TVSquad

(S0402) - "You've got a family to support and people to dismember. You're spinning too many plates, Dexter." - Harry Morgan

One of the most interesting reasons to watch shows like Dexter are the ways the characters manage to wiggle their way out of complete destruction after pushing more than their fair share of luck.

But unlike shows like The Shield or The Sopranos where most of the luck pushing is done by the main character, the people behind Dexter like to spread the carelessness around. Just about everyone in this twisted tale has some skeletons in their closets, both figurative and possibly literal.

Batista is getting cozy with Laguerta. Debra is dangerously close to getting cozy with Lundy again. Quinn has a more than cozy relationship with a smoking hot newspaper reporter. Between all these Dating Game rejects and Harry's extremely dangerous coziness with his own CI, has anyone in the history of Miami Metro Homicide ever taken a mandatory sexual harassment seminar?

The one relationship I'm dying to know more about is the one the Trinity Killer has with someone, anyone in this universe. Unlike the Ice Truck Killer, the mystery of this character isn't whether or not he's the killer, but why he is the killer. It's only been two episodes, but the writing has really built the suspense at a nice steady pace, not to mention John Lithgow's creepy acting skills. The man can turn evil on and off like his id has a faucet.

I have my suspicions. For instance, did you notice when the Trinity Killer put "Sugar in the Raw" in his coffee? That brief glimpse of the brown sugar packet stuck in my brain like a spear. I Googled the phrase on the Internet with a Dexter chaser and sure enough, it kicked back to the first episode from the third season when that pesky internal affairs detective noticed Debra using the same thing. This is probably just a coincidence and one of those way-out-there clues that only amateur sleuths who have trouble finding the worm in the bottle of tequila notice. But as any high school track coach will tell you, it's hard to pull a spear out of a skull.

As for Dexter, the missing body angle was a fun, brief plotline to throw a serial killer's way. It was far from a close call in the end, but you could really feel the nerves just taking control of Dexter's intestines and twisting them until all the juicy goodness had dripped clean. It made better use of the baby problem without physically sticking the little tyke in Dexter's gore soaked arms, as the new season's posters suggest.

Harry has become an interesting vehicle for Dexter's thought output. His Obi-Won presence in Dexter's private moments are a weird blend of dark humor and deep thought and make a good stand-in when Dexter's long thoughts start to wear thin. It also has me wondering if we'll ever see the dark side of Dexter's consciousness in human form, his "Darth Passenger" if you will.