Arlen's Mind

"You know, I'm gonna laugh the day that an alien apocalypse comes and everybody dies. There's gonna be squid things, things that jump on your head and eat you like the movie Alien, there's gonna be things that like shoot lightning at you, and there's gonna be things that... I don't even know what they do, there's gonna be things that are like giant panthers, there's gonna be things that, like... I don't even know what else. I'll figure 'em out during the day, but it's gonna be awesome, 'cause everybody is gonna die except me. Best day ever."

- Tod Arlen

Arlen's Mind was a Mind series created by Lex Groh. Set in the Half-Life mod, Azure Sheep, the series follows T.J. "Tod" Arlen attempting to make his way through Black Mesa as he tries to escape, all the while searching for his friend Kate.

The series ran for one season comprising of nine episodes released between January 5th, 2012, and June 15th, 2013, with the tenth episode being released on March 1st, 2016. A second season was planned that would have featured Arlen fighting alongside Kate, who was seen in a final, post-credits scene of the final episode; however the series' future was left in limbo following Lex Groh's passing in 2017. Groh received posthumous ovation for his performance. As of 2021 Arlen's Mind is the second of only two known Mind Series to have ended due to the death of the lead actor, as opposed to a series reaching its natural conclusion or the creator cancelling the series prematurely; the first was Mel's Mind, whose creator Creighton Stalnaker passed away in 2012.

On April 25th, 2019, DravenMario uploaded Mind of Ryan Episode 7, in which Arlen made an appearance. He was portrayed by voice actor Nick Jacques. In this episode, Arlen calls Ryan out of concern, and reveals that he escaped Black Mesa with Kate, and was "in the safe-zone". Arlen ends the call by stating that he and Kate will wait for Ryan's escape, providing an unofficial but still satisfactory conclusion to Arlen's story.

The series has been criticized for the poor characterization of the main character but received a more positive response from its soundtrack, almost entirely comprised of pieces composed by Groh; to date it maintains a respectable following within the community and has been praised for its attempt to expand upon the timeline of Freeman's Mind and Barney's Mind. Ian Riley, creator of Barney's Mind, endorsed the series, even linking Groh's channel on his own channel.

The series in its entirety can be found on Lex Groh's YouTube channel.

Cast

 * Lex Groh as Tod Joby Arlen (also referred to as Tod Arlen and T. J. Arlen)
 * NormalCJ (aka ItsAGameRawr) as Security Guard CJ
 * Dulvlu Spa as Security Central Management
 * Dylan Peckham as Jordan
 * Ross Scott as Gordon Freeman (stock audio from Freeman's Mind Episode 34)