Season 1, Episode 6 – Return to Sender

Season 1, Episode 6 – Return to Sender

It's been a while I know ...I apologize for that.  Stupid real life got in the way!!!  But I'm back and hopefully will not have to take that long off again.  I really, really want to finish all 7 seasons before June when Season 8 starts, so I really need to get my Dexter groove on every day ... 

Okay, so down to business ... Episode 6:  Goldfish funeral … this setup makes me think originally they were going to maybe try to follow the book more where Cody is a “Dexter” … they flush the fish and the kid says “can I have my cereal now.  I do love watching domestic Dexter to a certain extent.  Later they go a bit overboard with it but in season 1 watching him struggle with it in certain areas and succeed in other areas is nice. 

Dexter has to investigate  his own crime scene in this episode.  Wonder if this is a first for him … assuming it is.  And now he is shocked because Valerie Castillo is there.  She was taken out of the ocean and placed back on her death bed by … yes … the Ice Truck Killer.  Is Dexter finally nervous??  Doesn’t seem so … Dex thinks he did it to get back at him for not killing Tony Tucci.  And Masuka finds a needle mark … Ice Truck Killer is really trying to fuck Dexter up.  How rude.

They find the immigrant room … And they find the boy in the trunk … the witness to Dexter’s crime!!  The police get Mariel (an immigrant that the coyote brought in) to tell about the salvage yard and what happens and the release fee.  Also Mariel testifies that the wife was in on it.

And Masuka finds a needle mark …and they trace the m-99.  And Dexter is on the list of m-99 purchasers but it’s an alias … will they track him??  Plus, the 7 year old is going to come in and do a sketch.  Dexter climbs in the trunk of the car to see what the kid could have seen and figure out that the kid definitely saw him.  Dex hacks into Masuka’s email and deletes his name from the M-99 list.   The boy seems to really love LaGuerta … what is wrong with this kid?  She does give him Cinco donuts … they had a whole conversation in Spanish…but that was the only word I understood.  Dex looks at the start of the sketch but it’s just eyes.  Dexter dumps his kill kit in the ocean … well, most of it.  He can’t bring himself to throw in the slides.  His precious slides.  He relives some of his kills as he goes through the box.  And Valerie Castillo’s slide has a smiley face on it.  He’s still calling the Ice Truck Killer his playmate.  Damn serial killers have a funny way of playing.  Dex then plants evidence that makes Jorge Castillo the killer.  He frames his own victim.  Brilliant!!!  LaGuerta considers adopting the boy, but they find his uncle, so it’s a no go for her … I don’t really feel too bad.  Deep down she’s a heartless bitch, even if she did give him 5 donuts.  The sketch the kid did … is Jesus.

Deb asks Doakes if she can work on a profile of the killer.  He says yes and then brings Deb to his mother’s house.  This is hysterical.  Morgan tells funny stories to his family and the mom gets in on the dirty stories.  Deb punishes him by saying she’s staying for dessert.  Doakes does NOT look pleased.  But later he seems pleased, telling Deb she held her own.

Deb shows Dexter his profile.  I might have to take the bad things I said about her … the profile is scarily accurate.  Then he discourages her … and DAMN I feel bad for her.  She calls him on it … she’s having a hunch like he always has.  And then Dex has a flashback where Harry is really mean to Deb.  She hashes it out at the departmental meeting anyway … good for her.  In a flashback we see Deb yell that she wishes Harry had never brought him home … obviously there was a lot of jealousy on her part when harry was still alive and now she probably feels like he is proving to be the better “detective” because his planted evidence proves that Jorge Castillo did it and not a copycat serial killer.  And then they find the knife that Dexter planted in the salvage yard.  And yes, of course the wife’s blood is on it - case closed.

Needy Rita calls and requests Dexter presence … she was ALWAYS a nag … because Paul called and wants to come to Aster’s birthday party.  Dex watches the kids and wonders if they’ll remember him as anything other than the man who broke their mother’s heart.  Awwww … he really does care about those kids.  We find out that Aster is the one who called the police on her father last time.  That Cody doesn’t really remember the bad parts, but Aster does.   And some of her friends now can’t come to her birthday party because her dad got out of jail.  How sad … really.  Aster wets the bed and asks Rita if it’s okay if she doesn’t have a party.  Seriously, drugs mess up families.   Rita gets super tough and tells Paul she’ll call the police and his parole officer if he comes near the house because her restraining order is still in effect.  Say what you want about Rita … but she’s a good mom.  And it made me cry a little bit … how happy Aster was that her father didn’t come.  And how Rita stood up to Paul, who she has to fear after what he did to her, and made Aster’s birthday wishes come true.

