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**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 07:09 PM

These first 10 segments will be direct copies from Lexxperience on blogger. SyfyDesigns has a feature that allows full copy from another blog that I'll be playing with.

Note- all the pic links broke using that editor. My screencap library is at http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Jani...rary/Lexx/LxSc. I have never cared if anyone hotlinks or downloads, since anyone can get screencaps anyway. I've been using photobucket since 2005 and am using a very good plan. The disclaimer here for film study extends to the screencaps. Lexx is delightful for frame by frame discussion on so many levels.

**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 07:20 PM

I Worship His Shadow, part one

Originally posted 9-13-12. The navigation links will take you back to the original blog.
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"I am Kai, last of the Brunnen G. Millenia ago, the Brunnen G led humanity to victory in the war against the Insect Civilization. The Time Prophet predicted that I would be the one to destroy the Divine Order in the League of 20,000 Planets. Someday, that will happen. But not today, because today is my day of death- the day our story begins."

There is no way I can cover the whole first movie with the screen shots I want to highlight, so I'm breaking "I Worship His Shadow" down into several posts.

Images in this post click back to original sources. Some images are thumbnailed for loading convenience, they will click back to original source or to full size if it's mine. I still want to add a little more detail (in some shots the characters might be blurry, but the Insect tech will be more sharp, etc), so I am doing what any fan on the planet can do, I am using my Nikon Coolpix 10X wide FullHD camera to take pix of my Vizio 1080P FullHD TV screen and clipping them down so we can see some really cool stuff (so yeah, you'll see the pause button in some of them). I'm also running my dvd through the blu-ray. My only frustration is the room lighting and screen reflections, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with what I'm doing. I have equipment, but I like to play. As fans or as film students, The Lexx series is well worth the extra study because it's so different, fresh, and timeless. It's incredible what you see frame advancing on pause, because this show sometimes goes so fast, and they don't slow down and explain anything.

Ok, sorry, back to I Worship His Shadow.

We open with a battle scene as a few warriors leave Brunnis 2 to take on His Shadow's planet killer, the Foreshadow. We get more details later in season two's episode "Brigadoom".

The Brunnen G have Insect technology, but it's never disclosed throughout the series where they got it from or how long they've had it. All we know in the beginning is that they are an ancient race of romantic dreamers.

Kai is in command of the tiny squadron, and is the only one to evade annihilation and make his way to the Foreshadow's control pod, while Brunnis 2 burns in death throes behind him.

In a last ditch move, Kai ducks through the power grid and follows one of the Foreshadow's main arms to the central command deck. This is a very quick but very detailed scene, well worth the frame advance so you can catch his strategy and all the detail along that arm.

You can see the command center (the control pod Kai is talking about) is at the heart of the Foreshadow and facing toward the planet it is destroying.

The collision is horrific, and the control pod is, indeed, smashed open to space, the Insect gunner that Kai is piloting shears into pieces and lands upside down, skidding through shards and fire, and Kai is violently thrown out at His Shadow's feet while the control pod shields automatically close to seal off the venting atmosphere and stabilizes the command center.

Although Kai's body is broken and he can't move, he remains defiant with his last ragged breaths.

Kai: His Shadow.
HS: His Divine Shadow, yes.
Kai: The Brunnen G will defeat you.
HS: I don�t think so. The power of Order has destroyed your planet. The power of Order will destroy you, and you were the last of the Brunnen G left alive.
Kai: The Time Prophet has seen your Order destroyed by the Brunnen G.
HS: The Time Prophet's vision appears to be flawed.

His Shadow draws a curved dagger and slips it into Kai's body.

Then His Shadow takes Kai's memories.

"This last specimen of the now extinct culture of romantic dreamers merits punishment beyond death. Transport it to the bioscholars." This Cluster symbol is a big deal, and you find out what it represents in the fourth movie.

And then His Shadow finds it curious that Kai's shattered ship was an Insect.

What does it all mean? Where can it go from here? The hero is already dead! The bad guy won only 6 minutes into the movie!

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**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 09:49 PM

part 2- The Cluster

Originally posted 9-29-12. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

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With our hero dead only 6 minutes into the movie, which way do we go? That's right, we skip forward 2000 years.

The first thing we see is The Cluster filling the screen, the home planet to His Divine Shadow, and like it says, capital to the League of 20,000 Planets. Planet watchers may notice this particular planet is a chunk of rock, like an overgrown asteroid or moon, and the Cluster is carved into it and shielded with a ceiling built into the planet's surface. You're also going to notice several other things about The Cluster as the movie moves along- no green things growing anywhere, no open sky besides complete cloud or city cover, and no decor. The Cluster is pure form and function.

The Cluster as Capital City is a sealed and highly monitored compound. These groups of buildings house the Lexx and a complex judicial system. The outer accessways of these rows of big pyramid styled buildings is worker housing for what look like prisoners.

The first person we see sleeps in a tiny box, his only living quarters. He is awakened with propaganda and a computerized image sentences punishment for not reporting for work on time. Note that there is no volume knob or off switch, a scene very much like Big Brother on steroids.

"Only a thin dimensional barrier separates us from the festering evil, malignant depravity, and alien chaos of the Dark Zone. The Dark Zone is not separate like two different planets. The Dark Zone coexists in the same space as our universe, in the same place at the same time. The Dark Zone has no rules, no sense, no order. We give thanks to His Divine Shadow for his ceaseless vigilance, protecting our universe of Light and Order from the horrors and disorder of the Dark Zone. We worship His Shadow. Long may he reign."

"Good morning. Security Guard Class 4, number 47632943, Department 511, Level 4. This is your third wake up call. If you are late, you will receive 7 demerits. You already have 991 demerits."

A lot of other people seem to be going through the same thing. A whole lot of people sleep in nothing more than tiny little boxes and literally own nothing but the uniforms on their backs.

Meanwhile, the same obnoxious computerized face, apparently used as an interface for all menial communications, kicks off a redirect alert in a prisoner transport bound for the Cluster. (By the way, nice visual pun, a face as an interface, not sure if that was intentional, but we later realize the weird macabre style doll face most certainly was an intentional slight against humans, once we see the extreme species prejudice in the fourth movie.)

"Due to a bulkhead malfunction, Prisoner Transport 58K603, you are being diverted from Gate 417 Punishment Level 2, to Gate 511." All the numbers are read off individually, like five-one-one.

It is never indicated or even hinted at, but I believe the audience is supposed to realize as the story unfolds that the bulkhead malfunction was a deliberately premanufactured plant by Heretics as part of a much bigger plot. Or it could just be that particular transport had such a famous guest on board that it was diverted directly over for entertainment purposes, but I don't think so, given the plan that was carried out. A lot of things happen in Lexx that are never explained, you either miss it or put the puzzle together on your own, which I feel is a compliment, the film makers assuming that we have brains and don�t need to be spoon fed, like so many scifi shows feel the need to do. Good editing does the work of explaining everything.

These guards are being awakened out of stasis while the prisoner transport is remotely rerouted into a different flight path among a whole flock of other prisoner transports. All prisoners wind up on the Cluster.

(Incidentally, have you wondered yet why in the world it's called The Cluster? You can look up a definition for cluster and it all looks about right, or you can go a step further- hint- some insects cluster, and rows of egg follicles are called clusters. Season 2 will go into why this might be a better image.) (And if you are remembering that part 1 said the Brunnen G defeated the Insects in the Insect Wars, you get a star on your forehead.)

My first question upon seeing the inside of the prisoner transports is how costly must it be to run all those small vessels from other planets with only a few prisoners in each one. Wouldn't a larger cargo ship carry them all more efficiently?

Two things, slavery and psychology. Cost doesn't matter if you're running a spartan slave society, and keeping prisoners bolted to slabs and isolated into very small groups for processing kills hope and diminishes the success of subversive efforts for rescue. At any rate, prisoner comfort and human rights aren't a consideration.

"It's your day of justice, Thodin!"

But still, this seems to be an overly elaborate way to handle prisoners. What is the point? *IS* there a point? Remember I asked this when you watch the fourth movie later.

