I'll Share This Lonely View

I'm not sure how I felt about this episode.

I guess I'll just sum it up with: The name of the show is "Dexter."  Therefore, Dexter is
not going anywhere.

At least until the last episode.  Then all bets are off.

As opposed to the previous episode, there was a LOT of stuff going on. I guess the idea is, bringing closure to the characters in the series (and thus, the audience...which is crap. I didn't care much for the Sopranos, but seven years later, people are STILL talking about the last episode and what it meant...give me something that will torture my soul for years to come...like season four's ending).  

Vince Masuka had a visitor from his past; Jaime is making Quinn face his past by acknowledging his feelings for Debra (or at the very least, reconcile them so HE can move forward and be a sergeant); Deb trying to reconcile her feelings on what her father helped create (the Dark Passenger); even Dexter getting a "nudge" to get a new girlfriend.  

To go back to an old Michael C. Hall drama, it was like when everyone seemed to find a purpose in the last season of Six Feet Under.  The eldest brother was gone, but the rest of the family had their lives to live and finish.  

I guess in Dexter's (the "show," not "the guy") case, there's something to be said about death meaning life.  Or life meaning death.  Or whatever.

Okay so this brain surgeon dude.  I'm wondering if Dexter (this time, I'm talking about "the guy," not "the show") is really thinking things through.  I couldn't help but feel weird vibes, like when "Kyle Butler" had his chances with Trinity, and let the chances slip through.  You gotta be kidding me over here. 


The foreshadowing was a little odd, too, what with Dexter telling Jaime to take his SUV, so she would be "safer."  Yup.

So now we know or have a stronger idea that Dr. Vogel is some kind of mad scientist.  Did anyone else find it interesting that when Dexter tried to confront her over the brain surgeon, and his scars, she distracted him?  She is very sneaky.

I also feel as though with the upcoming previews, Vogel is trying to get Dexter to be solitary again.  It's clear that he wants to repair the rift between himself and Debra.  I don't know if Vogel is going to allow that to happen, since the only way her "creation" will work is if he's solo.  

Which leads me to what my husband and I were chatting about after the episode.  I mentioned before that he's looking at some spoilers, but kept them from me, but we both are aware that Hannah McKay will return this season.  He feels like it will be next week, which should add another layer to this saga.  I'd like to see her work some of her magic tea into Vogel's blood stream...just sayin'.  I trust that woman less than I trust a black widow like Hannah. 

 

Move the Heart, Switch the Pace

@TarynItUpNY I just thought of Peter Murphy. Awesome song. You win the gold star of the day!
— Brian Scala (@scalaaz) July 15, 2013

After that episode, I will never look at garlic sauce the same...

This was an uncharacteristic boring episode.  Though there was high drama, Deb going even more off the deep end, and even a surprising twist at the end.  I usually reserve those boring transitional episodes to be the next to last episode each season.  Yet, here it was.  We see for the highlights next week that shit will get real with Dr. Vogel and Deb.

Which reminds me -- up till the point Vogel spoke to Quinn, and he acknowledged her, I thought FOR SURE Vogel was like Dexter's subconscious.  It's weird, I mentioned last week that he thought a serial killer would never have an accomplice, yet he has Vogel's complicity in what he does.

But I still think there is something there with Vogel being in his head a little too much. When she was asking him those questions about Deb, planting seeds that she may be a threat to his little perfect world of dark defending, Dexter HAD to have thought of those very same issues, right?

I cannot be the only person who got creeped out when Dexter talked about his love for Debra.  Remember why this shit went down in the first place.  It was her walking in on the Doomsday kill, realizing who Dexter really was...but because she realized that she had stronger-than-sisterly feelings for him...which to this day, I do not entirely buy.

I'll relate to another show I watch and quote entirely too much: Sex and the City.  When the girls go to a fireman calendar contest, the girls talk about how firefighters are so hot, and Charlotte blurts out, "Women just want to be rescued."  Which is totally antithetical to that post-modern feminism we are so used to.  I'm getting sidetracked.  Anyway, Deb was looking for someone to save her.  She never wanted to be the Lieutenant; she just wanted to be a good cop.  She's a regular girl who just wanted to find love.  When Rudy aka Brian aka Bynee tried to kill her, who saved her?

