Dexter 2.07

[selenak]

I didn't review last week because I wanted to wait on how the Dexter/Lila -storyline would play out; if the writers had actually tried to sell this as "soulmates" (tm) or Lila as the The One Woman Who Can Really Understand Dexter, I'd have been severely disgruntled, because that's just the kind of thing I was happy the show was avoiding last season. So imagine my delight when this episode showed this was not their intention, and that no, we're not supposed to see the Dexter/Lila hookup as a good thing at all. In fact, it can be seen as a critique of the romantic cliché of ignoring everything else in the quest of your true soulmate (tm), with the result being a narcissm a deux. Not a realisation of one's "true self", a celebration of selfishness. Dexter's first sympathetic moment in this episode comes when he's talking to Cody on the phone, and later when he shows up for the presentation at Cody's school; before that, he's distinctly dislikeable, not in a psychopathic, just in a human way. And not surprisingly, Lila takes the time spent with Rita's children as a personal insult and creates a scenario where she's the damsel in distress. Again, signs of Lila's narcissm, manipulativeness and emotional instability were all over the place, but the last episode made me a tad unsure whether or not that was supposed to characterize her as A Free Spirit as opposed to A Mess. Sorry, writers, I should have known better. Carry on. (Btw, neat thing with the light to give Dexter a hint that what he just witnessed wasn't Lila post-danger but another case of "What Lila wants, Lila gets".)

Meanwhile, Rita reaching the end of her patience with her mother and throwing her out was one splendid scene. All the more so since it wasn't caused by Rita wanting Dexter back or something like that, but Rita - who may be kind and patient by nature but does have her limits - having had it with the way her mother tries to take over her life (and her children). Incidentally, it occurs to me that between a childhood with Gail and and a marriage to Paul, it's a wonder Rita had any self esteem left to finally split with Paul and start her road to recovery pre-show pilot. Now that I'm sure the writers won't abandon my Rita and her quiet strength, I'm all aglow again.

They also love irony. Last episode, Dexter was angry about the discovery that Harry in all likelihood cheated on his foster mother with his biological mother (and you have to love that this, not any other action of Harry's, made him conclude that Harry wasn't meeting Harry's own standards), and promptly let his own relationship with Lila turn sexual. This episode, Deb upon discovering a) the breakup with Rita and b) Lila was indignant and unaccommodatingly told Dexter he fucked up big time with this... and then came to realize she needed to break up with Gabriel (whose name still freaks me out, poor guy, for multifandom reasons) because she's in love with Lundy. Though Deb's brief relationship with Gabriel doesn't compare with Dexter's long one with Rita, which crucially involves her children as well. Deb going from regarding Lundy as a father figure to realising she has romantic feelings for him, too, made psychological sense for her, though it's almost certainly a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, Lundy did not kiss her back, and while kind and affectionate towards her so far didn't indicate he'd be available for a love affair, so maybe there is a chance it won't be. I do think Deb in a parallel to Dexter in the last season finale will be forced to choose between Lundy and Dex at the end once Lundy has figured out Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher. Which he's on his way to.

Lundy's a truly impressive antagonist this season, with his intelligence impressive but never unbelievably so; also, Dexter's expanding hubris (fed by Lila) offers him genuine clues, as in the manifesto this episode. Meanwhile, Dexter's old antagonist, Doakes, is temporarily outmanoeuvred. I say temporarily because I suspect that LaGuerta, who cares deeply for Doakes, after all, will investigate further, and that Dexter's set up with the blood report and later the head-but could very well back fire on him. At the same time, she really had no other choice than to temporarily suspend Doakes, given Doakes' behavior in front of the entire department. (That was a wonderfully well-played scene; you could see and hear the sadness and grief in her eyes and voice but also the resolve when she asked for his badge and gun.) Doakes was set up by Dexter, but he couldn't have been if his own temper and obsessiveness hadn't given Dexter the necessary tools.

Sidenote: also, Dexter being willing to let the guiltless stepfather be grilled by Doakes for 24 hours as part of his frame job marks the first time Dexter does hurt an innocent, something he told Rita last season he didn't do; I half expected the poor guy to commit suicide while in custody as a result. (See above for Dexter not getting sympathetic again until showing up at school for Cody.) Again, it ties with the whole questionability of the "be true to your nature/get what you want, no matter who pays for it" etc. approach by Lila, even leaving aside the lack of wisdom in applying this to a serial killer. I do wonder whether the show will end up concluding that Dexter can either be a serial killer by night, decent human being by day, or a selfish but integrated bastard, which would be screwed up but not bad storytelling.