The prisoner transports are guided through an opening in the roof of the Cluster and over a sprawling metro complex, a mega city in perpetual darkness. I have thought so much about this city, a model society completely controlled by His Shadow. No creativity, no choice, no autonomy. No escape. Model citizenry based on ratting out your fellow man, entertainment wrapped around a heinous judicial system, government as religion, sucking up to Big Brother, in this case, His Shadow. If Orwell ever gave you the willies, Lexx will melt you in fear, especially when you think how close some of our own histories have come to stuff like this, or still could.

One of the first things we see as the transports fly into the Cluster is the Lexx, housed in a huge hangar overlooking the city. The transports fly past Lexx and over a giant mega stadium to an even taller docking port. I'm not sure I can estimate how many stories high these constructions are, but they are massively impressive.

A security guard with 991 demerits is almost late reporting to work at Department 511 Level 4. A prisoner transport has been diverted to Gate 511. This is Thodin's day of justice...

Ok, you have to imagine that last bit with my tongue so far in cheek that it's sticking out my ear. You've NEVER seen a movie like this one. I can't wait to start obsessing over part 3.

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**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 10:36 PM

part 3- Stanley Tweedle

Originally posted 10-12-12. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

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Minding Gate 511 is a *boring* job. About the only thing ever going on is prisoner transports docking and unloading, and the only duty is pressing a single button to disable the electro-lock after receiving a docking code.

Stanley H. Tweedle, Security Guard class 4, is spending another boring day on the job, but what else is there? This planetoid is in the very heart of the League of 20,000 Planets, His Shadow�s home base which he never ever leaves nowadays. Incoming traffic is more prisoner transports than anything, and Stanley is sure glad he isn't on one of those!

You'd think with all that unencumbered free time Stanley would be a better shot by now.

I know! Awesome weird robot thing, and what's he doing, bouncing ball bearings off its butt? Too funny.

Suddenly a screen pops up in front of him. "I worship His Shadow." Stanley responds "I worship His Shadow" and salutes. A bored looking officer says "Prisoner transport fifty-eight-kay-six-zero-three requesting docking beam." Honestly, I think she finds her job nearly as boring as Stanley finds his, but that is all about to change and leave everyone with something to talk about for a long time. Stanley replies, "Security code" and prepares to press the electro-lock release button.

She looks incredulous. "Code? No one asks for code anymore." Stan sets a look of grim adherence to the one duty he is supposed to perform, then gives her a look while he waits for the code. She looks back like she can't believe it, then goes through the motions of typing in a code.

Then the way she looks up is priceless, you know she typed in a bogus code and is waiting to see what he'll do.

Stan elaborates a pained grimace and goes through the motion of shutting the button box while he looks down and says "Wrong code", and she indignantly replies "I can't remember the code." Stan tells her "I suggest you try another gate then."

This is where we see the extent Stanley is willing to go to stubbornly defy authority when he can get away with it, because the transport flight path into the Cluster was guided remotely to his gate by a flight path director inside the Cluster. Stanley must know this, this is what he does all day long every day for we don't know how long. (We later find out he's been a prisoner on the Cluster years longer than many prisoners are allowed to live.) The Cluster is a finely tuned well oiled mechanistic society of pure form and function, you don't just shop around for a docking gate that will take you if you don't know the code. The whole interaction could have had this officer as terrified as anyone that she could wind up in deep trouble, given the harshness of the government that we are about to see unfold, and the code is probably in place to prevent saboteurs getting in. (This is very important when you ask later why the Ostral B heretics didn't just don Cluster garb and fly a transport in themselves.)

So she gets all up in Stanley's face asap to establish that if anyone here is going to get in trouble, it's going to be him. "What rank are you?" "Security Guard, Class 4." "Security Guard, Class 4 SIR. I'm a line major, and I'm ordering you to turn on your docking beam."

Stan clinched me as a Lexx fan with this scene. I saw Lexx air originally on Showtime, they had me at the big bug spaceship, but Stanley sealed my fate with Lexx. Who hasn't been stuck in a ludicrous job wrangling with any kind of management over breaking policy? And Stan is in the heart of darkness, stubbornly sticking up for the only thing he has left to stick up for in his awful life, and that's the one duty he has to perform on his job given to him by the Cluster, who is holding him prisoner. He could have caved and just pushed the button. Who knows whether he'd have gotten in trouble or not. We have no idea whether this kind of thing happened a lot or was something new. We do know that this particular prisoner transport had been diverted from its original destination gate while the officers on board were being awakened out of stasis just prior to entering the Cluster, and that it's very possible this line major was simply caught flat footed and responded inappropriately. At any rate, Stan isn't about to even pretend he cares whether she has any authority, and he certainly doesn't seem like he cares whether there will be consequences. I think it is more he has become so numb with just simply surviving that none of it matters any more to him.

So Stan closes his eyes, shakes his head, still doggedly determined to do his job. "I can't do that." "Why not?" "You"ve got the wrong code," he says simply while he reaches over for a ball bearing. "I am giving you a direct order, 4th class Security Guard!" She is livid. "I can"t help you" Stan almost singsongs while he throws a ball bearing and actually banks this one off the robot's butt and into the restricted vent in the floor, setting off what sounds and looks like machinery damage that starts a fire.

Stan has time for a quick grin at the successful shot before his monitoring officer walks in. Stan quickly scrambles to hide his ball bearings just in the nick of time.

First off, just to get this out of the way, this kid takes his self importance so seriously that I can't help laughing when I see him. You know an evil despot has truly conquered when the younger ones will strut like a big boss in a ridiculous outfit, and, sadly, this young man has grown up so brainwashed in the League of 20,000 Planets that he believes he really does have a position of importance. It throws such a perfect shadow on the Orwellian darkness of this society.

Since I brought up the word shadow, and the show is all about the phrase "I Worship His Shadow", you can get so many metaphors going about it. Any kind of light to any kind of truth is completely blocked for this society by His Shadow, so you can imagine how difficult it would be to stand up for even the simplest truths we ourselves take for granted, like basic human rights and autonomy. As you watch this movie, be keenly aware that there is no choice in these people's lives. Or, there is only the choice to follow and obey, or not. Not always ends badly.

Stanley has a choice. He could do his job, and he does perform it, but with attitude, like Sisyphus, the absurd hero. Stanley is a survivor, he cows down when he has to, but he never loses that sense of injustice that goads his every step, never justifies it away and accepts it. Incidentally, we find out later that Stanley comes from outside the League.

Wow. Ok, sorry about that. So Stanley's young superior struts in and takes the situation in hand. He is obviously aware of everything going on between Stanley and the line major, so you get the impression that his job is to monitor Stanley. I have more to say on that in a minute.

This overseeing officer simply steps up and pushes the button to release the electro-lock without any further questioning, as if Stanley doesn't even matter. "Docking beam is engaged, Sir, and Security Guard Class 4 Stanley Tweedle is presently being entered for correction and punishment himself." The line major seems relieved that it's all over.

The line major is most pleased and says, "I request that he be demoted." "Class 4 is already the lowest." It's hitting poor Stan this is about to get way more serious than getting caught throwing ball bearings. The line major is gloating now- "Then I trust his punishment will be severe." Poor Stan... "That will happen, Sir."

The line major is satisfied and smiles sweetly as she salutes the young officer and says, "May His Shadow fall upon you." "May His Shadow fall upon you," he says, and salutes smartly back.

"You must enter yourself into Correction Center number 40 before watch change today, Stan," the young officer says while patting Stan's head, "Stanley Tweedle. And may His merciful Shadow fall upon you."

Stan is miserable, this is much worse than getting caught throwing the ball bearings. He responds, barely able to speak, "May His merciful Shadow fall upon... ME, preferably." But the young officer is gone.

