Dominion: It's Different From Legion

Legion? No that's not it's name! It's Dominion

                 A few of my friends and others have been wondering about Dominion's base off of Legion. Mostly they're confused about some major points. So I'll help explain.

Alex has 2 angels on his shoulder: 1's evil & 1's good

           First off, usually when you're adapting let's say a book into a film you cut out some stuff for the sake of time and we are seeing the story take place so those huge chunks of paragraphs that describe things are taken out. Example: The Harry Potter series. Some people complain about this but I keep reminding them that producers put a disclaimer at the beginning saying that the story is based off of the book so it's not going to be a play by play of the book.

God just royally screws us...again

           That being said there have been a few changes to the back story of Dominion. Instead of God just being a jerk and telling his angels to wipe out humanity (like another flood wasn't an option apparently) the God in Dominion just vanishes. There's no real explanation as to why God left but I'll assume that He grew tired of watching Mankind destroy itself and his angels privately complaining about how Mankind is the favorite for some reason. All I know is it must be hard being an omnipotent deity. You help too little people lose faith in you, you help too much and people rely on you to do everything; either way you mess things up. I suppose God was exhausted from trying to make everyone happy so he's taking a break. But now the angels have the run of the house...

Why go to this guy's pity party...

            I really like how they changed Gabriel's character from the film Legion. He just seemed like such a wimp. But the Gabriel of Dominion is witty, charming, vengeful and takes what he wants. 

...when this guy throws orgies at his parties!

             A perfect antagonist who's entertaining to watch with his love of violence and the right amount of sass. But Gabriel still wants Daddy's approval. The Gabriel of Legion and the Gabriel of Dominion are so desperate for Father's attention that they believe killing humanity will make Him happy. That's basically your perfect villain: a whiney insecure teenager with daddy issues. 

Cold-blooded...

           As for Michael, the character that Paul Bettany portrayed of the Archangel and the one Tom Wisdom plays in the show are the same but Tom I feel takes it a step further. The Michael of Dominion has a bit more humor to him while still maintaining a lone samurai warrior vibe. Also the producers added some spice by giving Michael a lover, the hot, very smart and strong doctor Becca Thorn. 

Lone samurai...

It's hot in here but not because of the candles

          The angel/human romance adds some heat to the fire and although Michael has some reservations because he doesn't want to get a woman pregnant with a monster human-angel hybrid, he still dives into the romance (so to speak). This greatly humanizes him for the audience. In the film Michael was a soldier who did love humanity but he seemed a bit cold and robotic albeit still very noble. 

Does "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" still apply?

          The setting has remained the same. A desert to symbolize man being forsaken by God and left wandering and praying for salvation. What was once a paradise has become a barren wasteland and now humanity must struggle to survive. That's one of the themes of Dominion. Losing faith and trying to survive in a land with little food or water can really test a man: spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally which can either bring out the best or the worse in people. 

Look at those dentures!

          Then there are the Dogs of Heaven. In the film the 8balls are somewhat different than the ones in the show. Some characteristics are same: eyes, climbing on walls, super strength, bad teeth and down right scary! But the Dogs of Heaven on Dominion have become much more demonic. They look like spiders, they even crawl like them too. The lower angels needed physical bodies but they weren't used to having a physical form. Their human hosts also look diseased. Think of having a parasite inside you and it starts infecting you. That's what I'd imagine a person would look like if they were dealing with a parasite that just keeps growing and devouring their insides. 

Human or 8ball that hooker was gonna end up the same way

       The purpose of the Dogs were to be God's attack dogs just as the Devil has Hell Hounds feral and rabid, only good for fighting not being pets. Also in the film, the possessed didn't attack the baby. Michael said that they couldn't harm him however, doesn't explain why. But in Dominion the possessed were very aggressive towards Alex through out his early life. They even murdered his mother, Charlie, as she protected him with her whole body. 

Time for my daily mantra

           As for the story surrounding Alex's birth in the diner? That hasn't been fully explained but if the producers get a chance they would probably expand on that. For now we can say that Jeep and Michael went through that battle and that's when Alex was brought into the world. Jeep was Alex's step-father or surrogate father however you want to describe it and he was also in love with Alex's mother, Charlie. 

"Put your shirt back on."
Um how about no!

         The storyline about the tattoos has remained the same. Michael bore the tattoos on his body until he died (then he was brought back by God in Legion) then Jeep possessed them until he died, which they transferred to Alex. Since Michael died in Legion but God brought him back to give humanity a fighting chance, it hasn't been explained yet how a world without God that the tattoos were transferred to Jeep from Michael in Dominion. The mythology behind the tattoos has been expanded and given deeper meaning in Dominion. For some reason only Alex can read them and Uriel said that the tattoos were God's markings meant for everyone (humans and angels). 

"You should know better than to stick us in the same room..."

They need therapy, badly!

           One of the main themes of Dominion is family and how complicated it can be. Michael and Gabriel are brothers who love each other but they interpret their Father's will differently. When Furiad almost killed Michael, Gabriel was full of wrath. No one messes with your family and lives. Also we deal with some abandonment issues and the difficult relationship between father and son. Alex hated that Jeep abandoned him and William has to deal with his scheming ambitious father who still sees William as a baby that needs his hand held. I suppose that's why William allied himself with Gabriel, he acted more of a father figure than David (to make a mental note that's how most sadistic murderers get accomplices). 

Film Noir Femme Fatale + 007 Movie Bond Girl = This woman

She's Daddy's Little Angel

          But we can't forget about the strong women on Dominion. They're beautiful, smart, tough and a bit dangerous. Although being the Savior of mankind has been left to a man (again) the women of Dominion have proven themselves stronger and much more cunning than their male counterparts. I kind of remember some women from the bible who despite the patriarchy have been written as intelligent, crafty, and strong individuals. Despite men blaming Eve for the fall of Man (as if Eve forced the fruit into Adam's mouth), there has been a lot of subtext as to the importance and equality of women to men (more in the Old Testament of course, the bloody and more interesting one).

She's no princess she's the queen, bitches

             Legion was a good movie but it's storyline and characters would not have been interesting enough to hold an audience's attention for an hour every week. That's why Dominion has changed quite a few things for the sake of story and character development. It makes the show more interesting if people can relate to the characters. The same would go for if you're making a movie from a TV show. You need to change a few things and leave things out for the sake of time as well as the audience's attention span. 

Repeat: It reads "Dominion" NOT "Legion"