Dexter: It's Alive!

 "Don't forget, tell the universe what you need..."

So Angel, after recovering from his stabbing, is into all this cosmic ordering nonsense that Noel Edmonds (not an individual I'd expected to be mentioning in relation to Dexter!) was into at probably the same time. Oh dear. But he also feels totally comfortable around Dexter at all times, as does everyone... except, of course, Doakes who, let us recall, is right and will not be hornswoggled. Some kind of clash is coming.

And, indeed, being watched by Doakes is doing far more than cramping Dexter's style- it's limiting his opportunities to kill. So is the fact that Deb, unable to sleep in a house alone, is staying with him. And, in not killing, he's losing his mojo somewhat. In bed, at work, pertaining to... donuts. And, forebodingly (I'm not sure whether that was a word, but it is now!) his only "successful" killing is of a macabre, blind, voodoo serial killer (not a phrase I particularly expected to type) who.... curses him. And, whether by this or not, he's cursed.

Because his next attempted killing goes wrong in every way, just as in other areas of his life. And, worse, the sacks of body parts of his victims have been found. And, after Paul dies in prison, Rita now has cause to start to question the nature of the man she's with. Still have no sympathy for Paul though. The worst person in this show, and that's saying something.

There's more, though. Maria LaGuerta and the new lieutenant... connecting? Then there's Deb clearly not coping as well, deep down, with her experiences last season as might be apparent on the surface. as we see a few times, and will no doubt see more and more….

This is a VERY exciting start to a very interesting second season. They’ve adapted the novel, so where to go next…?

Dexter: Born Free

"You know, hypothermia can easily sneak up on you."

"So can hypochondria..."

Despite a couple of plot holes that, I confess, had to be pointed out to me, this is an excellent, clever and nuanced season finale, providing real closure and pointing towards next season.

Dexter has to try and save Deb from... well, I'll still call him Rudy... while avoiding the suspicions of Doakes, as Rita resists the attempts of Paul to turn her against Dexter, seemingly unsuccessfully. Yet at the end, she finds the shoe, which is a very blatant "to be continued".

Doakes, though... the more I watch Dexter, the clearer it becomes how clever the set-up of the show is, how it makes the viewer complicit, and how essential Doakes is to that. Because the show is pretty much in Dexter's POV, every episode starting with a monologue, and his monologue continuing throughout. Yet Dexter is a monster, not someone we should be rooting for. Doakes is the character that exists to occasionally remind us of that, and have us internally rebuke ourselves. Because, while Doakes may function as an antagonist... he's right, in all that he says and does. Indeed, the one exception, his shooting of a member of the Tonton Macoute, is motivated by a social conscience, quite the contrast with Dexter. It looks as though the animosity with Doakes will really be ramped up next season...

There's also a twist in the LaGuerta storyline. She's been demoted, but there are hints that the new Lieutenant may not be entirely on the Captain's side. Another thread for next season.

But... damn, it all wraps up so neatly, in terms of both Rudy and Dexter's past. Rudy being Dexter's brother was a twist I really didn't see coming, and adds depth to the parallels between them. There are clever twists- Deb saving Dexter from suspicion, and Dexter's bait-and-switch trap for Rudy. Above all, perhaps, the way the visuals of the flashbacks are done. The final monologue, and Dexter's daydreaming. This finale may not be perfect, but it delivers, and satisfies.

Dexter: Truth Be Told

 "That ain't no little thing..."

Wow. That was quite the penultimate episode, setting everything up for an explosive finale.

There are other plot threads- LaGuerta seemingly losing her power play with the Captain and vowing his revenge, the recovered Angel finally coming to terms with the fact that his marriage is over, and an interesting resolution to the Paul story- Rita's son is not taking his father's absence well, and Dexter is right that the kids need to know that he deserves to be in prison (and he does, despite Dexter's little subterfuge!), much as Rita may not like it. And her solution is perfect: visit Paul and make him tell the truth to the kids or never see them again. Nicely done.

But, well, the main event is all about the setting up of Dexter vs Rudy, as events play out with grim inevitability. The witness from last episode is killed, the first time we see, in person, how he operates. Brr. And the wheels turn inexorably until he has Deb in his clutches, cruelly breaking her heart after proposing to her, using her as bait... and Dexter works out the truth, but too late.

