The best-directed episodes of television in 2018 (so far)

Legion, “Chapter 19”

Created by Noah Hawley
Written by Noah Hawley
Directed by Keith Gordon

Legion is by far the most visually inventive ongoing series on television. However, the program’s exceptional cinematography and set decoration are usually used in service of telling uninteresting stories. David Haller’s (Dan Stevens) narrative, though circuitously told, is pretty standard superhero fare. In the show’s first season, Haller comes to grips with his exceptional superhero abilities. And in most of its second, he gears up for a confrontation with his nemesis Amahl Farouk (Navid Negahban). Often, watching the show feels like attending a fireworks display/philosophy 101 lecture.

In “Chapter 19,” the big fight between hero and villain finally takes place, but it doesn’t resolve in the manner expected. David manages to subdue Farouk, but in the process loses the faith and love of his girlfriend Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller). This revelation devastates David, causing his mental health problems to manifest and in his mania, to make a decision that reframes the series as a whole. At that moment, Legion’s obsession with elaborate visual metaphors and misdirection are given a meaningful purpose. Showing all the ways that David Haller is not a hero or even a good person.

Pulling off a twist that fundamentally alters not only a series’ future but its past is a bold creative choice. It risks permanently alienating viewers by showing them that their emotional investment was mistaken. However, through a series of bombastic set pieces and intimate confrontations, Keith Gordon brilliantly destroyed everything Legion was and entices the viewer with one provocative question. How does one go about killing God?