I've got to say, last night's Dexter caught me a bit off guard. Not in a bad way, necessarily—I was just surprised. Then again, that's not a bad thing considering the show's standing before its so-far-even-more-surprising season seven.
Already, at only the third episode's finale, we're witness to Deb coming to terms with Dexter's "Dark Passenger." She doesn't agree to help him satisfy it, or agree that killing is Dexter's only option for release, or even agree to accept it (if anything she admits she may not have the stomach to provide the rehabilitation Dexter needs—his beast may just be too much for her to handle); but she does admit that she, at the very least, understands it—so much so that she lets him off the hook, telling him to move out and resigning her duties as, well, keeper.
And that understanding only comes after her own inability to stop a murderer. Feeling the pressure of Deb's constant, stifling presence, Dexter finds himself feeling restless and caged, gaining little relief from bloody mental scenarios (fantasies that make his real attack on a man in custody darkly humorous). So, as a result of that restlessness, he decides, after warning Deb to back off a bit, to get back into his favorite game. Selecting a cemetery groundskeeper by the name of Ray Speltzer, a killer who invites women on dates before murdering them and stealing one of their earrings as a trophy, as his newest target, Dexter slowly but surely lets Deb in on his process, trying to convince her that killing Speltzer, or any other killer, really, is a means of sparing innocent lives.
Not convinced Harry's code, or his lack of faith in the judicial system for that matter, provide excuse enough for Dexter to satisfy his dark urges, Deb initially shrugs off the evidence Dexter's stalking reveals that points to Speltzer's guilt, but after a while, becomes paranoid, deciding to give in and trust her brother's "lizard brain" as he describes (after all, as Dexter points out, going along with his hunches is something she's been doing the entire time she's been a detective, even if she's never really known where those hunches actually stemmed from). Following her brother's instincts, Deb checks up on Speltzer at his home, only to find him mid-torture/murder, and she would've become a Speltzer victim herself had Dexter not come round to (almost) save the day. Unfortunately, Speltzer escapes before Deb can arrest him, something that ultimately leads to her mixed feelings of guilt. Suddenly, this newest victim has indirectly become, in a small way, her fault, and after what's more than likely much debate, Deb comes to terms with the fact that Dexter was right—had he killed Speltzer like he wanted to, no one else would've died by his hand—thus, her choice to understand and "set him free," for the time being anyway.
I suppose the speed of Deb's understanding is what surprised me most. What she assumes was her responsibility for the victim isn't something that's completely out of character for her, but I would've expected—or maybe I just hoped—that the serial killer rehab she had going would've extended its stay a bit longer; as I mentioned last week, the setup certainly held the promise of a fresh dynamic for this show and would've planted the perfect seeds for an intriguing, albeit rather disturbing, Deb's-feelings-crisis. Hall and Carpenter, in my opinion, have really stepped it up this season and I was really interested in their new on screen relationship. I hope this quick understanding and separation doesn't snag the season's impressive progress.
To read the rest of the review (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/dexter-7-3-buck-the-system/
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