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Dexter: Once Upon a Time

Deb: "God! Why can't things just stay the same?"

I kept thinking, serviceable episode. Maybe it was because of all the scenes in the service station.

Our theme this week was change, with a side order of ritual. Things don't stay the same forever. Harrison is now old enough to notice the content of Daddy's stories and that Daddy has a secret box, so we must have new stories and a box that isn't Daddy's box. (Although in my opinion, "The Three Little Pigs" is at least as violent as what Daddy did to Chino in the Hood.) Dexter considers Harrison to be a lot more important than killing, which is good. But he also said that monsters don't get to live happily ever after, which isn't good for Harrison.

Dexter continued his "spiritual quest" by going after Brother Sam, but "God" led him to another victim, instead. I liked Brother Sam and was pleased that he turned out to be sincere – and how interesting that Brother Sam's "light passenger" told him to share his story with Dexter. I really liked Dexter and Brother Sam standing off the bad guys together, too. Dexter actually flashed his badge. I don't think he's ever done that before.

Matthews wants to screw over LaGuerta (and who can blame him), so Deb is now a lieutenant. We got another really nice scene when Deb broke it to Angel kindly and tactfully, and Angel returned the favor by sincerely congratulating her. They're both such classy people.

Even though it's awfully early in her career, there's no doubt that Deb is an outstanding detective. But is she ready for this? Will it be good for her? Isn't it time for her to get out from under the shadow of Harry? (I tend to forget that Dexter isn't the only one haunted by Harry.) And now she's living with Dexter again. There's something weird and delightful about a police lieutenant and a serial killer sharing an apartment, isn't there? The Dexter/Deb stuff has always been my favorite part in the series, and I'm encouraged that it might be front and center again. We didn't get enough of it last season.

So Angel will have her back, and Dexter will be there to help. I'm sure Masuka will behave, too. It's LaGuerta that Deb needs to worry about. And Quinn.

I felt a bit sad for Quinn. It's tough to be in a situation like that, where you love someone a lot more than they love you. (The reverse isn't fun, either.) I knew it was over when Deb was bouncing her new situation off Dexter, and it was the promotion she cared about, not Quinn's marriage proposal. Deb apparently finds Quinn boring. She's not going to like being his boss, because I'm certain he'll give her a terrible time. And I bet this means Quinn will go after Dexter again. Conflict, ahoy.

If Quinn were really smart, he'd transfer right now. Quinn is not smart.

In the bad guy department, I am now thinking that Professor Gellar (Olmos' character name from IMDb) and Travis (Colin Hanks) are true believers who are trying to prevent the end of the world. (Or bring it on. I'm not sure yet.) Travis is obviously conflicted because he loves his sister, Molly Parker the art teacher, and Gellar said she couldn't be "saved." Dan thinks Gellar and Travis are Twenty Twelvers. That scene where Gellar burned himself in front of the altar and talked about how it was his job to take care of Travis made me wonder if maybe Gellar believes himself to be the Second Coming.

And I loved the segue from Professor Gellar in front of the altar to Quinn's altar of Chinese food surrounded by candles. There's always little stuff to love about this show, as well as the big stuff.

Bits and pieces:

-- The scenes with Michael C. Hall and the toddler (okay, toddlers) playing Harrison were really adorable and nicely done. It reminded me of Peter Krause and the little girl who played his daughter in Six Feet Under.

-- Deb is the youngest lieutenant in the history of Miami Metro. She looked really good in that uniform. Most people look lumpy in a cop suit.

-- Dexter is so retentive that he left his coffee on the pavement while he was carefully crashing his car.

-- Masuka's intern may wear tight, inappropriate clothing, but she's sharp. He'd better be careful. She might be after his job.

-- Rivera the fruit vendor was a recovering criminal like Brother Sam. Maybe his killing wasn't some random drive-by fruiting.

-- Quinn had some nerve asking Dexter to help him land Deb. That's just not something you do.

Quotes:

Deb: "Fuck balls, you're serious. Sir."

Deb: "What can Matthews possibly be thinking?"
Dexter: "That you're smart, you're driven, you're a great detective... (to himself) who'll be leading the department that may hunt me down one day..."

Dexter: "Debra Quinn. Your initials would be DQ. Like the..."
Deb: "I will kill you."

Angel: "About time a real cop got that job." Unlike his ex-wife, Maria. No love lost there.

Angel: "How come Matthews hates you, but I'm always the one paying the price?"

Brother Sam: "I know what's waiting for me on the other side. Do you?"

Good episode, but they're still warming up. Three out of four little pigs,

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

10 comments:

  1. I liked it a lot more than the very blah premiere, mostly because of Mos Def.

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  2. I found it very interesting and I wanna see where they are headed.

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  3. Dexter with Harrison are very cute, Deb was funny as usual, and Angel soooo sweet...as for the rest .... not impressive so far. Very slow... the villains of the season are not chilling and so far that plot has been boring.., I miss intense, edge of a seat Dexter... please....

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  4. Okay episode but it's hard to find a bad episode of Dexter. However, Billie wins the quote of the week for "random drive-by fruiting."

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  5. Thanks, topher darling. I can't take credit for "drive-by fruiting," though. It's a Robin Williams line from Mrs. Doubtfire. It just fit what happened to that poor fruit vendor.

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  6. Though the premiere was good, it didn't leave me especially excited.

    That is where this episode succeeded. With the new Alpha/Omega scenes, and Dexter's interactions with Brother Sam, I am amped up for whatever comes next. Even the side stories involving Angel and Masuka are intriguing.

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  7. DQ = Dairy Queen. A chain of American ice cream restaurants.

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  8. Wow... I thought it stood for drama queen. Just goes to show what I know :o(

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  9. You know, 3 episodes into it and they had better tie the knot between this terribly weird Olmos and Hanks thread or it is going to get really, really boring. Full disclosure, I don't like James Olmos and after all his tv in the 80'2 nd 90's...we've seen his full range and its old...LaGuerta is definitely going to be Deb's biggest problem and I also agree that Quinn will renew his Dexter investigation...OR it will be Angel...remember, Angels sister made the comment to him in episode one that "sometimes he just goes out late at night to be by himself"....makes me think it will be Angel who has to hunt down Dexter. I think the show is showing its naturally expected weakness of having run for 5 good years...but it should be at least enjoyable...

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