Spoilers for "Dexter" coming up just as soon as I sign up for a SCUBA class...I'm going to be briefer than I would otherwise like. I got to see this episode on a getaway Friday as I was packing for a weekend trip, and I wanted to finish writing something before the vacation began, so you're going to have to carry the conversation on this one for a week. I've got faith.
After being concerned about a lot of the contrivances in last week's episode, there weren't many moments here that had me asking, "Why would he do that?" Just when I was starting to worry that Lundy was acting willfully ignorant in his conversation with Laguerta about the stakeout logs, for instance, he went and acknowledged that she was probably right, but that her being right was of no use to him with tainted evidence.
Harry's return to prominence continued with the revelation of how/why he really died. (Though am I losing my memory, or did season one feature a flashback or two of Harry near the end of his life looking far more sickly -- maybe even bedridden -- than he appeared when he found Dexter cutting up that body?) I was never clear on when exactly Dexter's active serial killing career began relative to when Harry died, and Dexter's recognition that Harry supported The Code on paper but not in reality was a very important insight into both men.
(Dexter realizing that he inadvertently stole Deb's childhood by forcing Harry to spend so much time channeling Dexter's violent energy was another interesting one, and one that played into Deb's abandonment issues with Lundy.)
I enjoyed the cat and mouse game in the cabin between Dexter and Doakes, and how being exposed to the true face of Dexter -- even hidden behind opaque plastic sheeting -- shattered Doakes. If a hard man with blood on his hands like Doakes would react that way, how badly would Deb and Rita and the kids be hurt by discovering Dexter's true face? And how good a job do the writers do of making me want to root for the serial killer to get away with it, even if it means sacrificing an honest cop in the process?
If there was one part of the episode that frustrated me, it was the continued presence of Lila, who appears to be framing Angel as part of some convoluted plot to get revenge on Dexter and/or win him back. As Dexter's new emotional guru, a woman with some dark impulses but a relatively pure motivation, Lila was interesting. As a nutbar manipulator who resorts to arson, assault and now drug-aided mindgames to get her way, I'm tired of her. I hate this kind of character whenever it pops up on a show I like, and post-breakup Lila has been no exception to that.
That's it for me. Talk amongst yourselves. What did everybody else think?
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