Dexter Review: “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”

Dexter’s on a strange path, one he now finds himself uncomfortably sharing with his sister. Last week she found out about everything, for real this time, and now Dexter has to pick the pieces while Deb has the figure out what the f*** to do, to use one of her common phrases.

The answer isn’t easy, for either of them. If she turns him in, she sentences her brother to a likely death, she herself is culpable at least for covering up Travis’s murder, or at the very least, she loses her job because a serial killer was right under her nose.

So, what’s Deb’s plan? Serial killer rehab! That can work, right? Well, it’s day two and your brother is injecting your meat with sleep juice, so perhaps not.

“Dexter! You should have been more careful murdering those 98 people!”

Poor Deb, for all her good intentions, she’s never going to be able to get a handle on this. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) she’s just going to have to embrace the whole thing and starting accept the Boondocks Saints school of criminal justice. If they’re guilty, they’re dead. What other choice will she have? Dexter’s never going to change.

Well, he was almost changing. It seemed like he was about to murder Lewis even though he’s never killed anyone (that Dexter knows of at least). Yes, he’s purposefully messing with him, but is that enough to kill him? That’s not even close to code-approved.

But what IS Lewis’s deal? It’s very much obvious that it’s more than about his little video game, as everything he said in that little performance to Dexter was a lie. He’s definitely the most curious character on the show right now, and we still don’t know if he’s a killer himself, or is going to become one, or what exactly he wants from Dexter. He’s the most interesting character in the show right now.

Somewhat less interesting is the whole Ukrainian mob subplot. In week two now, I still can’t tell if it’s going to just an elaborate useless sideplot like those murdering Latino brothers were, or if it’s actually going to shape into Dexter’s main plotline down the road. Right now, with dead girls and violent mob bosses, it just seems like a bad CSI episode, and this isn’t the sort of serial killing Dexter usually takes on. And where the hell is Yvonne Strahovski? I was promised Yvonne Strahovski.

None of you are Yvonne Strahovski. Move along.

The final moment of note that was referenced only briefly was La Guerta’s secret inquiry into the blood slide found at the murder scene. She found out it was indeed Travis’s blood, and the whole thing screams Bay Harbor Butcher, which makes her believe Doakes was not the true culprit, something she always thought. Now she’s calling the FBI, and what exactly is going to come of that? Will they reopen the whole case? Now THAT could be something to get Dex and Deb really riled up.

I have to applaud Jennifer Carpenter for her performance this week. I normally dislike Deb’s character, but she did a really good job reacting to Dexter’s news, and Michael C. Hall did well delivering it. I’m curious as to when entire stories are going to be told, like that he killed his brother, Trinity and all the other big killers of the past seasons, but maybe it’s just assumed he’s told her all that?

What’s unclear is why Dexter isn’t telling her about Lewis. As he’s not actually murdering him (yet), wouldn’t it be good to share the info with her about how shady he’s being? Why not? I thought for a half second he was going to open the trunk and show her. Was calling her out there just a plot to get her to believe he could change, or was that genuine?

Their relationship dynamic will likely be the focus of this entire season. What’s NOT clear is whether the “big” plotline this year will be the Ukrainians, La Guerta’s investigation or Lewis. Neither is really a clear frontrunner at this point, though Lewis seems the most urgent at the moment. What a weird dude.

Similar Posts

8 Comments

  1. I was thinking that La Guerta probably knows she needs more evidence before announcing that one of Miami’s biggest serial killers was still on the loose. She can’t approach the FBI with just a blood slide. First off she has a bias for clearing Doakes. They use to be partners and she was his lieutenant. Second no police agency wants to look like they got it wrong, it makes them look bad. They also would not want people panicked because of a serial killer. Also La Guerta probably is not that popular considering what she will do to climb the ladder. So she will want to make sure the people on top are not dismissive and shut down her investigation or don’t blame her for the Bay Harbor Butcher getting away in the first place. At least I hope that is what happens and she is not being secretive for some stupid reason to create fake tension.

  2. My memory is a little hazy but wasnt she still looking into it in Season 3 when her boss told her it was time to back off? Kinda adds credence to why she wants to keep this new investigation secretive.

  3. I think Lewis is for sure going to be the thing that shakes Debra into collusion with Dexter. He’s probably going to kill whats her name, Bautistas half sister or whatever she’s supposed to be and that more than likely it will be a horrid act that he would get away with if not for Dexter knowing more about him by then. The Ukrainian mob seems like just a sub plot but Ray Stevenson is great. I think the Laguerta investigation will probably play heavy in the final season and show how far Debra is willing to go to protect Dexter.

  4. is it Louis or Lewis? I don’t really like Issak on this season so far since he is more like a big bad boss instead of the usual bad “serial killer” guy tp challenge Dexter each season. I hope Louis could do better job.

  5. i was cobnfused as to why he wouldnt say hey deb, im breaking into lewis’ apartment, hes being a total asshole and he mailed me the ice truck killers hooker hand. shits fucked i need to dig in.

    and i am pretty sure it would have been fine by her

  6. I think Lewis is gonna be the bad guy and does something that even deb will be ok with dexter killing lewis. Thus deb kinda deals with Dexter being who he is. Russian mob is a subplot with Quinn ( hate him).

  7. not sure about what’s gonna happen with the mobsters or lewis but i do think that dexter should tell deb that she let him go already (that, in season 5, she sympathized with her vigilante’s cause after watching the rape tapes) and that if she could feel for the cause then, maybe it’ll help her understand and come to accept it.

    my random prediction for this season: laguerta is going to die. not necessarily by dexter, but she will get too close and it will get her killed (maybe the mobsters as they both hone in on dexter?). i mean, she died in the first book that the series is based on….

    whatever happens, this season is shaping up to be a goodun!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.