Dexter Review: “Run”

This is an interesting season of Dexter, as it doesn’t follow the usual format of “Big villain > small villains > useless subplots.” Well, at least not exactly.

Yes, there is a big villain this season, Ray Stevenson’s Isaac who is looking for justice for his murdered man Victor, and stalking Dexter who he believes is responsible. But the more pressing issue of the season is Deb, and her relationship with Dexter as the two of them try to reconcile after she learns his secret.

These past two episodes, we’ve gotten an object lesson in the form of Ray Speltzer, the woman-murdering ,Greek mythology obsessed killer who gets caught and released, caught and released until finally Deb realizes she does in fact want him dead.  And Dexter, of course, is happy to oblige.

I was a little surprised Dexter didn’t go all the way and invite Deb to his little barbeque. Not that he needs her to do the deed like he did with Lumen, but I think it would have been a little more powerful if Deb gave the green light in person, rather than just feeling “glad” after the fact. But perhaps witnessing the act again would make her sick to the point of rethinking it all, as might tend to happen with anyone witnessing a live murder.

I’m an idiot and didn’t even get the minotaur/labyrinth thing until this week.

But in the end, I think Dexter has finally brought her around, and we’ll see them moving forward for the rest of the season as allies. Sure, she’ll be wary, but I think she’ll do her best to keep his secret, or even aide him on future kills in one way or another. I got my question answered from earlier this season about whether or not Dexter had told her about all of his past kills, which he hadn’t. He had to explain that he killed Trinity, and why Rita died in the process, which was a particularly powerful moment.

Moving on to the “arch baddie” Isaac, we understand he’s a dangerous foe, even if he is different than most of Dexter’s other enemies. He’s a serial killer in a practical sense, not through ritual but through organized crime. He’s already got three bodies attributed to him now (that forced suicide scene was intense), with presumably many, many over his history. But unlike past seasons, Dexter doesn’t even know who he is yet, and Dex himself is the one being pursued.

What do you make of the scene inside Victor’s apartment with the photo? If they were brothers, he would have said that, no? And I think Isaac’s a bit too young to be his father.  Were they gay? Is that the reason for his sorrow, and why he doesn’t give the naked chicks at the strip club so much as a glance? That would have a subtle way to introduce that concept last episode.

The “previously on Dexter” scenes this week made a very specific point to show Louis’s blood spatter on Dexter’s boat, though that didn’t come up this week. Even if Louis turned out to be the ultimate red herring, I think his death will come back to hurt Dexter in the coming weeks.

For as much as I appreciate Yvonne Strahovski’s appearance on the show, her character does seem rather out of place with everything else that’s going on. She just screams THIS IS DEXTER’S NEW LOVE INTEREST, yet she doesn’t have any tangible significance to any of the major plotlines of the season. This season was supposed to be about Dexter and Deb, and so far, it doesn’t seem like there’s room for her. Though that might change.

“YOU ARE PRETTY AND FAMILIAR WITH MURDER, I LOVE YOU.”

La Guerta will be unleashing her find of the blood slide soon I imagine, and between that, Louis’s blood and Isaac hunting him, things are about to get pretty complicated for Dexter rather quickly.

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8 Comments

  1. I think Dexter is learning consequences as Deb is bringing things up.. “everything is in my control” won’t last long. Deb is right to worry about Harrison and the people Dex is putting in danger with his actions.

    I think this is the main theme of the season. I believe the crime syndicate is going to go after everyone Dexter knows. Isaac’s so upset with the police (especially if that was his gay lover.. although I took it as his son.. ) who knows what he might do. All because of Dexter..

    Things are about to shake up…

    I think the Yvonne chick put a bug in Dexter’s ear about freedom.. Being free from everyone one and everything to do what you want.. Dexter has never had that before.. what happens when he does?

  2. I doubt we’ve seen the last of the minotaur guys. That building was way too complex for a single cemetery groundskeeper to do himself. I have a feeling he was part of a larger cult that will come back into the picture somehow.

  3. Am I the only one that thought the writing on this week’s show was a bit amateurish?

    The whole “everything I do, I do it for you” Bryan Adams moment from Isaac was either really poorly delivered or really poorly written. I think the latter.

