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Dexter: Dress Code

"Can anything good come from putting two killers together?"

Did Dexter do anything right in this episode? Anything at all?

It's not that I don't like Yvonne Strahovski, because I do. Or that the character of Hannah isn't interesting, because she most definitely is. But Deb is right that Hannah is a black hole, total trouble, and Dexter is so not the sort of guy who loses focus and lets a woman jerk him around. Much less a woman who knocks him out and dumps him in the middle of nowhere just to get his attention.

I was also surprised that Hannah's new life was over in five minutes. They (1) introduced Julian Sands, a rich and powerful casino magnate, as her new husband; (2) had Hannah reveal that he was pretty much keeping her prisoner; and (3) oops, she killed him, and Dexter had to clean up the mess. I guess there just wasn't much room to do this sort of story justice with only a few more episodes to go, but it seemed like a clumsy storyline for Dexter. I just have to hope that the clever writers have a reason in mind for bringing Hannah back this way.

That is, other than driving a wedge between Dexter and Deb. I totally got that Deb feels threatened; Hannah drugged her and kidnapped Dexter. (Hey, at least Hannah didn't cart Deb off and leave her by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.)

But the elephant in the room is that, before she caught him red-handed killing Travis so many moons ago, Deb was in love with Dexter. I thought that was over. But now I'm thinking it isn't – especially if she's tracking his car and stalking Hannah. Leaving aside the slight ickiness of their sibling relationship, I can't imagine any man preferring Hannah to Deb. You could never trust Hannah not to decide to kill you someday with a plate of fried green tomatoes. Of course, maybe Dexter finds that erotic or something, but why isn't he thinking more clearly about Hannah as a danger to Deb?

Finally, you don't make appointments with a murderer and break them, Dexter! Yes, the first one really wasn't Dexter's fault since he was unconscious, but it couldn't be clearer that Dexter isn't interested in Zach at all, other than as a way to get him into the Red Coral Club to confront Hannah. I started feeling sorry for Zach just a little bit, and was getting ticked about how Dexter was just bossing him around, when he wasn't ignoring him.

Did Zach kill Cassie as a message to Dexter? If he didn't, it would be an amazing coincidence. Cassie did see Zach banging on Dexter's door. But for that matter, so did Cassie's new boyfriend Oliver. Poor Cassie. She was interested in Dexter, after all, and she just paid the ultimate price for it.

Bits and pieces:

-- "Harry" is back! I missed him. Appropriate, since Dexter was thinking of being "Harry" for Zach.

-- Elway finally showed that he's no saint. He has it bad for Deb, and she can't return his feelings. This might not end well.

-- Jamie has decided that she wants to live with Quinn. I think Quinn is willing to do it just to get back at Angel.

-- The dead, abandoned greenhouse was this week's Most Obvious Symbolism. Hey, dead, abandoned relationship, ruined life.

-- Niki wanted Masuka to know she was working in a topless bar, and she wasn't interested in working in the lab. I am again thinking manipulation, that she wants a big score out of him. And I want to be wrong.

-- Masuka and Niki again wore color-coordinated outfits. That is, when she was wearing an outfit. For that matter, Dexter and Deb were also wearing the same color, and they do it a lot. Maybe I've been watching Breaking Bad too long.

Quotes:

Dexter: "She was in love with me. Drugging me and leaving me on the side of the road might suggest that's changed."

Dexter: "You're a weird guy who lives with his mom. You might as well be wearing a sign."

Dexter: "Miles Castner. What sort of name is 'Miles,' anyway?"
I thought that was funny. I guess he thinks the name "Dexter" is completely ordinary.

Deb: "Trust me. No one knows what it's like to fall in love with the wrong person more than I do."

Masuka: "I've stared at a million boobs but until now, I've never considered them to be 'daughter boobs'."

Deb: "Trust me. Dexter is not a mystery you want to solve."
Poor Cassie.

Very watchable, as all Dexter episodes are, but I was dissatisfied with this one. Or maybe I'm just dissatisfied with Dexter's choices,

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

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing and posting this as always, but I've been waiting for you to get to the this one. Ugh, just UGH.

    As a series-long Dexter devotee, this episode just turned me off every way possible.

    RIP suspension of disbelief. This was the most preposterous episode of Dexter ever. Completely lazy yet rushed at the same time.

    It didn't help that this was the week of the Season Premiere (Part 2?) of the end of Breaking Bad. I watched BrBa first which sets the writing/direction/story bar so high, and that mostly likely amplified in my mind how much I truly hated this episode.

    If there's any quality in the final season I hope it's coming. They're ruining a show I used to love.

    Where's the mystery and intrigue? Where's the edge of your seat fright? Where's the intensity that keeps you up long after the show's over? Where's the detective work and thrill of the hunt for the bad guy? Where's the constant fear Dexter's about to be caught? Where's the struggle of Dexter trying to fit in?

    Le sigh.

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  2. I guess I wasn't the only one to find this episode frustrating. Thanks, Mark.

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  3. I am completely with Mark.
    It's sad that the last season is such a downer in terms of urgency, suspense, mystey and intensity.

    Bringing back Hannah is a mistake in my opinion. I don't want to see a lovefool Dexter being on the run with Hannah à la Bonnie and Clyde.

    I think it's pretty obvious that we have something more to suspect from Cassy's boyfriend. Why give him so much screentime otherwise.

    And Zach? What an awful character and probably a waste too. It annoys me that we have to deal with so boring sidestorylines like this apprentice thing or Masuka and his daughter.

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  4. What's Metro Homicide arrest rate these days under Batista? If Deb had a 20% arrest rate, I'm assuming that under Batista to be as low as 0.02%...

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