The pieces of David’s plan come together, but the Shadow King is no normal opponent. As David explores the depths of what he is prepared to do, Syd faces some difficult choices.

Another week, another fairly drawn out and definitely weird instalment of Legion. When last we saw David and Syd, they were taking shelter in a tent from a massive storm in the middle of the desert. David’s various other friends were enacting their parts in his carefully conceived plan of attack against Farouk, except for Clark, who was busy getting banged over the head by Melanie, who we learned was somehow under the influence of Farouk via Oliver.

So this week, we pick up immediately where we left off. There’s more odd symbolism, more outlandish set design and props, a lot more people talking to one another about ever more complex and baffling concepts and ideas, and lots of agonising over where the lines get drawn and who the bad guys really are.

And that last point is increasingly becoming a valid question. It’s to the credit of the show that it never leaves you quite sure of what the answer might be. For a long time Farouk was the bad guy, and everyone against him was the hero. Now, Farouk is still an adversary, but what we have learned from seeing his interaction with future-Syd, and indeed what we have seen of the interactions between David and future-Syd, suggests that he might be the one who can save the world from the destructive power of David. The question remains whether in that future David had destroyed the world deliberately or by some accidental over use of his power.

Action is light this week again, although one of my favourite characters gets to stretch their legs a bit. Another character who doesn’t normally get much to do has a lot of fun here, and Stevens really gets to shine as he explores some of the darker extremes of his character.

As the season strolls towards its conclusion, things are being set up for an epic confrontation, and what’s most pleasing of all is that the very nature of the antagonist is being used to really cloud so much here – we don’t and can’t know for sure on which side any of our heroes might end up, such is the power of both Farouk and David and their ability to manipulate minds and people. And at this stage, we can’t be sure what the result of a direct conflict between the two of them might be – Armageddon or worse?

Verdict: Content to stick with the pace it’s set for itself, the show is now showing signs of the sort of epic showdown we have been waiting for. The virtue is that I have no idea who I might end up rooting for, or why, but in the best of ways. 8/10

Greg D. Smith