Well…

             What can one say? Several words spring to mind.

            Tedious.

            A waste of time

            Marginally more fun than being disembowelled with a blunt spoon.


      Oh dear. I knew this season was very unlikely to approach the lyrical beauty of Season Three, but I really wasn't prepared for something so embarrassingly bad.

      What happened here? Was it an attempt to insult just about everyone in the world? If so it was a failure. Either too tame or too crude to really hit home. And it's all been done before, and so much better.

      Was it trying to be funny? Well, I suppose it did have its moments, sparse and instantly forgettable as they were. Seeing talented actors trying hard to work with such dreadful material was funny, in a grim sort of way. (I'm not naming names - there were a number of bad actors too…)

      Was it trying to parody other films (or TV series')? I thought I spotted shades of Romeo and Juliet, Zombie films (take your pick which one), Godzilla (Lyekka in army boots stomping on Tokyo? Yawn…), When Worlds Collide - and isn't there a Bergman film with death playing chess with someone on a beach? (That's a rhetorical question, by the way, no need to answer.) It rings bells but I've never seen it. In fact, it's more than likely I missed much of the - I hesitate to use the word subtlety since there was nothing subtle about any of Season 4, but it'll do for now - through not being familiar with the films being parodied (and I'm not willing to waste time making the connection).

      And the last episode? A combination of Armageddon and Independence Day with a completely implausible ending as Stan and Zev ride off into the sunset together on Little Lexx. Oh, how sweet. How nauseous. How wholly unbelievable. I assume this is to leave an opening for (gods forbid) a fifth Season?
      In which, I assume, we'll find out what a B3K-ian/Cluster lizard/Human hybrid looks like? Or did I miss something?

      So Prince is death. Are we supposed to be surprised?
      At least Nigel Bennet's acting was as good as ever.

       And I know that the human race is greedy, irresponsible, blinkered, selfish, credulous, malicious and completely stupid. I know this. I only have to watch/read/listen to the news to be constantly reassured of the fact. I don't need to watch dross masquerading as entertainment to have it shoved in my face…

      There were, of course, a few bright spots. (A very few.) The only episode that I found at all memorable was Game - not that the idea is original, of course, it has a long pedigree, but at least that episode had a certain stark visual beauty to it (pity the taunts of the 'chesspieces' became tedious so quickly…)

      Was Season 3 considered too cerebral for the average Lexx-viewer? Was Season 4 deliberately dumbed-down as an attempt to appeal to more people? Or have I completely missed the point? (If so, I've no wish to know. I loathed this Season and am doing my best to forget it was ever made. Having seen what the creators are capable of when they try, I feel - cheated...)

      In 1999 Paul Donovan was quoted (in SFX) as saying "I have been sadly diagnosed with ‘Lexxsycosis’, a particularly insidious and progressive from of mental dementia. I expect that future episodes of the series will be a roadmap of my decline". Sadly prophetic words, in my opinion.

      Lexx was innovative, novel, intriguing, beautiful in places, even enlightening and inspirational at times.
       Before Season 4 anyway.

      Season 4 - a triumph of ridiculous hairstyles and inane plot. Such a sad way to end what was once an unmissable phenomenon.