Dexter has a funky dream where HE is on the table and Deb is making a blood slide.  Then the Ice Truck Killer comes in with the keychain and Deb kills him with a cleaver … oh boy … He then does that sexy voice narrative where he says he doesn’t have bad dreams, that he’s never felt a moment of doubt or regret and wonders what is happening to him.

Dexter changes his locks .. guess he’s tired of playing with the Ice Truck Killer.

Dexter’s Body Count:

None.  He was busy with cover up this week!

Quotes of the Episode:

What’s up with you today?  You’re throwing off my chi

This is how it ends.  In the hands of a 7 year old.  And I usually like kids

My neat little world of lies is crumbling all around me

What we do on these weekends your sister can never know about.  Keeping the truth from the people you love is how you survive and how we protect them … if something goes wrong. 

That’s it.  No more donuts for Masuka

Personally I’d shake this guys’ hand … Eh, you say that now.

Nothing lasts forever.  Just ask the Ford Pinto.

First words out of my brother’s mouth was God Milk Motherfucka

Season 1, Episode 5 – Love American Style

How can having breakfast and getting ready for work look so sinister?  This is like the best theme ever.

This is the episode where Rita talks to one of the housekeepers at the hotel and learns of “the Coyote” who brings immigrants over the border for a fee.  Of course, if you can’t pay a surprise balloon payment at the end he kills you.  Immigration knows about the Coyote and they have 4 or 5 suspects, but not enough for a warrant or a conviction  … enter Dexter.  I’m excited … we’re going to have a kill this episode!!!  After two “dry” episodes I’m longing for this.  Am I, perhaps, the voyeuristic version of Dexter?

Dexter breaks into Jorge Castillo’s junk yard.  He was on a list Dexter got from the precinct.  He finds the room where Castillo keeps the immigrants after they come in, but at the moment no immigrants are in residence.

Dex does surveillance on Castillo’s house and watches him with his wife.  The underlying thread in this episode seems to be love and how to make a relationship work.  Of course, most episodes correlate in some way with something Dexter is struggling with and this one is no different.   Dexter is trying to make sense of his relationship with Rita at this point – trying to find a way to allow it to continue and to relate to her in this, the new phase of their relationship.

A body washes up on the shore the next morning … yes, this is the body of the housekeeper’s fiancé.   He brings the housekeeper and Rita to the morgue and they identify the body.  Dexter watches as she identifies the body and thinks, “that must be what love looks like.  The inability to feel has it’s advantages sometimes” and, yes, it does … but how empty life would be without those we love.

Dexter also searches Jorge Castillo’s boat and finds the place where he kills his victims.  While he’s doing this he is thinking of if Rita and the kids would like fishing.  I find it strange that he can’t FEEL anything for her, but even in his most private and consuming moments he is thinking of her.

Castillo gets another shipment of immigrants (that sounds so wrong to say) just as Dexter is closing in.  He sets up the kill room in an old RV camper in Castillo’s junk yard and Castillo just wanders right in… how considerate.  BUT … and here’s the shocker … the wife pulls up looking for Castillo and it comes to light that she helps him run this operation.  So Dex takes her too … yeah … two for the price of one!!!  And as they lay there, waiting for the end to come, they proclaim their love to each other in their last moments of life.  So Dexter questions them on how they make it work and they tell him they share the same dream.  Then he kills them.

Dexter unlocks the door where the illegals are being held so they can escape.  Unbeknowst to him Dexter, there is someone watching from the trunk of one of the junk cars as he loads the bodies into his trunk.

Later, he asks Rita if she has a dream for her life.  And she asks him if he does.  He says someday he wants to be content and to feel comfortable like everyone else.  And then Rita finishes his thought when he says, “I want …” she says “a normal life”.  Which solidifies for Dexter that Rita wants the same things as him – a boring, average and ordinary life.  This proves to him that they are meant for each other.  After all, they share the same dream.

