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Dexter 5.08 Take it!
Hmmmmm.
Okay, first of all, now the other shoe really has to drop with Lumen because that was too easy. Yes, the acceptance scene was beautifully played by Julia Stiles and Michael C. Hall, and I appreciate that the episode continued to showcase Lumen's intelligence in putting clues together and figuring out by the ritualized and routine way Dexter went about his killing preparations that contrary to her original assumption, Boyd hadn't been his first murder, that he's been killing for quite a while, before he confessed it verbally. Also when a serial killer tells you he's a serial killer is not the time to freak out. But he's still telling her he's been killing people on a regular basis for most of his life, and based on what we know of her so far, Lumen simply going along with this feels wrong. Way too fanfiction-like in the bad sense. We're not talking about "accepting/understanding someone's dark side" but accepting and by implication in the future aiding and abetting regular murder.
The episode draws a vague parallel/contrast here between Lumen and Deb who confesses to Dexter she doesn't feel guilty about shooting the gang leader last week (but is somewhat worried she doesn't feel guilty), and you can tell Dexter is slightly hooked and for the first time gives her an honest statement about what he thinks re: killing. But there is a difference between shooting someone who is actively threatening another person's life, as Deb has done, and executing someone (who could have been caught by the law if you hadn't tampered with the evidence) for your own pleasure. So far, the show didn't forget that, and I really hope it won't start now.
Speaking of Deb, while of course I regret the recent turn of events with LaGuerta and Sierra Manzon from a Watsonian perspective, from a Doylist one I'm relieved that finally a subplot involving either woman isn't about romance but police work (and office politics).
Quinn subplot: unfortunately I have the feeling this will end very predictably with the hired cop getting killed before he can hand over the footage to anyone.
Owen the dumped fiancé: might turn up again if Lumen survives the season but for now seems to have been here to show she had an alternative yet chose to stay and pursue murderous vigilantism.
Jordan Chase: okay, all the Chase scenes are the show's satire at its best, especially the teaser with Dexter's "I've never been among people who make me feel so normal" observation while he's surrounded by Chase's fans declaiming his mantra. I also had joyful flashbacks to the SFU episode where Ruth Fisher goes to a self help group, and to the Angel episode Disharmony where there's one for demons. Apparantly satirizing motivational speakers is good for every scriptwriter's muse. This being said, the fact that Jordan's boys' club from the photo apparantly took the "access your primal instincts" to found a hunting/torturing/raping/killing women enterprise is somewhere beyond satire. I can't say Chase & Co. work for me as villains yet (good old Arthur was far more chillling; so, for that matter, was Miguel) but then this season is somewhat differently structured.
Okay, first of all, now the other shoe really has to drop with Lumen because that was too easy. Yes, the acceptance scene was beautifully played by Julia Stiles and Michael C. Hall, and I appreciate that the episode continued to showcase Lumen's intelligence in putting clues together and figuring out by the ritualized and routine way Dexter went about his killing preparations that contrary to her original assumption, Boyd hadn't been his first murder, that he's been killing for quite a while, before he confessed it verbally. Also when a serial killer tells you he's a serial killer is not the time to freak out. But he's still telling her he's been killing people on a regular basis for most of his life, and based on what we know of her so far, Lumen simply going along with this feels wrong. Way too fanfiction-like in the bad sense. We're not talking about "accepting/understanding someone's dark side" but accepting and by implication in the future aiding and abetting regular murder.
The episode draws a vague parallel/contrast here between Lumen and Deb who confesses to Dexter she doesn't feel guilty about shooting the gang leader last week (but is somewhat worried she doesn't feel guilty), and you can tell Dexter is slightly hooked and for the first time gives her an honest statement about what he thinks re: killing. But there is a difference between shooting someone who is actively threatening another person's life, as Deb has done, and executing someone (who could have been caught by the law if you hadn't tampered with the evidence) for your own pleasure. So far, the show didn't forget that, and I really hope it won't start now.
Speaking of Deb, while of course I regret the recent turn of events with LaGuerta and Sierra Manzon from a Watsonian perspective, from a Doylist one I'm relieved that finally a subplot involving either woman isn't about romance but police work (and office politics).
Quinn subplot: unfortunately I have the feeling this will end very predictably with the hired cop getting killed before he can hand over the footage to anyone.
Owen the dumped fiancé: might turn up again if Lumen survives the season but for now seems to have been here to show she had an alternative yet chose to stay and pursue murderous vigilantism.
Jordan Chase: okay, all the Chase scenes are the show's satire at its best, especially the teaser with Dexter's "I've never been among people who make me feel so normal" observation while he's surrounded by Chase's fans declaiming his mantra. I also had joyful flashbacks to the SFU episode where Ruth Fisher goes to a self help group, and to the Angel episode Disharmony where there's one for demons. Apparantly satirizing motivational speakers is good for every scriptwriter's muse. This being said, the fact that Jordan's boys' club from the photo apparantly took the "access your primal instincts" to found a hunting/torturing/raping/killing women enterprise is somewhere beyond satire. I can't say Chase & Co. work for me as villains yet (good old Arthur was far more chillling; so, for that matter, was Miguel) but then this season is somewhat differently structured.
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Indeed! It's a fascinating sight. I tend to think that, unlike more classical escapist fantasy fare - think The Vampire Diaries - Dexter is not at its best when it humanises murderous protagonists, but here, in this storyline, I've felt differently for the first time.