Doing Lunch in the Dark Zone - the Next Course.....

       Welcome back! Well, it's been a while since our lives (well, our screens, anyway!) were enlivened by the renegade crew of the Lexx - but now they're back.......
       My Analyses will be found in the usual place (Series 2) - and I'll post your own comments on these pages. Please don't hesitate to email with your ideas, objections or insights!!

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Strung Out (Canada)
       Hey hey! Finally, someone else who wasn't amazed by Mantrid. Everyone else I've talked to has been like, "that was the best show ever". But I don't quite agree with them. I think the series is too different from the mini-series. There's just something about it. And what's with Zev? She's totally different. Like you said in your analysis, what's up with her offering sex to Stan? I know that she's just trying to stall him - but it's not like she couldn't have just given a growl and told him they weren't turning back. When she was trying to convince him in 4.0 she had a different approach. She never even tried that, even though she had almost given up hope it seemed. Actually, I'd say that the scene where she was trying to convince him in 4.0 was the best I've ever seen Eva. There doesn't seem to be much desperation at all with her in 2.1. (Oh yeah, I think her best line in the whole Lexx saga was after she attacked Stan in the shower and yelled "We are going back!" Now that was convincing (in my opinion, anyway). Oh, and what you said about Kai not seeming as powerful in the series - I suspected him to not be as tough as he seems all the way back in 1.0 when Thodin gives him the beats. He really got him good. Speaking of Thodin, I'd say Zev's best expression in Lexx was after Thodin kisses her. Now that was an expression!!

       I agree that the series is probably going to be a lot different to the pilots - the cast and crew have much less time (and probably money) to spend on each episode. I think we'll have to see how things develop. And as for Zev's expression after Thodin kisses her - I found it hilarious! That had to be one of the dopiest expressions I've ever seen!!

Jus2Puss: (?)
       agree, the episode lacked something but I intend to give it time, it was a set up for future situations after all. Stan certainly is developing as a character: he is turning into an everyman hero, which is nice, perhaps he will be worthy of Zev. I liked Zev's sexual offer, her look to the screen before she started meant she was playing for time, it was funny and erotic, a high point in the episode for her. Kai looked particularly gorgeous with Shadow eyes. Has anyone commented about his similarity to Edward Scissorhands? (Both costume and fate wise) Just a thought....

       Thanks! I knew that costume reminded me of something, but I simply couldn't place it! It's a very interesting idea, and there are similarities...... Anyone else like to comment on /explore this idea?

[See also Scissorhands] [On Terminal - Jus2Puss:]
       Can't agree with your downer on this one. I loved this episode, from start to finish.
       Homage? was it that film with Jeremy Irons playing twins doing horrible things to women with nasty instruments?? can't rememember the title. The surgical instruments looked very reminiscent of those in that film.
       I found Kais' acceptance of Zev wanting to be 'alone' (sex with the dashing but dreadful doctor) really touching, now that is real love - from the dead man.

       Hmm - I think the film is Dead Ringers. I'm afraid I still can't see Kai's acceptance as "love", though - more a "I'm dead, have no feelings, and therefore couldn't care less....." It's all a matter of individual perception, I guess. Anyone have any other ideas?

Belladonna, Oxford, UK:-
       .... One thing that caught my attention [in Lexxplorations, Taking Tea etc] - all the debate about His Shadow's cloak.... It seems to me that the insect essence has a certain amount of telekinetic ability, (or at least that's the impression I got from Giga Shadow when Kai's crawling round its brain and later when its invading the Lexx and blowing up DP brains) which makes sense as it is pure mind, in a way. So I guess what its does when it creates the cloak is create a sort of kinetic projection. I mean a little effort to create a tactile surface and bend the light a bit to make it look black and voila, one HS cloak. It probably does it to make a visible statement that this is THE Divine Shadow, sort of "bow down all you lowly worker ants for I am your Master" etc. Also I bet makes it hard to tell if there are more than one Divine Shadow (say, like the Phantom) - they all wear the same costume, so everyone reckons its the same guy. Immortal. Good way to keep people in line. Or it could have been a way for it to hide from people who might have recognised it eg. the Brunnen-G.
       Anyway, the cloak's probably a lot of effort to maintain, which is why you get it on HS but not Kai or Yottskry. The people who become HS's have been 'emptied' so there's nothing in them except insect essence. Yottskry's still got his own mind so it has to spend its energy overcoming that, not waste it on fashion accessories that it doesn't need anymore anyway. And with Kai it'd be downright suicidal if it did dress him up like that - the swirly eyes are bad enough....
       Well that's my theory......

