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Dexter: A Horse of a Different Color

Dexter: "I guess there are some things even daddies can't fix."

Again with a specific religious theme. This time, surrender to something greater than yourself.

We don't often see Dexter get emotional, but he lost it several times. The Four Horsemen tableau actually shocked Dexter into swearing out loud. He was noticeably upset when Harrison went into surgery, and hugged the doctor when it was over. And they continued to bludgeon us with the faith theme when Dexter prayed for the first time, and got an answer in the form of a miraculous coffee machine. Dexter now owes God a debt. Maybe.

It turns out that Brother Sam experienced childhood trauma somewhat similar to Dexter's. Gold acting stars for Mos Def, because Brother Sam's quite literal moment of clarity in the chapel could have sounded stupid or cliched, but it didn't. Sam is so much more than a caricature, and I'm becoming seriously fond of him. So many characters on this show wind up dead or evil, and usually both. Not Sam, please. Dexter needs a friend. Sam is an interesting friend for Dexter to have.

What would Brother Sam do if he knew whom he was befriending? Then again, he's so inner directed that he might not even blink.

Deb is making her own unique mark on the lieutenant job, despite Maria's latest attempt to sabotage her. (Loved the big, chunky, symbolic Maria necklace/choke collar.) And I am really liking Mike Anderson. He's a smart cop, he's not easy to intimidate, and he made Quinn look like a doofus. Mike gave Deb some good advice, too, and she won't forget it. (Although I hope she doesn't take his advice about the profanity. Deb wouldn't be Deb without her wonderful potty mouth.) For a moment, Mike's familiarity with the book of Revelation made me wonder if maybe he was one of Gellar's acolytes infiltrating Miami Metro, but that would be too convoluted, even for Dexter. Besides, he's from Chicago.

James Gellar, former professor of the University of Tallahassee, Revelation expert and pervy peeping tom, has now been dubbed the Doomsday Killer. I knew that poor girl was toast, but what a horrible way to die. Gellar is supposed to be focused on Revelation and the Apocalypse, but he seems to be more interested in controlling Travis. In fact, Gellar isn't surrendering to God at all. Instead, he's taking on God's power of life and death for himself.

It looks like Dexter has chosen Travis as his next victim, and I don't get the impression that Travis is a bad guy. He's disastrously misguided, and committing murder because of your religious beliefs may be a long, time-honored tradition but it's still, well, wrong, but I feel bad for the kid. Maybe Dexter will decide against taking him out for those very reasons. Maybe that will be the favor Dexter owes God.

Bits and pieces:

-- The title kept making me think of the horse changing color in the Emerald City sequence in The Wizard of Oz. "You're out of the woods, you're out of the dark, you're out of the night..."

-- Angel and Quinn getting stoned in the Smokey car was amusing.

-- Deb's stash of frozen Girl Scout cookies came up in a previous season.

-- I liked the way Masuka reacted to Ryan's dishonesty. I think. We'll have to see if he follows through, though. And hey, if Ryan is into all this just to make a buck, I am seriously disappointed in this plot thread.

-- You got to love Dexter explaining the definition of a serial killer to Deb.

-- Dexter's brother Brian has come up several times already this season. Are they just teasing us? Were the writers just aware that the body parts from the Four Horsemen tableau were like Brian's victims and they were pre-emptively bringing it up?

Quotes:

Dexter: "What's with the wicked rodeo?"

Matthews: "Morgan is the new face of this department, Maria."
Maria: "I'm still..."
Matthews: "... the old face."
Good one, Matthews. Wow, does he hate her.

Masuka: "You're a derby girl?"
Ryan: "I have the bruises to prove it."
Masuka: "I think my head just exploded."

Deb: "Goddamn pantyhose. Has anyone ever died from crotch asphyxiation?"
Dexter: "You have now crossed the line into inappropriate brother-sister exchanges."

Harry: "Looks like your prayers were answered."
Dexter: "I was desperate."
Harry: "Hey, no judgment. You already talk to an imaginary father figure."
Yeah, I'd been thinking about that. Especially when Dexter told Sam that when he needed help, he'd gotten it from his father, not God.

Another good episode. Three out of four imaginary father figures,

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

12 comments:

  1. I must have forgetten but when did Deb find out the Ice Truck Killer was Dexter's brother?

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  2. JayGee, Deb found out at the end of season four. She "broke the news" to Dexter that the Ice Truck Killer was his biological brother -- I think it was outside Trinity's house.

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  3. Don't you think Gellar is a hallucination? Only Travis sees him. He never touches anything that anyone else touches. He appeared to tie up the girl, but that happened during Travis' sleep. Or was it a black out?

    Strikes me as a delusion.

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  4. Anonymous, that is a fascinating observation. Gellar clearly does exist, or he did, but you're right -- no one else has seen him yet. We shall see.

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  5. @Billie @Anonymous
    That can't be true b'coz Angel and Quinn investigated into the case and found that Gellar had stolen an iron sword and was underground since the last 3 years. He is a real person.
    The only way your theory can hold is if he is dead and Travis is seeing him like Dexter sees Harry.

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  6. lovin the theory and makes sense. I can see the total tyler durden vibe

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  7. Loved this episode :)
    Poor horses :(

    Laughed at Quinn and Angel - very funny! Though two big men getting so wasted on one joint is a bit unbelievable.

    Maria is behaving worse and worse and I used to like Maria....

    What a great theory Anonymous! You might be right. They did say the professor went underground so he might as well be dead. Also, tied up girl didn't seem to see him both at the appartment and the restaurant. We'll see :)

    Oh, almost forgot - hand stealing to sell at the auction - very dissapointed as well, I had hope for something better especially since Ryan mentionned other big "Dexter's cases"

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  8. "He is a real person.
    The only way your theory can hold is if he is dead and Travis is seeing him like Dexter sees Harry."

    I think he was real and may have even created that website the cops found. But since he just disappeared, I think Travis probably killed him.

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  9. Gellar is in Travis' head. We've had two scenes now with him in a scene with Travis and another person -- "torturing" the victim in the last episode, the diner this time -- and both times he was never so much as acknowledged.

    Watch the scene in the diner again. The waitress doesn't even look at him when she comes back and pours Travis a drink. He may have been real at some point, but he's definitely a "Harry" now.

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  10. Wow, great theory anonymous!
    So, that would mean that when Travis takes on one of the personas he's sloppy and "butchery" and in the other case meticulous and precise.
    VERY interesting.
    A part from that I found this episode all too predictable. I also predict brother Sam will save Dexters life, probably dying while doing so - but being okay with it (it's why he was put on this earth or something like that).

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  11. Good episode and I´m liking Mos Def with each episode and his Brother Sam is interesting.

    About the theory on an earlier post, I feel that it´s really interesting. And yes, Gellar was a real person and he might even taken the sword along with Travis and both of them went underground but in that time, Gellar passed away and Travis feeling lost without his guidance (or misguidance) created the Gellar persona and took his place.

    This has been a very interesting season and I wanna know what happens next.

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  12. Ha great comments about Geller. It's pretty obvious in the coffee shop scene that the waitress does not see Geller, but i haven't picked up on it before i read it here.

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