Then the lock disengages and the prisoner transport moves forward. Stanley throws a ball bearing out of angry disgust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scene changes there, so here's my thoughts on that kid. Since I know stuff about Stanley in later movies and shows, I can say that kid probably did have a fairly important job, compared to his fellow officers of similar rank and job. Stanley Tweedle was a special prisoner, and this young man probably felt like his personal babysitter and had grown very tired of him. He seemed like he was glad to have a solid reason to send Stanley off to the Correction Center, which probably meant he'd never have to put up with him again.

Ultimately, after you've seen the rest of the movie, you realize that this young officer is to blame for Stanley Tweedle winding up being the ironic twist of fate that ripples the Cycles of Time for all ages. For, if it were not for Stanley, none of the rest would have worked... (think it through, if you're ready to argue with me about that).

The real "Stanley Tweedle" on facebook- Brian Downey

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Thanx so much to everyone for stopping by, this is so fun and cool. Sorry if I missed tagging you, some people have pretty good privacy proxies. This is what you guys look like from outer space.

**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 10:54 PM

part 4- His Divine Shadow

Originally posted 10-22-12. Navigation links go back to original blog.

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Meanwhile, deep in the Cluster, the Divine Clerics are freaking out, rushing a gross looking old guy to a weird inner sanctum.

I'm sure, in retrospect, the Ostral B heretics coming up later had no clue they'd be timing their incursion with His Shadow's direst setback in many decades. I know, I'm hashing up future past tense like crazy, but it works, so just go with it and notice that this inner sanctum is rife with symbolism. Please also note the upper ceiling stories above them and remember that when you see the fourth movie. Anything and everything that looks circular and segmented is important.

"Faster, we"re losing him!"

Inside the sanctum, a prisoner is waiting. He's been made comfortable and the atmosphere is pleasant and jolly. Not!The guy is tied so thoroughly that you wonder what in the world could he possibly do or has done, and what is the tube in his mouth for??? Yeah, you can see he's wondering the same thing himself, his eyes are bugging like he's seeing ghosts, but what he sees are some tools you haven't seen yet. It's not helping his mood one bit that he's being prepped for a lobotomy. He struggles with all his might when he sees the Clerics rush in, to no avail. "The sedative!" "No time!"

You're having a *really* bad day when you get a lobotomy with no sedative. That looks like it hurts, and the prisoner thrashes so hard that one of his arms rips free and knocks a Cleric off balance, giving him a dose of his own electrocution. That Cleric is quickly replaced with another.

This time it works.

Ok, what just happened?! And why??? We'll get to that in a minute. Right now I'm intrigued by these priest looking guys.The Divine Clerics all wear hooded robes of purple and netting on their faces to look shadowy, in keeping with the theme of His Divine Shadow. I've noticed the only vibrant red you ever see is on His Shadow's robe in the linings, so I wonder how far we can carry the symbolism, like fresh blood is red, old blood in a bruise is purple, the Clerics wear purple... Death overshadows the human race, basically. Note the Cluster symbols on their robes, you'll see those all over the place as the movie progresses. In all these scenes, especially if you are watching live, you notice a LOT of shadows lying across everything. There is no clear lighting source, and shadows move around from every direction almost like they're alive as light flickers or gets blocked. If YOU were tied up in there like that prisoner, you'd be terrified enough, but now it's time to see what that prisoner was able to see...

Ok, unpausing- This time it works, cool pix, yada yada, ah, here we are. Time is of the essence, though, and just because the lobotomy works doesn't mean the Clerics properly finish.

"He fought well." "A truly vicious human being." "He will prove to be a good host." Wo, wait a minute. Host? Human being? The Clerics say it as though they represent something apart from humans.

It's hard not to notice throughout I Worship His Shadow how much societal structure revolves around the constant moving around and processing of prisoners. It seems there is an endless supply of humans to make nearly pointless examples of or use in a variety of ways, and in the end, all wind up as useful additions to the protein bay. But how about the prisoner that His Shadow uses as a host body? We never find out who he is or was, what his story was about. We only see the horrible end for him, after obviously being mishandled and abused. Why was he chosen? Later on we see he's not even as tall as Kai, and he winds up being completely enrobed, so he wasn't chosen for any particular physical features that we can tell. I think he is chosen because he's fighting fit, and his body will be able to withstand a long occupation of whatever wear and tear His Shadow puts it through. I would also add that he chose it for irony, but His Shadow doesn't appear to care about making the point of mocking, as some evil villains would (at least not very well), as much as simply just efficiently using. His mindset is very different.

"The second vac!" "We do not have time, one will have to do." "But he may not be fully cleansed!" "We will have to risk it."

I think priests probably argue like that everywhere you find them, but in this case, they really don't have time (don't let the still fool you, they were constantly moving), and they do have to risk it. Risk what? Protocol is a hard rule with them, procedure was set up millennia ago to ensure the continuity of His Divine Shadow's societal rule over the League of 20,000 Planets. Surely they don't mean...

The prisoner's frame is tipped forward while the crusty old gross guy is moved underneath him. More like, their faces are kind of lined up, and now we see what that tube was all about.

"Divine Shadow, you must perform the Kiss. Divine Shadow, the Kiss."

And then the old crust goes into a spasm and wheezes out this purple... essence?

And then the old body lets go and presumably dies. Suddenly all is calm, the Clerics wheel the body over and raise the new host up, and as this new host slowly regains consciousness and looks blandly on, the Clerics prep the old body for a new procedure. It isn't pretty. Cover your eyes...

Oh, and cover your ears. After the old host's head is reverentially exposed, the next sound you hear is like a nightmare from a dentist's chair.

An odd little pedestal with tubes in a little case is rolled forward, a tool is handed over, and a nasty whining sound begins... Then another tool is handed over and you get an icky sucking sound.

These are teaser scenes, you really don't see what he's doing until in a minute.

This guy can see everything the Cleric is doing.

Yep, *gag*, it's the old guy's brain...

For those of you who get the creeps watching this kind of stuff and might suddenly feel your brain has a precarious hold on existence, don't worry, they really don't just pop out that easily. I do like that sucking noise, though, that was real cute. But the rest is realistic enough, especially the steam. As soon as I saw the steam coming off the brain, I felt like the room they are in must be a little bit cold.

Why in the world did the Cleric take the old brain out? It seems they've got quite a collection going, and this is how they collect them over a very long period of time. Every brain they save has once been a host to His Divine Shadow, who never really dies. It's a mystery how simply plugging it into that little case is going to preserve it, but we find out how preservation is done later.

This next part fascinated me. If you watch closely, the Clerics make the Cluster symbol with their hands as they are saluting the brain before they send it up to the others on its pedestal.

Taking a big risk at the very last minute just in the nick of time... I wonder why they waited so long in the first place. Surely they didn't get caught by surprise, but alas, that is one thing we just never find out. Can't wait to see what His Shadow does with his new brain.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The guy playing the prisoner (the Bound Man) is Lex Gigeroff. He wrote some of the shows and guested in several of them, as well. If you would like to leave a message, there is a Lex Gigeroff Memorial on facebook. (Note- that memorial has been retired since this was written.)

This is part 4.
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**Pinky** · 01-01-2019, 11:06 PM

part 5- The Time Prophet

Originally posted 10-30-12. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

I want all my Lexx readers around the world to know that Xanga is THE BEST. Their servers are housed on the 8th floor of a building in New Jersey, and they've got Xanga running on generators and diesel fuel while the city is so flooded from hurricane Sandy that no one has utilities. If you can't pull up my Lexx posts in the near future, it means they ran out of fuel and we'll have to wait till they get more or get electric hooked up. Please know I support Xanga with four paid sites and will continue to do so to infinity *especially* after I was able to get this Part 5 posted during a hurricane.

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Ok, so the purple essence from the old guy is in the new guy now, and his brain isn't working right anymore because he's been lobotomized. Those Devine Clerics don't mess around, so I hope you never become a prisoner on the Cluster! And remember I was wondering how this could catch them so flat footed at the last minute, well, changing hosts might be a once in a lifetime event for them. These Clerics had probably never witnessed a host transfer, but had been firmly exercised in protocols on how to handle this situation, so they stepped up and did everything they were supposed to. Almost. Um, not exactly...