Deb gets to “babysit” Tony Tucci until he wakes up, but she’s not allowed to speak to him.  This is her punishment for smoking on a crime scene.  If she wasn’t so damn annoying I’d feel bad for her.  Part of me envies her … she’s getting paid to just sit in a chair at the hospital. 

We meet Rudy … who is fitting Tony Tucci with prosthetics.  Now we ALL know at this point who he really is.  The surprise here is how much I like Tony Tucci – he is a dog with the ladies but his flirting with Deb is amusing.  It lightens the tale he tells – one of imprisonment and amputations.  In spite of his horrible experience he is mostly upbeat and this gives me hope that yes, bad things happen to good people, but they persevere and there is light.  Even Deb says “If Tucci can be optimistic then we can too”.

Doakes finally gives in and let’s Deb question Tony Tucci again.  Doakes even talks Tucci into using a blind fold to help him remember (Deb’s idea).  This of course does help and Deb has a great bedside manner with him.  Like I said a couple of blogs ago, maybe being a great cop is just asking the right questions.  After this they go back and search the rat nests for lozenge wrappers.  Poor Masuka (who has a fear of rats) searches each nest and finally hits pay dirt … lozenge wrapper with a partial print on it!!

To thank Tony, Deb gets him a prostitute … how thoughtful is she?  While the prostitute is “doing her thing” Deb and Rudy make eyes at each other in the hall.  That will NOT end well.

Dexter goes out with Batista to celebrate his pay bump.  He asks Angel for advice and Angel says not to go down the emotional road, just go down on her … it’s easier and she’ll be distracted.  I find this hysterical!!  Batista gets shitfaced and Dexter takes him home, but Batista is too drunk to tell him where home is.  Dexter wakes up Batista’s wife who tells him that Batista no longer lives there.  So Dexter takes Angel to his house and pretends he just didn’t remember where he lived.  See, he really does have a heart.  Or maybe he just didn’t want to get into a long chat with Angel about matters of the heart. 

He has a date with Rita and says he’ll pick up something “light” for them to watch … and he rents Steel Magnolias.  Since he can’t bring himself to cry he tries to take Angel’s advice and “reciprocate” the “generousity” Rita had shown him, but Rita turns him down.

More Harry flashbacks, but again, Dexter has no current day conversations with him.

On a personal note, my 18 month old loves to dance to the Cuban music they played this episode.

Dexter’s Body Count:

Jorge and Valerie Castillo – the Coyotes – kill immigrants who can’t pay their “entry” fee

It was my assumption he killed them with a power drill since that’s what Dexter is holding, but they do not show it, however, in the next episode we learn that at least Valerie Castillo was bled out - the carotid artery was cut with a knife.

Quotes of the Episode:

Ever since the blow job she assumes we’ve taken it to the next level.  She doesn’t know I don’t have a next level.

Season 1, Episode 4 – Let’s Give the Boy a Hand

Now the Ice Truck Killer is leaving his grisly souvenirs in places connected to Dexter’s past.   And the fingerprints on the hand belong to Tony Tucci.  Oh Boy, LaGuerta really screwed the pooch on this one.  Ha ha ha … I gleefully rejoice even though I already know it will work out for her in the end.  My favorite part of this episode is where Batista asks “what did Captain say, did she cry?” … Yes, I’m gleeful about her downfall, even though it’s only momentary (her downfall, not my glee).  And yeah, my glee lasted all of 3 minutes, because in the very next scene Mrs. Tucci THANKS LaGuerta for coming to tell her in person and just wants her son’s body brought to her so she can bury him.  Would have been nice to see her rip into LaGuerta just a little bit!!

I want to know why Doakes asks Dexter all these questions that have nothing to do with blood … questions that are more for a serial killer profiler than a spatter analyst and then when Dexter says he can’t answer, Doakes’ snappy reply is “Well what fucking good are you?”  I mean Doakes seems to have problems enough of his own dealing with Cara Simmons brother and his cop friends and getting beat up by Guerrero’s men.   I maybe feel a little bad for him.  Maybe … a little.  Turns out he gets rescued by Cara Simmons’ brother … it was all a set up to get Guerrero.  Doakes doesn’t seem as angry at this as I would have been.

