Though the second season of Legion ballooned to 11 episodes, season three returns to the limited eight-episode count that made season one such a thrill ride. Hawley claims he always viewed this story in three acts, but outside forces have also played a role in Legions fate—most obviously, the Fox/Disney merger, which seems to mean all currently running X-Men related projects (including Legion) are coming to a close. Hawley also had only 12 weeks to write, prep, and shoot the final episodes of Legion. He began work on season three the day he finished shooting his directorial debut feature film: Lucy in the Sky, starring Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, and Stevens, which is due in theaters later this year.
While making Legion season three, Hawley was also editing the movie and putting together a writers room for Fargo season four. (Hes got five scripts done, by the way, in case anyone is curious.) “Someone told me about this word vacation,” he joked while discussing his manic schedule. “That sounds good. Im going to do that next.” But the pressure and time crunch actually seems to have worked in Legions favor: While season three is still a bit gonzo (see: Jemaine Clement having a rap battle, hippies smoking drugs from the teats of a giant pig, etc.), it also has a clarity and momentum season two often lacked.
As David tries to turn back to the clock and “fix” what he did, the fact that he would rather erase than confront his misdeeds becomes the shows most compelling motif. It also introduces a drug-addled time travel plot and a new mutant named Switch (Lauren Tsai), who winds up with a bleeding mouth and missing teeth thanks to Davids time-tinkering. As is often the case with Legion, the demons of Davids denial only get more literal from there.
The time travel element also gives the shows third lead, Aubrey Plaza, a more profoundly emotional story line to play. Plazas unhinged energy as both Davids tormentor, the Shadow King, in season one and his closest ally, the manic Lenny, in season two always made her one of the most watchable members of the cast. But her unhinged performance sometimes lacked an anchor, especially in that second season. Both Plaza and Hawley were aware of the issue, and have tried to fix it this season by giving Lenny some roots, thanks to her pregnant partner (Vanessa DuBasso).
“She still has a very skewed moral center, but she has something to lose now,” Hawley pointed out. “When David starts talking about undoing things…thats not in her interest. It creates conflict between them and ultimately I think that that gives her a journey thats far more meaningful than if she had just sort of stayed in the villain role.”
The time travel element also helps to pin down what had been an enjoyably baffling timeline. When we finally meet Davids father, Charles Xavier (Harry Lloyd), in the past he appears, as Hawley puts it, to be “a solider in a war that resembles World War II.” Hawley insists the show still defies a precise time and place, but it also signals Davids present as the 1960s—which means that when he fashions himself as the dangerously charismatic leader of a cult of worshipful knife-wielding, flower-power teen girls, Legion becomes the latest 2019 project to approach the Charles Manson murders.
Hawley says its “not optimal” to tell a story thats so mucRead More – Source
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