Dexter Review: “All Silver Linings”

Alright, I’m in.

I’ve been wary about this last season of Dexter ever since the show started to roll downhill two years ago, ultimately coming to a crashing halt in the season seven finale last year. I hoped that they might be able to get back on their horse for one finale brilliant season, but wasn’t going to hold my breath.

Turns out, I may have underestimated the show.

Two episodes may be too few to accurately predict that we’re going to get the finale we want and deserve, but I have to say I really like what I’m seeing so far. At long last, the show is really starting to dig into what makes Dexter, Dexter, and I don’t just mean a string of childhood flashbacks.

Rather, the addition of Dr. Vogel is a smart move for the show and allows for Dexter’s continued evolution. As some predicted, this week it was revealed that she conspired with Harry to set up Dexter’s code when he was younger. He came to her with a young psychopath on his hands, and she helped mold him into a weapon she deems an “Alpha predator.” CEOs and politicians have psychopathic traits she says, it’s how the world goes around.

“You’re not evil, you make the world a better place.”

“Why are you squeezing me with your body?”

Thank you, Dr. Vogel. Finally, the show is saying out loud something I’ve been harping on for years. I never bought this idea of Dexter as some heartless monster. After all, the show wouldn’t work if we didn’t empathize with him or believe that he was serving justice to bad guys instead of murdering college coeds.

And now Dr. Vogel’s presence allows both her and us to further expand on exactly what Dexter is. I don’t think he’s a psychopath, at least not in the traditional sense, and that’s starting to be explored as well. The most profound moment of the episode was when Dr. Vogel acted surprised that Dexter would seek out an emotional connection in his youth after his father died, looking for an outlet to talk about his urges with someone. Looking back, it’s what’s defined most of these seasons as Dexter has been looking for this sort of connection for years now between his brother, Miguel Prado, Trinity, Lumen and Hannah. Not to mention non-killers like Rita, Frank Lundy, Brother Sam and of course Deborah. In truth, Dexter has been attempting to make friends and find a soulmate for a very long time, just like the rest of us. I think Dr. Vogel is starting to see that Dexter is not the monster she thought he was.

I’m not sure what to make of Dr. Vogel’s motivations, nor of her alleged tormentor who is leaving pieces of brains on her doorstep. She’s all sweet and nice with Dexter, but her past actions have shown her to be very manipulative of very dangerous people, and that could be exactly what’s happening now. I don’t believe that she’s necessarily the new big bad, this killer who forces others to kill, but she could be pulling his strings. If he is one of her patients, she could be pitting him and Dexter against each other in some sort of serial killer hunger games. I’ll be surprised if she truly is being victimized like she claims.

Dexter has taught me that she’ll either be evil or dead six episodes from now.

 

I’m wondering that if this is the final season, if the new killer is someone from Dexter’s past somehow. Killers like Trinity, the Jordan Chase Gang, Travis Marshall and so on were all fully visible to us, the audience. Now, the killer is once again being hidden from our view. I’m not sure for how long, but it seems to imply there’s a reason for that. Granted it’s still early and maybe they just don’t want to tip their hand yet, but maybe it is someone we know. I can’t figure out who, though. It doesn’t feel like Hannah, even though I know she’s returning this season. Lumen? Zombie Doakes? I’m not sure.

I also like where this season is taking Deb, a character I’ve long despised. She’s still annoying here, but now her annoyance has purpose. She’s in full trainwreck mode, but now her problems are extending past doing coke and banging criminals. It’s revealed she outright murdered the hitman who was sent after her. I’m not sure where she got another gun, but her crime wasn’t exactly planned with precision as she left her weapon in the guy’s car, forcing Dexter to swap it out later. She promises Dexter that at her current rate, this won’t be the last guy she shoots. She’s turning into a sloppy version of her brother, possible even a vigilante Boondock Saint, which is fitting, given her employer. Finally, this is a believable place for her character to go, given all the absolutely horrible shit she’s experienced for the last seven years.

I don’t like that look on your face, Connor MacManus.

Thankfully the Deb and Vogel plotlines are taking up most of the airtime, leaving very little room for Quinn the permanent space-filler. Dear god, please do something with his character. I can’t take another Quinn-centric plotline, as they keep getting more and more boring. Last year we had his Russian stripper story be completely detached from the central plot, and now his biggest problems are fighting with his girlfriend and taking the sergeants exam? Come on. They briefly made him brush with relevancy when he was close to figuring out Dexter’s secret, yet somehow that never came up at all during La Guerta’s investigation. I’m just tired of him being a placeholder without real purpose. It’s the final season of the show, all the pieces have to be working together here.

In any case, I am really liking where things are going so far, and it’s nice to be able to look forward to Dexter once more each week.