'Dexter': Deb does good

Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) hasn't always been a fan favorite on "Dexter."  On many a message board since the show debuted last season, viewers have literally called for her head.  Maybe it was her impulsiveness, her immaturity, her obliviousness as a cop.  However, this season a female more odious than Deb appeared on the scene: Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) NA sponsor, erstwhile lover and "soul mate" Lila (Jaime Murray).  Last night, Deb finally redeemed herself.  Sure, she stood up for her boyfriend, Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine), and her ruminations on how she was able to survive after escaping the clutches of the Ice Truck Killer convinced her brother not to surrender to the police as the Bay Harbor Butcher. But more importantly, she managed to track down Lila's real identity and had a showdown with her. Deb's personality and language had sometimes been grating up until this point, but it all came together when she told the British artist to quit messing with the people she loved and to get out of Dodge.

Dexter had a lot to consider in the episode: whether he was in fact evil, what could be done about it, what could be done about his captor, Sgt. Doakes (Erik King).  However, the actual evil in the episode wasn't in him, it was in Lila, who had already shown that she wasn't afraid to cross boundaries by invading the personal space of Dexter's girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz), by potentially ruining the life of Dexter's coworker Angel Batista (David Zayas), and by doing violence to get attention.  Maybe this is why Dexter seemed to get some pleasure out of telling Lila that there was nothing she could do to touch him anymore -- he fights evil after all, in his own way.  But we'll still have to see what will happen when Lila works her magic on Doakes.  The happier Dexter gets, the crazier Lila behaves, and Dexter seemed pretty content at the end of last night's episode, which does not bode well for Lila's next "friend."

-- Claire Zulkey

(Photo courtesy Peter Iovino / Showtime)

Comments

[Chunkdog32]

Anyone else see the striking similarity between Keith Carradine and Pat Riley? The show takes place in Miami. Hmmmm.

[Inthemix]

I'm looking for Doakes and Dexter to team up somehow and pin all of the Bay Harbor Butcher's shenanigins on Lila. Call me crazy but once Doakes gets a whiff of Lila when she comes a knock knock knockin on his cage door, it's gonna be lights out Lila. Lila bites the dust at the hands of Dexter while she's trying to kill Doakes. Doakes sees the twisted logic of Harry's code in Dexter and thankful he's still alive, keeps his mouth shut, quits the police force, and we'll never see him again. OR Doakes ends up dead at the hands of Lila and then Dexter kills Lila and pins the Bay Harbor Bitcher (typo intended) on her. Either way, Doakes and Lila are gone for good. There's no other way to keep the show credible with them both still around..............

[OutLook]

I think Deb is awesome and her dialogue is often hysterical. My question is why nobody on the task force cross-checked members of the department in question with those who own boats. Does the Miami PD pay that well? Because there are so many bodies in a confined area, obviously dropped at different times, wouldn't the killer have to have quick and easy access to a boat? how about Dexter and the S.S. Slice of Life? Sloppy.

[jennifer]

The character 'Deb' grates on me as well but let's not forget - it's the writers! Thank goodness they're letting her mature a bit. Beyond that, I love the direction of this show. Once you get sick of some drama (Lila, for one) they mix in a bit of new juice.