Lastly: naturally, I adored the Trek geek-out, especially since the shows referenced were DS9 and TNG, not TOS. Anyone can write an original series reference in their script. Only true Trekkers know Mark Twain showed up for a two-parter on TNG and know he didn't get quoted on DS9. (Figures Lundy would have read A Yankee from Conneticut at King Arthur's Court, too.) Isn't Melissa Rosenberg, aka she who wrote the TNG ep Measure of a Man, among the Dexter scriptwriters? (Though she didn't write this particular episode.)

Comments

[faroutgal.livejournal.com]

"a celebration of selfishness"...yes. Strange after last season where we saw a very controlled Dexter and a very giving Dexter (to his sister, Rita, her kids, Angel).

Doakes, that's going to be messy. I don't see how the character will survive. Dexter has to know that he has just declared war, nuclear war, with Doakes. Doakes will not go quietly.

And I'm guessing that Rita's kids are what return Dexter from his "celebration of selfishness"...and they will be put in jeopardy..either from Rita's mom who has passed controlling and I suspect, is full on crazy, or from Lila and her pyro proclivities.

And I hope you're right about Lundy and Deb, that there is a chance that there won't be a romantic relationship. I've been enjoying Deb this season and her relationship with Lundy as mentor and someone who heals her father issues. I think its important for her character to have this relationship with this man without sex. Ah well..

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I don't see how the character will survive. Dexter has to know that he has just declared war, nuclear war, with Doakes. Doakes will not go quietly.

No, and now he has 24 hours a day for stalking Dexter, plus Dexter's actions confirm that Doakes was right to suspect him of something to begin with. There might be a vague chance that Doakes will uncover the Brian/Rudy-Dexter connection, and will believe this is what Dexter wanted to hide - that the Ice Truck Killer was his brother, but not more, but I don't think so. The way it looks right now, Doakes joins Lila on my list of "who is going to be framed for the Bay Harbor Butcher murders at the end of the season", with Doakes now having the additional problem of fitting the profile better. (He's in law enforcement, Lundy just figured out the killer had to be, and both LaGuerta and Angel know he committed at least one vigilante killing - of the Haitian war criminal.)

And I'm guessing that Rita's kids are what return Dexter from his "celebration of selfishness"...

I think we saw the tiny beginning when he went to Cody's presentation and wanted to spend time with the children afterwards until Lila called for the second time. (Also that the call as far as Dexter knew was really about an emergency, not about fun times together.)

and they will be put in jeopardy..either from Rita's mom who has passed controlling and I suspect, is full on crazy, or from Lila and her pyro proclivities.

While I could see Gail abducting the children "for their own good", for genuine danger it would have to be Lila. It occurs to me that we've seen Lila gradually escalating the scale of her destruction, from drawing on a painting in a hotel room to smashing the landlord's bulb to torching her apartment; burning down Rita's house would be at the end of the chain.

And I hope you're right about Lundy and Deb, that there is a chance that there won't be a romantic relationship. I've been enjoying Deb this season and her relationship with Lundy as mentor and someone who heals her father issues. I think its important for her character to have this relationship with this man without sex. Ah well...

Oh, true, she needs a friendship, not a love affair. I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that kiss was one-sided - i.e. he didn't kiss her back - and it didn't end with them in each other's arms but both settling back on the bench and continuing to eat. Aside from all other things, he's her superior at work, and so it would be extremely inappropriate, which a seasoned pro like him would know. We'll see next week, I suppose.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I read a post about Due South a few weeks ago whose author concluded that the show took a very dim view of the 'follow your heart' mentality. When people on that show pursued their happiness without allowing any other consideration to get in the way, they invariably got hurt and hurt others. Dexter seems to be moving in the same direction, albeit perhaps less controversially in that Dexter's deepest desires are twisted and perverse, and therefore shouldn't be indulged, whereas the characters on DS generally wanted normative things - love, wealth, respect. It seems clear that Dexter's journey this season is away from and then back towards Harry's code - but this time he accepts it as an adult, not as a child eager to please his father. As Lila said, there comes a point in a person's life when they have to reject their parents' values, but she's stuck in that stage. She hasn't reached the next one, in which one develops one's own values - which can sometimes be the very values we rebelled against.

The only wrinkle in all this is that Dexter isn't feeling the urge to kill. I had expected him to have trouble controlling his urges, and perhaps to lash out at an innocent. Is his failure to do so just a result of the pink cloud Lila described?

I didn't think the kiss between Deb and Lundy was one-sided, but regardless it's clear that he's come to mean a great deal to her, which is why I think you're spot on in your prediction that she'll have to choose between him and Dexter (plus, you have a high hit ratio when it comes to this show). Even more than Dexter, Deb needs to crawl out from under her father's shadow, and the only way she'll do that is if she understands why he treated her and Dexter the way he did.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It seems clear that Dexter's journey this season is away from and then back towards Harry's code - but this time he accepts it as an adult, not as a child eager to please his father.