Dexter was the one she could always rely on.  Her father never gave her the acknowledgement she craved; in a way, Dexter did that for her.

Gosh, Daddy issues.  I am becoming way too predictable.

It's hard to see where the PI part of her life fits in this season.  Like I said, this episode seemed to be one of those famous Dexters that do a lot of prepping for the next show.

I'm still confused as to how Dexter seeking out Vogel's patients fit in this week.  It's like...he's his own Keyser Soze.  If Vogel is helping serial killers channel their energy into very specific kills...hmmm.  I may have touched on something here.

Is she trying to get rid of those who can identify her?  Is **she** Keyser Soze?

n

n

never

never

Perfect

Wow.  I can't believe it's been FOUR SEASONS since I last posted on this site.  Since then, I've gotten married, started a business, and I have multiple personalities...on ye olde Internets, that is. 

Truth be told, I was really tormented and agitated by the way season four ended.  Rita annoyed me, but I didn't believe she should have gone out like that.  Even in season seven, I was a little tormented by how Maria LaGuerta went out...again, a character I didn't like but clearly didn't fit the story.

But this is season eight.  It's the end. We know this.  And unlike those who have fallen into the trap of "Harry's Code," I am bringing Harry's Code, the blog, back from the dead.

I need a way to honor my all-time favorite show by going out with a bang.  It seems like season eight is also tying up some loose ends.  I hope that we have a sense of closure, like Six Feet Under did years ago, yet another Michael C. Hall drama.  

See, for me, I don't like television dramas, but I am a sucker for cop/detective/forensics kind of shows.  I dislike The Walking Dead, but I do love me some Law & Order: SVU, as an example.  But Dexter, to me, will go down as one of those shows that I never feel guilty about watching.

And I certainly don't feel guilty about rooting for a serial killer.

He does kill "bad guys," after all.

Onto this season:

Dr. Evelyn Vogel.  I had a feeling that she was in cahoots with Harry when she just showed up, given her attention paid to Dexter at the first.  And I did not read any spoilers prior to this season!  My husband was not surprised by this introduction.  (Oh and now would be a good time to mention that he and I watched the season four finale with Joey Quinn...his very first episode of Dexter...and he's still around to watch it, haha).

There's something beneath the surface with her, I just can't pinpoint what.  She had a great quote about how psychopaths are a gift. I wonder what exactly she means, but she does feel a certain responsibility for the development of Dexter.  I feel like she knows this killer, but to what extent. Funny how both she and Dexter are paid to provide forensic expertise...yet were off on this one.

Yet, I can't help but note the irony.  Vogel has gotten intimately involved with the process of this new serial killer.  And Dexter told her, "I don't take requests."  In essence, Dexter has an accomplice like Sussman did in S8:E2: something that got him into trouble after the Travis Marshall kill in season six, leading into season seven.    

Outside of Dexter himself, the two characters I've liked since the beginning have been Vince Masuka and Angel Bautista.  Masuka for his perverted Lenny Briscoe-zing humor, Bautista for being the traditional cop with the heart of gold.  I always felt Bautista was a political pawn in Miami Metro, so I'm happy he's the one in charge these days.  And Masuka, don't you go changin'.

Joey Quinn and Bautista's sister, Jamie...seriously, is this relationship going anywhere?  Talk about a predictable and boring storyline.  We all know somehow, he'll end up back with Deb.  Those two idiots deserve each other.  They both annoy me.  Jamie needs to do what she does best: look pretty and keep an eye on Harrison.

Speaking of Debra Morgan...I've never been the biggest Debra fan, but her realism and accessibility have really grown on me, especially when she "saw" in season six.  Her "descent" this season, in my opinion, is a little far-fetched.  You mean to tell me a potty-mouthed cop who was mostly on the straight and narrow is now snorting coke off a dealer's ass?

Her behavior, in a way, is like a cheating spouse who wants to be caught.  She's behaving badly, so DEXTER can get caught, though.

This could be ugly.