Dexter discovers through blood flow analysis that Tony Tucci is still alive.  And then LaGuerta calls Tony Tucci’s mother  to tell her Tony is still alive … that totally cements her as a savior in this lady’s eyes … damn … that glee I felt at the beginning went away WAY too fast.  LaGuerta also goes to the church and prays with Tucci’s mama … jeez.

Dexter gives them the insight that the Ice Truck Killer is dumping the parts in places that have changed and on THIS Doakes takes him seriously.   And of course, he gives me a little chuckle when he tells LaGuerta that she’s the only person people hate more than him … hate camaraderie is always amusing.

Deb offers Dexter a million dollars to help her find the next dump location and he refuses … he goes to investigate but picks the wrong place anyway … The next body part shows up in the pumpkin patch … not a place that changed, but a place that Dexter has a photo of him and his family.  Rita then gives Dexter the key … Harry, who is always with Dexter and is the common denominator in all the photos that the Ice Truck Killer is using. 

So because the Ice Truck killer so considerately puts a little smiley face on the back of a photo, Dexter knows where to go.   Dexter finds Tony Tucci.  It’s pathetic the way he begs for Dexter to kill him and just please don’t cut anything else off him.  The Ice Truck Killer left him there for Dexter to finish off.  Now at this point you’d really think Dex might wonder how the fuck this guy knows that Dexter is a killer and even the tools Dexter uses.  Dex calls Deb and tells her where Tucci is (anonymously of course).  So Deb gets to be a hero.   LaGuerta even lets Deb work the crime scene.  Granted, it’s grudging, but it’s something.

Ah the cute little neighbor’s dog … “Hey you put Walter inside, Walter’s an inside dog” … what a bitch this neighbor lady is … I’d like to see Dexter … oh but wait, she doesn’t meet the code.  How unfortunate.  Rita tries to speak to the neighbor bitch as well and neighbor bitch laughs at her.  While I admit that Rita getting all tough is kinda … cutsie … the woman is just a real jerk.  Stealing the dog is a nice solution.  Seeing the beagle hanging out and barking from the back seat of the pimp mobile lifted my heart!

All that law breaking must have put Rita is a REALLY frisky mood because she comes over Dexter’s place (see, pushy Rita) dressed as Laura Croft Tomb Raider and gives Dexter a … ummmm … nice surprise.  Dexter’s voiceover commentary during this:  “I’ve come to appreciate the quiet comfortable moments with Rita.  This might be better”.   So much for no interest in sex …

Batista showing Dexter all the anniversary presents for his wife is kinda cute – first the four leaf clover, then “OX” (diamond filled hugs and kisses), a little bit of comic relief how Dexter judges the gifts.  Dying to know what Socio mean … Batista keeps calling Dexter Socio.  Batista had a good reason to be so concerned about the 10 year anniversary gift.  Turns out Angel Batista’s wife left him … so sad.  Even if he does say things like tits and butterface and bronco.  He might be crass, but he seems sweet.   He leaves the diamond key to his heart at his daughter’s bedside.  My heart may have broken a little for him.

Once again, there are flashbacks with Harry, but Dex has no conversations with him.  When do they start?

Dexter’s Body Count:

NONE!  Seriously, two in a row …

Quotes of the Episode:

I love Halloween.  The one time of year when everyone wears a mask.  Not just me.  People think it’s fun to pretend you’re a monster.  But me, I spend my life pretending I’m not.

He’s recreating my past with Tony Tucci’s body parts.

Bully is a felony waiting to happen.

Sometimes I’m not sure where Harry’s vision of me stops and the real me starts.

Season 1 - Episode 3: Popping Cherry

I love Dexter’s giant umbrella on the beach to keep the sun off him during Ricky Simmons’ funeral.  I have to admit, I could care less about the Doakes/Carlos Guerrero parts of this episode.  I do feel just SLIGHTLY bad for Doakes that Cara Simmons’ cop brother and his cronies set him up with Guerrero.

