Dexter |
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Dexter is seriously bummed out after he kills Jonathan Farrow, abusive douchebag S&M photographer extraordinaire who is nonetheless (technically) an innocent man. Dexter vows to balance the scales and adhere to the Code of Harry and land Trinity on his kill table next and make things right. He decides to do so by staging a little road trip, posing as his new alter ego, Kyle, and telling Arthur/Trinity that he really needs to get away and hitches a ride to Tampa with Arthur. Dexter/Kyle foams at the mouth in-character that he needs to give back to the world and make things right. Arthur looks about as pleased about Dexter/Kyle infringing upon his road trip as he would be if he’d been told he was getting a saline enema.
Unbeknownst to each other, it would appear that both Dexter and Arthur had packed for a kill on their little road trip: Dexter taking his supply of slides and kill tools (including Trinity’s hammer) and Arthur is seen packing sis’s ashes into a convenient travel-size vial which he wraps in a “Four Walls, One Heart” towel.
Even into a good season, a plodding, filler-stuffed episode must fall. This week’s edition of Dexter felt laborious in pacing — a sure-fire sign that the writers are trying to stretch the season’s 12-episode arc out. Some interesting character revelations were introduced and the story progressed, adding a few new twists and turns, but how soon and how well those last-minute plot points may be fleshed out remains to be seen.
Once again, Dexter’s home life is almost as painful for the viewer to watch as it is for him to endure. Rita loves him a whole bunch now that he’s in therapy and she has him (seemingly) successfully under her thumb, helping the kids with homework and putting together wee Harrison’s baby bouncer. (Not to fling about too much Rita Hate, but what exactly does Rita do all day? Particularly in the mornings when Dexter is getting ready to go to work?)
Armed with the disturbing knowledge that he shares just a little too much in common with Trinity, Dexter sets the wheels in motion to trap him in his own game. Even more disturbing, this episode also offers yet another gratuitous glimpse of John Lithgow’s tookis.
Having identified the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing, Dex begins sitting in on services where Arthur is a deacon in a local parish. (For those of you playing along at home, Trinity has now been named as “Arthur Miller” — which may be the greatest, most innocuous serial killer name ever.)
Dexter discovers even more about Trinity, lining up the evidence (courtesy of Lundy’s collection of books and papers on his 30-year obsession) and uncovers Arthur Miller’s family history. Arthur’s 16-year-old sister was killed in a bathtub, his mother fell to her death, and his father was bludgeoned to death. The string of events left Arthur an orphan with no family — yet another similarity that hits home with Dexter.
Dexter arrives at the scene of last week’s crime, frantic with worry. Cops and ambulances are swarming everywhere and he sees a body covered with a sheet. Batista and LaGuerta see another cop giving Dexter the business when he inquires about Deb and inform him that Deb’s alive and being loaded into the ambulance, having lost a lot of blood. Lundy, however, wasn’t as fortunate, having been shot in the neck and chest and bled to death in minutes. (To a degree, I wasn’t too surprised by this. Death is usually par for the course for any Keith Carradine television character. Wild Bill didn’t make it too long in Deadwood, but thankfully, Lundy got to stick around longer than a season. Farewell, Frank. We hardly knew ye.)
Spotting Christine, Quinn’s reporter/slam piece (who has a more-than-gratuitous sex scene with Quinn in this episode), Angel plants a Vacation Murderers story in the hopes that she leaks it. Christine doesn’t disappoint and the newspapers catch wind that Vacation Murderer Johnny has syphilis. Knowing that unlike her partner, Nikki’s name isn’t in the criminal STD database and this slight omission on her boyfriend’s part may turn her against him. This eventually pays off with a kevlar-clad Batista and LaGuerta finding Johnny riddled with bullets and Nikki talking to herself/dead Johnny and holding a smoking gun. The Vacation Murders are solved and Nikki taken into custody… Which means now more attention can be paid to the Trinity case.
Dexter manages to dodge a bullet, claiming stress for last week’s suburban indiscretion of beating the ever-loving filament out of the Neighborhood Watch football stadium lighting, citing “I wish you didn’t see me like that” to lovely (and annoying) Rita. Lucky for Dexter, he gets a whole three days to recharge his batteries while Rita and the kids go off to some out-of-town wedding. As his family pulls away in the car and after checking out the adorably handcrafted “I *Heart* Dad” mug the kids made for him as a present, Dexter promptly kicks into Risky Business mode and plots his latest project.
While most guys would engage in a porn, pizza n’ bowling extravaganza with the wife and kids away, Dexter decides to tackle a suspicious situation involving one Officer Zoe Kruger of the Pembroke P.D. The Pembroke blood guy also found himself suspicious after Officer Kruger’s daughter and husband were killed in a home invasion. He pulled the file and gave it to Dexter, alluding his own suspicions. Kruger was shot twice in the arm, wrestling the gun away from the assailant. Conveniently enough, the assailant was a drug dealer she had been tracking and was later gunned own in a gang-related incident. Eager for a fresh kill and a challenge, Dexter’s off and running.
Crashing his car, getting a concussion, and almost losing the remains of his last kill seems like a picnic for Dexter compared to fitting in with his new, suburbanite neighbors. Overwhelmed with the new persona he’s taken on and juggling a job, family, and his serial killer duties, Dexter struggles to become “one of the guys,” bombing big time at the neighborhood barbeque. Astor, it seems, has also taken a page out of Mommy’s book and has become whiny and easily embarrassed, due in part to her teensy crush on troubled, spray paint can-toting teen, Jesse — son of an annoyingly Ned Flanders-esque neighbor.
Even worse, Rita continues her reign as possibly the most irritating character on television today, informing Dexter that in the week prior to his accident and concussion, he’s been an absentee husband and father. After Dexter profusely apologizes (for putting food on the table, conceding to her demands, helping care for baby Harrison, etc.), Rita also informs him that she contacted the doctor who examined him after the accident. Now armed with the knowledge that Dexter was not allowed to drive by himself for ten days, Rita tells Dexter he has time to make up for his absenteeism because she will be spending more time with him, driving him to work every morning.
