(S03E07) A lot of significant events happened in tonight's episode of Dexter. What to make of the title, "Easy As Pie?" I think it refers to Dexter being able to make decisions. All his life, he's lived by Harry's code. Now, as we see him breaking it, or deciding whether or not he should break it, we see things being easier for Dexter.
Far be it from me to reveal anything before the jump, like the fact that Rita is pregnant or that Dexter is a serial killer (whoops -- did I just give something away?). Join me after the break to analyze tonight's plot points.
Dexter finally kills Camilla, after struggling with the decision. After all, she didn't fit his code, and as she said, he didn't want to be like his brother, the Ice Truck Killer. But when he looked at the situation as a consenting adult who makes his own decisions, it was easy for him to end Camilla's life out of mercy. And she was so grateful: "You finally brought me the perfect pie."
Another easy decision for Dexter was deciding not to kill Ellen Wolf. He was able to see clearly that she was only a defense attorney doing her job. Incidentally, it made Dexter a good friend, something that really comes easily to him, much to his surprise.
What's so interesting is that as we see Dexter breaking Harry's code more and more, we see him making his own decisions. He's not stuck with the rigid rules Harry set for him, and Dexter is becoming more human, more normal. Did Harry make Dexter more of a social deviant then he needed to be? What always strikes me about the voiceovers is that Dexter thinks he's so deviant, but he's really got the same insecurities as everyone else.
A few things I'm thinking about:
- At the end, when Dexter says, "All the lives I've taken have been for mercy; I never understood that until now," does he mean mercy on the future victims whose lives he saved? That was a little confusing for me.
- I thought it was weird that Dexter commented on how tan Quinn is, but is it possibly because he spends all his time up in trees, watching the victims' houses? Is Quinn the skinner? I wouldn't have bet on it, but that was an interesting clue or red herring.
- I'm happy for Batista that he's got a honey. So, is she the next Skinner victim, or what?
- What's with Yuki? She never gave the important details to Deb that would help her make an informed decision on whether or not to help IA get Quinn. How can Yuki expect Deb to have helped, not knowing the details?
- Miguel really is proving to be a good friend to Dexter, and he admits that Dexter was right about Ellen. I still can't trust Miguel all the way, though, knowing that he knows Dexter's secrets, and that he is so hostile with Syl. Something is going on; the dude is angry.
- At first, when Deb tells Anton to leave, it was a strange and tense scene, and I expected more of a tender moment. I did end up getting that moment when Anton says he'll be bait for her because he knows how important it is for her to catch the killer. Oh, and the kissing.
- "Marriage, children. You never expect it to end in tragedy. Unless you're me." -- Dexter
- "Do I see sheets of plastic in your future?" -- Dexter's voiceover to Ellen, as she's being completely bitchy surrounding the Albert Chung surrender.
- "How much caffeine have you had?" -- Batista
"A metric fuck ton." -- Deb
"Well you should stop. It's giving you Turette's." -- Batista - After Miguel and Dexter "make up," Dexter says, "We're not gonna man hug, are we?"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-10-2008 @ 12:09AM
rkolsen said...
I was thinking for a while that Batista's honey was maybe a lesbian given all the loops she put him through.
As for the Quinn motive I guess its possible that he's the skinner.
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11-10-2008 @ 1:54AM
bruce said...
I've been saying the Skinner Killer was that tree-trimmer guy ever since we first saw him. He was creepy and wiped off his sharp knife blade and put it away right as Deborah came up to talk to him, and he acted evasively. Finally, they're looking at the right guy(s) (his partner may be in on it too).
As a defense lawyer, I find that Miguel Prado typifies most prosecutors, who would readily commit a crime (or even kill a good defense lawyer) to "keep criminals off the streets." All for the soundbite. The means always justify the ends. I hate prosecutors, for the most part.
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11-10-2008 @ 4:25AM
bruce said...
One other thing, as a lawyer, Ellen Wolf was clearly obstructing justice by refusing to turn over a wanted criminal and trying to negotiate a plea deal for his turning himself in. That's not what "negotiating the terms of a surrender" are. It's "he'll turn himself in willingly" rather than having the cops come to where he is and bust in and beat him and perp walk him. That's what's negotiated. And it's not a quid pro quo, it's to make things easy and quick and ultimately safer for everyone involved in the arrest process. To say I won't give over my client unless you lessen the charges is clearly obstruction of justice. A lawyer cannot hide a client or advise a client not to turn themselves in - most particularly when the client is wanted for murder. Not saying she should have been killed - far from it - but she did cross a line in this episode. Of course, Prado did too.
