Dexter: An Inconvenient Lie

Dexter: "Still, I wish my own sister weren't hunting me. Makes for an awkward family dynamic."

Wow. Rita's happy, Doakes is suddenly off his back, and Dexter can kill again. Twelve step programs really do work.

Since most of his life is a secret, one might think that everything that comes out of Dexter's mouth is a lie. In fact, he lies almost entirely by omission. (He also tells the truth a lot, but in a tone of voice that makes people think he's kidding.) His initial speech to the NA group was wall-to-wall lies, and he had a terrible time faking it. I think Dexter sees both lying and addiction as weaknesses, and weakness of any kind revolts him.

But beautiful Lila with the British accent really "got" Dexter. She picked up on his shadow self, his "dark passenger." It was a lot like what happened with Dr. Meridian: Lila pulled on a tiny thread of Dexter, and a whole revelation tumbled out. That second speech he gave at NA was just amazing. It was the complete and total truth, and being able to tell the truth about himself gave Dexter a natural high as well as insight.

Speaking of truth and lies, that whole thing with the minivan and the misogynistic killer car salesman was like comic relief with character insights. Roger the salesman picked up on Dexter, much like Lila did. Roger knew from the way Dexter shopped that he was completely into Rita and the kids – even though Dexter himself hadn't realized he was doing it. Roger was so sharp and such a facile and talented liar that for a moment, I thought he would actually talk Dexter out of killing him. Fortunately for Roger's next victim, no. And I think Dexter killed Roger, despite being shadowed by Doakes, despite Harry's instructions never to take chances, because Dexter felt compelled to save that woman's life. Roger lied beautifully because he didn't care. Dexter couldn't, because he does care.

Deb, who has become a very good detective, already noticed that the eighteen bodies in that super creepy tent might be bad guys. Lundy chose Deb for the task force because of Rudy/Brian, not in spite of it, and that was very sharp. Lundy is a worthy opponent for Dexter, and that's not good. It's also not good that Deb, Angel and Vince are all working on the case.

Dexter is being hunted by his workmates, his only family and his only friends. It's so intense, intimate, dangerous. I love it. What fabulous writing.

Bits and pieces:

-- I assume the title is a take-off of An Inconvenient Truth. Pretending to be an addict is certainly inconvenient for Dexter. Except it seems to be working out fine, doesn't it? Does that make it a convenient lie, instead?

-- We learned that Dexter was top of his class in medical school, and studied martial arts. And now he's a mild mannered forensics expert. Medical school makes sense. So does top of his class, since Dexter is freaking brilliant.

-- Deb has gone from too much working out to eating junk food in front of the television. Is that like the next stage of... what? It's hard to categorize what happened to Deb.

-- I don't understand how Rita could believe that a man as in control as Dexter could be an addict. Maybe she just needs any excuse to forgive Dexter for what he did to Paul. And she's certainly familiar with loving a man who has an addiction, so that's comfortable ground for her.

-- Lila is now Dexter's sponsor. Rita didn't seem all that pleased with twelve step programs all of a sudden.

-- At the beginning of the episode, Rita called Dexter a terrible liar. Near the end, Doakes called Dexter a good liar.

-- Dexter cut Roger's cheek before Roger woke up. That was different.

-- Lundy loves food. So does Dexter. Interesting parallel.

-- Pascal just keeps losing it and Maria just keeps covering for her. The Captain asked Maria about Pascal's behavior and Maria lied. Why? It's a mystery.

Quotes:

Caroline: "I don't need them for the pain any more. Now I just need them."
Dexter: (to himself) "And I need duct tape, three or four rolls, running low on heavy-duty trash bags, and when was the last time I sharpened my knives?"

Caroline: "I'd kill for a Vicodin."
Dexter (to himself) "Lightweight."

Dexter: "When the manhunt is on, the hunted go shopping."

Dexter: "I go to stalk a killer and I end up with a new car. How'd that happen?"

Vince: "I need your help, buddy. The pressure's fucking ridonkulous."

Dexter: "But there's never any justification for killing."
Lundy: "No. Well, one, of course. To save an innocent life."

Dexter: (to the unconscious Roger) "You were right about the ample cargo space."

(I had to transcribe that entire NA speech, because it was amazing. Gold acting stars for Michael C. Hall. Of course, he's always so good.)

Dexter: "I'm Dexter, and... I'm not sure what I am. I just know there's something dark in me. And I hide it. I certainly don't talk about it. But it's there, always. This Dark Passenger. And when he's driving, I feel alive. Half sick with the thrill of complete wrongness. I don't fight him. I don't want to. He's all I've got. Nothing else could love me... not even... especially not me. Or is that just a lie the Dark Passenger tells me? Because lately there are these moments when I feel... connected to something else. Someone. It's like... the mask is slipping and things, people, who never mattered before are suddenly starting to matter. It scares the hell out of me."

Three out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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