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Dexter: Are You...?

"If she ever saw the real you, she'd never get over it."

I have wanted Deb to catch Dexter in the act pretty much forever, so my expectations were high. This episode did not disappoint. I enjoyed practically every moment of it.

The Dexter/Deb scenes have always been the best part of this series, and this episode, it was wall to wall. In the first few minutes, Dexter talked Deb into covering up Travis's murder with him, and convinced her that he had just snapped, it was a one-time thing. But she couldn't un-see what she saw, and she couldn't stop thinking about plastic wrap and knives and apron; she was too good a detective not to put it together. (It just took her a few hours and some Ice Truck Killer crime scene photos.)

That final scene was amazing. It was exactly what Deb would do, go to Dexter's apartment while he was out and tear it apart to find out the truth, and yet it still made me gasp out loud when he walked in on her. Dexter told her the truth about himself, and I could swear I saw relief in his eyes. If the focus of this season is Deb coming to grips with what Dexter really is, I am totally intrigued. I haven't felt this blown away by Dexter in awhile.

I'm especially intrigued by how Deb will process it all. She's such a cop, a detective down to her toes; she even told someone in this episode that "we do everything by the book. We're cops, not killers." But she's also Harry's daughter, and Harry was the one who set Dexter on his path. Several times, most notably in the Lumen arc, Deb has shown that she understands what drives someone to vigilantism. I certainly don't expect her to turn around and start murdering with Dexter in the next episode, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, is it? Dexter is very important to her, her primary family relationship. It's also not completely out of the question that she could decide to bring him down. Although I doubt it.

At least there was no talk of love. It certainly got blown out of Deb's conscious mind, didn't it? I also liked that I never once thought Dexter would kill her to keep her quiet. I don't think it even occurred to him. And if Dexter had ever truly believed he was in danger from Deb, he would have gotten on that plane.

In other news, the wonderful Enver Gjokaj, one of my faves from Dollhouse, did a brief bit as a killer of women who wound up Dextered and zipped into a surfboard bag. This appeared to be set-up of sorts, so I'm guessing the Russian mob will be after Dexter for killing the guy.

But wait! I have questions. How on earth are they expecting us to believe that Dexter got away with murder in an American airport with surveillance covering every inch of the place? He even bought a ticket, and "Mr. Heartwell" and the late, unlamented Viktor didn't make their flight. And two, yes, Dexter needed to "let off steam," but why couldn't he let Miami Metro avenge their own? They're going to go nuts trying to find Anderson's murderer, aren't they?

Finally, loved the specimen slide that went down the grate and ended up in Maria's pocket. You know she's already thinking that she can finally exonerate Doakes for the Bay Harbor Butcher murders. That, and the flashbacks Deb experienced to Brian/Rudy, were reminders of some of the best of Dexter. And yay.

Bits and pieces:

-- The cast is the same. No special guest star yet.

-- We got several flashbacks to when Dexter and Deb were little, and a Harry that was looking a bit too old for the flashbacks, although of course, recasting Harry would be idiotic. I wonder if getting rid of Banjo the puppy for Dexter's sake means that Deb will start seeing her childhood in a whole new way?

-- The photo on Dexter's computer included Harrison, who is suddenly a lot older than in last season's finale, and it was supposed to be the next day. Although again, recasting Harrison at this point would be idiotic.

-- Louis Greene looked at Dexter's computer and Dexter caught him at it. And now he's on Dexter's radar. I wonder if Greene is going to be around for long, or will he be disappearing mysteriously quite soon? What was he doing afterward? Opening an account in Dexter's name? Sounds like Jamie might not be dating him for much longer, at least, since she's finding him creepy. And she spends a lot of her time with a serial killer, so that's saying a lot.

-- (Oops, I didn't put that together with all of Dexter's cards declining. My bad.)

-- I rather liked Anderson, and he wasn't around for long. I thought they had plans for that character. Guess not.

-- Angel and Quinn have kissed and made up. I really don't care.

Very promising, and there was the gasp-out-loud moments, too. What did you guys think?

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

13 comments:

  1. We were supposed to think that Greene somehow got all of Dexter's credit card account information off his computer.
    Later on he was shown cancelling all of Dexter's cards on his own computer at home. That's why they were all declined in the opening scene and Dexter had to pay cash for gas.

    Weird that Dexter didn't then immediately check on what happened to them. Of course it was meant to be an audience fake-out meant to make you think he was on the run rather on the hunt.

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  2. Great season opener!
    One question though, not sure if it's been explained at some point, where does Dexter get all his money from? He seems to be loaded!?

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  3. Awesome, just awesome. That final scene is wow. I cannot wait to find out more and how Deb is gonna react.

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  4. I loved this season opener I am looking forward to seeing issues with Louis and Maria are handled.
    I am also glad deb finding out about Dexters true nature at the end of this episode rather than it being dragged out

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  5. Totally agree, Billie. I haven't been blown away by Dexter for a while either, but I was tonight. If the rest of the season's anywhere near as good as the opener, we're in for a classic season.

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  6. Excellent opening episode. Better than every episode of the deeply disappointing season 6 in pretty much every way. Hope they can maintain this standard.

    "The cast is the same. No special guest star yet. "

    As far as I know Ray Stephenson (Isaac the Ukrainian mob boss guy), he of Rome,Thor & Punisher, is this seasons recurring guest star.

    Great review as ever, Billie. Thanks.

    Tim

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  7. I was somewhat disappointed in the pacing of last night's episode. Of course, I was so engrossed in it, I wasn't watching my clock and didn't realize that we were at the final scene until it was upon us. Still...the flashbacks and the scene with Dexter frantically hauling ass to the airport both led me to think that the ending scene was all in his head. Wasn't there another scene in his head inside the church? Either way, I wasn't convinced until I saw the previews for next week. That my friends is not how you drop a bomb your audience has long been awaiting. Having said that, the acting was brilliant, and I swear I saw the name Jason Gedrick in the credits, though I couldn't place him in the episode.

    Amy E

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  8. Jason Gedrick was the guy who was running the strip joint. I recognized him, too. Since he's a recognizable actor, I bet he ends up on Dexter's table before the end of the season.

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  9. WOW! WOW! I almost couldn't believe it... And it only took Deb half an episode to figure pretty much everything out. Tons of awesome possibilities... can't wait for the next one!

    I almost didn't notice slightly boring Angel\Quinn part, though I did roll my eyes at killing at the airport. Come on!!! But the rest of the episode was so awesome that they perhaps thought we'd let it slide :)

    Great review, Billie!

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  10. Spin-off idea:

    Deb Morgan & Hank Schrader:
    Detectives For Hire

    Surely no criminal would be safe?

    :-)

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  11. Don't think it's all in dexters head because the ice truck killers hand that Louis mailed to dexter was sitting right on the table and neither knew about it.

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  12. I think it was a fair to middlin' premiere epi. I didn't like that Anderson was killed off for no good reason. When they killed off Doakes it made sense in the storyline and it was unexpected.

    Also didn't like where they had him kill the Ukrainian guy off. I can only hope things improve so that the end is not the best part of the episode. If the previews are any indication it looks like it will get better. No red herrings in terms of the truth please!!

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  13. So it was Enver Gjokaj! I spent the entire episode saying, "No...it's not him--oh! Profile shot! Totally him! Or maybe not..."

    Super-excited about marathoning my way through the first half of this season. And not just because of Ray Stevenson, who is awesome. :-)

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