The once viciously struggling prisoner is now docile and gives the Clerics no problems while they untie him and remove the tube from his mouth. He looks pretty out of it, doesn't he?

The essence must be taking over, because it's doing weird things to his eyes. It's like he's not even human anymore.

That essence, though, seems to occupy more than his body. The hooded robe gathers itself up from the old body and transfers itself to the prisoner's new host body and completely shrouds him in the same robe and hood. (BTW, I know this is way off, but I couldn't help noticing that His Shadow's chaotic swirliness is like the "Rainbow of Darkness" from the original 1984 My Little Pony. I think, like Plato, that symbolism has its root in something real beyond our realm, and I hate to creep you out, but that means His Shadow is a real dude... And before you say anything, there is some discussion over whether Stan Lee is a Bronie, so back off.)

He walks over to a pedestal and rises several stories up to join the waiting brains.

His Shadow takes arguing with one's self to new heights, and I'm not even going to apologize for this one. Sitting with the Divine Predecessors on pedestals high above everyone else, all derived from his own essence, His Shadow is surrounded by his own evil genius, a sort of storage for millennia of memory overflow. What super villain wouldn't love that?

And I love his robe. Did you click the thumbnail and get a better view? All the segmentation, and the glittery dark red in the crevices, he's like a giant creepy roly-poly...

So he arrives at this surreal height, a weird mystical monochromatic platform over all the other life crawling below him on the Cluster, and the brains greet him. "Divine Shadow, may your reign be long and orderly." In the fashion of a ruler following court etiquette, he answers, "Divine Predecessors, I thank you for your gift of selection. I will serve Order, I will serve you, and I will serve myself." A collective quick gasp of shock didn't stop the brains from plunging forward into their unified address. "Divine Shadow, today is a dark day for heretics and infidels throughout our universe. The Lexx will soon be fully grown, and you will be able to send it on its voyage bringing destruction upon all those who would oppose the League of 20,000."

Yeah, I know, what was that gasp all about? I think we're about to find out. I don't think the Predecessors quite realized the portent of that revelation of 'self'.

"And how will we know which planets shelter enemies of Order, which planets are to be chosen for destruction?" "That will be your task." "Then my task is complete. I choose to destroy them all."

Um, THAT one is getting a reaction. "That has not been our plan!"

I gotta stop here a second. ALL these brains are previous incarnations of the same guy, right? This is apparently the first time ~ever~ that he has argued with himself like this, and it's really catching them by surprise. What in the world happened?!?

"Divine Predecessors, I am formed from you, but my host brain was not fully cleansed and therefore I am also formed of humans. I will choose my own path, and I choose that I, myself, will command the Lexx on its voyage of destruction."

Got that? The essence is definitely non human and apparently hive minded... For some reason His Shadow has concocted his own hive mind, and this is a huge hint about more history coming in season 2, because the next obvious question is why in the world is he alone among humans like this. But back to the brains freaking out. It's kinda funny how you can have this scene of utter shock and dismay going on with beings who can't even animate themselves.

"But the prophecy!" I think they glow harder when they're exhibiting shock. Or maybe not, but it looks cool.

"I have no patience for your ancient superstitions! (Spoken like a true recently lobotomized human, almost wanna root for the guy.) The Brunnen G have been extinct for over 2000 years!"

"The Divine Shadow must never leave the Cluster unless there is great peril. We need each other's strength." (Now the question arises why the host essence is that much more important than the collective preserved essence that they actually fear his peril; perhaps His Shadow's essence is the only part that can move along and animate successive hosts, so be on the look out for what actually keeps the brains themselves going in the 4th movie.)

"I agree, Divine Predecessors. I will not risk being separated from your wisdom and guidance, as you will join me on my voyage." His Shadow casually lifts a hand and all the pedestals lower. If the brains could noticeably fidget at this point along with their gasps, I'm sure they'd have been jumping up and down having spasms. They are terrified at this sudden huge change in a core plan that's been in place for many years.

We see a cargo vessel fly out of the inner sanctum, carrying all the Predecessors.

"The prophecy is upon us!" some moan in fear. "It's impossible!" others counter. "The prophecy is fake! The Brunnen G are extinct!" I guess it takes a botched lobotomy to bring all those underlying self doubts to the surface, because these brains of one essence are still arguing amongst themselves. One thing I've really liked about this movie is how the lighting and color is used, and this scene especially, all black and red and stark light flashing over, you really feel like you're riding along with them.

"Brethren, I was the one who killed them all, but I did not destroy them all. One specimen was preserved!" "Impossible!" "Predecessors, look into me..."

And here we get the story all over again about how His Shadow killed Kai and took his memories...

...but now we get to see what the most crucial memory was.

This is the Time Prophet. Not just any time prophet, THE Time Prophet. The swirly symbol on her headpiece represents the Cycles of Time.

Kai asks, "Will the forces of His Shadow destroy us?"

She says, "Time, as you know, had a beginning, and time has an end, and then time begins again, as we shall each live our lives again, exactly as before. I have been gifted to see into the old cycles of time, not very clearly, mind you, but I have learnt that in the future-past, the Brunnen G, the great victor in the war against the Insect civilization, shall be destroyed at the hand of His Shadow. But after His Shadow leaves the Cluster, they will be destroyed at the hands of the Brunnen G. This has happened before. It will happen again."

And at that memory, the Predecessors fall into a panic. "We are boarding the Lexx! We will all be destroyed!"

Well, the guy has been dead over 2000 years, maybe these brains still know something we don't know yet...

This is part 5.
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**Pinky** · 01-26-2019, 06:26 AM

part 6- The Big Bug

Originally posted 11-7-12. Navigation links go back to original blog.

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I suppose I should put a caution up- you're about to see a really graphic bloody scene from a tv movie called Lexx: I Worship His Shadow. There is a "basic guidance" age rating up on this post, but unless you're really into stuff like Walking Dead, maybe you should close your eyes until you get to the end.

Stanley's day has been sucking since we left him. Seriously, having to turn yourself in to a detention center for punishment on the Cluster is NOT something you can console yourself over a bottle of beer later, and Stan is locked up in a sickening dread bordering on a headache and sour stomach. No more silly pot shots to pass the time, how to make time stop now is the big question.

Notice the robot is now facing the disembarking prisoners. Well, I say that like they can actually step out, but they're still bolted to those heavy slabs and being moved along on a rail like an assembly line.

I wonder what these robots actually do. Poor Stan...

Can you imagine being moved around like that? No telling how long those prisoners have been bolted to those slabs, and I bet they haven't had a drink or bite or been to the restroom in many hours. One old guy recognizes Stanley. "You! I know you! Stanley Tweedle!", and starts calling out, "It's him! Stanley Tweedle!" Stanley starts sinking down in his chair, one of those weird omg nighmare moments on top of an already very bad day.

But while the old prisoner is still calling out Stanley's name, a bolt breaks loose and his slab tips off and heavily bumps the other slabs around it (that would suck, you think someone kicking a seat behind you is bad) before it slams down to the floor and squashes him like a *bug*. (Ironic�.) I would love to take a guess in a contest over how much those slabs must weigh to make that kind of splat, and I can't help thinking that even just mentioning the name Stanley Tweedle must be synonymous with cosmic bad luck. I wonder who that old guy was calling out to. Would the other prisoners know or care at this point who Stanley Tweedle is? Apparently someone does and yells out "Traitor!" while Stanley hides behind his desk. Seems they're taking Stanley kind of personally for some reason.

That scene intrigues me. Stan isn't happy at all that someone recognizes him and knows who he is after years of being a prisoner stuck on the Cluster. These prisoners are being carted away to unknown fates, why would Stanley be mortified enough to actually get down and hide? He must have done something ~really~ bad. We find out later he's pretty famous.

We don't see how far the slabs get railed into the docking center, but prisoner processing is efficient and quick. And we never find out what the person in blue is all about, but I love that outfit.