Lastly, there are SO many directions this show could go this season.  I have to say I want the element of surprise.  But...out of the women "love interests" of Dexter, besides Lumen Pierce, I did LOVE the intro of Hannah McKay last season, essentially, the female version of Dexter.  While she doesn't exactly follow a "code," she believes that killing can be morally justified.  In my dreams, I have Dexter running off the Argentina with her, Harrison holding their hands, skipping down a street in Buenos Aires.  

Like I said, I can dream.

I wonder how soon we'll find the "real" killer, but I get the idea it will be dragged out a bit...but we only have ten more episodes.

Damn. 

The Killers

To quote the many tweets and Facebook posts after last night's season finale...OMFG.

I goofed though. I was in attendance at the Manhattan viewing party (attended by Clyde Phillips and Desmond Harrington as well) and I was in so much shock that my Facebook post inadvertently gave away the ending.

I deleted it later, but basically I told myself that at that point, no one was on Facebook who hadn't seen the show (OK I can tell myself anything to make me feel better).

I guess what I can say right now is...Dexter may have won the War against the Trinity Killer...but we all know Trinity won a critical battle that changed the dynamic of not only the show (selfish reasons abound of course) but the course of Dexter's life. Nothing will ever be the same for our vigilante killer again.

I was an English lit major and much of my studies came through reading and interpreting Shakespeare's works. Was there NOT a person in the audience last night that Hamlet didn't come to mind? You know the background. Missed opportunities. Loved ones lost as a result of procrastinating and not taking the matter at hand seriously, getting sidetracked with minutiae.

We all knew that Dexter's "tragic flaw" was what made him unique, made him who he was, and would catch up to him eventually one day. However, we can see the costs of this flaw and now several innocent people are hurt by this.

I think Clyde Phillips, if that was his intent, to have these Shakespearean parallels (I highly doubt it was a coincidence), is a genius. Of course, I have never read the Dexter books, so if this was a theme, then Jeff Lindsay really struck a nerve. Great job by all.

I can't help but wonder though what kind of dynamic this will leave. No doubt (SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD!) Rita's presence will be missed next season, especially for the way she grounded Dexter. But at the same time, she held him back from who he really was. And we all have seen in the past on this show that anyone who gets in the way of Dexter being true to himself "disappears" one way or another.

On a personal note, I am not one to easily get sucked into television dramas. Never in a million years would I think I would be rooting for a sociopathic vigilante serial killer but I am. I never get emotionally invested in television shows if I don't have to. Something about this show drew me in from day one.

The only other episode that I think has generated more questions than answers for me would be the Sopranos final episode. Most hard-core Sopranos fans were unhappy with the ending initially. Then all the questions they had afterwards and discussions it generated led them to believe that it was the appropriate series finale.

We all knew Dexter was going to kill Arthur. We all knew eventually Deb would find the truth about Laura Moser and her sons Brian and Dexter and the link to the Ice Truck Killer. Her reaction and realization of it surprised me. I do give the writers that.

I am guessing that next season, Dexter will lose custody of Astor and Cody to Rita's mother and she will try hard to get Harrison as well. Since he is the biological father of Harrison I think he will fight for him. Or maybe not. He could think that Harrison is better off without him but only HE knows the Code and may have to help him channel that anger we all know he will have growing up. These are Dexter's lessons learned. He will have to have Harrison learn from his mistakes but I wonder how much of it will be anger turned towards Dex as he is partially responsible for Rita's death.

Rita's death may not be as cut-and-dried as being by the Trinity Killer. Since we saw he found Dexter's old address. Someone suggested Elliot may have killed her or someone else did. I wonder if that's one of the story lines for next season.

Seeing as how this is the longest post I have ever written on my favorite show, I think I can surmise this was a fabulous episode and all I can say is, bring on more for Season Five.

Arthur's Use of the "C" Word

With a name like the Miss Morgan, clearly I am female. My background is that I'm the daughter of a construction worker and I'm a big sports fan. I've had a potty mouth my entire life. So when people apologize to me for using bad language I reassure them..."Trust me. I've heard a LOT worse in my lifetime!"