Jeremy Downs reminds Dexter of himself I’m sure.  The fact that Dexter interrupts Jeremy’s possible kill and then really runs into an alligators is friggin’ hysterical.  And his running into the tree is classic.  These are the laugh out loud moments I love about this show.  And then the little bastard broke into Dexter’s car … punk!!!  When Dexter finds out that Jeremy Downs was raped and that’s the reason he killed the guy 4 years ago it solidifies the kinship he feels with him.  Jeremy Downs was just “taking out the garbage like I do”.  So he takes his wallet and leaves Jeremy alive.

Sometimes I wonder what a real search of Dexter’s hard drive would turn up.  Doesn’t everything leave a footprint?

Rita’s ex-husband’s drug dealer:  “you think you can take me with your little shovel” … I wish Dex had bashed his fucking brains in.

I love the male banter in this episode … Butterface … Pull a bronco.  Masuka and Batista cracked me up with that.

Tony Tucci is the  night watchman in the hockey arena where the Ice Truck Killer leaves the latest victim.  Deb actually says “unless the Ice Truck Killer abducted him”… maybe she is smarter than I gave her credit for … LaGuerta really puts her foot in it by declaring Tony Tucci the Ice Truck Killer.

More Harry flash backs in this episode, but no current day conversations with him.  The Harry deathbed scenes are eerie … Harry looks so sunken and ill … and it’s somehow ironic that Dexter’s first victim is Harry’s nurse.  Her whole horrid room wrapped in plastic and Dexter wrestling with her – his kill suit made him look like he was going to a Halloween party dressed as a giant condom.  His stabs at the nurse were almost tentative … and I love Mr. Stinker Tinker’s purring in the background.

The hookers in Miami really aren’t that attractive and they don’t dress well.  I do love the parallel between LaGuerta and a pimp – I got a chuckle out of that.  The hookers TELL Deb not to piss off her pimp and yet Deb still went around LaGuerta to the captain.  Then again, she did try to tell LaGuerta about the station wagon … and LaGuerta discounts this.  And then of course the Captain tells LaGuerta if Tucci’s not the guy she’ll be left holding the bag.  Oh it will be a happy day when this happens!

Dexter is awesome with kids … I want him to babysit mine.  The splinter fairy indeed.  And the sight of Rita and the kids riding around in the pimp mobile at the end  left a big shit eating grin on my face J.

Dexter's Body Count:

No victims this episode – Jeremy Downs was released by Dexter

Quotes of the Episode:

If I had a heart it might be breaking right now.

Season 1; Episode 2 – Crocodile

There’s not as much meat in this episode’s blog – sorry about that.  A lot of these early episodes are “setting us up” for something down the line and since we ALL know what comes down the line, regurgitating every single event that happens seems like a pointless blog to me – that’s been done and I want to do something different, so you’ll only find my observations, things I found annoying or amusing and things that I didn’t realize in my first viewing (you know, those AH HA moments that we say “why didn’t I notice that the first time???”).  And of course, the big things that play a part later or play a part in shaping the series.

I love Dexter’s court appearance in this episode … “2,103 cases,” and the lawyer says “give or take”.  Dexter: “no, 2,103”.  Call me crazy but I kind of really like the Rain Man aspect of his personality in Season 1.  And of course, he uses his presence in court as an excuse to check on his next possible victim, a drunk driver named Matt Chambers, who happens to be on trial.

I realized I didn’t even mention Batista in the first blog … I still don’t have much to say about him … he’s just … there.  I don’t dislike him … I find it amusing that he so obviously dislikes LaGuerta in Season 1.

Ricky Simmons, the cop that was pushed off the causeway and his wife Karen are the police case of this episode … Doakes gets really worked up about this one.  Of course, that’s because he was screwing Rick Simmons’ wife … really, really inappropriate.

We meet the Captain, Tom Matthews in this episode.  He was a friend of Harry’s … supportive of Dexter and Deb – that will come in handy later.

For someone who was not interested in sex at all just last episode Rita is certainly getting frisky … of course, at the end of the episode she says she’s not ready and Dex gives that perfect boyfriend answer “If it’s not right for both of us it won’t be right for either of us” … THAT might be the BEST answer to that problem I have ever heard – if you ask me Dex makes an awesome boyfriend!!  He even brings Rita a pimp car from the impound yard … how romantic can you get??