Woe to humans the day they develop a holographic court system run through an automatic computer program. Oh, wait, that's happening... They get the equivalent of a court appointed attorney, a prosecuting attorney, and a judge who passes sentence, all holograms running on preset programs. I'm not sure why bother is even made over protocol, unless it's to pound home the humiliating and very terrifying inhumanity of the ordeal, like layer after layer of nightmarish theatrics. Argon Protopi, Pie Maker is first up. As his slab rolls into place, the hologram program comes up and one of the robots starts dialing on a machine. It's freaky that the robot has human arms, but not a human head.

An elaborate headgear assembly lowers and clamps onto Argon Protopi's head. There's a nasty looking red stained spike thing aimed at his right parietal lobe. The slab locks into place with a jolt and Argon Protopi can't so much as nod his head. The defense argument starts immediately without preamble. "My client", and here another automated voice says his name, like it's filling in the blank -Argon Protopi, Pie Maker, Class 2, Orbital 5- "is innocent of the charge of" insert glitch and accusation from a preprogrammed list "failing to pay money owed to the temple and throws himself upon the mercy of this court, secure in the knowledge that His Shadow's wisdom will prevail upon these proceedings." And here the robot presses a button with his thumb and the spike jabs into Argon's brain. I'm not sure if it's a mechanical voice from the robot or the machine he's working, but we hear "memory search commencing".

A screen hooked up to the memory search gear starts showing blips of scenes that look vaguely like Argon may have been involved with some temple prostitutes, but as it digs deeper into his memories, he cringes and clenches down into his immovable slab, obviously in some kind of weird sickening pain. Whatever that spiky probe is created to do, one thing it seems to be good at is using radio signals to forcibly prompt the brain to show specific memories that will reinforce whatever accusation is made, because the next thing we see on the screen is Argon refusing to give money to temple clerics begging for alms. I can't think of a more convenient and successful self incriminating method to run people through a 100% guilty judicial racket, because the human brain naturally focuses in on the very thing that will get it killed, especially when prompted with a suggestion. And if that's all it takes to get you removed from society and whisked off across a galaxy to this hellhole...

The judge immediately finds Argon guilty and adds "You are therefore sentenced to have your individual life terminated; however, His Merciful Shadow will allow many of your vital organs to live on as components used in the making of robotic drones." Argon has started sputtering and whimpering as the judge goes on. "Your unusable flesh will be contributed to the Protein Bay where it will be recycled for purposes that serve His Shadow." Poor Argon is rolling his eyes around to the frozen defense attorney still smiling at him.

The robot flips a switch, the rail switches to a different track, and Argon's slab turns and rolls toward a wall with patterns cut into it. His fear consumes him and he starts screaming, "You can have whatever you want! I'll pay! I'll pay!" As his slab moves away and the next prisoner advances into place, his defense attorney turns into a hologram of a Divine Cleric that quickly says "In the execution of this sentence you are hereby cleansed of your crimes against the League of 20,000 Planets. May His Merciful Shadow fall upon you."

As Argon's slab approaches the wall with the die cuts, rotary blades snap out from the grooves and start whirring and moving along their tracks, which are in the familiar shapes of human organs. Just before he reaches the wall, two robots monitoring his progress salute him, saying "I worship His Shadow."

His slab presses against the die cuts, he screams as a bowl with two nozzles of spraying water moves into place, and the prisoner next in line gets caught in the face with a spray of Argon's blood escaping through a gap around the slab. If she'd been able, I think she would have thrown up, but she was already too starving and exhausted from being on her slab so long. The way she looked and sounded when that happened made me feel really bad for her, because you know she knows she's next.

It kinda hits you that this woman is his only connection to anything human during his horrible death, and she suffers through it with the kind of anguish only humans feel in such brief moments of terrifying clarity and sickening horror. I think her face perfectly captures the human condition that philosophers go on about, caught up in the absurdity of being in a place of utter hopelessness. George Orwell's Big Brother is starting to look pretty good, isn't he? Like rainbows and kittens compared to His Shadow's rule over the League of 20,000.

Argon has already stopped screaming and his brain plops out into the bowl. After the bowl with Argon's brain moves away, a big plastic sack moves into its place and the rest of his organs fall into it as the razors keep cutting. We never see where the rest of his body goes, limbs and spine. The bag gets sealed and dumped down a chute to fall onto a conveyor to join more packages... Wait, a conveyor??

Which is alongside other conveyors...

..which are alongside other conveyors...

..all streaming packages filled with what is presumably freshly removed tissue from other prisoners all over the docking center, which means this is being carried out continually by the hundreds of prisoners per hour, maybe even thousands. How do you measure something like that? Where do they get all those people? What in the world are they being harvested for? Because that's what this is- a harvest.

O!M!G! It's. a. big. bug. *Big*. I would faint if I saw that in real life.

The handful of you that have read through my survey blog and know I can't do bloody scenes in shows any more are going wtf, but it's ok, I'm immune to this one because I watched it so many times back when it was new. And I want to congratulate you, you've made it through the sickest part, and everything else from here out is a piece of cake. I could be lying. But maybe I'm not. Or I might be. It's hard to tell.

I just can't imagine what the crap any of this might have to do with Stanley Tweedle...

If you are getting interested and I'm moving too slowly, The cult sci-fi series LEXX comes home - Dallas TV | Examiner.com says All four seasons are now available through Echo Bridge Entertainment. For more information head over to https://www.echobridgeentertainment.com I'm not being paid to link that, I just love this show.

(Ignore this part, this is pre-server migration.) I'm sorry if the like button is posting over as generic Xanga instead of this post, Facebook's platform updates have recently gone through some changes, and I'm still wrangling with it, but I'm taking a break and I'll work on it later. If you want to link this to your facebook, manually input this post address directly into your facebook status and you'll get it. Sorry for the inconvenience. Ok, that's pulling through only the generic Xanga, too.
Like Buttons and Stories to the Right Audience
We're updating the way you restrict the audience for the Like button, as part of the Like Button Migration, and resulting stories to give you more control. Going forward, in order to limit the distribution of age gating stories to people in the appropriate country or age group, you must include a metatag on your URLs indicating the restriction. Please review our documentation on how to do this. For more details, see the blog post where we announced this breaking change. -"Facebook developers will have the option of testing this migration before it takes effect permanently on November 7, 2012 for all Like Button social plugins." Yes, that is today, and since I age restrict my Lexx posts to basic guidance, that seems to break my internal Xanga like button or something and I have to make my own. That or all the major web hosts will update their facebook platforms and it will all magically get fixed.

This is part 6.
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**Pinky** · 01-26-2019, 06:33 AM

part 7- termination

Originally posted 11-25-12. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

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One more little film study before the rest starts exploding into its legendary sex and violence, which, if you aren�t yet familiar with the Lexx movies and series, is intro�d nicely with an interview at Part 1 � Dark Zone Adventures. Remember how in part 4 I was a little obsessed with all the shadows they created with their lighting and how that played so nicely into His Divine Shadow�s theme? This time, if you�ve got the dvd and can watch this, the shadows and weird lighting with the background sounds brainwash you right onto the Cluster.

Yeah, I got 97 screen shots for this one. Because I love Stanley Tweedle. Because I�ve felt just as sick to my stomach as that character has, and I�ll bet some of you have, too. We may not have been told what he was told, but it may have been terrible for ~us~. And we can see in his face how incredibly awful his day is getting. And we know how it must feel�.

As you recall from part 3, Stanley is in very bad trouble and has to report to Correction Center Number 40 after shift change. He�s already been demoted to the lowest class (4th) and has accrued 991 demerits. Our scene opens in a hallway with the correction center just ahead. And here our journey with Stanley Tweedle truly begins. That hallway is so cast in shadow that much of Stanley�s walk is through dark patches, and ominous shadows are splashed across the floors and walls. As he walks we hear the play of odd chimes and soft gongs (the sounds of time, as it were), footsteps of people crisscrossing without talking, the gears of little mechanical servos buzzing around. It all looks like mechanical interplay, like the whole building is a big wind up mechanism running on a preprogrammed schedule. In the center is a looming desk, and over it an illuminated clock. The scene is clockwork in every sense, like a living piece of artwork. And more subtly you hear the screams of agony coming from somewhere close by, almost like music mixed in with the chimes. There is no escape.

