Prince challenges Kai to a game of chess, with Kai promised life if he wins and Prince taking Stan and Xev's lives if he loses.

Every once in a while, LEXX tries something that really works. Paul Donovan is more often than not the man responsible for these kinds of episodes, and here he takes a surprisingly simple premise and really makes it work. The game of chess is an interesting one anyway, with sacrifices and bold moves played out against defensive ploys, and pitting Kai against Prince is such an even match that it is impossible to see the outcome. So already you have plenty of tension. With Xev and Stan gradually disappearing as Kai loses pieces, you get a sense of how well the assassin is doing, but the real treat is in the way the pieces are played by familiar faces from the sides of bad and good. Throw in some visceral entertainment as the pieces are axed or bludgeoned to a pulp when they are taken and there's a lot to like here.

By using the pieces to provide commentary on the game, Donovan enables the viewer to keep up with what is going on and whether Prince or Kai is in a stronger position. Considering you also see every move, he's carefully studied chess games to find one that you can read more into; as Prince points out, one of Kai's gambits is similar to how he died. You get the impression that there's more going on here than you might spot on first viewing and it's probably worth checking out again. What it means for Prince or Kai is unclear, however.

Now, I'm not a big fan of chess anyway, but somehow this really does hold the attention well. It may just be that you spend a lot of time trying to work out what is going to happen and how the game can be won, so your attention is focused. Whatever it is, though, for a story that is entirely the chess game (bar occasional cuts back to Stan and Xev), this really does work where many past episodes have failed through lack of plot. And, of course, the chess board effects are superb.

*****

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