And then there's the mystery of what happened to Dexter's mother, with Harry ordering the records destroyed. Something tells me that Rudy knows something, and we'll find out next episode. Let's see.

One prediction, though- Deb won't die. Because this hint of a thing between her and Doakes, with Rudy out of the picture, is setting things up nicely for friction next season, with Doakes very much having Dexter's number- especially noticing his reaction to the revelation that Angel is going to live.

Dexter: Seeing Red

 "It's your wet dream in there..."

Yet another great episode this week as we get closer to the finale, as the story of Rita's despicable ex (using children as weapons to manipulate your former spouse is one of the most evil things you can do, and let's just say I have reasons for feeling that way) and the main plot of the Ice Truck Killer continues, with Rudy manipulating a clueless Dexter... and a crime that really conjures up past memories for Dexter; how come Rudy knows so much about him?

Rudy is in full control throughout, despite his ostensible faux pas with Deb (incidentally, Doakes definitely likes her), getting Dexter under his control while driving a wedge between him and Deb, although with the latter definitely being Dexter's fault too. And the crime- all the missing blood from earlier crimes deposited into one hotel room- has such repercussions, partly in its effect on the ongoing feud between LaGuerta and the Captain in proving the suspect in custody to be a mere fantasist, but also in its awakening a deeply buried memory for Dexter- of witnessing his birth mother's death. And I'm sure that much will be revealed over the coming season over what exactly happened.

Also, we have Angel starting to come to terms with his divorce at last... only to find a lead in the case that causes Rudy to try and kill him. The crime was interrupted, but will he survive...? This episode is just quite simply crammed with stuff.

And, most shockingly perhaps, as Paul goes too far in his persecution of Rita, Dexter feels able to bend the rules... after all, Harry did so with him in lying about his birth father. So yes, he doesn't kill Paul but rather ensures him life without parole by injecting with heroin... but, despite what Dexter thinks, the code of Harry has been bent for the first time. And, I'm sure, not the last.

Excellent stuff, yet again.

Dexter: Father Knows Best

 "Oh, good. Dancing..."

So much fascinating stuff in this episode, and it's all layered. To start with, Dexter suddenly and randomly inherits a house from his birth dad... a birth dad whom Harry had told him was dead. Cue flashbacks and intrigue; DNA proves that this man is his birth dad, so why did Harry lie? We get some fascinating friction between him and Deb here, with Dexter blatantly having no idea how to react to his sister being upset. Yet we also find out that this man had a hidden dark past... is this birth dad the origin of Dexter's dark side? I hope we eventually learn more about all this.

But Dexter's birth dad is only dead, of course, because Rudy murdered him... and it's fascinating seeing Rudy and Dexter interact, Dexter having no idea that Rudy is the Ice Truck Killer and is not only playing mind games with him but using his poor sister. A sociopath with much better social skills... or perhaps a dark empath?

Then we have Doakes who, being an American cop, shoots a man in cold blood. And yet there's moral complexity: Doakes was in Haiti, and he's seen this man commit atrocities as part of the Ton Ton Macoute... and so LaGuerta covers it up. Police corruption, certainly... but moral shades of grey. And it's fascinating how Angel, trying to do the right thing, drops Doakes in it... but Doakes respects that, and refuses to tolerate Angel being mocked as a snitch. This is the complex morality of not being a psychopath...

But then we have the end, and Paul who, against stiff competition, is easily the most morally disgusting character on the show. Surely Dexter has to kill him?

And yet... that's the clever thing. We find ourselves hoping for that, but then we remember that dexter is a monster, and vigilantism has no place in a civilised society. Ah, that moral complexity again!

Dexter: Shrink Wrap

 "Can we go inside? I'm kind of wet... DON'T!"

Wow. That was QUITE the bombshell at the end of a truly extraordinary episode, perhaps the best yet. The vibes were very much that the innocent and adorable Deb was going to get her heart broken by this man she's falling so hard for... but I was expecting that he'd turn out to be a bounder and a cad, not literally the Ice Truck Killer!

