In the Dazzling 'Legion' Season 2, Nothing is What it Seems

If you thought the first season of "Legion" was a wild and trippy ride then you better buckle up for the Marvel series' second season, which debuts Tuesday night on FX.

Created by Noah Hawley (the writer who also brought "Fargo" to the small screen), "Legion" Season 2 is officially the most bonkers and challenging show since "Twin Peaks: The Return," and it's unlike any other Marvel franchise - or any other show currently airing or streaming. The effects of David Lynch's latest masterpiece are felt in the new season of "Legion" but not in a cloying or pandering way (even when a character confesses her love for cherry pie). The nightmarish weirdness is earned in Hawley's twisted and visually stunning show, which pushes the boundaries of storytelling in fascinating ways. "Legion" has always been a spectacle, winking at auteur filmmakers like Lynch and Stanley Kubrick. But Season 2 is honed in, restrained, focused and refined when it uses its eye-popping visuals to convey the plot.

It's worth re-watching or refreshing yourself on the first season of "Legion" - make sure to watch the Season 1 finale's bizarre post-credits scene as Season 2 picks up after that moment. Without spoiling much, Season 2 starts after some time has passed and the world around the show's protagonist David (Dan Stevens), the powerful mutant with incredible psychic abilities, has greatly changed. David and his crew left their Summerland hideout and joined forces with Division III, the government organization that aims to fight against powerful mutants like David and his girlfriend Syd (Rachel Keller).

Headed by Season 1 villain Clark (Hamish Linklater) and the mysterious Admiral Fukuyama, the Summerland crew and Division III found common ground and are teaming up to take down the parasitic and dangerous mutant Amahl Farouk, a.k.a. Shadow King, who is still running amuck inside Melanie's (Jean Smart) husband Oliver's (Jemaine Clement) body and Lenny's (Aubrey Plaza) mind. The two groups want to utilize David's powers to track down Oliver and kill Farouk. But things aren't as they seem, and a larger more mysterious threat is looming over David, who could put his team's operation in grave jeopardy.

Though the plot for "Legion" Season 2 is pretty straightforward, especially as it unravels during the four episodes provided for review, Hawley and his crew of directors (which includes filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour) and writers challenge viewers with unconventional visual storytelling. Like its first season, "Legion" proved itself to be a dazzling drama, pulling off stunning and mind-bending scenes that echoed David's mental state. That kind of imagery is central to "Legion" Season 2, putting a conventional storyline through a trippy ringer. Candy-colored and kaleidoscope fantastical scenes play out longer than expected with little dialogue, which creates a dream-like world within "Legion." There's animation, surrealist asides that play like PSAs directed by Stanley Kubrick, and - dance-offs.

Though the fate of the world is at stake in "Legion" (or almost all Marvel shows/movies), Hawley makes room for comedy, allowing the show to breathe and not take itself too seriously. There are plenty of truly strange moments that are never explained (another Lynch trademark) that play out well here, only amping up the strange world-building in "Legion." And because David can access people's minds, exploring their dreams and desires, "Legion" can bring viewers to an array of physical places, making the show feel huge and expansive (and sometimes dark and confined).

"Legion" suffers a bit when viewers are reminded just how powerful David can be. He can ostensibly do...anything - from reading people's minds, to travel into their minds, communicate with characters across metaphysical worlds and fight with his eyes closed, allowing his psychic abilities to do battle. A protagonist who is invincible is not a very interesting one - but Farouk and other threats do provide David with a challenge, keeping "Legion" from becoming dull.

Like "Twin Peaks: The Return," episodes in Season 2 are jam-packed with visuals worth re-watching, as fans will find new things to appreciate on multiple viewings. This can be a detriment to the casual viewer, however. In this Peak TV era, most people don't have the time to watch hour-long episodes more than once. Still, for the superfan (people who enjoy the comic book the show is based on or fans of superb filmmaking), "Legion" offers a lot to take in and a lot to explore.

Though the story is straightforward in "Legion" Season 2 (the bones of the show are the kind of Marvel fare you'd expect), viewers who are used to a more conventional series may grow agitated with the slow and purposefully chaotic unfolding of plot - but if you're tuning in for the second season of this extraordinary show, "Legion" likely already has a hypnotic hold on you and has no intention of letting you go.