       It's a good one, especially the point about HS seeming to be immortal. It certainly adds an (additional) supernatural element to the Divine Order - and there's no indication that anyone other than the Clerics (and possibly the Assassins) know anything about the Divine Predecessors (as far as I can remember, anyway). And I agree with you that if your theory is correct, the essence would be too busy trying to take over Yottskry to waste energy on creating the cloak. (Since it's now been established, in series 2, that Kai is no longer protein based and his mind doesn't function like a living humans, I'd assume it would be just about impossible for the essence to 'use' him, other than as a carrier. Although the thought of the essence becoming suicidal if it tried conjures up same bizarre images!!)
       Has anyone noticed that HDS and the Emperor in Star Wars look very similar, by the way? Or is the all-enveloping black cloak standard daywear for all evil rulers?

Belladonna:-
       Actually, no, I hadn't noticed the similarity between HS's wardrobe and The Emperors in Star Wars but, gosh, you're right. Just attach a few ruffles to make it look more like a woodlouse and its the dead ringer for His Shadow's. Mind you, maybe they both use it to cover the eeeyeuch! factor: the emperor's not in the best of shape and both His shadows had a certain ickiness about them. The dead His Shadows in Twilight do put me in mind of the Emperor, come to think about it.
       (speaking of lookalikes have you noticed that in Flash Gordon, somewhere near where hawk city get blown up, there's a ship that bears a REMARKABLE resemblance to the Lexx???)

Flare:-
       As luck would have it, Flash Gordon was on the Sci-Fi Channel the night I received your email! And you're quite right - it does!

Belladonna:-
       Other points. I just have to say something about the inorganic/decarbonised thing. Actually it'd probably be quite easy to remove all the carbon from Kai, it happens to fossils all the time and Kai's something of a dinosaur isn't he? (Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said that!)

[Why not? It's true!]
       Anyway now I've started may as well continue. You see all that happens it that water dissolves minerals from whatever's died and replaces them with others that have already been dissolved in it. Often silicon. All you'd have to do is speed it up. Of course you'd lose a lot of the detail and fine structure but seeing as he's dead and the protoblood does most of the work I can't see that it matters.
       But to be honest I'm not convinced about this entire thing. I mean, those guns seem to have no trouble going through other inorganic objects. Maybe its Kai's self-healing that takes care of it all and Thodin and the other were just trying to come up with an explanation as to why their guns weren't working. Which makes the debate a bit of a waste of time.

Flare:-
       Apparently, the guns (I understand they're called blackpacks - or maybe blacpacs, I'm not certain of the spelling...) were designed not to have any effect on silicon, which is the primary constituent of the Insect Civilisation - and also their assassins. As Windlily and Newkate have pointed out, it makes sense to have your own troops immune to your own side's weapons...

Belladonna:-
       Ok I think I'd better stop now before the shadow assassins get called out on me. How about this for a peace offering, though. I read that it might be that, gulp, Kai doesn't (as Xev would put it) have the equipment. Shock, Horror, I couldn't check it for myself (when are those videos going to be released!) but on watching the second season I think I can breath again. After all in Love Grows Kai says that his sexual organ hasn't functioned in 2000 years which kind of implies that he has one. And I can't see Xev going through that if he didn't. And as for using it well, Kai might not need to breath but his lungs must be able to work or else he wouldn't be able to talk, so there's no reason why his sexual organ couldn't work. He just needs the right motivation.

