Reception
Viewers
In its original American broadcast, "Chapter 19" was seen by an estimated 0.315 million household viewers and gained a 0.1 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This means that 0.1 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode. [6] This was a 33% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.467 million viewers with a 0.2 in the 18-49 demographics. [7]
Critical reviews
"Chapter 19" received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 57% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10 for the episode, based on 14 reviews. The site's consensus states: "'Chapter 19' defies expectations for Legion's complicated characters, although the series' ability to continue weaving the web it's spun seems uncertain." [8]
Ryan Matsunaga of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9.4 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "If the first season of Legion was the story of a hero coming into his powers, the second turned out to be a compelling look at a villain discovering his destiny. While little in the way of closure is provided, the finale does give us some of the show's best scenes to date, and a remarkable new direction for the next season." [9]
Oliver Sava of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I applaud Legion's willingness to commit to this heel turn for David." [10] Nick Harley of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The fracturing of David and Syd and the deterioration of David's mental state, his warped view of his relationship, easily made this the most gripping episode of the season. Though many parts of Season 2 didn't coalesce into a coherent whole, this aspect of the season was allowed to build until it reached its heart-wrenching conclusion. Legion will be back for Season 3 and David will more closely resemble his traditional villainous comic book counterpart, a new status quo could do this show wonders. It felt like Legion had lost its ability to surprise me, but 'Chapter 19' had me pleasantly shocked that David actually turned. Hopefully there's little looking back." [11]
Other reviews were more negative. Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C" grade and wrote, "This is upsetting, disturbing stuff, and for the first time since I began watching this weird and often wonderful show, I'm not convinced Legion is capable of telling the story it just waded into. To understand why is to pull at the messy threads of narrative convention. I spoke at length in last week's review about what has made this such a polarizing season of television. Legion has been shedding viewers, and I think it has a lot to do with the willfully alienating nature of the story. It became positively Brechtian in its refusal to allow the audience a point of identification, or a way to trust the show. Not just in the sense that we couldn't necessarily trust our own eyes, but in not providing us with protagonists in whom we can believe. We can't trust David, we can't really trust anyone, not with delusion creatures roaming free." [12]
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "The climax isn't an exact unintentional metaphor for Legion Season Two itself – but it's close. The series isn't evil so much as it is fairly drunk on its own creative powers, where trying to be even slightly easier and cleaner might do it and its audience a world of good." [13] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode a "B" grade but criticized David's actions, writing, "It involves the very concept Noah Hawley is putting under the microscope: how audiences can be so ready to identify with a hero, they're willing to root for him when he stops doing good. Though that idea is one worthy of exploring, the execution lurched from scene to scene as David's transformation from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde never smoothed out." [14]
Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "B-" grade and wrote, "Predictably, everyone who went to the desert wound up getting lost — or, in a sight gag that really emphasized the 'gag', getting pulled around on a rickshaw. And, at one point the finale, after finally shooting her sniper rifle, Lenny smoked a cloud of something smoky out of a golden alligator pipe. Appropriate: This show got very high on its own supply." [15] Beth Elderkin of Gizmodo wrote, "That sums up the second season in a nutshell, a lot of style relishing in its own unearned brilliance. And while the season finale was both stylistically and narratively great, even brilliant at times, it also did something unforgivable." [16] Emily St. James of Vox wrote, "Legion's season two finale had the worst of both worlds. Its long-planned reveal, staged as a twist, was so heavily foreshadowed that it was easy to predict, but it also happened so perfunctorily that it felt like the show had thrown it together at the last minute." [17]
Accolades
TVLine named Dan Stevens as the "Performer of the Week" for the week of June 16, 2018, for his performance in the episode. The site wrote, "As the star of FX's trippy superhero drama, Stevens has raised the bar for all comic-book TV performances, with his troubled mutant David Haller struggling to harness his formidable powers while battling a devastating mental illness. This week's Season 2 finale found David at the very height of his powers — and Stevens, too, as David realized his best move might be to embrace his dark side." [18]
