End of the Line

This summer has been a time when a number of shows have taken their final season bows. And that includes some superhero stories. One of those was "Jessica Jones," whose final 13 episodes, like the rest of the series, were solid at times and engrossing. And it wrote a finish to the Marvel universe on Netflix. It feels like too soon an end for a series of shows that had potential even if they weren't always even in their execution.

But the broader Marvel world isn't just ending on Netflix. In late June, "Legion" began its third and final season. Though it's never exactly captured on the name brand Marvel heroes, the journey of David Haller (Dan Stevens) has been fascinating to follow. I loved the first season, but there were arguments that it at times chose style over substance.

Long before Daenerys turned out to be the heel on "Game of Thrones," we saw the hero of "Legion" come to the dawning realization he was really the bad guy. Or at least the audience and the rest of the characters did. As Season Three begins, David is still struggling with the idea that he's the villain, and in fact seems to be working to reverse course in some ways.

But "Legion" is a show where the lines between good and evil have always been blurry, as are the lines between narrative and a beautiful surreal escapist experience. The premier was much like that, at times visually stunning but seemingly detached from a concrete story. The rest of the season has played out similarly.

We saw in episode three David travel back in time to see where it all went wrong. That of course meant seeing his birth father (Charles Xavier), and it was interesting to see how the show handled it. In that episode, as with the rest of this season, there were some absolutely stunning visuals. There are things in this show I've never seen before and it's incredibly engaging. But when it comes to the story, I'm not sure where we've progressed in three episodes, nor do I have much of an idea of where we're going.

Making TV a visual medium isn't a bad idea. Most shows aren't really about the visual scope, and that's always what set "Legion" apart. But swinging too far toward visual over story can be equally daunting. There are five episodes left in the series and it will be interesting to see if the narrative can land in a satisfying way that will match the visual heights of the series.