Yes, I think that's what's going to happen, too; Dexter choosing it rather than seeing it as something he needs to do because Dad has told him this was the only way to survive would be a new step of maturity. And yes, Lila seems to be stuck at the teenager stage emotionally. Since writing the review, it occured to me that Dexter due to the peculiar nature of his adolescence never did the self-absorbed rebellious teenager thing when he was at the right age; it could be catching up with him now since he accesses all kind of emotions previously surpressed.

I had expected him to have trouble controlling his urges, and perhaps to lash out at an innocent. Is his failure to do so just a result of the pink cloud Lila described?

Well, he hasn't told her that he actually did fall of the wagon/kill someone recently (depending on when the last episode was supposed to take place in the show's timeline). Yes, he said he did this without needing to, but still, the Dark Defender's imitator didn't end up under the plastic wrap until he had blabbed about having killed two people already, which combined with his attempted murder of a third qualified him to become of Dexter's victims. I thought at the time he was just kidding himself about this being simply a rational, stop-the-FBI-from-taking-over death. This being said, I think Lila was onto something with the pink cloud; the show has been playing her descriptions of addiction as pretty much accurate from her chat with Dexter in ep. 2.03 onwards. Of course, Lila and the idea of "creative problemsolving" have been also played as alternative kicks. But Lila might have ended the pink cloud phase herself with her latest gamble, because that moves her out of the "escape for fun" area and into the "girlfriend I have an obligation to help" area.

Even more than Dexter, Deb needs to crawl out from under her father's shadow, and the only way she'll do that is if she understands why he treated her and Dexter the way he did.

Yes. She'll either find out the truth herself or will be confronted with it when Lundy finds out.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to take Dexter at his word when he says he doesn't need to kill the copycat (which, in some ways, makes his murder the worst crime Dexter's ever committed - motivated by expediency, not an uncontrollable drive). Perhaps because it helps them paint him as sympathetic, the show's writers have tended to underplay the emotional aspect of Dexter's desire to kill, the thrill he derives from the hunt (back in the pilot, for example, he gets sexually excited by the ITK's handiwork, but we never see that happen again). For them to acknowledge that there's a visceral aspect to his work, rather than the coldly medicinal spin Harry put on it, makes me think we should believe them about it.

By the way, I don't know if you caught the reference in the episode title. It's a quote from Where the Wild Things Are, which of course is another story about a boy indulging his selfish, hedonistic impulses and then coming back to reality.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

the episode title. It's a quote from Where the Wild Things Are

Oh, wonderful!

Fabulous review, Selena, as always.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I haven't liked the last couple eps that much -- and really don't care much for Lila -- but reading this is helping me figure out how the stories fit in the overall arc of the show. I may have to wait for this season to end before I decide whether I like it.

I actually like Deb/Lundy, though. I mean, ethically speaking, they shouldn't be involved while they're on the case together. And dramatically speaking she's going to have to choose between him and Dex. But I sort of think it could be a good relationship for both of them. What?

[kernezelda]

Like you, I am relieved at how Lilah's character has been definitely shown here not as a wild child, but as someone with a very clear agenda that is meant to be damaging to Dexter's relationships and self-image, rather than misguidedly aiding him.

Rita standing up to her mother really was terrific. I was also glad it wasn't Dexter-related, but strictly within the family. I was similarly pleased with Rita's decision about the funeral for Paul, which was nothing to do with Dexter's advice, but about her and the children saying good-bye and going forward.

On the other hand, Deb should have listened to Dexter before going off on him about Rita. Sometimes, it isn't the guy's fault - and he shouldn't just apologize and send flowers. I've seen that reasoning before, and it merely conveys that women have to be appeased in order for a successful relationship, regardless of actual fault.

In this case, both Dexter and Rita failed to communicate, her refusing to listen, and him not making her listen. If they had, they might have together realized that Lilah's behavior is totally inappropriate, since Rita should have some knowledge of how NA works from Paul's attempt(s?). Although, she didn't really push for details in Dexter's case, so maybe not.

The Doakes situation - I really enjoyed the way Dexter set that up over a period of time. In so doing, he is protecting himself, but it also helps Camilla, a supplicant for his aid. I saw that not only as Dexter sincerely wanting to help her, but as part of his growing conviction that he is the Dark Defender, the protector of the innocent. As you say, he's beginning to believe his own press, especially since he actually does desire recognition and admiration for the services he's performing.

The Star Trek:NG/DS9/Twain references amused the heck out of me. Ahh, Time's Arrow. *g*