David himself needs to be absent from at least part of it, and so they sedate him to make his subconscious more cooperative.  From there, it seems there are continual roadblocks thrown up between David and his own journey of self-discovery, and as they do, Syd takes on more and more of the heavy lifting.  Granted, she’s working toward goals that are pretty much all about David, but she’s the one in the group with the greatest overlap in the Venn diagram of “emotionally invested” and “actively involved.”  She does the leg work and the investigating, she spends a lot of time in David’s increasingly disoriented head, she sifts through the noise in search of clues and develops theories, and she confronts the darkness residing inside David.  And of course, David would prefer not to be shunted off into the astral plane, mental coffins, etc., etc., but if he can’t be present himself, he takes comfort in knowing that Syd is on the case.

Naturally, it’s not all rosy, and that’s before we even get into the nitty-gritty of what’s going on in David’s head.  No, they also need to address David’s reluctance to let the doors be opened on the really dark places and his fear of what Syd will think of him when she sees those parts of himself.  He needs to learn to trust her love for him, just as she needs to prepare herself for the horrors waiting in his psyche.  For the most part, though, they’re great.  I like how they talk things through and get really emotionally vulnerable with each other, and I like how David puts his faith in Syd to understand something when he needs her to.  I like how, through one another’s eyes, they’re able realize that they may be damaged, but they’re not as far gone as they think they are.  Also, it’s a little thing, but I love that they “hold hands” in the hospital by hanging onto either end of a long stocking (Syd’s powers make her vigilant against touching anyone’s bare skin) – it’s a total Pushing Daisies moment, and it’s a tiny snippet of too-cuteness in a dizzying, cerebral nightmare of show.

Favorite Characters: David Haller (Legion)

While watching Legion, it struck me that David’s life is mostly something that happens to him rather than something he makes happen, at least so far.  He’s been pulled every which way by a number of conflicting forces, and the diverging riptides he’s caught in only get stronger as the series goes on.  Ordinarily, that would be the sign of a rather lackluster character, particularly a protagonist, but on David, it kind of works.  Given all he’s been through and all the crap that continues to get piled on top of him, it makes sense that, for now, his biggest storyline is simply working up to taking his own actions on his own terms (season 1 spoilers.)

David’s existence has always seemed to exist on the whims of others or of his apparent illness, which certainly lives within him but isn’t exactly a part of him.  The symptoms of his “mental illness” (in truth, his undiscovered mutant powers at work) make him feel off-balance and out of control all by themselves, and the actions that follow from them land him in a hospital where he’s given very little in the way of choice or autonomy.  One of the first real acts of decision we see from him is pursuing Syd as a girlfriend, and her issues with touch means she dictates the terms of their interactions.  The inciting incident of the pilot, the one that gets David picked up by a bunch of shadowy government types intent on studying his powers, is committed by David’s body when he doesn’t happen to be in it (don’t ask – just watch.)  When he is rescued by Syd and her new mutant friends, it’s generally so they can use his powers in their war against Division 3 and particularly so Melanie can use his powers to try and recover her husband from the astral plane.  David is prodded at and tested, taken on unpleasant tours through his past, and, when his subconscious proves too tricky for them to handle, physically sedated so they can poke around his psyche more freely.

All that is before you factor in the Shadow King, the malignant presence that’s been living in David’s mind for virtually his entire life, feeding into his perceived illness.  The Shadow King’s influence runs deep, subtly manipulating David at times, tearing him down emotionally at others, and every now and then entirely hijacking his body and powers.  This is the ultimate loss of control for a man who has had control denied him at nearly every turn.  It disguises itself in David’s head, taking various shapes and making him forget crucial memories, but he still knows to be afraid of it, and yet, at the same time, it’s been a part of him so long that he doesn’t know who he is without it.

What I like about David is who he is despite all this.  He is frequently very afraid and very confused.  He’s almost constantly bewildered by the increasingly insane turn his life is taking, and he’s basically hanging on for dear life and trying not to get subsumed by one of the many competing forces who want to use him for the powers he hadn’t even realized he had.  But this very weakness and insecurity also highlights a strength of his character, being a man who doesn’t shy away from opening up about his fears or doubts.  He’s willing to let himself be extremely vulnerable, putting his psychological damage on display without apology.  There’s no pretext of being tough or untouchable, of having any semblance of an answer.  He’s figuring all this out as he goes along, and he handles that in different ways at different times:  crying or freaking out, making a resigned joke at his own expense, screwing up colossally, taking an enormous risk, standing up for his dignity in a tiny way, drawing imaginary pictures in his mind, trying to protect his loved ones the only way he knows how, making a fool of himself, disappearing inside his head, and appealing to the better angels of his enemies.  When you look at what his life has been like, I love how he keeps going, swimming against disparate currents despite how terrifying and perplexing it all is.