(S04E09) "Everything is exactly the way it should be. Perfect." - Rita Morgan
The season is almost over and that means things are bound to ramp up as Dexter moves in closer to kill the Trinity Killer. But this week, we get treated to a special Thanksgiving episode. Think of it as a sordid cross between the "Thanksgiving Day" episode from Father Knows Best mixed with the director's cut of any episode of Twin Peaks.
After explaining his identity, background and own "Dark Passenger," this week's episode dove head first into his family who aren't as Norman Rockwell as Arthur Mitchell might want Dexter and the rest of the world to believe. It turns out they are probably the most interesting aspect of Mitchell's twisted life and could turn out to be a huge asset to bringing the man down, now that he no longer has them in his upper hand.
Once again, Dexter finds himself torn between his need to dismember and destroy and the needs of his family. Since he's just gotten out of the doghouse with Rita, he has learned to make compromises without compromising what he needs. So for Thanksgiving Day, he fakes a quickie overtime job to spend more time with his latest target and his family after catching the eldest child (or so we thought) smashing his super cool Mustang, one of the hardest scenes to watch because (1) he opens up to Dexter and tells him about the unrelenting abuse he suffers at his father's hands and (2) that car is a classic. Seriously, a 1968 Mustang convertible is my dream car. Oh well, all the more reason to hate Arthur Mitchell more.
Dexter worms his way into the Mitchell house for Thanksgiving dinner and soon learns just how twisted the rest of the clan truly is: the wife is constantly afraid but unwilling to face the evil, the daughter is a shut-in nympho whom Arthur keeps locked in a room that's way too young for her, and the son is slowly growing tired of explaining his bruises and broken bones to his teachers and coaches. We even get to see Arthur inflict a rather painful broken finger on his poor son in a very visceral and powerful scene. This sets up an interesting scenario for Dexter: should he help himself and go back to his family or stay with the Mitchells and help someone else? His character has really come a long way from the first few seasons and shows he's sticking to the Code, even if it failed him in the past.
Meanwhile, back to the family nest. The lonely neighbor is horning in on Dexter's home life, from spending time with his kids to spending more than a little time with his wife. This week he makes his big move and plants a wet one that Rita reciprocates. It hasn't caught Dexter's attention yet, and how could it? The man is more emotionally frozen than a cryogenic Dick Cheney. But Masuka, Debra's "wingman," spotted them smooching and will definitely tell Dexter about it since the two are such close lab buddies. It will be interesting to watch Dexter's reaction and serve as a good test to whether or not he sees his family as someone special to him or just another mask.
Then the whole thing takes a big dive when Arthur Mitchell knocks on Christina's door after spotting her byline in the local fish wrap and she utters those two shocking words: "Hi Dad." What the hell just happened? Linking her to Lundy and Debra's shooting would have been enough (a big ol' "good call" goes out to the commenter who called it) as a desperate reporter who needs a bleeding lede for her paper, but this is just ridiculous. All this time, Quinn's reporter chick has been working both sides of the street for the villain? That really felt like a big letdown after the initial shock wore off. Sure it made for a nice twist, but now that it's been rolling around in my mind, it's formed into bad tilapia for the brain and it's not sitting well with me. Something tells me the show just dug a big hole for itself and no amount of bodies can fill it.
Other quick observations:
- The Batista-Laguerta relationship is now stronger than ever and so is my wishing it would just end. At this point, not even a solid link to Dexter's life or the Trinity Killer case can save it. If the writers just wrote it out of the script and never brought it up again, I wouldn't miss it.
- Now that Dexter has shown Arthur his dark side, just how is he going to get at him and how will he protect himself from Arthur, a seasoned killer who may be unstable but has been doing this a lot longer than our hero? Say what you will about Dexter not being as good as time goes by, but it can still bring home a good mystery.
- I've always enjoyed C.S. Lee's portrayal of Masuka as the brash and bawdy lab guy who thrives on keeping his twisted and tawdry reputation at full crazy, but he really did a nice job of stretching into more dramatic territory after he catches Rita and the neighbor making with the face sucking and has to spend time playing defense for Debra at Thanksgiving. There is more to a man than just his truck.
