(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.
One of our ever alert readers pointed out a theory in last Sunday's episode of Dexterthat sounds so crazy, it might just actually work. You've got to love TV logic. The craziest theories gain the most traction.
TV Squad reader Frank Militello aka mello one proposed that Christina Hill, the plucky reporter and Quinn's nosy girlfriend, may have been the trigger man, er, woman who wounded Debra and killed Frank Lundy.
The theory came on the heels of Debra's realization that the Trinity Killer could not have shot her since her wounds were too far down her abdomen. Christina also revealed to Quinn that her editor is one bloodless story away from firing her and she need more ink that "bleeds" and "leads."
Could Christina be Lundy's killer and if so, how would you feel about that?
(S0308) "For someone who loves women so much, you sure don't understand them very well." - Jackie to Hank
Hank makes for an interesting character because there is never one single, solitary way of looking at him. Some people see this alcoholic horndog as a success while others look at his cavalier exterior and think of him as an utter failure. He's certainly one of the most complex characters on television for a guy who has one thing on his mind, two depending on how much booze is in the house.
So naturally all of his bad decisions and mistakes will come back to haunt him, and this week, he got hit with them all at once in a bizarre clusterf#$% of sheer craziness. It's as if a tornado of tail just leveled Hank's house and life in the process.
(S0408) "Born in blood, both of us." - Dexter on his and the Trinity Killer's creation of their "dark passengers"
Dexter and the Trinity Killer aren't the only ones on the show who have been paying back their anger for the pain the world has dealt them. The audience is in on the same game.
We've been sitting through weeks of boring and dry subplots about secret affairs and office romances that we couldn't care less about if we were actually one of their co-workers. But now we've been rewarded for our patience with some seedy and very interesting details about Dexter's main prey, the Trinity Killer, a man held in a very weak cage of despair and anger.
(S03E07) "L.A. has made us soft. You used to be able to run for Lexington Avenue with the best of them. Elbowing the investment wankers out of the way. Your cell phone in one hand, mammoth ball sack in the other hand, Hollywood Reporter between your teeth. Not even breathing so you wouldn't inhale the $&*$ing piss stench." - Hank to Charlie
So now that the No. 1 Missus wants the family back, with Hank included, he's got to get the rest of his conquests out of his system. In the real world, such a thing would be easy to do. Call each one of them up, tell them it's been fun but we've all got to settle down eventually and this is that time. Hang up the phone and never leave your home or greet another human being in person until the big settle down day.
But this is television. Nothing is ever that simple, especially for a cat like Hank Moody, a man who sees simple as a wussy excuse to go through life.
(S04E07) "We all have secrets, Debs. Some of them shouldn't be found out." - Dexter to Debra
While preparing this post, I had to double check the time stamp on this week's episode because "7" just seemed too early. It literally felt like we were more episodes into the season. I even looked out my window to make sure the Earth had not been sent into some kind of time paradox where time runs backwards, the sun comes out at night, and golf is America's most watched sport.
Then when I looked over my notes for the recent episode, I realized why. "Slack tide" indeed.
This week's episode did have some very great moments that showed glimmers of the show's glory days, but the rest got bogged down in the same sidetracks that have dragged the rest of the season down with it. The plots may be in different pieces, but they are all in the same garbage bag as they float through the Gulf Stream.
(S03E06) "L.A. is no place to raise a daughter...or a dad." - Hank to Karen
If I ever procreate and God curses me by turning said offspring into a female teenager, the last place I would raise her is Los Angeles. In fact, I would get as far away from that cesspool of pretentiousness and greed as possible; its literal polar opposite, in fact. That's right, I'd actually raise her in the Indian Ocean.
The idea had always been hidden in the back of my brain, but it was yanked into my consciousness by Becca and her snooty, drugged-up pal Chelsea. Both of them are really starting to piss me off. They are vapid, whiny and annoying. In other words, they are perfect Californians.
(S04E06) "We both have skeletons, which means we both get a closet to keep them in." - Dexter on him and Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer
Now that Dexter and his faithful followers have discovered Trinity's true identity as a family raising, student teaching, hymn congregation leading all around nice guy, it's made him twice as creepy. The fact that he can turn such a blind eye towards causing so much painful mayhem and in the blink of that eye pretend that everything is all rainbows and jellybeans twists my spine into a monkey fist. John Lithgow has not only reached into the bloody depths of this depraved character, but he's done a marvelous job of walking around in his skin, both figuratively and (I sure hope not) literally.
Now that Dexter is on the hunt, he seems more reserved, held back and less willing to pounce on his weakened prey. I'm sure part of him feels the need to put this man out of our misery and avenge the attack on his sister, but now he sees him as a mentor, a role model, a zen-like Yoda who can teach him how to strengthen his mask while he's doing the bidding of his "Dark Passenger." But will this moment of philosophy for madmen drag things down to a screeching halt?
(S03E05) - "Once upon a time's gotta count for something." - Zloz to Hank
Ah, the old friend from back home trick. It's been done so many times before in television. Remember when Rob's old Army buddy came to town in that one episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show or that one time when Don Rickles met up with his old pal Maxwell Smart on Get Smart? Those were some good times.
