The LEXX crew arrives in Transylvania, where Kai wishes to find out where the vampire legends have come from and if they're related to His Divine Shadow. Meanwhile, Stan and Xev are made welcome by Dracule in his castle along with three gothic babes keen to be bitten.
I was worried about this story, as it's co-written with Tom de Ville, the man responsible for all 13 really quite appalling episode of Channel 5's Urban Gothic. My fears, sadly, were realized as the episode progressed. The beginning is pretty good, creepy and sinister and keeping the viewers intrigued by what's going on. However, the minute everyone turns up at Castle Dracule, we get every one of the vampire clichés known to man, from Dracula himself and the names of other characters involved to the usual defences against vampires and mind control. This familiarity has a tendency to breed contempt and there simple isn't anything new or innovative, or even particularly quirky that distinguishes this as LEXX's take on the whole story. While last week Xev got drunk, this week it's Stan's turn to discover 'booze' in a plotline that goes on way too long, and Xev has little to do either except have a near-lesbian encounter and look sexy. Even Kai comes and goes, and he's where our attention should be.
On the positive side, Kai gets killed again, which is always good for a laugh, even though this time he remains intact but slightly more holey. Stan's conversion to a zombie-like servant is quite fun, as is the idea that the head vampire is a Divine assassin like Kai. It bodes a little better for the next episode which wraps things up, but I'm not totally convinced it's going to be particularly wonderful judging by past experience, but I'm willing to give it a chance.
**
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