Flare [grinning evilly]:-
       Ah, but if he didn't have one, then obviously it couldn't function! And as for him needing lungs to talk - in LaffTrak (and in Eating Pattern) his head is completely detached from his body, and hence his lungs, yet he is still able to talk...

Brigadoom

Belladonna:-
       I've just seen Brigadoom -it was more than worth the wait. I loved it!! I agree its not the best Lexx ever but its going to be my favourite. Maybe just because I've always been a sucker for musicals.
       I've got one major complaint though. A good way to die? A GOOD way to die? Maybe things are different in the light universe but having my memories stolen, then being used an undead assassin for two thousand years is never going to be on my top ten list! Ye gods, though what a character Kai is, you go through all that and you're still willing to die for your people? And how could he possibly be willing to accept Stan's trial after the injustice of his own?

Flare:-
       Hmmm.... I have to admit that angle (Stan's trial) hadn't occurred to me, but you're quite right. And yes, Kai definitely comes across as a real hero.

Belladonna:-
       When I first heard this was going to be Kai's story I did have some slight thought (or was it hope?) that there'd be some kind of disaster in it, not that I'm complaining at what I got, but he does sometimes seem to be a bit too perfect. Then again he did seem to get in a bit of a dogs dinner with his girlfriend. I can see that he'd not want to advertise that he was breaking the shields but not to tell her that he leaving until the day he did? And was she oldborn or newborn? It was hard to tell but I got the feeling she was older, but in that case how much?
       Actually I don't understand why there was so little difference between the female newborn and old when there was so much between the men. Were women more constrained in Brunnen G society? And just how dualistic was it?

Flare:-
       This is one of those things I'd hoped we were going to find out in the series (but didn't, to my intense irritation). And there's a contradiction, too: I'm sure all the pilots in the battle for Brunnis 2 - at the beginning of IWHS - were male (or dressed in male attire, anyway) while a couple in the play were female (OK, one of those was Xev changing his lover's role, but it's still a valid comment...) So we're no wiser...

Belladonna:-
       It makes sense that there'd be few young people - if you're going to live forever you need some kind of population control - but if it was one born for everyone that died then there should be a gradual strata of ages and I didn't get the impression that there was. It appeared to be a lot of oldborns all much the same age and a few newborns, again much the same age. Maybe they waited a thousand years or so, counted up the number of dead and had a bunch of kids en masse.

[It may just have seemed that way for the purposes of the play...]
       There probably wouldn't have been that many dead anyway; as you said they'd likely be able to heal up most injuries and illnesses, and after a thousand years or so you've probably run out of crimes of passion, and money didn't seem to be much of an issue. However I can see why they'd be scared of doing anything no matter how good their doctoring was: after all you can break your neck walking down the street. If you're obsessed with living you might start avoiding things, just in case. I can really see them wanting to die, though, when they thought they didn't have a chance, the Brunnen G seem to do everything to extremes.
       Now, what was the shield? An energy barrier of some kind? A physical barrier? Whatever it was it seems to have blocked out all view of the outside cosmos as Kai and the others could only tell what was going on when it developed weak points (I have this mental image of them all clustering round going "my turn to see. My turn!"). So therefore it must have blocked out everything, including light. Logically it couldn't have blocked their own suns light so either it was made to let their suns in and everything else out (though I don't see how that could be) or they'd have to build it to include the sun which means this shield would have to be as big as the planets orbit! Somehow that doesn't strike me as likely either. And just how does Kai breach it anyway. Were the gaps big enough for him to fly a ship through? Did he bash a hole in it? Ram a weak spot and hope for the best?

Flare:-
       Difficult one. Considering that they once had the technology to defeat the Insect Civilisation, construct stabilisers to keep their sun stable (SuperNova and The Brunnen-G), and later pass through the Fractal Core and bring their entire civilisation to safety, either could work. The former is more likely (and probably more energy efficient, a bit like putting polarised shades - the wrong was round - in orbit!).

Belladonna:-
       I have to disagree with you about the time prophet though. There's no evidence that she lived anywhere near Kai's planet. I think all those comments about the 'moon' were simply that it was a small planet. It could have been anywhere.

