Contributor: Gregg Wright
Written by Lauren Gussis, Jace Richdale, and Scott Reynolds
Directed by Michael Lehmann
If I were to try to describe this season, so far, in only a few words, I’d say that it is a giant mess of good ideas and bad, which never coalesced into anything meaningful (which might be said of the show as a whole). For all of the obvious problems in seasons 5 and 6, there was at least something of a meaningful central story arc that tied each season together. Dexter himself had a meaningful character arc in each season. We’re not quite to the end of this season, but I struggle to imagine how any ending could justify the jumbled storytelling of this season. I suspect that this assessment will remain just as true when it’s all over.
It feels as if the writers have been continually employing some sort of course-correction over and over again throughout the season; like they were making up much of it as they went along. Every time I think that some sort of theme or directional arc is emerging, the writers promptly pull the rug out from under my feet and head off in some other direction; like a child getting continually distracted by something new. “Oh look! Shiny new plot idea!” I must applaud the writers for finding totally new ways to frustrate me.
I had hoped that, now that Sirko was out of the way and a totally new killer was on the prowl, that the season could manage something of a soft reboot. Unfortunately, “The Dark… Whatever” does little more than drag out conflicts from previous episodes. I was somewhat intrigued by the appearance of the Phantom Arsonist, but his importance is only as a rather disposable serial-killer-of-the-week who aids Dexter in coming to a realization (which is a problematic element in and of itself, but I’ll get to that later).
When looked at in isolation, there’s nothing particularly wrong with Quinn’s subplot. It’s a bit predictable, but Quinn makes for a decent anti-hero, noir cop, and I like the Angel/Quinn buddy cop friendship. The problem is that it really is in almost total isolation from Dexter’s storyline. It’s a bit like switching to a totally separate show whenever Quinn appears. It was connected, at one point, in a tenuous sort of way. But now that Sirko is dead, it becomes less and less connected by the minute. And poor Masuka gets no subplot whatsoever. He gets another one of his rare moments of awesomeness, but these moments are so few, and precious.
It could be argued that Dexter’s relationship with Hannah and Deb (and to a lesser extent, Isaak Sirko) has been somehow progressing him in a certain direction. But I’m still utterly confused over what the direction is supposed to be. I like the idea of Dexter realizing that his Dark Passenger may not even exist, and may simply be something he imagined in order to avoid a sense of responsibility over all his murders. In what was easily the best scene of the episode, Dexter’s hallucination of Harry reminds Dexter that he wasn’t the one to come up with the “Dark Passenger” idea. That was all Dexter. “It sure is a whole lot simpler to just pin all the blame on something else, isn’t it, Dexter? It’s much scarier to think that the Dark Passenger is no more real than I am.”
Dexter realizes that he’s just accused the Phantom Arsonist of the exact thing that he’s guilty of, and decides to leave him for Miami PD (and Deb) instead. Initially, I interpreted this as Dexter realizing that he’s been killing for himself all along, and can no longer justify killing someone that could just as easily be handed over to the police. I saw it as Dexter possibly finally seeing the conflict at the heart of the show: that though his killing may often serve a higher purpose, Dexter does not just kill because it’s the right thing to do. He kills because he wants to kill people.
Of course, then Dexter immediately kills Hannah’s father, Clint McKay; not because it’s the right thing to do, but for no other reason than because he wants to kill him. So much for progress. Does this mean that Dexter is just abandoning Harry’s code? Because that was the only thing that gave his murders any kind of moral backing. Without that, he’s just a serial killer; the type of person he has always hunted down and killed. Instead of recognizing the hypocrisy in being a killer of killers, Dexter seems to just abandon any moral progress he’d made in not killing the Phantom Arsonist.
“Dexter” has gone back and forth on this issue throughout its entire run, with Dexter continually waffling back and forth between “I’m a monster and I should just accept it” and “I’m not just a monster, but a human being with the capacity for compassion and self-control”. In Dexter’s struggles with Deb, he seemed to be exploring the same territory yet again. Always, Dexter will come to some realization that he thinks is the final word on the subject, only to later change his mind. It’s getting a bit repetitive.
The strongest piece of evidence that the writers are playing some sort of longer game is in LaGuerta’s investigation into the Bay Harbor Butcher case. That storyline has stagnated all season, only to finally gain some real ground. Not only does LaGuerta managed to enlist the aid of former Deputy Chief Thomas Matthews (now retired), but the two of them begin to suspect that Dexter was the Butcher, and that Doakes was framed. Maria learns from Matthews about Dexter’s mother being killed, and about Brian Moser being Dexter’s brother AND the Ice Truck Killer.
It’s all pretty damning stuff. Normally, I’d just expect such a threat to Dexter to be eliminated before things got truly bad, but given that next season is the show’s last, there’s a real chance here for Dexter’s secret to finally be revealed to everyone. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by the results of Deb learning about Dexter’s nature as a serial killer, but things could get a whole lot more interesting if Dexter was really found out and had to face the full-blown might of law enforcement, along with all the other regular characters left alive. Of course, given how this season has gone, the next one could be just as disappointing.
Score: 6/10