One word in the English language does not enter my vernacular at any time, however. That is the "C" word that is used to describe the female genitalia. It's just very strong and the background to it is demeaning, violent and basically only used under those two circumstances. Well let me go back. There are several words the Babe Harbor Butcher won't use in her talk. The "C" word just pops out as one of these words.

All that said, why am I bringing this background. I happened to notice that our new and improved killer Trinity (although we have seen it's Quad-rinity with Dexter's sleuth work) Arthur Mitchell uses the word quite a bit. He used it with his wife at Thanksgiving (nothing says family like "Shut up, c**t.") and when he found out Christine Hill was responsible for Lundy's death.

We know his background with his sister Vera dying accidentally in the tub. Mother jumping to her death. Dad being bludgeoned to death. Clearly, Arthur was traumatized by these events as a child for certain. And I'm going to take a stab (erm, no pun intended) at what other things might have contributed to Arthur being the way he is. I'm pretty certain he was sexually abused as a child. The debate is whether by his mother or father. I would gather it's his dad given his mode to kill little boys and particular heavy violence to men. So why the violence toward women?

What would be interesting for me to see is that background, if Dexter gets curious and sees that Arthur's father was also a killer. I would not be surprised if he was responsible for someone's death and Arthur saw that. Plus he's repeating the cycle with murdering the woman in front of Christine as a little girl. Remember that Dexter teaches us the whole Nature vs Nurture argument each episode.

Arthur's violence towards women in particular and his disrespect for his wife and his two daughters with his overuse of the "C" word too is disturbing. Of course, here I am, rooting a serial killer who kills bad guys every week talking about disrespect! But I have to say that out of all the killers Dexter has seen in the last three seasons: ITK, himself, the Skinner, Arthur Mitchell's profile takes the prize of most disturbing, hands-down.

Masuka Profile

In the history of any television show, there has always been one character who is not a focal point, but without him or her, the dynamic of the show would be completely different. Like Lennie Briscoe (played by the late great Jerry Orbach) on Law & Order provides that much needed comic relief in arrest and interrogation scenes, Vince Masuka (played by C.S. Lee) is quite possibly Dexter's Lennie Briscoe. The stuff that comes out of this man's mouth is dirty, perverted, funny and so off-the-beaten-path from the rest of the characters. If he were not on the show, I could tell you that even with the great story lines here, something would be missing.

Something interesting is happening with Vince this season. I feel like we're seeing another side of him to make his character more well-rounded. We know he is good at what he does (but hardly the "golden boy" image our boy Dexter seems project at Miami Metro), but he seems to be around solely for comic purposes.

We've seen his perverted side for sure which is funny and inappropriate at the same time. Hey, he's a medical examiner so I can cut him some slack for looking at dead bodies all day. This season we've seen more of a softer side of Vince.

It's clear to me that he cares deeply about Deb and the Morgans (well for all the folks at Miami Metro, but Deb and Dexter we see him interacting with more often). When Deb goes in to show him her wound to discuss trajectories, he seemed a bit softened. Sure, he had to throw in a archetypal Vince dirty-mind line in there, but I felt like he seemed a bit taken aback by actually seeing one of his dear friends wounded. For some reason that scene touched me.

Another thing though is we are certainly seeing a softer side of him when he sees Rita kissing the neighbor guy at Thanksgiving. My love for Rita well, I've pretty much minced no words that I would like to see her off the show. But Vince seems really obligated to tell Dexter what he saw, and even went back to the house to leave. Only to have Deb convince him to have drinks with her to buy time.

There's something beneath the surface here and I hope the writers introduce more of a well-rounded Vince in the future. We've seen him use his sexual innuendos, which are certainly funny and welcome given the context of the show. However, like giving us more Batista and LaGuerta this season, I'd like to see more of what make Masuka tick.

I'm no psychologist, but I think the sex talk is mostly a defense mechanism for letting people not get too close. Then we see him have genuine feelings of conflict when he sees these things around him that he is being loyal to his friends. I wonder what has happened to him in his past that makes him the way he is.

We all know Dexter is a natural born killer for all the documented reasons. To me, Vince Masuka is a core character on Dexter. At the same time, seeing these different faces to him just is so delicious to me. Keep the Vince story lines going!!