Stan approaches the desk run by a busy looking Class 2 Data Clerk (you can tell by their hats what class they are) and says, �I was supposed to escort a prisoner here, Stanley Tweedle 467329 dash four-three department five-one-one level four.� �Yeah?� The clerk just looks at him. Stan starts again- �He is refusing to turn himself in.� �Yeah?� �I thought that if you told me what his punishment would be for not showing up, that might help persuade him.� �Oh, eh. Give me that number again?� �467329 dash four-three department five-one-one level four?�

Anyone else catch that? One of the numbers is transposed from part 2, when we got this, in case you keep track of bloopers.

�Good morning. Security Guard Class 4, number 47632943, Department 511, Level 4. This is your third wake up call. If you are late, you will receive 7 demerits. You already have 991 demerits.�

Ok, so the clerk is typing away, stops, snickers. �If he�s not here when we close at watch change, termination order will be issued automatically.� Smiles. Seems like a friendly guy, helpful. You can see in Stanley�s eyes he wasn�t expecting to hear a *termination* order. The clerk goes on- �It�s about, uh, 20 minutes.� There�s that smile again.

�Termination???� This is unbelievable. �That�s what it says, termination.� Again with that smile. You get the feeling that anything is fine as long as it doesn�t affect him. The chimes in the background don�t change, but in the mind they start sounding like death knells.

Stanley blurts in shock. �But he�s a Designated Data Cooperator, he can�t be terminated because he might be needed someday for important information!� He looks and sounds terrified. He was riding along for years on this one fact.

�DDC, eh?� You can tell this man enjoys his job. I couldn�t help getting almost frame by frame on his demeanor. �Oh, sorry. That expired five months ago.� Stan is stunned to get this news flash.

The clerk keeps going. �Let�s see, he�s a Level 4, Class 47 Transgression, normally -zzzt- cauterization.� Yes, he actually added his own sound effect. Stan looks like he could live with that. �But, he�s got 991 demerits and there�s a special notation, so it looks like- one to three organs.� Delivered with a smile.

�One to three organs???� Stan�s shadow lurches up the side of the desk in all directions.

The clerk says, �Yeah. He�ll have to donate one to three organs, depending on demand.� �Demand?� �Demand for soft organs is red hot right now, so he�s pretty well sure to be a triple donor.� �But he didn�t even do anything, it�s just a mixup!� Stan is barely holding back his panic. The background screams become more noticeable here, and the clerk says with his biggest grin yet, �Life�s a mixup.� Smile, chuckle, laugh. This guy thinks he�s a riot. He probably hasn�t had a conversation this long in awhile. And he�s not getting involved in this one with a 30 foot pole. If he has a clue Stanley is really talking about himself, he�s not showing it.

But Stan doesn�t crumble. Even in the face of immediate death and dismemberment, his mind is struggling for a way to deal with this, and to keep acting cool about it. �What organs?� �Usual combo�

�eyeball, kidney, testicle.� Another big smile.

Stan looks pretty sick.

�If they want bone they�ll take an arm or a leg, but we haven�t done a limb cut in days.� There�s that smile again. So reassuring. �I�d suggest he turn himself in. After all, triple organ�s better than a termination, huh?� Almost got a wink there.

Stan makes a flimsy attempt to heh heh back and fails. He just looks sick, there is no way out of this. �May His Merciful Shadow fall upon you,� he tries to say but winds up in a whisper, and he can�t make his arm go through the salute. The clerk is already typing away, but glances up long enough to give Stan another winning smile, a quickie salute, and looks back down again at his monitor as he grunts out a mangled, �Yeah�, which feels like �Yeah that bogus stuff, I hear ya, but I�m busy, see ya.� Stan is just another dead man talking to him in that hollow place, and there is no way he�s going to let that dampen his good mood, which is probably even better now that he feels safer on his side of the desk.

Stan turns and exits dejectedly back out of the correction center, same angle, same shadows, same clockwork going on around him, his horrible moment swallowed up in bureaucracy. I think the glowing clock above their heads and the soft chimes still going on in the background along with the muffled screams and the barred shadows along the floor near the sickly dull red lighting makes a perfect picture for what must be going on in Stanley�s head and chest about now. He kicks a servo going by, which flies into pieces, and the person nearest him jumps nearly out of his skin as if nothing that violent ever happens in that place. Or perhaps, because they all tiptoe around the constant violence ripping people apart in the next room. Stan walks into the blackness all alone in a giant crowded trap�

And isn�t this the ultimate nightmare that bureaucracy is, a mockery of humans being� (I�m a Van Halen fan, that�s a cool song. No, they had nothing to do with Lexx.)

I love the acting in this scene. You can find out more about the Correction Center Guard, played by Bill Carr, at Bill Carr � IMDb, and follow him on Twitter. And you can find the �real� Stanley H. Tweedle at Brian Downey�s facebook.

Am I Lexxing too slowly? Order it for yourself from Echo Bridge Entertainment- Lexx

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**Pinky** · 01-26-2019, 06:36 AM

part 8- Zev Bellringer

Originally posted 12-1-12. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

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While Stanley Tweedle is going through a nasty Cluster parody of Theatre of the Absurd, his female counterpart in this story is about to be, well, let�s find out. We rejoin her in the judicial chamber, where she�s just witnessed Argon Protopi being gutted and brained for useful components and the protein bank. Argon�s screams are barely over when her slab moves forward into position and her hologram advocate begins. �My client- (inserted voice here) Zev Bellringer of B3K- is innocent of the charge of- (pause for glitch)- failing to perform her wifely duties and humiliating her husband in the temple, and throws herself on the mercy of this court, secure in the knowledge that His Shadow�s wisdom will prevail upon these proceedings.�

I can�t keep from wondering how many hours now she�s been bolted to this slab. I try to imagine having to stand like that on those tiny footholds and never getting to put your arms down or go to the bathroom, and how terribly hungry you�d get. But we also don�t know other stuff, like the smells around her- old metal and electronics, stale air perhaps, lots and lots of death� I can imagine this part of the building smelling like a slaughter house. I encourage Lexx fans to visit slaughter houses to really get that sensation of how awful being a prisoner is on the Cluster, and to realize that these experiences are at the heart of any kind of meaning behind the rest of the movies and series. For fans who don�t �get� the different seasons, you have to remember THIS is what shapes the minds and actions of our core four. What is the meaning of existence, where do you find it, and how do you know?

Like Argon before her, an assembly clamps to Zev�s head while a robot activates the automated memory software. �Memory search commencing.� You may notice this is 790′s voice now if you�ve seen any of the Lexx movies or series before.

I don�t know about you guys, but the idea of having my head clamped into place just sux, and I bet having the holojudge staring at her like this sucked for Zev, too.

Imagine this thing jabbing into your head for a memory search.

Like Argon, it looks like it about made her sick, but it starts working instantly, and the screen shows the search flitting through several memories. There were more, but dang hard to get on screen grabs.

Kinda curious about those bars� We find out what that�s all about in season 2.

The screen settles on a memory, focuses a little, we see a boy and people in the background, and apparently Zev is the one saying, �You are my every dream come true� in a pretty, cultured voice.

The boy steps forward with a you�ve gotta be kidding me look, then turns and angrily screams, �There must be a mistake! There�s no way I can marry that COW!�

As we hear a shocked, possibly terrified, and definitely confused �Husband! I shall serve� I shall love��, we see Zev rolling her eyes at the memory, obviously well aware of how screwing up this badly canceled out how demeaning the whole experience was. Ridiculous is a word that hardly begins to describe it. She�s on trial, and death can be its only outcome�

I can�t help interjecting here that the boy�s parents, as I assume them to be, are so intriguing that I had to go back and really look at them frame by frame as this all went down in the temple. We�re already getting the strong hint that women are about as 3rd class as it gets in this societal structure, and the boy�s mother is as passive as a cow in a sunny pasture herself, evidently so brainwashed into the expected behaviors of the system that she barely reacts at all to Zev�s appearance or her son�s anger. I mean, I almost feel like she is on a crapload of xanax or something. Likewise, the boy�s father doesn�t seem very perturbed beyond mild surprise, either, and as I watch the background behind them, I see another robot as part of the �wedding party�, as it were. This temple they�re in leaves a LOT of questions open and hanging.

