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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...

This is part 6.
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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.

This is part 4.
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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.

Time is of the essence, though, and just because the lobotomy works doesn't mean the Clerics properly finish.

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."