Flare:-
       Nope - I'm sticking with my nearby moon/different continuum idea. Remember, by this time the Brunnen-G had lost practically all of their spaceflight capabilities (Kai's crew had to salvage their vehicles from a museum). It would simply have to be near Brunnis 2. Unless that scene in the play was purely allegorical. However....

Belladonna:-
       Kai must have had a lot of courage though, I mean he'd lived all his life on one planet and then he had to fly god knows how far across the universe. (I get nervous enough in a train station). I wonder if his hair and clothes got him stared at?

[I wonder if this would explain the doctors' comments in Terminal?]
       Also whether she was living near or not the TP must have survived as His Shadow went to visit her after Brunnis 2 had been blown up. (So why didn't the Lexx crew visit her and see if there was anything they could do about Mantrid?)
[Good question!!]
       Also I'm not sure if the Insect Wars were in the Dark Zone.
[Sorry, but Brigadoom says they definitely were...]
       The Time Prophet seems to be based in the light but she got plenty of visitors from old Brunnis. So I'd say the Brunnen-G knew how to get into the light universe, met the insects there, defeated them then decided to go there after Brunnis began dying, maybe hoping for a warm reception. After all it wouldn't make sense for them to try and colonise a universe they'd never been in before. (Then again, this is the Brunnen-G: perhaps a voyage into the unknown appealed!)

Flare:-
       I still think the Time Prophet actually exists in a separate time/space continuum. Anyone seems to be able to visit her, no matter what universe they're in. And in IWHS the MegaShadow's commander clearly states that it's very very dangerous to pass through a Fractal Core (I'm sorry, I know you haven't seen the first series, which does put you at a bit of a disadvantage...) I don't think there was much coming and going between the two universes.

Belladonna:-
       Anything else... Well, I'm not sure for whose benefit that play was put on for. They said it was because Kai's was the most important story but I wonder. Kai seemed eager enough to take part (no "the dead do not sing.") and that smile at the end of "I want more" suggested he had some good feelings about it. But there was that smile on the face of the Master of Ceremonies when Stan said they were going to fight Mantrid. Perhaps this was all an attempt by these beings living outside of time to try and inspire the Lexx crew to save the universe instead of running away? Well whatever, it was great to see Kai let some feelings out and Xev do something that was more about love than sex for once. And it just wouldn't have worked without Stan's scepticism - he was great! I nearly collapsed laughing when he went 'oh boy' as Kai went on the stage - as well as various other points ("come play Kai's living lover" - just great.) Plus I just loved that little smirk Xev gave Stan when Kai did what she asked instead of leaving.

Flare:-
       Let's face it, Brigadoom was just magical! It may be best not to try to analyse it's 'deeper meaning' too much. But I'm glad you enjoyed Stan's performance. I thought he was great too.

Belladonna:-
       There's only a few things I'll add. It just occurred to me that if Kai's costume could be copied, and his girlfriend's on Xev (vast improvement: maybe she should have her hair black permanently), then maybe all those other people in the show actually looked like the Brunnen G Kai used to know.

Flare:-
       What a wonderful idea! Kai's old friends, resurrected....

Starbuck has emailed me a variety of intriguing ideas about immortality:-
       OK - enjoyed the page! About your nit-picking about curing the injured. If a race truly became immortal, as the newborns say, they sit in their houses and don't move about as much. Therefore they wouldn't injure themselves as much as they would, they don't even venture outside. The woman said that their heads are far too full, people forgot what they used to do, i.e. firemen, garbagemen etc. Would this also imply that once immortal eating is unnecessary, since there is no one to clean up after the untidy, and there is no point to being a teacher because you will eventually learn everything there is to know about the world. All knowledge was lost by polluting their minds with needless things. I mean once you visit a museum on Brunnis-2 what's the point going again, since nothing is going to change. It also begs the question about having children. Surely if you become immortal nature would incur a price - no more children (this could be the case because it was mentioned in the show that there were only a few newborns) If they are to have a child, they must do so before they go through the process of become immortal. Which would explain Kai being his natural age.

