TV DeathRay Archive

Dexter is finding plenty of people to relate to this season. First Lumen and now (Surprise!) Jordan Chase. The “Take It!” evangelist was even finishing Dexter’s sentences as our favorite serial killer was preparing to murder his head of security, aka the man who folded his suit jacket neatly before violating Lumen.

But this episode was less about Dexter’s connection with Jordan and more about his relationship with Lumen. These two are becoming very close, and that should make any Dexter fan very nervous. As we’ve seen in seasons past, things always end badly whenever Dexter makes a “friend” and lets that friend in on his secret. Remember Miguel Prado? Lila Tournay? We could even add Arthur Mitchell or Brian Moser (the Ice Truck Killer) to the list of people who learned about Dexter’s secret and almost destroyed his life. Everyone who’s ever met the Dark Passenger was either too unstable or too dangerous to handle the truth, and they all died before the end of the season – most of them killed by Dexter. Will Lumen break the trend?

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Did anyone else expect to see Dexter and Lumen knee-deep in planning her revenge on her kidnappers at the start of ‘First Blood?’ At the end of last week’s ep, Lumen revealed that Boyd didn’t act alone in kidnapping and torturing her, potentially kicking off a bloody revenge plot and giving Dexter a list of new baddies to strap on the ol’ killing table.

But instead of teaming up with Lumen to potentially hunt and kill a crop of girl-murdering scumbags, Dexter encouraged her to head home and to forget about her awful experience in Miami. The chances of that happening? Not so good.

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Dexter Morgan is a scary son of a bitch. Sometimes we forget that.

Over the past four seasons, we’ve come to think of Dexter as a dark but cuddly superhero — no more frightening than the goofy and smiling figure that appears in Showtime’s cheeky ads for the show. But ‘Beauty and the Beast’ reminded us of how threatening and unnerving he can be when things start to go bad.

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Let’s be honest: This episode didn’t start out very promising. The whole “Deb grills the potential nannies” routine was a bit trite and silly, and the tired tone seemed to infect several scenes that followed. (OK, so that one girl’s line about not trying to kill the President made me chuckle, but the opening scene was still pretty cliché.) I expect more from Dexter, and ‘Practically Perfect’ didn’t really start to rev up until the 15-minute mark.

That’s when my second favorite Showtime serial killer, Boyd Fowler (Shawn Hatosy), arrived to shake things up with his love of dead animals and seatbelts (“I’m a safety guy”).

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After last week’s phenomenal and somewhat game-changing season premiere, I half-expected Dexter to reset itself here and deliver a season one-style “kill of the week” episode. You know, with Dexter tracking another potential victim, kidnapping him, slicing him up and dumping his severed body parts into the ocean.

Dexter did find a new target in this ep – a murderous Miami roadkill … er… professional played by Shawn Hatosay – but we didn’t get the usual seek-and-destroy routine.

Dexter was struggling to balance his responsibilities as a father with the Dark Passenger’s desires. We know how important killing is to Dexter, and he hasn’t snuffed a true bad guy since he faced Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow) on the killing table last season. He easily and happily slipped into his old pattern at the start of this ep – picking the moving van with blood stains, working a lead, and getting to know his mark from the inside out. But Dexter’s complicated post-Rita life got in the way of the Dark Passenger’s plans.

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The highly-anticipated fifth season premiere of Dexter (‘My Bad’) aired last Sunday, but, sadly, I didn’t get around to watching it until last night. Hopefully, that won’t be the case with future episodes. My aim is to post a review of every season 5 ep as soon as I can after the episode airs. So head back here every week after you watch the show to read a new review and to discuss the episode in the comment thread.

OK, let’s get to it …

Dexter isn’t the kind of show that appeals to the casual viewer; it’s the kind of show that has serious, obsessive fans. There are several reasons why Dexter has managed to build such a devoted following over the past four seasons – there’s the great performances, the expert serial storytelling, and the darkly comic tone that never slips into silliness, to name a few. But there’s one key reason why I’ve always been drawn to the show: I can relate to Dexter Morgan.

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