Deb finds the ice truck, and LaGuerta, bitch that she is, reams her for it.  However, by the end of the episode Captain Matthews moves her from Vice to Homicide.  Of course, LaGuerta will find a way to screw Deb over … again and again and again.

I wonder why Dex never questions why the Ice Truck Killer would choose HIM to play with.  I’m guessing his assumption is that he chose him because Dexter followed the ice truck, but it seems to me that a serial killer who kills other serial killers might get a little nervous by the attention.

They eat a lot in this show … it makes me hungry.

As a side note, I really need to learn Spanish … it annoys me that I have no idea what they’re saying when they speak Spanish.

Dexter's Body Count:

Matt Chambers (aka Matt Brewster and Matt Rasmussen) - Drunken Hit and Run Driver – Killed with Power Drill

Quotes of the Episode:

You must have been a motherfucka at Cat’s Cradle.

If God is in the details and I believed in God then he’s in this room with me.  I just wish he’d brought an extension cord.

I can kill a man, dismember him and be home before Letterman but knowing what to say when my girlfriend is feeling insecure … I’m at a loss.

Season 1; Episode 1 - Dexter

The very first words we hear uttered are the now infamous “Tonight’s the night” … Dexter’s super sexy deep voice STILL gives me shivers, even after hearing it 100 times, hell, maybe 1000 times over the last 7 years.  I remember the first time I watched it I told my friend the tone of his narration voice soothed me, and that is also still true after all these years.

At this point in the series we’re encouraged to believe that Dexter is incapable of feeling any emotion.  He tells us so himself in his narration, saying that he feels like he fakes them all.  And while his social interactions are severely limited, and extraordinarily stinted, I do believe that he does have deep feelings .

We meet Harry (through flashbacks only in this episode – Dex has not yet started to talk to dead people) and we’re given the knowledge that he has known about Dexter’s homicidal tendencies since Dexter was about 10 years old.  When asked why he hasn’t killed a person, only animals, Dexter says “I thought you and mom wouldn’t like it” which indicates that at 10 he cared enough about the feelings of his foster parents to try to control his urges.  He also killed that yappy little dog because his sick foster mother couldn’t get any rest.

In another flashback where Dexter looks about 16 we hear Harry say “it got into you too early … we can channel it, use it for good” … and here the dark passenger and the code were born.  As a side note, I got a little teary when Harry says, “you are my son, you’re not alone and you are loved”.  Awwwww ….

We see Dexter’s slides, so we know that he has been killing for a while.  We also learn he gets his unsolved cases for his “personal investigations” from a desk clerk who loves French Crullers.  Speaking of which, when did Dexter stop bringing in donuts?  Remember when he did that constantly to ingratiate himself with people?

Deb comes off as being a ditzy cop (as evidenced by her remark, “I always get smarter when I’m talking to you”).  I find it hard to believe that in 6 years she’ll be lieutenant of homicide.  Didn’t see that coming.   Although she does give Dexter the info he needs to figure out the how the killer transports and kills his victims by saying “tell me about cell crystallization” so maybe being a homicide detective is really just knowing the right questions to ask.  In any case, it’s obvious that Dexter holds some kind of affection for her … he wants to see her succeed, he wants to see her happy.

It’s equally obvious that he really enjoys children.  He seems genuinely happy when he’s around Cody and Aster – not unsure of what he’s supposed to say or do which is how he appears most of the time.  I think this is the most when he’s just being himself and not faking anything.

Masuka … damn I love him.  He’s so funny.  In this episode he didn’t reach his full laugh out loud potential, but I know it’s coming.  He is one of the best things about this show.

Doakes … in a building full of cops Doakes is the only one who gets the creeps from Dexter.  I do love the banter between the two of them.  Although I spent the first time around HATING Doakes … I miss him now.  But in this episode his taunting and nastiness just really piss me off.

I also dislike LaGuerta … she is just unnecessarily nasty from the very first minute.  They try to make her more sympathetic later, but really … I never liked her.  Seems to me every season she just totally mucks up the investigation one way or another.  I also just hate when she flirts with Dexter – it makes me physically ill.  Maybe because I love him … maybe because I think she’s a barracuda and totally wrong for him – I don’t know.

