Dexter Review: “Do You See What I See?”

After last week, there was a fair amount of spittle on my monitor as I lambasted Dexter for producing one of the most worthless episodes of all time. As it turns out, it was a necessary bridge episode to move the plot forward, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad, or this season wasn’t handled poorly.

The net is now officially closing in around Dexter, and we’re about to find out why next season will be the last for our favorite serial killer. It’s the closest since season two Dexter’s come to the world learning his secret, and there is so much stacked against him now, there’s almost no way he gets out of this alive.

First, I want to kick things off with some odds and ends. Are we really ending the Quinn subplot like that? I mean, I know Dexter is known for its useless side-plots, but you’re going to take something you devoted a solid 20% of the season to, and end it with a note saying Nadia went to Vegas and she feels bad? Quinn has to be like “bitch I almost went to jail for you on six different occasions and shot myself!”

I’m also noticing finally just what a piece of furniture Jamie has been for the past two seasons. I originally thought that she was going to have greater significance for the plot, and that serial-killer-in-training Lewis was going to kill her, but nope, she’s survived way, way longer than I thought her character would. Rather, she’s a simple answer to the problem that was created years ago when Dexter had a kid. Doing what he does, a kid is a burden, and she simply fills the role the plot has created, but serves no greater purpose. At least the show is nice enough to put her in a bikini as much as possible. But still, even in a show full of pretty one-dimensional characters, she stands out.

Oh Dexter, you’re so handsome in your little tie.

What’s that? You want to talk about the whole Dexter getting caught thing? Yeah, that’s probably more important than a lengthy dissection of the babysitter.

Where to start? How about with the fact that sneaky motherfucker Deb ABSOLUTELY poisoned herself with that medicine and staged her accident so that Dexter would turn on Hannah. The show hasn’t come out and said that yet, but I’ll be you anything that’s what happened. Hannah wouldn’t go after her in such an obvious way like that, as she said, but the biggest piece of evidence? The fact that the show didn’t show Deb’s crash. It was weird to simply hear about it, and that’s so we can’t see her purposefully drinking the tainted water and crashing her car. I’ll say I’m wondering how one flips their car in a staged wreck without killing themselves by accident. I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think I am. If I am, then I guess the show just isn’t as smart as I thought it was.

But now what the hell happens? The problem with Hannah is that she always needed to either live happily ever after with Dex, or die. For some reason, both he and Deb thought that her going to jail was the right answer. And going to jail KNOWING Dexter betrayed her? What the hell was he thinking? How is the first thing she’s going to say not going to be “Hey, I know who the real Bay Harbor Butcher is. I’ll give you evidence if you give me immunity.” ? She literally has no reason not to try and play that card now.

If this wasn’t damning enough, we have smarter-than-the-average-bear La Guerta setting a rather clever trap for Dexter using Astrada. She had him released so Dexter would make a move, and so he did. No, he didn’t get caught in the act, but does it matter now? There is now 100% certifiable proof for La Guerta that Dexter is the Butcher. The scene proves the existence of the killer, while the target proves it had to be Dexter. No, she can’t outright prove it yet, but all that BS with Doakes’ boat is now meaningless, and she’ll never give up. And then you have Astrada on the loose as well. What’s to prevent him from going to the police himself and reporting Dexter for kidnapping and trying to kill him? The guy who is hunting him goes to jail, and he’s safe. What would be the downside for him?

Meanwhile, in Masuka-land…

Simply put, without some elaborate back-breaking acrobatics, I don’t see Dexter getting out of this one. Hannah, La Guerta and Astrada are three lose ends that he can’t possibly hope to tie up in a way that doesn’t get back to him.

I always hoped that Dexter would be caught in the end, because I thought it would make one hell of a final season as he and everyone else deal with the consequences of his killings. Now THAT would be a riveting season, and I hope it’s the one to come. I’m not saying he can’t escape at the end of it, but I think he does need to get caught, and that might be what happens in the finale. We’ll know for sure in a week.

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10 Comments

  1. One sorta theory I’ve been thinking of since last night is.. could he possibly pin the Butcher killings on Lewis? Lewis did work there/snoop around in evidence, has an ENTIRE GAME devoted to the butcher and he is missing… hmmm.. maybe he isn’t gone completely after all…? Just a thought.

  2. SPOILER?

    Don’t tell me you guys are completely ignoring the preview for the last episode? Doakes? His random “Surprise Motherfucka”? I looked it up. He is in the next episode. It’s even titled “Surprise Motherfucker.” Dream? These Dexter editors do seem to slice a lot of dream sequences into the previews. I don’t know. I just want an answer!

  3. I’m pretty sure they showed Deb taking three of the pills at once early in the episode, then had her adamantly insist that she’d only taken one all day. That seemed like a pretty clear set up that she’d drugged herself, but based on other episodes this season, it could have just been bad writing to help enforce the suspicion that she’d OD’d vs. Hannah drugging her, without making it obvious one way or the other.

  4. I think hannah will take out La Guerta for dexter cause the theme this season is about love and the lengths people will go to for it. Hannah kills La Guerta for her love of dexter , deb didnt mean to OD but did anyway and its lack of being able to admit rather then trying to frame Hannah. Deb had backwashed that water from using it to wash down the excessive amount of pills we watched her take in one episode a lone. Sloppy writing yet again for another season of dexter. Dunno what the finale season holds but i feel like it will end with him getting away. I say this because i dont think the writers have the balls to really carve out Dexter as a true bad guy. They have had him walk that line for way to long to only get into that now. Looking back the entire series has been him struggling with being able to kill and covers all the areas. I mean really take a look at his track record and his killing has cost him so much and yet he keeps doing it.

  5. I’m the only one that thinks that Dexter its getting dumber and dumber with the season, how do go after the killer of your mom right after he its released and also that soon after they tell you that because of the other you killed its why they think you are the butcher.

    He was very close to being exposed and he knows that the police capitan is aiming for him in other season he would have take more caution and suspect of the timing of the release of estrada.

  6. I totally agree with this review!
    If he was pretty sure about Hannah’s fault he should kill her at once ( she said that to Dexter!)
    Bringing the cops is stupidity.

    I think LaGuerta can end at Dexter’s table because Dexter already killed non-serial killer people just because these people saw him in “action”.

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