In some ways Giga Shadow is a pretty appropriate end to the LEXX telemovie series, tying up the loose ends, bringing the LEXX out of the Dark Zone (and throwing it back in, of course) and giving Malcolm McDowell (because they’ve already had Tim Curry and Rutger Hauer) a chance to play a disembodied head.
In other ways, OMG was that ever homophobic, though I suppose it’s a challenge to the usual telefantasy trope to have (mild spoiler alert) the male lead being a rape victim. Still, it kind of went beyond the usual LEXX “I can’t believe they did that!” into “I really wish they hadn’t done that. Ew.” So far LEXX has mostly handled potentially dodgy gender stuff well and gotten away with it: Giggerota could easily have been a let’s-all-laugh-at-the-crazy-lady misogynous thread, but Ellen Dubin’s performance is so hilariously monstrous and over-the-top that she transcends it; furthermore, Zev’s transformation from fat to thin is not so much body-shaming as a repeated indictment of it, as we see over and over how she was abused for her appearance by her parents, teachers, husband and judge, and ultimately forced into her current form. However, nothing about the male-rape plot can be remotely described as clever or subversive, so be warned.
On a more minor point, Squish The Cluster Lizard (LEXX! Where even the cute animal sidekicks are creepy worm thingies!), while a really engaging and delightful addition to the crew, felt rather hastily introduced and then dispatched. I think there’s no reason they couldn’t have had him hatch out in Eating Pattern, to give us the impression he was going to be a regular, before doing away with him at the end of Giga Shadow.
On to the episodic series!
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