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Dexter: Argentina

Dexter: "What's a booty call?"

I've enjoyed every season of Dexter (granted, some more than others) but I've never liked the villains so much before.

Dexter has a pattern, of course. Emotionally, he wants to connect with someone like himself, even though intellectually, he's aware of his own uniqueness. Just like Rudy, Lila, Miguel and so on, Dexter is hoping Hannah will be The One, the killer like himself who can be the true friend that he needs so badly. Dexter looked at the omelet that Hannah cooked for him and he knew that eating it was a gamble, but he ate it anyway. (What perfect symbolism for their relationship.)

I'm starting to like Hannah. Her longing for a quiet, faraway place where she could live a simple life (what she imagines Argentina to be) is rather sweet, and I loved her discussion with Dexter about booty calls. She even gave him excellent advice about how to deal with Isaak Sirko – to learn more about what is motivating the guy so Dexter will know how to defeat him. And yet, when Hannah tracked Dexter to the beach and he told her the truth about his kids, I knew it was a mistake, that Dexter was again putting his family in danger because of his own needs. Not good.

I'm starting to like Isaak Sirko, too. Even though they keep meeting, talking and even sort of flirting (murder flirting?), Dexter is deliberately keeping a wall up between himself and Isaak because he knows he has to kill him. But their conversation in the gay bar was delightful, and Dexter inadvertently did what Hannah suggested – he learned that love was motivating Isaak's need for revenge, that Viktor was the love of Isaak's life.

I did get the feeling that Isaak is fatalistic and just going through the motions now. He knows the Brotherhood is out to get him and even though he was talking about finding an out-of-the-way place to hide (like Argentina), I don't think he believes it will happen. I sort of feel sorry for him. Maybe it's because Ray Stevenson's performance has been so terrific.

Finally, we got another big conversation – an outright painful scene where Deb finally told Dexter she was in love with him, even though she kept covering her face and trying to take it back, to make it not true. All the family trappings, the kids sleeping in the house behind them, made the conversation even more uncomfortable than if they'd been alone. It had to be said, I suppose. This season is about the big secrets coming out into the open, after all. Dexter was completely thrown; he never saw it coming. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts once he's had some time to think about it.

Since we're talking about big secrets coming out, Maria is actually starting to consider the possibility that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, isn't she?

Bits and pieces:

-- Astor, Cody and Harrison all looked much older. Funny how Astor and Cody aren't getting along these days, much like Dexter and Deb. (Dexter lecturing Deb on how to kidproof her house was hilarious.)

-- Loved Dexter showing up at Isaak's place and finding another assassin lying in wait. ("We could have just gone halfsies?") I also enjoyed Dexter analyzing his own kill for Miami Metro later in the episode.

-- Angel did get the restaurant, and "Papa's" is under new management. Maybe it'll do well after all, since it has a built-in cop clientele.

-- All of Quinn's past sins are coming back on him this season, aren't they?

-- Loved Deb smoking pot with Astor. Hey, she's a police lieutenant telling a serial killer whom to kill. What's a little dope?

Quotes:

Dexter: "I'm not going to stop seeing Hannah just because she's a murderer and my sister wants me to kill her."

Masuka: "I heard about your donut shop."
Dexter: "Pretty scary. Francisco thinks it's gang-related."
Masuka: "Showdown between the crullers and the fritters? He he he he he he he."

Dexter: "Kill you later, Isaak."

Deb: "Dexter, you did not tell me that bedtime is, like, this two hour process. And that reading those Dr. Seuss books out loud is really fucking hard."
Dexter: "Sorry I missed that."
Me, too. Watching Deb read Dr. Seuss would be a hoot.

Deb: "What do you do, sit around and talk about who you're going to take out next?" Actually, Deb was right. Dexter and Hannah do tend to talk about who they're taking out, don't they?

Deb: "It's one thing to be in love with your brother, but it's a whole other level to be in love with your brother who's a goddamn fucking serial killer. You're a serial killer and I'm more fucked up than you are."
Laugh out loud. Seriously. I laughed for a couple of minutes.

Four out of four omelets, crullers and fritters,

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

18 comments:

  1. Great review, Billie!

    You're right that the scene between Deb and Dexter was painful to watch, and I was on edge during this whole seemingly neutral conversation Dex and Hannah had on the beach.

    This season has been consistently great, I'm loving all the big reveals and brave moves. Dexter is once again a highlight of my week :)

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  2. I liked that Dexter didn't know what to say to Deb when she told him she loved him. It was a perfect response.

    Still don't like the kid who plays Harrison, but I guess it's too late to change him out now. He barely wanted to take the popsicle...Ugh.

    Both the moments with Deb and with Sirko are great. Can't wait to see how they'll end the season and how they'll finalize the whole thing. It's going to be interesting I hope.

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  3. Excellent episode in what's been the best series in years.

    Brilliant performances from Ray Stevenson and Jennifer Carpenter (again).

    I really hope that Isaak takes Dexter's advice, cuts his losses and escapes (to Micronesia/Argentina/wherever) but I fear that ain't gonna happen.

    I'm wondering that, as we know next series is the last, have the writers mapped out the rest of the show already? With so many revelations (and more come by the look of it) I wouldn't be surprised if the format of the final series is a departure and focuses on Dexter's fate once his secret is out.

    If the writing is as good as this I think it will be a brilliant and fitting finale.

    Thanks for the review, Billie.

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  4. My, my. This season is Jennifer Carpenter's. She deserves 2 dozens of emmies. And I agree with you, Ray Stevenson's performance was excellent today/tonight.

    Quoting you : "isn't she?" Oh yeah. And I also LOL'ed with the more fucked up reference.