    The same with Deb’s “glad” moment. I’m not sure why, but “glad” doesn’t seem like something Deb would say. Maybe they were trying to make her sound more childlike for that moment or something, but there are countless other words and/or profanity-laden phrases I’d imagine she’d use before she’d choose to go with “glad”…

  4. if you look at the actor’s birth date (1964-1980), Isaac could be victor’s father… a very young father, but it would precisely explain why nobody know about it, as it’s the kind of thing that would dishonor a rich and powerfull familly.

    for Yvonne Strahovski, I saw her like the Brother Sam of this season in some way : someone Dexter can talk with to find some answers to his questions. she knew her boyfriend was a killer but still loved him, and Dex want to know how, as he hope that her sister will be able to do the same.

  5. i think they will reach a middle ground and deb will have dexter finding ways to legally snag a suspect. and knowing what happens if they dont charge someone with the crime.

    although, laguerta also still has the blood slide, and thats going to come down on dexter and deb in some form.

  6. Funny that you just leap straight to gay, as if they couldn’t have been just very close friends akin to brothers, but just not related. There are a few people I know who I’d go to war for without me having a romantic interest in them. Isaac isn’t interested in naked women due to previous comment and his overall demeanor. Isaac is a proper gentlemen and therefore deems strippers and the sort beneath him. The way he carries himself proves that. Amazing how quickly people just leap from “they’re not brothers” to “he must be gay”.

    That being said, yeah Hannah McKay just feels so shoehorned ALMOST to the point of having “Why do birds Suddenly appear…” play every time Dexter sees her. I’m not liking her as a love interest and for THIS season DEXTER DOESN’T NEED ONE! There’s already way too much on his plate. And let’s NOT forget Callista Flockhart still has YET to make an appearance, I’m 100% certain she will in the upcoming episodes.

    As for Deb and Dexter, I think what’s going to happen is IF Debra can’t get them the right way, then she’ll call upon Dexter. I doubt Debra will ever be around to witness any of the murders, that’d be too close for her, but the knowledge that they’re taken care of should help relieve the anxiety she feels over harboring such a big secret.

    Still not sure how I feel about Isaac, every time he’s on screen I just feel like he’s out of place. I couldn’t put my finger on it before but here in lies my problem.

    HE’S IN THE MAFIA!! He confirmed that Dexter was a just a mere lab rat, HE HAS DEXTER’S HOME ADDRESS, THEY KNOW WHERE HIS BOAT IS! So why not, and I’m just brainstorming here, show up at Dexter’s house and have him explain EVERYTHING, that’s exactly what The Mafia would do, it’s what Isaac did to Louis when he thought he was Dexter, why not do it again, this time with the real Dexter?

    And I understand Isaac believes Victor’s death to be some major cover-up by the police but, again, why not ask the lab rat who was LAST SEEN WITH VICTOR ON HIS BOAT?! It’s not like Isaac knows Dexter is dangerous and it’s not like Dexter knows Isaac is after him, so Dexter coming home and finding the Ukrainian Mafia in his apartment will be VERY jarring. I just feel like Isaac is over thinking things to the point where the plot will become a ridiculous cat and mouse game that could have been solved in about 2 to 3 episodes. Just sayin’.

  7. @Ugo Strange, I understand completely where you are coming from but you also have to understand that, from what this episode shown, apparently this “mafia” is in trouble due to Columbians taking over. It’s very well to murder anyone else but to go after another police officer after covering up another’s would be foolish. That is the way I saw it, in any case. Not only that but they are almost under the impression that the entire police force was behind the hit as a “payback” of sorts. At this point, they have finally come to the conclusion that Dexter may have been just working alone and so next week, we will see them in his apartment, more than likely.

    For me, I am loving this season so far but.. the blood slides.

    How is anyone NOT mentioning that he is doing away with something that is one of the most signature plot devices in the history of television? I mean, yes we do know the series will end in the next season but seriously.. I would rather have him dead surrounded by his blood slides than to see him give them up like that, in a way.. or at the very least, have him deal with that issue in some way with fighting it. Maybe after this he will stare longingly at his air conditioning for no apparent reason but it still kind of breaks my heart a little.

  8. @Straenge

    I don’t see giving up the blood slides as ‘giving up’.. I see it as moving on.

    Dex wants to distance himself from the ‘bad’ serial killers he takes out. They are the ones who need trophies and I think Deb really struck him when she pointed this out. I don’t think he wants to give up what he does by no means, I just think he needs to be able to justify it to himself and the ‘trophies’ were not part of his code.

    Also, it’s probably for the best anyway so when/if he is a suspect for the BHB case, they are gone.

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