That is precisely the question that viewers are left with at the end of the episode, what this means for the two of them. Do they go the same route as Lindsay, with Debra put off by Dexter’s secret, yet all the while living with it and, occasionally, using it to her advantage? Or do they take it somewhere else? If this were the final season, I might say this was building up to Dexter meeting his end one way or another, whether that be via death or imprisonment.
But with so long left to go, I’m unsure. The way things escalated, the writers are seemingly making up for lost time by skipping straight to dropping the words “serial killer,” which makes one ask how they can possibly sustain this for the duration of the season, let alone next season. That’s why I say I need a couple more episodes of context before I can judge this new direction. Did they spend their load too soon, like Simon Cooper on The Inbeteweeners, or can they do seemingly unthinkable and continue to keep this up for the foreseeable future? Whatever the answer to that question may be, I just hope it means they can get back to season four form, at the very least.
Bits and Bobs:
- What is Louis playing at with Dexter, mailing him that hand and canceling all his cards? Following the main one, his is probably the best plot-line currently going, but not if the writers keep playing the long game like this. Give us more to go off of than him taking issue with Dexter telling him not to touch his things.
- Happy to see Enver Gjokah from Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse still getting work, but I’m sad to see his role was so short-lived. It seemed the only purpose he served was to do away with Mike (not a good name to have in television right now, apparently) and introduce the other of the season’s main plot-lines which I can only takes a backseat or this will be a bumpy ride.
- Need to scan for prints? There’s an app for that, because not even Dexter‘s above painfully obvious product placement.
- You’re strippers, so why pretend to be modest by covering your breasts when the police barge in? Just seems silly to me.
- Speaking of breasts, Masuka wasn’t his usual (perverted) self this week. That was probably in keeping with the darker tone of the episode, but there’s never a wrong time for some Masuka, I say.
- Get rid of this Batista, Quinn plot-line already. Quinn isn’t going to change, as evidenced by his claiming he doesn’t have a drinking problem in spite of just having reached rock bottom. Nor is Batista going to do anything to change that, telling him he never actually put in for his transfer and sitting idly by as he downs a glass of vodka and makes those claims. I understand you feel the need to give each character something to do, but please make it something else. At least Laguerta has something noteworthy to do this season. That is, unwittingly coming at Dexter.