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Dexter: What's Eating Dexter Morgan?

Dexter: "I consume everyone I love."

I must have the last season blues, because I keep worrying about Dexter.

Yes, he triumphed over Mister Icky the Cannibal in the end (loved the meat tenderizer), but that entire scene in the kitchen had me expecting Galuzzo to come up behind Dexter and take him by surprise. And Deb staggering into Miami Metro and confessing felt like The End. I actually thought it was going to happen this time, even though it didn't.

Deb told Quinn that she killed LaGuerta, and he kept it from going out to half of Miami Metro with a quick, stifling hug. Yes, the LaGuerta thing could probably be explained away by guilt, but won't Quinn think about it? He may not be the sharpest tack in the box, but he's not stupid. He suspected Dexter of killing Rita not so long ago, didn't he? And yes, he was wrong, but he was smart enough to know something weird was going on and Dexter was involved. Good thing Deb didn't sob out on his shoulder that her brother is a serial killer, huh?

That said, Quinn's blind loyalty to Deb and the way he's covering for her is actually quite endearing. He does love her and he obviously wants her back, and right now, his love seems to be blind. Clever how the writers illustrated that theme with Elway's blonde client who refused to believe her husband was cheating, even while looking at an explicit set of photos. (Maybe she was just distracted by those immense boobs.)

Vogel needs to get a clue, too. She keeps stating incorrectly what Dexter feels when the truth is staring her in the face. If she does something to endanger Deb, I think Dexter would turn on her without hesitation, and we were definitely getting "danger to Deb" signals, too, with that "why didn't you kill Deb" thing. How could he miss that and leave them alone together? It would be nice if Vogel turned out to have a conscience, if she could help Deb work through her issues. It would also be nice if she realized what her misdiagnosis all those years ago did to Dexter.

It was clever of Dexter to remind Deb of a particularly good thing she did as a cop. I thought it worked. I'd love to see her as Angel's new sergeant, and I thought that's what they were setting up. Not that her job with Elway isn't interesting. I like how Elway keeps giving Deb health drinks and asking about her love life, like he truly cares about her, which he might. I'm not sure why he's in the story, though. So far, his character has been pretty innocuous. He's not the "Brain Surgeon," is he? Because Vogel can't be the "Brain Surgeon." She was freaked by the text message and the boxes on her doorstop, and no one was there to observe. Okay, so she was too obvious a suspect. And Sean Patrick Flanery is the only other big guest star, and definitely an actor who can handle playing big, big evil.

I did love how Dexter used Vogel to get Deb out of Miami Metro. But was anyone else freaked that Dexter used his infamous needle on Deb?

Bits and pieces:

-- Loved the opener with the blood-red popsicles. Like his daddy, Harrison has impulse control issues.

-- I'm not so sure Dexter would feel nausea when looking at the stuff in that kitchen after all he's seen and done. But it was sort of fun.

-- Elway has an odd office. Display shelves of model cars and green and orange, which is not your typical color scheme.

-- I get Jamie's jealousy of Deb and anger at Quinn for dropping everything to help her, but it's having the effect of making Jamie the sweet babysitter repeatedly come off as an unfeeling bitch.

-- Dexter was wearing a black shirt. He never wears black.

-- The cell phone footage actually had cuts in it like it was, um, professionally filmed. Oops.

-- Gold acting stars for Jennifer Carpenter, who is again doing an amazing job.

Quotes:

Masuka: "Suicide. Makes our lives so much easier."
Miller: "You should put that on a T-shirt."
New Miami Metro cop Miller is doing pretty well with the Masuka retorts. So far, it's her defining characteristic.

Angel: (re: Quinn) "He's a good cop."
Matthews: "He's irresponsible. Unpredictable. Not to mention unintelligible."

Galuzzo: "That baby. Cuts you up faster than the chef at Benihana."
What a great line to give to a cannibal.

Vogel: "You admitted to being the cause of her pain. How can you expect to be the solution?"
Dexter: "I can handle Deb. I've been doing it my entire life."
This is an interesting exchange. The thing is, he might be right.

Elway: "People get used to living in denial."

Dexter: "Our killer keeps his bodies out, but Galuzzo keeps his bodies to season and savor. This brain is completely intact, marinating in some sort of ... garlic sauce."
Wouldn't a line about a nice Chianti be perfect here? Okay, it's been overused, but how often can you work that into a sentence?

Another good episode with a lot going on. Three out of four nice Chiantis,

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

9 comments:

  1. I'm really liking Charlotte Rampling as Vogel, and not just because she's my fourth favourite actress to have played Anne Boleyn. Although Jonny Lee Miller still ranks as my favourite Bad Guy in Dexter.

    I'm also liking the Deb/Quinn stuff, even if it is leading me to think that Quinn is going to die by the end of the season.

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  2. Charlotte Rampling is terrific, I agree. Most certainly not an easy part.

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  3. The cannibal was creepy as hell, especially his smile. The look on Dexter's face when he saw what was in the soup. It's pretty bad when you can disgust him of all people.

    If Vogel isn't the Brain Surgeon, I'm not sure what her angle is. Maybe all of her creepy talk is just her personality. Doakes and Lundy were good guys and very different from normal people as well. Hope Elway isn't the Brain Surgeon, because I don't think any explanation they give for it will make any sense, even if it is only the third episode.

    I feel really bad for Quinn. Neither girl he likes seems to understand him and he's going to look like the world's biggest idiot if and when the truth about Dexter ever does come out. He will be the guy who let Dexter drug his sister and helped him smuggle her out of the police department. He's got an underdog thing going with that sergeant's exam, so maybe things will work out for him.

    I like the tumultuous heart to hearts between Dex and Deb, and their individual self-realizations. But it'd be nice if the next few episodes will be about them both moving forward. Probably not.

    I hope this isn't going to have a horribly tragic ending. As dark as its roots are, I always thought this show was kind of hopeful. That Dexter is capable of emotion and not a total psychopath like Vogel suggests, I think, is proof of that. Maybe?

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  4. It looks like like all of Dexter's confidante's Vogel has an agenda. It looks like from the preview of the next episode she's using him and perhaps Deb as the subject of a new book.

    They may have Dex sacrifice himself for the sake of Deb as the ultimate expression of the the love he says he feels for her.

    I hope he gets the proper therapy and spends his time in a facility where he can still help Miami Metro, because he has a mental illness that wasn't addressed with the proper therapy and that is why he wasn't trained to curb his urges and became a killer. Who should really die?

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  5. Elway is absolutely the brain surgeon. he is drugging deb to make her unstable to distract dexter while he carries out whatever plan he has. he was the last person to see harry alive. who knows what harry told him. for me there is no doubt.

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  6. It would be interesting ending if they made Dexter, of all his crimes, go to jail for Deb drunken kill.

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  7. I really liked the episode and Jennifer Carpenter deserves all the awards she can get.

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  8. Could anyone explain to me why Matthews called Quinn 'unintelligible'? I'm trying to translate this and I'm not sure what he means, or how it's a funny quote. I know Quinn is not the most eloquent person in the world, but neither is Deb, I'd say, and she made lieutenant. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

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  9. Dave Martinez: I've been thinking the same about Elway/Deb. It's just not like her, even with drinking, to have blackouts. So, I also think she's being drugged - by "electrolyte-drinks" or whatever they are.
    Elway seems like a great guy, therefor he's shady - right!?

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