Chapter 21 (Legion)

In June 2019, it was reported that the second episode of the season would be titled "Chapter 21", and was to be directed by Carlos López Estrada and written by series creator Noah Hawley, co-executive producer Olivia Dufault, and co-producer Kate Thulin. This was Hawley's sixteenth writing credit, Dufault's first writing credit, Thulin's first writing credit, and Estrada's first directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "Chapter 21" was seen by an estimated 0.381 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.[2] This was a slight increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.377 million viewers with a 0.1 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"Chapter 21" received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.7/10 for the episode, based on 5 reviews.[4]

Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "The hunt is on, and with it, Legion is delivering some of the most straightforward plotting since the first half of season one. But the darkness remains, and if there were any uncertainty on that front, Amahl Farouk is here to make sure it sticks. He's trying to convince Syd to operate as a sort of emotional Trojan Horse — to pretend to become intimately involved with David again, the better to slide a knife between his shoulder blades. It's bleak, disturbing stuff, and Syd knows it. But considering the Shadow King is walking around Division like he owns the place, it's anyone's guess how much his powers have already worked their magic. Maybe everyone there should take a listen to Switch's lessons about time travel, chapter 20: 'Consider the consequences of your actions.' They don’t always go as planned."[5]

Nick Harley of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Though it's a shorter episode, 'Chapter 21' does a good job of piggybacking on last week's episode to set the stage for the remainder of the season. David is set on trying to 'save the world' while Division 3 looks for a way to get to David that circumvents Switch's abilities. The only thing that I miss this week is the use of Switch as the POV character, but I suppose there's time for that device to return down the line."[6] Kevin Lever of Tell Tale TV gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'Chapter 21' comes as the great settling of the dust, an episode where the lay of the land and what's to come is more distinguishable. There's likely to be some surprises along the way, what with time travel and all, but it's setting up for a large-scale endgame of David and Syd trying to find their own peace. With how this show goes, though, there will surely be some side effects to finding that peace."[7]