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Dexter: The Family Business

A little tree, some gifts, a family hunting trip... it's the most wonderful time of the year.

I thought Dexter started out beautifully, describing to Harrison how he tracked down and confronted Wiggles the Clown Child Killer. It was creepy and outright ridiculous, giving serial killing a carnival-like air. I particularly loved Wiggles in make-up and slappy clown shoes facing Dexter, who was wearing a big red nose. And Wiggles meeting his end on a playground slide.

And of course, it was all made up, like a fantasy version of take-your-son-to-work day. It even slightly resembled the first kill we saw in this series, the choir master who killed boys. Except Dexter left out the bloody ending, making confronting murderers look more like a noble calling. It was smart of Dexter to let Harrison think about it all and come up with the fatal answer by himself.

Dexter and Harrison genuinely bonded, too, telling each other all sorts of truths. Dexter told Harrison about his own mother's death and that he'd killed Trinity; Harrison confessed to Dexter that he'd set up Ethan. Dexter wanted so deeply for Harrison to be like himself, to share his "vigilante shit" with Harrison, that I don't think he was seeing the situation as it really was. Especially after that amazing shit show underground in Kurt's lair.

Kurt's death included three big differences from the ritual killings Dexter usually does: 1. the bodies of the victims themselves as witnesses instead of just photos, 2. the actual dismemberment afterward, and 3. Harrison witnessing the entire event, beginning to end. Yes, it certainly felt justified, especially in front of all those women Kurt had killed, but that's theory. The actual reality was bone saws, nine pieces in garbage bags, and blood all over the floor. I think it was actually the most disgusted I've ever felt with Dexter. He actually enjoys dismembering bodies, doesn't he? It was a lot to take for a teenager, even if Harrison truly believed that the world was a "better place for it."

So what is Harrison truly feeling right about now? If Harrison isn't actually homicidal, Dexter may be in serious trouble. If not from Harrison, then from Angela.


Angela was playing it remarkably cool, even as she got confirmation from the vet about "Jim" taking the ketamine as well as a note from Kurt (I assume) that Dexter had killed Matt Caldwell. Is she just making absolutely certain before doing anything? I can imagine that Angela is also worried about her own safety as well as Audrey's. Smart woman.

I suppose it's easy to guess what the final episode will be about, huh?

Bits:

— Poor Molly. I was sad to see her body in Kurt's lair. Is Angela going to see that underground tomb in the next episode?

— So much for Dexter's nice cabin. What happened to his animals?

— The drone finally came into play when Dexter and Harrison used it to discover the location of Kurt's massive kill room.

— Dexter gave Harrison a rifle for Christmas not to kill things, but to blend in. That's disquieting.

— Harrison was taken aback when Kurt told him that Dexter killed Matt.

— Clancy Brown was a terrific villain, by the way. No question that it would end this way, but he was believable, and that's no small thing.

— Loved the Christmas sweaters, including their use in the end credits.

Quotes:

Dexter: "Stop clowning around, Wiggles. You know exactly what's going on."

Harrison: "You're kinda like Batman or something."
Dexter: "I like Dark Defender."

Harrison: "Vigilante shit."
Dexter: "Yeah. Vigilante shit."

Harrison: "You killed Wiggles, didn't you?"
Dexter: "I did. And I took care of Arthur Mitchell, too. Trinity. I killed him for what he did to your mother. For what he did to so many others."
Harrison: "This motherfucker needs to die, too."

Harrison: "How many times have you done this?"
Dexter: "A lot."
Harrison: "How many?"
Dexter: (to himself) "Go big or go home." (to Harrison) "In the hundreds."
Harrison: "Holy shit. That means you've saved, like, thousands of innocent people."

And the thing is, Dexter has saved thousands of innocent people. But he could have done much the same as a detective, couldn't he?

Can't wait for the finale, especially with the stakes so high. Four out of four big red noses,

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

2 comments:

  1. Wooo, what a big lie Dex!!!
    He didn't kill Trinity to avenge Rita, she was killed for not having killed Trinity earlier (he even saved him from committing suicide)

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  2. Very shocked at Molly being killed. I found her so annoying but was left haunted by the sight of the body displays. Kinda wish we saw the act though >.> I was also surprised to see Kurt dealt with within this episode. That was pretty fast, and also sorta disappointing. Kurt acting like he called Dexter out on some hypocrisy made no proper sense.

    Everything with Harrison FINALLY being in the kill room and seeing how the sausage was made was appropriately surreal. I loved that even though Harrison is trying to rationalize everything after, it doesn't take back the expressions he wore on his face as he first watched it all happen. Good acting. I love that he's freaked out by it. It was cool to see Dexter in kind of an ugly/pitiable light, his glee at being able to bring someone into this fold and just barreling into it. And all that butchering.

    A shame we're not getting another full episode of Harrison just watching Dexter do his routine and growing more and more disturbed by it à la **SEASON 3 JUSTIFIED SPOILERS** Duffy from Quarles's antics, lol.

    I like Angela and her facial expressions but her catching Dex is not going to feel earned at all, everything's just falling into her lap... meh. Technically even Molly did more real work in that regard.

    But yeah that was really good overall... Kurt's kill room was pretty fucked up. Though I don't know why Audrey and Harrison are suddenly acting like they're friends again. Guess it's just for Christmas.

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