Dexter

[papalazeru]

John Lithgow joins the season 4 cast as one of America’s most prolific and deadliest serial killers.

Can hardly wait!

I loved John Lithgow in Raising Cain so I can see this happening. I hope he's not going to just ape Hopkins performance as Hannibal; I doubt he will though.

[burlivesleftnut]

Excellent. I hope he's totally over the top and annoying like on Third Rock from the Sun! Just kidding.

[DaleTremont]

I'm staying well the fuck out of this thread as I'm just starting season 3 but I tore through seasons 1 and 2 in the last couple weeks and I absolutely love this show!

Michael C. Hall is brillllliant! And fucking hot.

[judderman]

John Lithgow joins the season 4 cast as one of America’s most prolific and deadliest serial killers.

Can hardly wait!

I loved John Lithgow in Raising Cain so I can see this happening. I hope he's not going to just ape Hopkins performance as Hannibal; I doubt he will though.

Do you think he'll go all Cliffhanger? On the one hand, I really hope not, on the other, some weird part of me thinks it would be kinda cool.


"EEERRRRGH! DAMN YOU WALKERRRRRRR! Uh, I mean DEXTERRRRR!"

[papalazeru]

John Lithgow joins the season 4 cast as one of America’s most prolific and deadliest serial killers.

Can hardly wait!

I loved John Lithgow in Raising Cain so I can see this happening. I hope he's not going to just ape Hopkins performance as Hannibal; I doubt he will though.

Do you think he'll go all Cliffhanger? On the one hand, I really hope not, on the other, some weird part of me thinks it would be kinda cool.


"EEERRRRGH! DAMN YOU WALKERRRRRRR! Uh, I mean DEXTERRRRR!"

So long as nothing, and I mean NOTHING of his acting resembles Turd Rock from the sun, I 'll be happy.

[papalazeru]

Dexter Season 4.

What an opening. Not only it is a fantastic beginning to a welcome return but during the show they do a fantastic reinvention of the credits but because Dexter has a child, it's all fucked up and he's tired. He puts his shirt on and theres sick on it, his shoelaces break and the music is all scewed. It's legendary.

Oh and Lithgow is in it from the word GO!

[TheBaxter]

did i miss something?

[TonyWilson]

Not legally Baxter no.

it was pretty awesome wasn't it, Papa? Though I thought the spoiler you mention was too goofy. But oh fuck Lithgow was awesome in his two scenes, even better was that his second scene was WAY creepier than his first and that's saying something.

[papalazeru]

Not legally Baxter no.

it was pretty awesome wasn't it, Papa? Though I thought the spoiler you mention was too goofy. But oh fuck Lithgow was awesome in his two scenes, even better was that his second scene was WAY creepier than his first and that's saying something.

Aw I thought that scene was brilliant, Dexters face through it all made me laugh.

I think that Lithgow is being set out as the serial killer that didn't have the opportunities that Dex got. Where Dexter can control his urges through Harrys training, Lithgow looks like he can't control it and doesn't want to do it but is compelled to (the shower scene). I think Dex is going to have some empathy for him.

My favourite so far was season 2, I'm hoping this is going to beat that out of the water and by the looks of it, it's started off very well.

[TonyWilson]

Yeh, Papa I think you're on to something there, I was kinda hoping Lithgow would be some ultimate badass remorseless killer but having him a be a more "successful" yet equally tortured Dexter is very interesting. Another possibilty would be that he becomes another sort of father figure to Dexter which will create some interesting conflict with Harry's code.

[TheBaxter]

i am NOT looking at those spoilers.
so when does this thing air "legally"?

[judderman]

Sep 25, or thereabouts.
Cool opening. Lithgow is phenomenally creepy. Nice to see Lundy, the closest thing this show has to a moral centre, getting back in the game. I hope he comes to realise that there's something weird about Dex.

[King Of Nowhere]

I watched the season 1 & 2 box sets of this over the summer.
Brilliant show.
Had no idea there was a third season, never mind a fourth.

I'll have to, erm, "look out" for this.

[judderman]

Skip season 3, It sucked.

[TheBaxter]

i wouldn't say it sucked. i'm in the middle of rewatching season 3 now, and it definitely has its flaws, but it's still a good show. not up to the standards of seasons 1 & 2... but compared to almost anything else, it's still pretty good.

