Dexter: The British Invasion

 "Confusion requires fire trucks?"

Wow. So this is how it ends. Such magnificent, exciting chaos. Yet it all feels earned in terms of the characters. And, in hindsight, Lila's bit of self-arson a few episodes back was something of a harbinger for how this would end. For Doakes, and almost for Dexter...

I sort of knew that Doakes had to die- he knew too much. What else could the writers possibly have done with him? But so early in the episode, so dramatically, and Lila reacting to the truth about Dexter by doubling down on him being her soulmate... wow. She's an extraordinary character.

And her reaction, wanting Dexter even more and intensifying her pursuit, is extraordinary- as is Dexter's realisation of what she's like- just like him, emotionally empty. Her past, interestingly, is still a mystery, but was her "addiction" to a substance at all?

But then there's her unhinged revenge side, trying to kill not only Dexter but the kids. She misses a trick, I suppose, in not just exposing Dexter to Rita and to the world, but as a climax it really works. As does Dexter's killing her, finally able to do so in accordance with his "principles".

There's other character development with Deb, too... her heart, inevitably, is broken. But she's even closer to Dexter, the two of them being, bizarrely, paragons of a healthy sibling relationship. And all is seemingly back to the status quo...

Except LaGuerta, who knows something is off. As Doakes did exactly a season ago...

Wow. Just wow. 

Dexter: Left Turn Ahead

 "Harry gazed into the eyes of his creation and saw evil, pure and simple..." 

Wow. Yet again we have an extraordinary clever, gleefully chaotic and masterfully character-based episode... and next up is the finale. And I'm told by my very lovely partner that future seasons get even better. I'm still rather cross about those well done steaks, though. Well done steaks are an abomination. That character flaw of Dexter's is right up there with the serial killing.

So much of this is about the perverse but very real rapport between Dexter and Doakes who- as ever- is right about everything. Dexter's confidence is low after realising that his father killed himself because of what he'd made Dexter, and so he's lacking in confidence and, for him, very much losing control. And, incredibly, Doakes persuades him to get his affairs in order and turn himself in. it's extraordinary how liberated Dexter seems with the freedom he has to be honest with his honourable archenemy.

And then, at the end, Deb inadvertently persuades him otherwise, having slowly got her mojo back after last season's trauma, persuading him to just ride through it. It all feels earned and absolutely true to character for everyone. Ironically, a lot of this is due to Dexter actually being a bloody good brother.

In other news, Mike from Breaking Bad shows up, and things are going well between Deb and Lundy. Too well. I'm convinced that tragedy is round the corner.

And then there's Lila. Ah, Lila. Framing poor Angel in a despicable attempt to get Dexter back, and he can clearly see the parallels in what he himself is doing to Doakes. But she's dangerous, volatile, and Deb's confidence after realising her immigration status is misplaced. That final scene, with Lila poised to learn everything from Doakes, makes me want to see the finale. So job done.

Extraordinary episode. Aren't they all? 

Dexter: There's Something About Harry

 "Amazing how easy it is to hide your true self from people, huh?"

Before I get into this episode, yet another roller coaster of extraordinary shocks and surprises which feels like the second instalment of a four part season finale, I'll reiterate this: Dexter is the protagonist, and we see everything from his point of view, thus sympathising with him via letting us see his internal monologue. Doakes, on the other hand, is the chief antagonist. We're not privy to his inner thoughts, and we see him through Dexter's eyes.

Yet, if we remove the biases which the show cleverly gives us by doing these things... Dexter is a monster, a villain, a bad man. And Doakes is good, noble, right about everything and, yes, the hero. A flawed one (the shootings), but his flaws are born of moral outrage. But it's clever of the show to play such interesting games around the concept of who is the hero and who the villain.

The scenes between Dexter and Doakes, as they duel verbally, are exquisite here. Dexter may have him in a cage, but Doakes has the upper hand in other ways. Now that he knows, he understands Dexter. He has the upper hand in the ethical debates. He's positively gleeful when he realises that Dexter's code means that he can't kill him.

It's clever how the script misdirects us, seemingly giving Dexter reasons to kill Doakes... but he just can't. Framing him, though? Is that really consistent with the code of Harry?

