By far the best episode of the season, 5.08 finally pulled together all the pieces of this season’s narrative into something cohesive and meaningful.
This was the first time I truly believed in Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) connection to Lumen (Julia Stiles). This isn’t the first time Dexter has let someone in on his killing methods, but it is the first time he’s needed to. Rita’s death left Dexter out of touch with his primal side, his killer instincts unable to fill the shattered void. But Lumen has given his dark passenger a new purpose, one that perhaps he’s never had before: he’s no longer killing to heal his own childhood wounds, he’s doing it to heal someone else (as misguided and twisted as this may be). He’s finally becoming a more selfless psychopath. Hooray!
For five years we’ve watched Dexter try desperately to connect to another human being. Each time, he’s either come up short, been betrayed, or suffered a horrible loss. Can anyone live with the truth of what I am? Until now, that answer has been a resounding NO. Lumen seems capable. But Dexter is still making a terrible mistake in relying on someone else to make him whole.
Being called on stage to relive the moment he discovered Rita was the kind of raw scene that over the history of Dexter has made this one of the best series on television. We wait and wait to see this kind of open vulnerability in Dexter, desperately wanting him to feel. So when we finally see the mask come off, it’s a moment of great catharsis, not only for Dexter, but for us.
Finally the Fuentes brothers storyline also had some kind of payoff in terms of expanding Deb’s (Jennifer Carpenter) character arc. Did we see a hint of a dark passenger in Deb as she admitted to Dexter that she felt nothing after killing Carlos? It also produced a moving scene between Deb and Batista (David Zayas) that had me cheering (inside). It’s been difficult to stand by and watch as one of my favorite characters, Batista, has been left floundering in the wind by the writers. He’s back!
There were some classic black humor moments at both the opening (“I’ve never been around so many people who made me feel normal.”) and the end of the episode with Cole’s body parts in Dexter’s suitcase. It also nicely set up some serious future tension, both with the revelation about Jordan (Jonny Lee Miller) and the final scene. It was only a matter of time (well, five years) before someone caught Dexter taking a little “Slice of Life”.
I’m finally invested in this season.
Grade: A
Follow Us
pretty much agree with everything you said. By siding with Deb, I finally like Batista again. Always one of my favourites until getting together with La Guerta made him unbearable.
And I agree, there was definitely a hint of Dexter about Deb's confession that she felt nothing/good about killing that guy. And I definitely think Dexter noticed that as well.
The opening scene was vintage Dexter, he hasn't made me laugh very often this season, but his "I've never been around so many people who made me feel normal." was hilarious. I am really enjoying Jonny Lee Miller on the show. Wonder how that will play out (why wasn't he in the picture and who are the others?).
One complaint though. Testament to the way the writers have always made sure that Dex was safe and sound so far, but all I thought when Robocop took the pictures was 'well, that'll be the end of him'; And the way he pissed of Quinn (who I have always hated and who's nothing but a poor man's Doakes) seems a convenient set up for him to vanish without even him caring too much.
Agree with Quinn being a poor man's Doakes: the guy's performance is fine, but he's always had too little to work with. Even the question marks they placed early on over whether he's on the take (his unexplained wealth, as noted by some characters), it's nothing dramatically compared to Doake's moral ambiguity with his own history of killing – as capped off by Dexter's dilemma in season 2: Doakes HAD killed people he probably shouldn't have, but he just fell an inch short of being someone who Dexter could justify murdering. You can't see anything of similar dramatical significance arising from Quinn's character (again, nothing wrong with the performance, he's just not fleshed out enough to be a primary villain).
What I CAN see being interesting is that Quinn, unlike Doakes, is the lover of Dexter's sister. And given that their relationship seems to be progressing quite well, THAT could inject a little more spice into the character. Dexter faced with killing Debra's boyfriend (and capping off a truly messed up love life for a character who is becoming increasingly detached as a result), just as the possibility of Debra understanding his nature appears – that might be interesting. Quinn doesn't fully trust Robocop anymore (am I the only one who thinks that Weller should have had a LOT more high-profile roles over his career? Convincing actor, and good range to boot), and bringing Dexter down will finish things with Debra. And if Dexter kills Quinn, he'll never EVER be able to reveal to Debra who he is, no matter how much she shares his 'dark passenger'.
Oh, and as for who's going to vanish first: Quinn or Weller (if either): could be interesting. Check out the casting lists for how many episodes they're appearing in – as a lead, we don't know how many specific episodes Quinn is signed up for, but Weller is in for pretty much the rest of the season. That plot-line has legs on it yet.