[Watch clips of Dexter on SlashControl.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-23-2009 @ 5:17AM
ChristinE said...
Her name is ChristinE. Not Christina.
I know, a minor thing, but it is bugging me. :)
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11-23-2009 @ 8:35AM
bruce said...
Now that it's confirmed, along with her status as Trinity's eldest daughter, I don't understand Christine's motives in shooting Deb and Lundy. Presumably Christine knows that her dad is the Trinity killer that Lundy was looking for, and that he committed the bludgeoning at that office building - otherwise why involve herself at all? Arthur Mitchell's family hates him, and I don't see why Christine would be any different, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for her to kill Lundy to protect/save her evil dad.
As a side note, only in the wacky clue-above-reason world of television does the angle of a gunshot on a victim standing in a wide open space enable the police to tell how tall the shooter is. I'm surprised so many people can listen to that and keep a straight face. It's beyond the junk science we see on shows like "Bones" - it's illogical on its face. I can come up with 100 ways how Shaquille O'Neil could shoot Deb at hip level, parallell to the ground. I really hate it when irrelevant information is treated as a clever clue, which becomes the evidence that leads to the cops finding the real bad guy.
On another note, I was glad to hear them mention that the ACLU is suing to get their DNA sweeps shut down. It doesn't matter how many criminals they catch - they are unconstitutional. If catching criminals at all cost sounds good to you, then why not just completely do away with the 4th Amendment? (yeah you'd probably support that, sadly enough).
What will Dexter do when he learns about Rita's extramarital kiss? If Dexter is smart he'll feign being hurt and quickly forgive Rita so that he can hold this incident over her head for the rest of their marriage. Whenever Rita gives him crap about not being open, about not being honest, etcetera, he will have "the kiss" to throw in her face. That's what I'd like to see Dexter do, and that's what the Dextger I know would do. But we may have a new Dexter here... that's sorta the point of this season, it seems.
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11-23-2009 @ 1:21PM
notatoad said...
i don't think she was doing it for her own reasons, i think she did it becuase daddy told her to. and the reason trinity came to visit her is because he now has somebody else he needs killed: Dexter. trinity can only kill in the pattern, so he can't take care of dexter himself.
11-23-2009 @ 11:33PM
Secret Asian Man said...
I have no idea why this comment was voted down. It's a perfectly fine post.
11-23-2009 @ 9:23AM
KVC said...
Worst episode of the series.
Why is Dexter, our lovable KILLER, trying to protect the Trinity children??? Who cares if he beats on his family.
Why are we forced to endure the Batista-Laguerta relationship? I'm all for fleshing out the characters, but enough already.
And now that the writers have lost their way, poof the reporter is now the daughter of Trinity?
WTF happened to this show?
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11-25-2009 @ 2:19AM
thatizwhy said...
And your definatley not the only one that feels this way. I am drawn to this show, because of the brilliance of the first season. An emotionless kill almost every episode, with a genius twist and end-tyer at the finish. Since then Ive looked forward to the show, and im starting to wonder why. I dont want to watch a fucking soap opera. However, I do suppose it must be difficult to write something as interesting as the reason it was originally signed, but come on! Dont kill my interest by showing mind numbing relationship problems and attempted twists that have no real value!
11-23-2009 @ 12:21PM
bruce said...
Yeah I don't understand why Dexter gives a rat's ass about protecting the Trinity children. Not only that, but he put them before protecting his secrets in his exposed tool-shed. Uncharacteristic is an understatement.
I still like the show, but "each season is better than the last" stopped at season 3. Season 4 is the worst season of Dexter - but it's still better than anything else on TV at the moment.
Also, Dexter is not very impulsive with respect to attacking people. We've only seen Dexter act impulsively one time - when he whacked Paul, Rita's ex-husband, over the head with the frying pan and dragged him outside. But that's because Paul was threatening him, Rita, and the children - and it wasn't the first time. Why would Dexter snap so impulsively and attempt to kill Arthur Mitchell right then and there, in Mitchell's house and in front of Mitchell's wife and kids? Dexter had no clean room prepared, he was going to kill in public, in front of people, with his identity (yeah he used an alias, but so what) easily verifiable. All because someone else's child might get hurt? Come on. What have they done with the real Dexter?