Then there's Lila's horrifying acts with the naive Angel. The rohypnol... she's not going to frame him for that, is she? She's a truly deadly woman. A real contrast with LaGuerta, who is really pulling out he stops to exonerate Doakes. Yet Lundy can't accept her evidence because her earlier behaviour means she can't be seen as credible... and it's a nice touch that he's angry at her precisely because he may be right. Curious. Is all this perhaps an elaborate ruse to get Dexter after all?

And yet what lingers in the mind, even after all that, is Harry's hushed up secret, and why he took his own life- after training Dexter up to be what he is, he sees the reality and can no longer live with hmself. Oh my. That's dark. And Dexter now knows. 

Superlative telly, obviously. 

Dexter: Resistance Is Futile

 "Nice, my subconscious isn't even bothering with symbolism..."

Wow. This is a truly impressive piece of television, a real masterclass of tension. The net seems to be closing in on Dexter, his downfall seemingly inevitable. And then... we have the perfectly earned yet surprising twist. And another shocking twist at the end.  

Lila is out of Dexter's life, or so he thinks- although, of course, without a "sponsor", he's back to his "addiction". Or, at least, to the extent he can do so, what with all this FBI surveillance. Yet she's volatile, dangerous, and the games she plays here- hanging out with Dexter's colleagues and flirting with Angel- seem to be a harbinger of something bigger. She's going to do something big, dramatic and awful, I know. And she sees right through him, in everything except the huge elephant in the room.

Oh, and that call between Dexter and Rita, as they make baby steps towards getting back together and plan to meet the following night? I'm full of foreboding. So much can happen before then. 

More than anything, though, this is all about Dexter's near-certainty that his comeuppance is at hand. The direction, the acting, the mood of paranoia, that flashback to his youth, it's all building up to the moment where he's taken to Lundy... 

And then the bombshell: Doakes is the suspect, not Dexter. And it makes perfect sense. The FBI found the slides in Doakes' car, his recent behaviour has indeed been odd... the last few episodes have been so masterfully building up to this. And, irony of ironies, Dexter has been put in charge of examining the slides. And yet... the code of Harry. Don't harm the innocent. But don't get caught.

Others, of course, have their own agendas. Maria LaGuerta remains loyal to Doakes, and we know the lengths she'll go to. But, in urging Deb to urge her influence, she unwittingly causes Deb to let slip her rather icky secret.

But then, the end, the altercation with Doakes, the dilemma, three episodes to go, which I'm sure will be high drama...

Wow. Just wow. This is masterful telly. 

Dexter: Morning Comes

 "Trust me, when you meet the monster, you'll know..."

I was going to blog this last night, but, well, the title... 

Anyway, it's all kicking off now. So much happened this episode and it doesn't look as though it's going to slow down soon. For a start, Lundy, Deb and co are getting closer to nabbing Dexter. His rather unwise "manifesto" has got Lundy to realise the killer works in law enforcement, and now Deb (it would be her) has, courtesy of an absolute busybody, proved that the killer works in the Miami police department. And, if that isn't enough, Lundy seems suspicious and is asking difficult questions.... and Doakes (blowing off a serious job offer arranged by Laguerta, who still very much seems to carry a flame for him, given the body language) not only searches Dexter's apartment but seems to find the jackpot.

But there's more. Rita lays down the law and insists on no contact with her or the kids... but Dexter's house isn't the only one being searched. Lila truly is obsessive. Dexter begins to suspect the truth about the fire, deliberately set by her as a way to keep him, and he's distancing himself a bit... causing some truly red flag behaviour from Lila, deliberately arranding for his mother's murderer to be able to attempt to kill him, all in an attempt to rekindle the flame. Which is... yeah.

And so it's the end for their relationship. And, therefore, for Dexter's "recovery", as his mother's killer is given a rather unfortunate appointment with a chainsaw. Without Lila, he's killing again. And, on top of this, the net is closing in, Lila is still around and blatantly dangerous... and the season has a full four episodes to go. It's promising to be quite the ride, rather like Lila and Dexter's rather vigorous former sex life... 

Oh, and I very much fear for Deb. This relationship with Lundy, literally her boss, is a big conflict of interest and is, on his part, unethical. Could it be that he suspects Dexter and is using her...? 

Dexter: That Night, a Forest Grew

 "Pardon my tits!"

Oh me. back to Dexter again (recovering well from my op) and what an episode.