Ok, here comes the good part. Watch the parents� faces as the boy turns and screams again, �She makes me want to throw up! Get her out of here!�

Go Zev!!! ~Poor~ Zev, omg, she�s about to be executed just for having a perfectly normal healthy reaction to being treated badly. �Memory search complete.� The clamp lets go of her head. She knows what�s coming next.

�You- Zev Bellringer of B3K- have been found guilty of failing to perform your wifely duties and humiliating your husband in the temple.� I feel awful for her, I imagine the pain in her head from being jabbed with that probe must really suck on top of hearing this.

�You are hereby sentenced to be transformed into a love slave and to be given to Seminary 166145 to be used for their pleasure, may His Shadow fall upon you.� Whaaaa???

How old is this hologram program, anyway? I�m asking because I am noticing the lines across the judge�s image, like something in the electronics or software is worn out. Kinda creepy thinking that the guy used as the model for this program might be long since dead himself. The rail clangs over to a different track than the one Argon�s slab followed, and Zev�s slab moves forward toward another room as her defense advocate stands there smiling at her, frozen in place.

A robot walks along with the slab as she cries out, �Oh, please! Put me out of my misery! I volunteer for the protein bank!�

�I don�t want to live this terrible life anymore!�

And her slab follows the robot into the next room.

So, there is punishment worse than death, such as being reprogrammed to serve those who would continue to mistreat you, or even to live on in pieces and parts in things like robotic drones. I wonder how many of these �trials� this robot has assisted with. Would you care if your body was forced to live on without your head? I think it would be creepy to have other people�s bodies walking around without their original heads, but I think everyone in the League of 20,000 is so used to it they don�t even think about it any more.

Zev�s trial makes me think a *lot* about not only the penal system on the Cluster, but the rigid societal control His Shadow must have throughout the League of 20,000 Planets. You slip up even just a little bit, that�s all the excuse they need to whisk you away and repurpose you. I think the whole gender class structure is just a cover for something far more menacing. If you can brainwash people to follow preset ruts without allowing them to think outside the lines, and then reinforce it with instant retribution in the form of immediate and absolute removal from society, never to be seen or heard from again, you wind up with a lot of people toeing the line and living in denial just to survive. Thinking about it only makes you miserable, saying something about it probably gets you killed sooner or later.

Trapped by high tech in low culture. His Shadow is a genius. Humans are so easy�

Original Zev Bellringer is played by Lisa Hynes � IMDb, but is credited in I Worship His Shadow as Lisa Hines.

Am I Lexxing too slowly? Order it for yourself from Echo Bridge Entertainment- Lexx

This is part 8.
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**Pinky** · 01-26-2019, 07:12 AM

part 9- Thodin

Originally posted 1-10-13. Navigation links go back to the original blog.

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Thodin is revered in our household. I once had a blog named Thodin. My oldest daughter named her first car Thodin. Aside from breaking out into the Dammit Janet song whenever we see Barry Bostwick, we Hail Thodin, winner of His Shadow�s Award Of Merit�

We first saw this little bug coach on the prisoner transport in part 2.

�It�s your day of justice, Thodin!�

Remember how I was wondering how long Zev had been bolted to her slab? Yeah, this guy has been sitting in this tiny little bug thing just as long, or even longer, who knows. This little bug style prisoner chariot (so love the symbolism, a human inside a bug, like he�s been eaten) is remote walked to the holo judge, essentially taking cuts in front of the blue person who was behind Zev. Please note that the bug coach is bolted to a drop chain before anything is even said.

�You- Thodin of the Ostral B Pair- are accused of- � (new voice cuts in while her hologram freezes)- �Due to the special nature of this crime, the arch heretic Thodin of the Ostral B Pair will be tried in Cobalt Stadium. Following that, his sentence will be immediately executed for the entertainment of His Shadow�s loyal followers.�

Ok, gotta cut in already. First of all, the fill in the blank part is HER voice, unlike the previous prisoners� names being filled in by a different voice, leading me to wonder if the people originally acting the parts of the other court officials for the holorecorder were even still alive. So this judge is either still ~alive~, or they had her record this particular prisoner�s name for a special reason, maybe both.

At this point, the bug coach is whisked straight up to the stadium.

As Thodin is being delivered to Cobalt Stadium full of screaming people, Zev is being delivered to an empty room full of more machinery.

Without warning, her slab brakes to a lurching stop, jerking poor exhausted Zev really hard like a rag doll.

Her robot escort steps around to the other side of the machine a little out of view, and without a word starts working. There are no explanations, no soothing words of comfort, just the robot throwing switches, turning knobs, and pressing buttons with their accompanying unnerving noises, and it locks her slab into position. The prisoner is beyond any more personalized courtesies, however mockishly cruel they were before. Her status on the Cluster as prisoner has officially been reduced to object. She�s no longer a citizen of the Cluster, now she is property of the Cluster.

Again without warning, Zev�s slab flips back to a horiztonal position.

She has time for one surprised gasp before a screen slides over to her face and a Divine Cleric pronounces, �In the execution of this sentence you are hereby cleansed of your crime against the People of 20,000 Planets, may His Merciful Shadow fall upon you.� What do you say at this point? Zev says, �Whatever.� Like it really matters any more, unless a person is still so enthralled with a belief in His Shadow even now that they might ridiculously feel some relief that they are forgiven, even in the face of more torture.

Meanwhile- panning into Cobalt Stadium, we can see that it is huge, not only many stories off the ground, but a further number of stories high in its construction. It is like an evil crown over the Cluster below, filled to bursting with perhaps as many as a hundred thousand bloodthirsty fans screaming for more entertainment and cheering on the executions.

As the prisoner�s bug coach is lowered onto the platform, the holo judge towers in giant form over it and calls out, �The arch heretic, pirate, and rebel of the Ostral-B Pair, Thodin!� while the crowd goes wild yelling, �Tho-din! Tho-din!�

The bug coach opens by remote, and we finally see Thodin, cuffed to inner walls that look like the coach is crafted from a genuine bug exoskeleton. The first thing we see are some awesome boots that mean business, and after that an odd warrior outfit that can only be Ostral B culture. We never get anything else on that, but we get a better look later. Thodin seems pretty calm despite being surrounded by a stadium full of people screaming for his execution and uncomfortably near cluster lizards banging and rattling their cage bars, hissing spit and fighting over the chance to get at him. Their high pitched screamy squeals whip the crowd into a frenzy.

(Coolest Barry Bostwick role ~ever~.)

(The Cluster version of Judge Judy�)

Whoever this Thodin is, he looks pretty tough, isn�t getting rattled at all. Is he this accepting of his death? Is he going to explode in furious retorts? There is no way this guy has a snowball�s chance in hell.

I�m an MST3K fan, I eat cheesy stuff up, but Cluster lizards are awesome badass, the live action feel is top quality, these things are ~alive~, and gunning for Thodin. I bet they stink to high heaven, too.

So what�s he doing, going into a meditation while they violently fling themselves at him?

Heck, no! Thodin has a plan! What the hell�.?

How maddening must it have been to sit there and let a mechanoid bug crawl out of his nose? And how long did it sit in his skull? Before he was ever even caught and cuffed into the bug coach he had that little thing sitting inside his head.

As it flies clear, the bug says, �Bug bomb activated. Bug bomb searching, Thodin.� See, there it is right above his head, looking like one of those remote control helicopters you get for Christmas, only teeny tiny. (And that was in his head.)