Speaking of bounders and cads, Rita's ex Paul continues to behave like the very worst kind of controlling ex. It says a lot that, in a show crammed to the rafters with serial killers, he's the character you hate the most. Still, let's look on the bright side: with Dexter around, he's not exactly behaving in ways conducive to his survival. But... well, can't Rita just report him for all this boundary pushing with the court order? I suppose I wouldn't know how it works in America.

This episode's "case of the week" is particularly disturbing- a sociopathic yet insightful shrink (a dark empath, perhaps?) who persuades successful yet vulnerable women to shoot themselves, which is well bloody dark. It's fun watching him and Dexter spar... and he genuinely helps Dexter to navigate the problem of having sex with Rita without revealing his true self to her, something he genuinely fears... yet, of course, a happy and post-coital Rita continues to think he's Mr Perfect.

There are layers to this, though. What Dexter struggled with, the actual Ice Truck Killer accomplished with ease, making Deb start to fall in love with him partly via some really good sex...

Then, as well as two actual serial killers, we have a self-confessed wannabe serial killer, whose lies LaGuerta quite sees through... yet again via unorthodox means. And proceeds to play her power games against her boss.

So much character stuff this episodes, and so many parallels between the various carefully balanced subplots. This is VERY good writing.

Dexter: Circle of Friends

 "I have a dark side too".

The quote above comes from a fascinating scene between Dexter and Rita. A major plot thread is Rita's abusive ex ignoring the court order and using the kids as a weapon against Rita... and, let's just say, I really hate that kind of behaviour. So it's good to see Rita- with Dexter's solid support- laying down the law.

And yet... she responds to Dexter's claim with a laugh and an easy insistence that he would never hurt anyone. And, yeah, obviously there's dramatic irony there. Dexter is a serial killer. Yet... in a sense, isn't she right? He'd certainly never hurt her, or anyone she cares about. People are complicated, and we present different faces to different parts of our lives.

The other main plot thread is, well, a tale of two serial killers. Jeremy, who Dexter let off recently, has killed again. And, just as Dexter is about to deal with him, Doakes suddenly arrests his target and, in a somewhat awkward plot contrivance, fails to see Dexter. It's interesting to see how Dexter acts, though- taking risks and offering advice. Fruitlessly, of course, in the end.

Then there's the arrest of the supposed Ice Truck Killer and... yeah, we know this is a red herring. Wants the notoriety, confesses, but we can trust Dexter's instincts- vindicated at the end- that this isn't him. Besides, it's just too early in the season for this revelation to be real, if I can be a bit meta for a moment.

Still... what is this bloke's agenda? The season is getting very interesting. Good stuff. Excellent character stuff, too, for Deb, and Doakes getting Dexter's measure yet again.

Grimm: Bad Moon Rising

"Oh, I'm ready!"

This episode, fact fans, is based on a Grimm tale called The Old Woman in the Wood. But, far more importantly, it has a lot of arc stuff happening.

We meet a rather patriarchal family of sort of wolf people (Coyotls), and a young woman within this family who is to be subjected to some sort of ominous-sounding ceremony by her male relatives, which proves to consist of, essentially, torture. There are all sorts of feminist subtexts here. the whole thing soon becomes a meditation on domestic abuse as Nick and Juliet, conveniently holidaying in the cabin next door, become suspicious. Nick and Hank eventually free her. Blah blah blah. All this is just background.

The main thing about this episode, of course, is the fact that Hank finds out about Nick being a Grimm, takes it in his stride, is incredibly cool, and is overjoyed to be involved in such cool stuff. He was already far more charismatic, likeable and better acted a character than Nick; I suspect that now this is going to be even more true.

Juliet still remembers nothing and, just as he is now able to be open and honest with Hank, he is hiding things from Juliet again.They've lived together for eight years. This is both frustrating and tragic; Nick ends the episode by sleeping on the sofa. There are more lies, by omission at least, as Nick and our villainous Captain speak of Adelind, neither of them revealing a thing to each other. But the episode ends with a marked contrast between what is happening in his relationships with, arguably, the two most important people in his life...