A trio of visiting space explorers pays the price when a new crewmember takes a liking to Stan.
(Originally aired in the United States on March 31, 2000)
| Quotable Moments |
790: All night by dead Zev I did lay. If only my tears could be real, I would rust myself away.
790: Eyes like jewels, skin sublime. Zev was the Zevviest of all time. |
Lyekka: I came from Stan's dream.
Kai: Must have been a good dream. |
Kai: It seems we have more visitors.Stan: Great. Open house on the Lexx. |
Written by Lex Gigeroff and Paul Donovan
Directed by Stephan Wagner
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Louise Wischerman -- Lyekka
Stephen McHattie -- Moss
Jeffrey Hirschfield – Bando
Roman Podhora -- Boosh
In addition to his guest appearance here, Jeffrey Hirschfield is a writer for the show and provides the voice for 790.
WHAT HAPPENED
The
Lexx passes through an area of space full of large, sporelike organisms. One spore boards the ship and begins exploring.
Arriving in the cryo chamber, it scans
Kai and moves on. 790 sits in one corner weeping and reciting poetry over the jar of goo that used to be Zev.
The spore scans and rejects him also. (more
spoilers)
ANALYSIS
The story conference for Lyekka must have been a doozy.
"Okay, what's the part about the space explorers again?"
"Well, they're from a planet called Potataho. The gag is that their entire culture is based on potatoes."
"Okay, and why is that again?"
"No reason. We just think potatoes are neat."
There's quirky, and then there's desperate. Handled appropriately, the former can add depth and dimension to a character, but the latter tends to come to light when quirks stand in for characterization.
Of course, the men of Potataho didn't need to be well developed. Their primary role in the story is to be cannon fodder, while their secondary role is to remind viewers of a crucial sub-plot by coming from a planet that Mantrid could destroy.
Ring in the new
In comparing the Zev seen in "
Mantrid" and "Terminal" with the Xev viewers came to know and love during Lexx's earlier, scattershot run, I came down strongly in favor of the understated Zev. Having now seen "Lyekka", I may have indicted Xev for acting crimes she did not necessarily commit.
There’s a logical reason for Xev's behavior: she was created to fit 790's poetic image of Zev.
If form dictates function, then her aggressive sexuality is directly related to the factors that went into her recreation. The romantic and lustful characteristics 790 attributed to her don't allow for much in the way of subtlety or nuance.
In light of that, Xev is simply acting in accordance with the traits that were hard coded into her personality when Lyekka recreated her. By the same token, actress Xenia Seeberg is interpreting the role in an entirely appropriate fashion.
Like a John Hughes movie in space
Poor
Stan. He is the object of some pretty strange crushes.
While he holds the key, the ship is bound to obey him, but the
Lexx 's attitude toward Stan goes beyond the simple master-servant dynamic. The ship seems to harbor a genuine affection for its captain.
Now he has Lyekka to contend with as well. On the one hand, she looks like a beautiful woman, and she obviously cares for Stan.
On the other hand, her humanoid construct is simply a shell. She doesn't have the biological capabilities to carry on a meaningful -- i.e., sexual -- relationship with Stan.
To make matters even more complicated, she has a healthy appetite for human flesh.
Of course Stan's romantic entanglements are small potatoes compared to Xev and Kai. Their unconsummatable romance is literally a matter of life and death.
Xev is alive. Kai is dead. Unless they find some way to rectify Kai's situation, theirs is a doomed affair
Throw in the disembodied 790 as the third side of the love triangle, and things really begin to get bizarre. It's a credit to both Xenia Seeberg and Michael (Kai) McManus that they invest this tragic affair with some real emotional weight.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
What will happen the next time Lyekka gets hungry?
When will the crew discover that
Mantrid still lives?
To what degree does the undead, supposedly emotionless Kai reciprocate Xev's feelings for him?
BLOWED UP!
The Lexx destroyed another planet this week. It should be noted that the planet's only offense lay in being in the line of fire when Stan made a careless remark.
After three episodes, the ship has obliterated two planets, one moon and one star. Mantrid is doing his best to keep up, and has destroyed one space station and one planet.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK . . .
Ratings are the name of the game on the planet of "TV World", but can Xev, Kai and Stan come up high enough in the Nielsons to survive "Lafftrak"?
What do you think? Send comments to the
author or editor.
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