I don�t know about you guys, but my interest in and respect for Thodin just shot up a thousand points. How COOL is it that this guy smuggled a ~bug bomb~ into a stadium full of screaming people and cluster lizards through all that security right under His Divine Shadow�s nose? THIS GUY HAS A PLAN. Hot and sexy just got hotter and sexier. The fact that he has no pants isn�t even why I said that.

So the screaming is going on, no one seems to notice a teensy little bug droid taking off out of Thodin�s face, and we start getting the bug bomb activity relay that Thodin must also be hearing, because it talks to him by name. We don�t know if the relay is going to something implanted in Thodin�s ear or brain or what, but after the stuff we�ve seen happen to prisoners in the judicial tower, are we surprised? The level of tech His Shadow uses gets so buried in barbaric, dare I say macabre looking machinery and behavior that I�m not sure anything else would surprise me from here on out. Bug tech is obviously far above average human capacity, as is the barbaric nature of the society built around it.

�Bug bomb searching, Thodin. Turning left.�

That robot is different from the previous 790 robots we�ve seen that escort and execute prisoners. 790 robots are still mostly human with robot heads replacing the original heads, but this one is much more mechanoid and later we see is used more for policing duties. We never find out what they are called, and unless someone can link me to a script scan, I�m not sure they were named. You can see this one has human hands, but everything else about its former human body has been adapted to biomechanoid. It could be a human in a special geared up suit, you say, and I say just wait, you see they�re pretty stupid later on like their brains have been wiped or replaced.

If this isn�t lending itself to a really good question forming in your mind about now, I�ll ask it for you- if this is such a bug oriented society, with the leader exhibiting a hive like predispositioned mind, and everything in charge seems to be decapitated or deconstructed humans, why aren�t bugs just running the place? That is a really good question. Hang onto it.

Thodin�s little bug bomb seems to be looking for a very specific target�

Back in Cobalt Stadium, the sentencing is gearing up. A couple of gigantic screens pop up for His Divine Shadow�s loyal followers� entertainment. Gotta be able to see every grisley detail, right? I mean, who knows how far these people traveled and at what expense to sit in this very special arena on this day? It�s not like they paid for football tickets on the internet, their society doesn�t work like that. I have a feeling this is an invitation only kind of thing in the League of 20,000 Planets. What the heck is the guy displayed on the right side screen doing�

Whatever he�s doing, it�s driving the cluster lizards into a crazy, frothy frenzy, not to mention the spectators. Hold on a second, egads, he�s pulling a fresh brain out of a newly stripped skull, no doubt off a pile of brains and skulls just delivered from the judicial tower. Wonder if Argon Protopi�s head wound up on this pile. As fast as things have been moving along in the executions, I wouldn�t be surprised at all if this is actually Argon�s brain we�re seeing.

And not to put too light a point on how savagely bloodthirsty this crowd is, it looks like a fun family night out� Look at those cute little uniforms and those happy smiling faces!

..and the nice man holding up a fresh brain for the cluster lizards�.

If this were a regular formula movie, the bug bomb would find the target and Thodin would escape against all odds and save the day before the next hour is up. But this isn�t happening on our planet for an earth audience. This is happening in another universe in a society maliciously molded by a bug overlord of some kind, where little kids gleefully scream for death, because seeing cluster lizards eating the brains of heretics is ~fun~. Stayed tuned, I have already started work on the next part, because I know the suspense of this super slow posting is nearly killing some of you.

Do you like Thodin? See more about Barry Bostwick � IMDb.

Due to what seem like haphazard marketing strategies, there is at least one release for a particular year and region that leaves the bug bomb activity relay off the soundtrack. You�re going to run into this kind of unmatchy stuff in Lexx, which I believe in the long run makes Lexx more collectible. Whoever can collect all the different releases with all the different edits ~wins~. I own the complete original Salter Street release for Region 1, which will reflect in all my Lexx film study posts. If you own other versions and want to compare notes, have a ball in the comments.

This is part 9.
Go back to part 8.
Go on to part 10. (Continue to part 10 on this blog.)
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iTunes � TV Shows � Lexx, Season 1
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Amazon.com: lexx: Movies & TV

**Pinky** · 01-26-2019, 07:16 AM

part 10- the bug bomb

Originally posted 3-13-14. Navigation links will go back to the original blog.

This is part 10.
Go back to part 9.
Go on to part 11. (coming soon)
Return to The Lexx.
Go to main blog.

Images from photobucket.com/lexxpix. Thumbnails click to original size.

Pretend a year didn�t just go by since we left a crowd of bloodthirsty fans screaming for Thodin�s death, and before that we left Xev trapped in a lusticon, and before that we left Stanley Tweedle freaking out about a termination order. We�re right on the cusp now of what else can happen???

Stanley Tweedle is writhing in agony over a horrible conundrum- one to three organs when he reports to the corrections center versus termination if he doesn�t turn himself in. General guess, he probably had about 20 minutes left on the clock and has been wandering around since then trying to make up his mind what to do. Escape is out of the question, being in the heart of His Divine Shadow�s League of 20,000 Planets on the Cluster itself, trapped in a judiciary structure to make all your worst nightmares look like rainbow colored kittens. I wonder what that screen with a face on it is for.

If you think about it, this 20 minutes is probably the very last of any kind of freedom Stanley Tweedle will ever know again. While he�s walking around in between places, still fully corporeally intact, no one is bothering him or bossing him around, and when he pauses to think to himself, no one questions him or gives him trouble. That big robot looks pretty innocuous. Remember that when we see it again.

In this moment with the distant chime marking the quiet passing of time in this in between place, we get an almost beautiful view of the Cluster far below while Stanley wrestles with the hardest choice he�s ever made in his life. �One to three organs?�

�Better than termination!� Quiet thoughtful time is suddenly over, now it�s panic time, and Stanley realizes he�s got seconds left to report in before he gets stuck with termination. He turns immediately and starts running.

That�s the correction center he needs to get to down that hallway. Look very closely. We hear the bug bomb report in, �Bug bomb searching�� as it zips through that gateway. Watch the green dot, like a teeny tiny remote controlled helicopter buzzing around. Remember, you can click on thumbnails to see them better.

Stan is running really fast, jumping over and dodging zippy little robot servos on their little carts. I can�t help thinking how the shadow patterns on the floor look like he�s in prison wherever he goes. It even looks like his own shadow is trying to get away.

With all that jumping and dodging and utter panic rising up, the last thing Stanley needs is a teensy airborne mechanoid buzzing around crashing into his face and slowing him down.

Uh oh�

UH OH. Yeah, Thodin is hearing all this on his relay.

�Bug bomb� malfunction�� Definitely one of those �Oh crap� moments. He�s still bolted to that little bug carrier in the middle of Cobalt Stadium with a hundred thousand bloodthirsty fans screaming for his brain to be fed to cluster lizards.

Here�s the holo-judge talking again. �Thodin of the Ostral-B Pair is accused of heresy in the first degree..�

��of 26 counts of piracy�� Despite the danger and the bug bomb malfunction, Thodin seems to be enjoying his sentencing.

��of influencing the minds of the People�� The cluster lizards are getting crankier.

��of questioning His Shadow�s truth and wisdom��

��of destroying 231 military vessels loyal to His Shadow��

That�s turning into quite a list. Starting to wonder just what all Thodin has really done, who he really is, and what in the world kind of outfit that is and do all the heretics wear them?

Meanwhile, the clock is counting down and Stanley Tweedle is running for dear life.

Automated voice- �This correction center is now closed.� The gate was automated, as well.

Alas, Stan is too late.

�It�s me!�

�I�m here!�

But of course, it�s truly too late.

There is no one around to hear him.

The bug bomb malfunctioned and Stanley is too late, looks like this story is almost over�

Thodin was played by Barry Bostwick, Stanley Tweedle was played by Brian Downey. You can find Lexx at Amazon, and check Lexx on Yidio to see where it�s still currently being broadcast.

I made this last year, you can use it if you want.

This is part 10.
Go back to part 9.
Go on to part 11. (coming soon)
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