‘Dexter’: Turning point
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Although I didn’t enjoy last night’s episode of ‘Dexter’ as much as the one that preceded it, I see what the writers are doing with it and hope it pays off. With the shooting of Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) and Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) came a turning point for all the characters on the show.
Several of Dexter’s colleagues felt that Lundy’s murder fit the M.O. of the vacation killers, so to trap them, Angel (David Zayas) planted a story in the paper that did end up nabbing their prime suspects. However, the thank-you he received was a possible transfer out of homicide, after higher-ups decided his relationship with Maria (Lauren Vélez) was too high profile, even after she properly disclosed it, against Angel’s wishes. Plot-wise, I’m not sure how this will pay off in a big way, but we’ll see.
Deb, understandably, suffered a breakdown after the shooting. While still in the hospital, she broke up with Anton (David Ramsey) after confessing that she had slept with Lundy. Also, since, let’s face it, she has had a ridiculously rough time on this show, she screamed at Dexter (Michael C. Hall), ‘If I’m not hurting myself I’m hurting everyone around me. I’m broken.’ I would love to see Deb get taken in a brand-new direction at this point, something to give more depth to her character and give her life a turnaround so she’s more than the swearing tomboy cop who likes men who live in the line of fire. Maybe she could become Dexter’s sidekick after all the garbage she’s been through -- goodness knows other superheroes have had less intense origin stories.
Dexter focused his energies on nabbing the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) since he assumed that he must have been the culprit, as the Vacation Murderers wouldn’t have left Deb alive as a witness. He contemplated the new sensation of murdering someone out of revenge, as he didn’t seem that interested in Trinity until he hurt his sister. He followed Lundy’s investigation, which led him directly to Trinity, to the point where Dexter actually saw him carrying out one of his murders, but then, at the last minute, he saw Trinity come home to his family and perceived the murderer to be ‘like me’: a family man with a dark secret and sacred ritual.
Of course, Dexter’s role as a family man has in the meantime between thrown into question, as Rita (Julie Benz) learned about his secret apartment and reacted strongly, perhaps partially because Dexter refused to truly acknowledge her anger and fears, which might mean that Trinity is ... not like him at all? We’ll see. The scenes from the upcoming episodes look like a lot of fun, so I hope the exposition laid out by tonight’s episode all pays off.
-- Claire Zulkey
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