    Oh, BTW, next time remind me NOT to open the door to the Avon Lady. A bullet in every head if you don't purchase 15 dollars or more.

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  5. Are you 100% that the next season is the last one? AFAIK it is not set in stone yet and with such a great season and ratings they may reconsider. I certainly hope so.

    As for last episode I think Hannah may make it to Argentina thus leaving the way for Deb :) This week Jennifer performance was brilliant and I have my fingers crossed for this ship :> Does this even have a name? Or there are no shippers among Dexter fandom? :>

    It is also possible that they get rid of both Hannah and Debra, leaving Dexter very pissed off I guess. That would be fun to watch and also nice for series ending.

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  6. Just wanted to let you know that no episode of Dexter, Supernatural or the Walking Dead is complete until I have read your reviews. I love them!

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  7. I'm so glad that you guys are loving this season as much as I am. Thanks so much for the great comments.

    Can't remember where I saw it, but someone somewhere said that next season will be the last. Eight seasons is a lot of seasons. I don't think it's been announced officially yet, but I've been assuming it's true. An end date is a good thing. They can wind up the story and leave us with a decent ending.

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  8. Hee hee hee

    So glad to see that I'm not the only one saying how great this site is. If it's not over the top (you better get used to me), this site is amazing, cool, special, fun and excellent. And I adore some bloggers who shall remain nameless ! (and I guess my love for polar bears is now slowly becoming a Legend)

    Ditto, read somewhere that they'll end the show after 8 seasons. Eventually, you know what happens with too much of a good thing.

    Aw crap ! There's an Avon Lady ringing at my door. What is that phone number again for the 911 ?

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  9. I loved both the episode and the review. And I agree that this year's villains are quite enjoyable, but I usually like Dexter's villains. Isaak is certainly the funniest. When he said "Wow, that was a very vivid description. It's almost as if you were there.", or something like it, made me actually laugh out loud.

    We had confirmation that he and Viktor were in fact lovers, as I suspected (Brian Adams has never failed me). It made me feel very sad thinking about what Dexter told Isaak last episode, about crushing Viktor's skull with a fire extiguisher. That must be really hard to hear. I like to think Dexter wouldn't say it had he known.

    I don't know if I like Hannah because of the character or because she's plyed by an actress I like. But it's becoming obvious that Debra will eventually stand in her way, and she'll try to take out both her and Dex. What a pity.

    And I still don't buy Dex and Deb as a couple. No, no, no, sir!

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  10. I have a problem with Hannah's wardrobe. Yes, I know she is the femme fatale, but does she HAVE to wear the black bra/white shirt combo ad nauseum? She is running a business, so she should not be trying to look like a ho. Not that black bra/white shirt= ho, but it is on the trashy side. Anyway, wardrobe department could have done a much better job of making us realize her character without constantly repeating the same look. Silly, I know, but it is getting on my nerves.

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  11. Amy, Lila used to wear the same thing. Well actually - skimpy tops and NO bra.

    So obviously that's what does it for Dexter. *shudders*

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  12. I noticed she was wearing very unflattering clothes this week. They made it look like her upper body is much larger than it should be.

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  13. I found it very sad when she asked him - "is it because she is a serial killer?", that was Deb asking "why not me?".

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  14. There were things I liked, others I didn´t and I´m actually a bit disappointed with the way they went with the episode.

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  15. Ahh great review for a great episode Billie!

    I don't know if it's just that I am a little fragile today - but the last few scenes of these episode really got to me. Jennifer Carpenter's performance when Deb was telling Dex she loved him was completely heart-wrenching. The chilled out gay bar (classiest one I ever saw) scene had a really wistful, melancholy tone that brought home just how desperately sad Isaac's situation is, and foreshadows all the pain that is going to come when Dex and Hannah's hope for a happy ending is also snuffed out.

    It's funny, I am hoping against hope that the 'villains' of the season will both live - but there isn't a hope in hell of that happening.

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  16. Hey Billie and fellow Dexter watchers!

    I've watched this series so many times over the years and (similarly to my very late comments on your Six Feet Under reviews, Billie) finally wish to reflect a little. Always interesting to watch a series a few times through (I really must have no life).

    The Deb/Dexter romantic feelings storyline has always bothered be so much... That's understating it: it pissed me off! Maybe it's because, for some reason, the penny finally dropped... I think this seed may have been planted when Scott Buck took over as show runner (which, to be perfectly honest, didn't fill me with the same hope I once had for this excellent series). Like many of us, I'd drawn obvious parallels between Dexter and SFU (death, the dead father figure, the capacity of MCH to put on latex gloves at the drop of a hat) but I also reflected that SFU involved a brother-sister-potentially incestuous relationship and it bothers me that such a storyline was replicated here, just after the painting double-up (Travis Marshall and Lila's demonic paintings of Dex is what I refer to here). Why did we need to go here? There were already so many plates spinning in this entire series that this incest-related plot thread just seemed (to me) to be creepy, irrelevant, and stealing some attention from the bigger issues at hand.

    As a side note, Deb's infatuation with her adopted brother made less sense to me than Billy and Brenda in SFU, who were biological siblings. It worked in that show, I just don't think it worked here. Go figure.

    Anyways, just thought I'd jot my rambling thoughts down in case you see them Billie!

    Cheers... Tess.

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  17. Aussie Tess, thanks for contributing your opinion. We read every comment -- it's never too late to post one. I think I assumed they went with the incest thing because of the actors. And maybe because the show went on about two seasons too long?

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  18. Hey, thanks for your reply Billie. I definitely agree about this show going on too long! This is where SFU got it right in my opinion - it left me wanting more because of the quality of the show and the arc of the characters, not because I felt I just had to get through it because I'd started it... :)

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