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11-23-2009 @ 12:40PM
c9house said...
You don't think Dexter cares about the Mitchell's because he has kids of his own now? Arthur is hurting innocent kids and his wife. The Dexter I know is acting exactly like he should in this point of his life.
While Dexter's changing and is confused himself, I can see why he did what he did. Dexter wouldn't hurt a kid and that pissed him off.
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11-23-2009 @ 12:46PM
Christian H. said...
Well, my take on why Dexter lost it when he saw Mitchell attack his family:
As we have come to known, Dexter draws parallels between him and Mitchell. He even narrated, that he had things to learn from him... Dexter to some extent sees Mitchell as his future self. So when Dexter saw Mitchell attack his family, what I believe happened was that he was confronted with the possibilty that this may be his future path: Turn violent against his own family.
I'm no psychatrist but that was what I was thinking when I saw it. And that made it more plausible for me, because Dexter only loses control of himself if he sees his family in danger...
Apart from that, I actually liked the episode and the "twist"... but I guess I am the only one :) And after giving Danny a hard time last week I am man enough to say: This is a good review. We don't agree on many points but I can see the effort. So thanks...
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11-23-2009 @ 12:50PM
mello one said...
Thanks for the props on my hunch from last week.
I was still completely surprised that Christina was Trinity's daughter! I thought she was dead meat when he showed up at her doorstep.
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11-23-2009 @ 1:46PM
dexter said...
in the previews they said that trinities cycle had a 4th murder for the 4th family member...who is the 4th family member? christina's mother?
11-23-2009 @ 4:58PM
chibby said...
I'm thinking the fourth kill is for his dad's illegitimate daughter. Makes sense.
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11-24-2009 @ 3:02AM
JLTorrente said...
This is pure speculation, so don't think that I'm spoiling anything...
I think that the 4th kill is representing himself... maybe he was going to end the cycle by really killing himself (hence, the coffin) but Dexter gave him "clarity" and now, a little boy has to pay... then a new cycle can begin and after Dex makes justice for Lundy's death (offing Christine), Trinity will take the new cicly on Dex's inner circle... Deb (single mom), Rita (mom of two), Angel (Father) and Dex (Trinity)... either way, best. season. ever.
11-24-2009 @ 10:05AM
MUGger said...
Rita is not a mother of two anymore - she is a mother of three (with cute li'l Dexter Jr.). She does not fit the Trinity pattern.
11-23-2009 @ 2:44PM
Brad said...
Well to me it was good, our lovable killer is evolving as a person. I see him attacking Mitchell as him getting angry at the way he became violent with his family. Dexter is also worried he will become that. I was also shocked to see Christine is his daughter..I'm sure they will explain why Christine helps him soon in the season. I liked the episode..and I'm really interested to see how the season will turn out. Just gotta say. Mitchell is more fucked up than I thought he was.
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11-23-2009 @ 4:10PM
Creep said...
Ditto. I love how this season is progressing. I'm waiting in anticipation how all this unfolds as the end creeps up.
11-23-2009 @ 3:24PM
GL said...
The Batista-Laguerta relationship is ruining the show for me. I cringe whenever they come on and instinctively reach for the remote.
Dexter should just call the cops on Mitchell as a child abuser and walk away.
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11-23-2009 @ 7:43PM
Jack said...
"bad tilapia for the brain"
What?
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11-23-2009 @ 9:18PM
Brent Schmidt said...
The reporter was also in the Born Free (S01 Finale)... I'll have to watch it again to see where she is in it, but that sure is interesting.
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11-23-2009 @ 10:10PM
pumpkinhead said...
Personally, I've really enjoyed this season (while my wife sits beside me and groans, "he didn't even kill anybody this week!"), but I'm a little baffled as to why he didn't just orchestrate Mitchell's capture, especially when he found out Mitchell didn't shoot Deb. Dexter usually reserves his cutlery for people who have escaped the established justice system. The justice system hasn't had a crack at Mitchell yet, but surely Deb could make the case if some anonymous informant tipped her to Mitchell.
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