If you haven't seen the episode, read the following at your own discretion.
So here we are: the first episode of season five of Dexter. This is probably the worst episode of the entire series to date. It didn't advance the story, didn't add to our knowledge of the characters, and gave us flashbacks with Rita we didn't need. It's like someone on the production staff felt guilty for having given Julie Benz the chop (pun intended) and decided to make it up to her by bringing her back for another episode.
Also, the characterization of Dexter felt way off tonight. Here are four examples:
- In a flashback to his first date with Rita we see Dexter abducting a victim in what has be a busy parking lot outside a the busy restaurant where he and Rita are having their date. There is no way you can convince me that Dexter would be so careless. Also, Producers: a first date flashback? Really? This like a Dexter version of the Star Wars prequels: backstory we don't need to see, mostly because it's not very interesting, and we already know the outcome of Rita and Dexter's first date (more dates, then marriage).
- Next, Dexter kills a man for no reason. Not only is this out of character for Dexter, but Ghost Harry gets an uncharacteristic moment as well. (Goddamn, I hate this use of Harry to explain plot points or describe Dexter's emotional state to the audience.) After the brutal slaying, Ghost Harry says to Dexter, "That's the first human thing I've seen you do since Rita died." Um, no! Harry has never condoned the killing of innocents; that's what his Code was designed to curb. Yes, arguably Ghost Harry is a manifestation of Dexter's psyche, but to to put those words in Harry's mouth felt wrong to me. The character of Harry was best used in flashbacks to real conversations Dexter had with him when Harry was alive, conversations that were relevant to the present-day story. This "Don't go in there, Dexter!" use they're making of Harry these seasons is insulting to the audience and to James Remar, who had more to do on a single episode of Flash Forward than he's had on the last three seasons of Dexter.
- Following this, Dexter torches a shipping container he'd rented to hide his killing gear and bloody slides in. Even if the space was rented under an assumed name, surely someone working there must know what Dexter looks like, unless their security detail consists of a old guy sleeping and a German Sheppard with hip dysplasia. The fire would be traced back to Dexter pretty quickly, I'm sure. Distraught or not, nothing in Dexter's depiction up to now leads me to conclude he would be this careless. But, hey! Fire looks kewl and, oh, if I remember my grade 8 mythology lessons, it's also symbolic of rebirth! Double kewl!
- Much is made this episode (in Dexter's voice-overs) about his not being able to fake grief. What?! Dexter is a master of faking emotions, he said so himself in the first episode of season one! And he's mentioned that he felt grief when Harry died, so he has felt it. It's as if the writers of this year couldn't be bothered to to their research.
Overall opinion of this episode: Terrible. What a waste of 1/12 of a season.
As much as I enjoyed season four, I still think they should have stopped Dexter at the end of season one, which was a perfect, complete story.
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