Does anyone think the tree trimmer we briefly encountered at the first skinned body is not the skinner killer? No way the skinner is Quinn. Not sure what he's done, but he's not the skinner. I thought it was pretty obvious by the way the tree trimmer cleaned off his knife and put it away and acted odd that he was the guy, but he was never mentioned as a suspect until tonight's episode. The killer will not be a main character - that was last year with Doakes (even though he wasn't really the killer).
And that brings up another subject, but it was hinted at in the preview for next week. How can Miguel Prado not suspect Dexter was/is the Bay Harbor Butcher at this point? Duh. Seems he'd be okay with it. But still... he's been killing people who murdered others and got away with it. That's the BHB's M.O. Maybe next week he'll lay that on the table. But if he doesn't, then he's a moron.
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11-10-2008 @ 11:38AM
0megapart!cle said...
I was thinking, Ellen and Miguel are probably more alike then they'd care to admit. They both cross the line for their respective jobs, and do pretty much whatever it takes to win. It's not a perfect comparison, but I wouldn't be surprised if the similarity is brought up by Dexter in his monologue before the season is over.
11-10-2008 @ 11:44PM
nattyff said...
Great post!!! nice to have an expert look on things. I'm about the take my grad exam (it's like your bar exam in my country), so as a "future lawyer to be" is nice to know a little more about other tipes of sistems :)
11-10-2008 @ 4:31AM
bruce said...
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/dexter/the_lion_sleeps_tonight.php?page=4
I see someone else does agree with me that the killer is the tree trimmer, whose name was George Washington King (assuming he gave a real name).
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11-10-2008 @ 7:10AM
Wano said...
"At the end, when Dexter says, "All the lives I've taken have been for mercy; I never understood that until now," does he mean mercy on the future victims whose lives he saved? That was a little confusing for me."
It was "All the lives I've taken, they've begged for mercy."
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11-10-2008 @ 9:35AM
Debra McDuffee said...
That definitely makes more sense! Drat this headcold .... ;-)
11-10-2008 @ 10:02AM
Key Rick said...
Anton is, of course, the Skinner. That Deb really knows how to pick them.
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11-10-2008 @ 10:21AM
GL said...
She just wants someone like Dex. How sweet.
11-10-2008 @ 10:12AM
Jim Kosmicki said...
Yuki gave Deb enough details to double-check to see who's telling the truth. Quinn's claim of them being a couple makes sense, especially to someone with Deb's past, but there's no way to easily check it out without questioning people who knew both of them. Yuki's claims of being married and having a child, however, would be public record and easily verified.
and nothing says that the tree-trimmer might be the skinner but working for someone else.
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11-10-2008 @ 11:02AM
Robertson said...
I will break the fun: Jerry Zatarain, the guy who played Mario (the tree trimmer) in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", is listed at IMDB in cast for episodes #8 and #9. Also, Miguel will stab him in the chest in one of those episodes.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1868369/
Cheers!
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11-10-2008 @ 11:35AM
0megapart!cle said...
You mother fucker! You better be pulling this out of your ass!
11-10-2008 @ 11:38AM
0megapart!cle said...
Just joking (half joking, anyway). Spoilers are serious business!
11-10-2008 @ 1:42PM
cdawg said...
ok yes, ROBERTSON you are a complete ass. Read a friggin spoiler protocol please.
But I think it's pretty obvious that Deb would revisit the tree trimmers that she's already questioned.
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11-10-2008 @ 1:43PM
cdawg said...
Oh and I think this was the best episode yet this season.
I'm so worried that Miguel is seriously going to get in a fight with Dexter that leaves them separated for good, and if that happens, Dex will have to kill him, or else risk that someone knows "what" he is.
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11-10-2008 @ 1:48PM
C C said...
Wonderful episode. I've seen other shows deal with "death with dignity", but nothing came close to last night. Beautiful...and sweet. Yep, he came up with perfect pie all right.
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11-10-2008 @ 3:24PM
JoyceN said...
Smits almost stabbed a stand-in on the set by mixing up a real knife with a prop. Uh, oh!
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11-10-2008 @ 5:18PM
ben woocher said...
My favorite line of the night (apology for paraphrasing):
While the guys are doing dishes
RITA: "We should put rubber gloves on our registery for Dexter."
DEXTER: "We can do that?"
Was I the only one who found the subtlety in that line?
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11-10-2008 @ 10:14PM
dtpollitt said...
You spelt Tourette's wrong.
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