First episode this season’s serial killer (later dubbed the Ice Truck Killer, but not yet) is revealed.  Every season seems to have a serial killer terrorizing Miami … must be a really dangerous city.

The reverence in Dexter’s eyes when he looks at the bloodless corpse of the hooker is a bit disturbing.  Later in the episode, the ice truck killer drives slowly by Dexter and then throws a head at his car.  Yes, we all probably thought what a crazy coincidence that was, but in retrospect maybe we should have guessed earlier on that they are connected in some way.  At the end of the episode he leaves a Barbie in Dexter’s freezer.  Dexter does not feel threatened.  Instead he feels it’s an invitation “Wanna play?” and “Yes, I do”.  Perhaps Dexter misses Harry – the one person who KNEW what he was.  I think he’s always yearned for someone else to know what he is and accept him anyway. 

When Dexter says, “And that dog recognizes me as easily as I recognize Jaworski, or any other killer” we think he can just magically spot someone who is like him … Serial Killer Radar if you will.  And for three solid seasons it would seem as if this was the truth, but in Season 4 we will see that he’s not infallible.  For now, he strikes me as being all powerful – an avenger of sorts.  A serial killer I can really get behind.  Someone who satisfies his twisted needs by killing those that the system can’t get at.

I love hearing Dexter talk about sex and relationships.  In his not understanding the human condition and interactions he is surprisingly inciteful and amusing at the same time.  Describing sex is undignified with just a hint of disgust in his voice… I get a kick out of that. 

Rita is perfect for him because she is damaged and has no interest in sex, at least until the end of the episode when she straddles Dex on the couch – thank GOD the phone rang – (coitus interruptus).  Some say Rita was mousy and compliant until Season 3, but I think she always had a bit of a nag in her.  Maybe slightly suppressed because of all the beatings her ex-husband gave her, but there nonetheless.  She may be overly apologetic and seem wimpy but even from season 1 she has called him during his kills and demanded his attention.

The fact that Rita stays around after Dexter reveals that he believes the ice truck killer is an artist and does a little hand slashing thing on her leg right where the killer made his cuts after looking at a dismembered body (which I found  a little creepy) is a testament to her. 

“Normal people are so hostile, but not her” … this line makes me think that to a certain extent he does feel SOMETHING for Rita – that she’s not 100% cover.  And the tone in which he says it kind of melts my heart a little.

“He sure took his time slicing up that lady and you don’t do that unless you have a close personal relationship” … Dexter actually solves Doakes drug dealer case with one sentence.  Doakes wants to pin it on rival drug dealers … see … Dexter is just the smartest one there.  The blood all over the totally white room with the red yarn is a striking image.

Dexter's Body Count:  

Mike Donovan – killer of choir boys – killed with a  power saw

Jamie Jowarski – valet, killer of women – killed with a cleaver

Quotes of the Episode:

Look or I’ll cut the eyelids right off your face

I’m a very neat monster.

Pretty fucking  please with cheese on top

Season 8 Predictions (NOTE: Season 7 spoilers contained herein)

So Season 8 will be starting in June this year.  I better hurry up and blog Seasons 1-7 if I plan on blogging 8 live!!  Seriously though, I was surprised and dismayed by the Season 7 Finale .... I felt the entire season was (quite frankly) out of sync and the characters were acting ... well, out of character.  I love the show - it actually PAINS me to be so critical of it.  Sometimes I feel I spend my life defending the actions of a fictional character (Dexter of course).

So ... what do we really expect for Season 8?  Will Hannah come back?  Will Deb go off the deep end?  Dexter's carefully thought out "framing" scenario was interrupted and changed.  I find it difficult to believe they can't get the ballistics from the gun used - I do think Deb's police weapon (especially if it was the same one she used in the restaurant shooting) would have had ballistics run on it and would be matched.  Not to mention she tracked LaGuerta's location through the police station ... how is all this going to be explained?  Or will Deb go to jail?

I'd love to hear thoughts.

Coming Soon:  A Blog for each episode of Dexter from a "what we know now" standpoint Seasons 1-7.

Coming Soon ... Shhhhhh ...