Flare:-
       Hmmm..... that assumes they aren't born immortal. I'd kind of assumed they were. But there's no reason why they should be. After all, why not age normally until you reach your peak, and then have immortality treatment? It would explain why Kai can be condemned to die of ageing - he hasn't had the treatment yet (as you say, was his 'natural age')

Starbuck:-
       As time goes on and you live for heaven know how many centuries, you do forget things, but how can a person ever break the bond that a parent has with a child? Were the Brunnen-G really that stagnant? Kai's lover was raised with the old Brunnen-G beliefs, but due to her undying love for Kai, she stayed at his side, and died whilst fighting the Foreshadow. About Kai getting nothing out of his need for "more", I disagree, Kai knew he was to die, but instead of sitting on his bottom like the other Brunnen-G, he decided that he will die with purpose, and not die a meaningless death, therefore he came out with a lot - his pride and his dignity.

Flare:-
       Ah, looks like I didn't make that clear. I meant that ultimately he's ended up with less than nothing - not even an honourable death and a memorial as a hero. Instead, he was reduced to a non-living machine, unable to do nearly all of the things living humans can do (breath, eat, dream, make love) with even his memories taken from him - and used for millennia by the very creatures his crew died fighting....

Starbuck:-
       Stanley saw this, because all his life he has run away from life, but hearing Kai's plight turned him.
       I love Lexx, and particularly Brigadoom, and even wrote out the entire episode with songs (please see Here).        It's sad that Kai has become a parody/irony of his own people - but although he is dead, he will 'live' forever, and even if he runs out of protoblood he will still be 'alive', all he needs is the right juice, and he'll reanimate...
Flare:-
       We hope!!
       Many thanks indeed for your feedback. Does anyone else have any thoughts on the immortality angle?

Belladonna:-
       Well I've finally managed to see the last episode of Lexx and I have to say it was a bit disappointingly subdued. The ending was too much like The Net: thing tries to strangle Xev, Kai blows up thing then Xev steps on it. Still I rather enjoyed watching the mighty Mantrid get stepped on like an insignificant bug. (My apologies to the Lexx!)
       So that the end of the light universe.
       Or is it? There's a lot of theories around that each crunch is followed by new big bang so maybe as the Lexx crew was leaving a new universe was being born. Otherwise it's a bit depressing: the only way to save the universe was to destroy and by the last count there was at least 40% left.
       And speaking about depressing what is it with Kai? One minute he's being focussed, motivated, and for want of a better word stubborn - then he's walking off the bridge while everyone's celebrating (and reflecting gloomily that the death of the light universe is technically their fault - though if they want to get really technical its the insects essences fault for jumping into Kai in the first place.) All right, I know he's dead, but really, that's no reason to be so miserable all the time. It was also disappointing that at the end of her life Xev showed so little regret about losing Kai: very different from the first series. And it would have been nice if he'd just once, just once, said he was feeling some regret at his friends' deaths.
       Just out of curiosity how much protoblood does Kai have left? In Terminal it was months but he seems to have been up and around a lot since then.

[I don't think he's used up that much. He's onto the high-grade protoblood!!]
       I loved the idea of using multiplying 790 drones to get Mantrid as that was like a thought I'd had about reprogramming one of the Mantrid drones. A pity they didn't leave 790 his arm, it would have made his character (or what passes for it) much more interesting. That bit with the star was good too - I'd wondered how the drones were dismantling them without getting fried.
       About that butterfly, I wondered if it might be an early stage in the growth of one of the moths, maybe they start off as normal insects then develop into craft later. After all, we've never seen where they are produced. Perhaps the one Stan sleeps in didn't make it through its complete growth cycle. Or maybe it did infest the Lexx from the cluster - there seem to be plenty of cockroaches about! A butterfly, after all, is only a brief stage in the insect's life: the caterpillars may have been used to keep weeds down, or engineered to live on rubbish, or just been a pest.
       Well, that's all for now. For an end of series I feel slightly cheated.

Flare:-
       Yes - that's how I felt. Anyone else care to comment?

[Continued here...]

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