Where to start? Well, there's the manifesto from the "Bay Harbour Butcher". Dexter thinks he's being clever by writing it, putting the FBI off the scent with distracting nonsense. But he's too clever be half, perhaps? Because Lundy sees clearly what the manifesto's purpose happens to be, and accurately concludes that the killer is linked to law enforcement. Meanwhile,his manipulation of Doakes gets his rival suspended. Again, though, too clever by half? Doakes won't be giving up, and he sort of has this habit of never actually being wrong about anything.

Worrying that he's going after that nice Camilla lady, mind. Her line about being scheduled to retire next year feels worryingly like a kind of dialogue Chekhov's Gun- if she was fated to retire, surely that line wouldn't be there?

Ultimately, this episode is all about relationships and change. Rita finally sees how controlling and abusive her mother is (perhaps explaining her choices of men?) and banishes her. Deb banishes her sexy but ordinary boyfriend and comes on to the urbane, cultured, wise and much older Agent Lundy... and it seems to go well. But is she thinking straight? She's very upset at Dexter leaving Rita and shacking up with the obviously dangerous Lila.

And... ah yes. Dexter and Lila's relationship blooms, on the surface. Really good sex. Excitement. Yet... as we see Dexter supporting Cody at his school assembly thing, Lila sets fire to her valuable artwork, the one she's actually sold, in order to manipulate Dexter into staying with her and away from Rita. Which is... deeply creepy and controlling. She's a paradox: genuinely the cause of keeping him away from his "addiction" to killing, but oh so very dangerous...

Dexter has just got even better. 

Dexter: Dex, Lies and Videotape

 "What step was that?"

"The naughty one!"

So... Dexter gets away with deleting the marina footage by the old fire alarm trick. Easy... and, perhaps, a bit of a cheat, given the weight put on this at the end of last episode. But not all problems are so easily solved. Doakes is getting very persistent in his suspicions now. Dexter can deal with this by partly confiding in LaGuerta, of course. And she has reasons to be concerned about Doakes' obsessiveness... and yes, it's confirmed: they're exes, with a past. Quite the conflict of interest in her being his boss, then.

I suspect Doakes will, in the long run, keep being persistent, and it won't end well for him. But, yet again, we ought to remember: he's right. And he may be the antagonist but he's not the bad guy. Dexter is.

And Dexter has another problem now: a vengeful ex-mother-in-law. Choosing the somewhat wild femme fatale Lila over decent, dependable Rita is certainly most unwise of him, to say nothing of the morality. He's been emotionally cheating on her for a while, confiding things to Lila and not to Rita. And now, after Rita gets the wrong end of the stick, he actually does literally cheat on her... and admit it. Wow.

Lila bonds with him much better. He can be a closer approximation of his true self with her. But... I'm full of foreboding.

We have more bonding between Deb and Lundy, who seems to be morphing into something of a father figure. And it's being made teasingly ambiguous that he may suspect Dexter. I suspect they'll string this out for quite a while.

Oh, and then there's the copycat killer, played by Monroe from Grimm. Dexter protests rather too much when he insists that his murders are "principled" and this man's are not. It's becoming increasingly emphasises that even Harry didn't actually have a "code", much less Dexter. But scenes like this are deliciously revealing.

Another excellent episode, with some cleverly nuanced scripting. And it's the perfect balance between having us accept Dexter as the protagonist while always reminding us that, if this show has a hero, it's certainly not him.

Dexter: The Dark Defender

 "Should we call the Super Friends for help?"

So... that was an actual armadillo. Wow! Very strange for this Brit to think of one of those as a creature that might find its way into one's home. A hedgehog it is not.

Anyway, basically another top episode, and as ever it's a fascinating one in terms of where this is all going.

Dexter likes a queue.... yeah, that fits. But we also have an interesting sibling chat: Deb really has it in for the "Bay Harbour Butcher". But others (naturally occurring overheard vox pops) approve of him, probably hangers and floggers and people who loved Chuck Dixon's run on The Punisher. But it's an interesting binary, the divided attitudes.

And then we get a murder in a comic shop, as Sophie Ellis-Bextor didn't quite sing. And this riffs on that very contrast- is Dexter the "Dark Defender", a kind of Shadow/Mr A figure straight from pulp fiction or the Objectivism-addled mind of Steve Ditko, or is he just the "Bay Harbour Butcher", a common or garden serial killer?

There are other sub-plots. LaGuerta and Doakes are having a bit of an arc, with her very much concerned about his developing habit of shooting people, and... is it implied that they used to be a couple? Then there's deb's trust issues with Gabriel, and her interesting dynamic with her eccentric widower of a boss.

