Stan takes a bad dream trip. The crew learns that time is running out for the entire universe.
(U.S. premiere July 7, 2000)
Written by - Paul Donovan and Lex Gigeroff
Directed by - David MacLeod
GUEST STARS
Wayne Robson - Gubby
Ellen Dubin - Gigerotta
David Lewis - Fruitcake
WHAT HAPPENED
Stan drifts through a corridor. The walls replay pleasant images from his past. A white sphere drifts toward him. Stan grabs it. He hears the sound of laughter.
Suddenly, he finds himself back aboard Lexx. A voice calls to him, "I can see you -- hello, waste of skin."
Stan recognizes the voice.
Stan looks into the sphere and sees the face of Gigerotta, a cannibal woman he met during one of his earliest adventures aboard Lexx. He drops the sphere and runs away.
Gigerotta chases him. (spoilers)
ANALYSIS
Dreams are tricky things, as Stan learned to his dismay in this episode. The unconscious has its own agenda, whether we like it or not.
Dreamspace is where the incomprehensible or unresolved affairs of our waking lives play out. We've all been where Stan was in this episode: fully aware of our dream state, but unable to affect the scene unfolding around us.
Having experienced this sensation at the start of the episode, why did Stan think he would fare any better in a mechanical dreamscape?
The Narcolounger simply provided a set. The costuming, set design and casting all came from Stan's subconscious.
Unfortunately, Stan is his own worst enemy. As we saw in "Stan's Trial", he carries a tremendous amount of guilt around with him for his role in the destruction of the 93 Reform planets.
He has no waking outlet for working through that guilt. He can only grapple with it through unconscious means.
One of the reasons Stan can't work through his self-loathing in waking time is that he's forced to deal with his shipmates' negative opinion of him. In the face of Xev’s repeated rejection and 790’s constant hostility, Stan has very little time to reflect on the contempt he feels for himself.
At the risk of waxing overly Freudian, Gigerotta is a telling choice of unconscious judge, jury and executioner.
Stan hasn't had much luck with women during the run of the series. His usual approach -- a mixture of equal parts bluster and desperate horniness -- masks a deep insecurity.
Despite his attempts at swagger, Stan is unable to cope with the thought of a strong woman. This makes Gigerotta the perfect ambassador of Stan's fears.
Patching up the universe
As dire as Stan's situation was, it pales in comparison to the threat facing the entire universe. Although the crew has been aware of Mantrid’s plan to destroy all life for several episodes, the full impact of that destruction didn't really sink in until this episode.
It's one thing to witness your enemy destroying a single planet. It's something else entirely to see it gobbling up the fabric of the universe at a phenomenal rate.
This is the parallel between Stan's dream and the patches in the sky. Gigerotta kills Gubby in order to give Stan an appreciation of his fate, while Mantrid has promised to leave our heroes alive until he destroys the rest of the universe.
Having witnessed the patches in the sky, Stan, Kai, Xev and 790 now understand that Mantrid's goal isn't simply the elimination of all human life. Ultimately, Mantrid is creating a universe encompassing nothing but himself.
How can one ship – even the most powerful weapon of destruction in the two universes – hope to stand against such a foe? How do you fight oblivion?
Where can you hide?
We're entering the home stretch of this season. It will be interesting to see what answers our heroes come up with for these questions.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
How long will Stan's vow to cherish every moment of his life last?
Can anything be done to halt Mantrid's absorption of the universe?
BLOWED UP!!
Lexx was back in style this week, obliterating an innocent planet for Stan. This destruction was yet another of those pointless misunderstandings we've come to know and love from Tweedle and his spaceship.
DID YOU KNOW?
Fruitcake tells Gubby to look at the Wolfram T Galaxy. The name of this galaxy is a reference to Lexx Executive Producer Wolfram Tichy.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN
Xev nears the end of her love slave shelf life, and only another trip though a Lustikon can reset her internal clock. The crew locates one, but to use it Stan and Kai must run an errand for the Wuzzard of "Woz".
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