Imagine those episodes with a lot of hookers and copious amounts of beer, whiskey and vodka. Now they are twice as better, even if the hangover isn't as warm and friendly.
Zloz's one episode appearance felt like the makings of another "Guys Gone Wild" episode where the boys do some drinking, make with the smoking and then get into some fighting, but it turned into something much deeper and helped you appreciate the characters more for what they are. The ride was fun, even if you didn't really want to get back in line for it.
(S04E05) - "If anyone has ever deserved to be on your table, it's this son of a bitch." - Harry to Dexter
Shows like Dexter are like Heinz Ketchup, good things come to those who wait.
The last few episodes, well, weren't the best of the season, maybe even of the series. They interspersed bits and pieces of the Trinity Killer's true identity with a bunch of dry and pointless plots surrounding the rest of the characters from Batista and Laguerta's closed door relationship to Quinn's "back door" policy with his nosy reporter girlfriend (not that kind sickos).
But it's finally starting to pay off with this week's episode. Some of those dull plotlines have brought together what appear to be some much needed closure and we finally learn another piece of the Trinity Killer's picture and it's starting to look like a Normal Rockwell as opposed to a blood-spattered Jackson Pollock.
A recent episode of Showtime's Dexter titled "Blinded By the Light" was probably one of the weakest episodes in recent memory, but one moment saved it from becoming a total yawn-fest: Masuka's bad ass truck.
For those who don't know the backstory, Dexter got in a very serious accident while driving home from a recent kill and fell asleep behind the wheel. He suffered a concussion and doctor's orders prevented him from driving. So one night, Masuka drives our boy home in the biggest, most bad ass 4-by-4 with lighting painted down the sides, suspension that reached the sky and a stereo system that could let him listen to loud, obnoxious country music from space.
Sounds like Dexter isn't the only one trying to wear a "mask" to hide a deep, dark secret.
(S04E04) - "You're the one who wanted a challenge ... and now you've batted the beehive." - Harry to Dexter
That quote sums up this season in a blood spattered nutshell and really all of good television, for that matter. How do you reinvent a show that works without completely reinventing the wheel on which it got there?
In Dexter's case, it's giving America's most squeezably soft serial killer an opponent truly worthy of his skills and talent without boring the audience or completely overpowering or outing him. In other words, keep the shark in the cage so you don't even have the inkling of an opportunity to jump over it.
(S03E04) - "You once spent an entire class ranting about how much you hate Coldplay. Something tells me you could care less about what's frowned upon." - Jackie to Hank
Hank is normally the kind of guy most average heterosexual males would form mobs against, complete with rows of flaming torches and pitchforks (used both as weapons and Freudian references to using one's phallus as a weapon).
Still, he's become the most likable monkey in the Californication barrel. And it's not because he's living a life that would make most Arabian princes jealous. It's because there is a method to his manliness tendencies. He's vulnerable and sees those vulnerabilities in people around him, especially those of the opposite sex with genes that get saved in the secret cabinet in most high priced fertility clinics.
One of the joys in reviewing the new season of Showtime's Dexter has been in the preparation. I did just re-watched the previous season. I watched all the other seasons, read every interview I could find and even dove into a couple of reviews, both good and bad. I even got an advanced copy of the Dexter video game for the iPhone.
But while watching that iconic opening of Dexter's mourning routine, I noticed the credit to Jeff Lindsay, the author of the first Dexter novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter on which the whole show is based. I picked it up in the library and even though I knew most of what happened from the show's first season, it was still a very enjoyable read. It was dark, funny, foreboding and every other adjective you would expect to hear from a review of a great mystery novel.
The best part is that even if you watch the show, you can still enjoy the books since they take very different paths that still provide plenty of good twists and turns. Any Dexter fan would enjoy them.
For some reason, Showtime's original series have been attempting to reference every major song on the Billboard '70s and '80s rock chart in their episode titles. Last night's Dexter titled "Blinded by the Light" kept sticking in my head and then I remembered why.
Just as the Kids in the Hall were coming to a close in Canada, Lorne Michaels brought a lesser known comedy troupe called The Vacant Lot to the CBC and Comedy Central. It only lasted one season, but one of their very funny inaugural sketches "Blinded by the Light" got stuck in my brain. Thankfully YouTube is required to save every memory ever recorded, and that includes the Vacant Lot's sketches. Enjoy.
One of our ever alert readers pointed out a theory in 
(S0408) "Born in blood, both of us." - Dexter on his and the Trinity Killer's creation of their "dark passengers" 
(S04E07) "We all have secrets, Debs. Some of them shouldn't be found out." - Dexter to Debra
(S03E04) - "You once spent an entire class ranting about how much you hate Coldplay. Something tells me you could care less about what's frowned upon." - Jackie to Hank
One of the joys in reviewing the new season of Showtime's Dexter has been in the preparation. I did just re-watched the previous season. I watched all the other seasons, read every interview I could find and even dove into a couple of reviews, both good and bad. I even got an advanced copy of the 
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
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