But really, as was always going to happen, this is about Dexter, and his flashback to his mum's murder opens a couple of cans of squirming invertebrates. Firstly... Harry not only slept with his mum but used her as bait and got her killed! If even Harry is deeply flawed, can there be any stability in Dexter's world. And he confides not in Rita, but Lila, who understands him more... and is as abnormal as he is. And so she is involved in his need to confront the surviving killer and get "closure".

I'm sure there will be consequences in the aftermath of said confrontation... not least in him getting closer to Lila. Especially after her confession to, effectively, murder by arson, but of someone bad in the same way as Dexter's victims. So suddenly these two have even more in common... but Lila is dangerous. She's chaos. Calling it now: she's going to die. But not before she and Dexter break poor Rita's heart.

Poor Rita. All the loyalty she's showing, sticking up for Dexter with her mum... by the rules of television drama, she's going to end up sooo heartbroken.

And that ending... oh dear. Another utterly gripping episode.

Dexter: See-Through

 "Ok, this is the first time I regret not being a bigger nerd..."

Dexter, this season, just keeps getting better and better, and it was already pretty darn good. The characterisation is getting pretty deep, and there are so many cleverly done scenes with dialogue at cross purposes.

Dexter, surely, is on borrowed time. Not only is he surely certain to get caught by Lundy's team (because of algae along, I'm sure, with other things!) but his pretence at addiction can't last, surely. He has to keep up the pretence with too many non-stupid people. Not least of which is Rita's mother, (Diane from the Poltergeist films!) introduced here, who can see both that he's a good actor and he's hiding something.

Then there's Lila who, we discover here, is an artist, and bonkers. Not only that... but she reacts calmly to being shown corpses, so is she perhaps, well, a non-standard personality type on top of that? Certainly Rita is jealous of her, and rightly so. She and Dexter have such chemistry... how much does she know? And could she handle the truth? Dexter is... clearly intrigued.

Lundy is interesting, too. A sphinx, but perhaps opening up to Deb... encouraging her to ask out the bloke she fancies at the gym, Gabriel... rather successfully. He's even ok with the fact that she wants to handcuff him to the bed during sex... not in a kinky way, but because the last man she slept with, well... definitely issues there. But what's this between her and Lundy? A spark? Or is he using her, suspecting her brother...?

Doakes' subplot is interesting, too. It's emphasised yet again that yes, he's flawed, but he has morals and integrity and, while not the protagonist, he's the hero of this show. Unlike Maria, who... wow, what a bombshell. That's cold, LaGuerta, so damned cold. This is a dangerous woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants...

Taking a step back, it's amazing how far these characters have come, already, in the four episodes of this season. This could be a very special season if it keeps this up...

Dexter: An Inconvenient Lie

 "You're a terrible liar..."

So Dexter begins the episode with what seems to be a huge problem. Rita thinks he's a junkie and enrols him on one of those dodgy twelve step programmes (Just saying, Alcoholics/Narcoholics Anonymous DOES apparently work if you commit to it but, well, it's just one of many ways, and there are less intrusive organisations that don't exclude introverts or non-theists. Also, its world view is just wrong; an ex of mine was a former alcoholic, yes, a former alcoholic, who ended up drinking moderately. Anyway...) and this is going to be a massive time sink, all as Doakes is still watching him. However will he find time for, well, his actual addiction?

But, of course, the whole thing turns out to be a blessing in disguise. He can talk obliquely about his REAL addiction. Even better, he's got Doakes (who gets it wrong for once) off his back, satisfied at the "explanation" for Dexter's secretive behaviour. For now, anyway. I can't see Doakes being fooled for long.

But there's more. There's a very perceptive fellow addict, a girl, with whom he seems to connect... a potential rival for Rita, more on his level? And, from the programme and his current victim (whose lying skills he is in awe of!)... Dexter begins to realise that perhaps he does care about people, and perhaps even loves Rita...

In other threads, Maria continues to bond with the struggling new Lieutenant, even defending her to the Captain.. playing a long game, perhaps, but I think also genuinely just doing the right thing. And then there's the FBI bloke, picking Deb for the investigation into the Bay Harbour Butcher... and turning out to be quite a positive mentor figure, or so it seems. But he also picks Dexter, and the dialogue between them is pointedly ambiguous... does he know, or suspect...?

This is taking a fascinating turn, and I've no idea where it's going. Excellent.