[Pacino86845]

Season 3 was really a different sort of beast, I too wouldn't say it was bad at all... in fact I sort of welcomed the change in focus.

Season 1 introduced us to Dexter and had him face off against a formidable nemesis.
Season 2 had Dexter's world collapsing on itself.
Season 3 was a lot more personal and character-driven.

My only beef with Season 3, and it's a pretty big one, is that Dexter made mistakes. Like n00b mistakes... the biggest one (and the only one that comes to mind right now) has to do with the bloodied shirt Miguel gave him... there is no excuse, Dexter should have tested the blood immediately. In fact, my brother even suggested that the blood could be fake and I told him he was an r-tard 'cause obviously Dexter was gonna check the blood right away. WELL THE JOKE WAS ON ME!!!

[papalazeru]

Season 3 was really a different sort of beast, I too wouldn't say it was bad at all... in fact I sort of welcomed the change in focus.

Season 1 introduced us to Dexter and had him face off against a formidable nemesis.
Season 2 had Dexter's world collapsing on itself.
Season 3 was a lot more personal and character-driven.

My only beef with Season 3, and it's a pretty big one, is that Dexter made mistakes. Like welcome member of the Zone mistakes... the biggest one (and the only one that comes to mind right now) has to do with the bloodied shirt Miguel gave him... there is no excuse, Dexter should have tested the blood immediately. In fact, my brother even suggested that the blood could be fake and I told him he was an r-tard 'cause obviously Dexter was gonna check the blood right away. WELL THE JOKE WAS ON ME!!!

I think the problem there was that Dexter had never really had a friend before and was toying with 'trust'.

[Pacino86845]

So Season 4 is two episodes in... thoughts:

Not bad, the two highlights so far are the two guest stars; Lundy and John Lithgow.

But I am detecting a lack of ideas regarding Dexter, at least in these first two episodes. Dexter being exhausted because he's got too much on his plate with the new family, while unexplored territory in terms of his character's development, is too thematically similar to Dexter's experiences in previous seasons. At this point we're not really going to be worried that Dexter is caught because of the murders he commits... rather the tension will come as his sister investigates Laura Moser. Dexter faced investigation in Season 2, and it was all done so well, but he got away from it! Season 3 played with that aspect a little by giving Dexter a buddy, so the threat of being caught was still fairly thrilling. But now, four seasons in, a slight variation on what's been established before won't affect me much at all. As such, the second episode was pretty much a throwaway as far as I was concerned. Setting the mood for Lithgow's (I include Lundy here, btw) character is about the only value that episode had.

And after three seasons I am finally sick of in-head H@rry... season 3 toyed with the notion of H@rry "going away," and as you're watching you think "that might not be such a bad thing, it's been a while," but then they bring him right back on in full force.

The show is still good, more positive than negative to be sure, but unless the writers can be a bit more clever in playing with Dexter's world I fear it might only get more frustrating as time passes.

[John-Locke]

One thing is certain, Lithgow's stuff is some of the most genuinely creepy and chilling stuff I've seen since Henry: POASK.

[stereosforgeeks]

So Season 4 is two episodes in... thoughts:

Not bad, the two highlights so far are the two guest stars; Lundy and John Lithgow.

But I am detecting a lack of ideas regarding Dexter, at least in these first two episodes. Dexter being exhausted because he's got too much on his plate with the new family, while unexplored territory in terms of his character's development, is too thematically similar to Dexter's experiences in previous seasons. At this point we're not really going to be worried that Dexter is caught because of the murders he commits... rather the tension will come as his sister investigates Laura Moser. Dexter faced investigation in Season 2, and it was all done so well, but he got away from it! Season 3 played with that aspect a little by giving Dexter a buddy, so the threat of being caught was still fairly thrilling. But now, four seasons in, a slight variation on what's been established before won't affect me much at all. As such, the second episode was pretty much a throwaway as far as I was concerned. Setting the mood for Lithgow's (I include Lundy here, btw) character is about the only value that episode had.

And after three seasons I am finally sick of in-head H@rry... season 3 toyed with the notion of H@rry "going away," and as you're watching you think "that might not be such a bad thing, it's been a while," but then they bring him right back on in full force.

The show is still good, more positive than negative to be sure, but unless the writers can be a bit more clever in playing with Dexter's world I fear it might only get more frustrating as time passes.

Dexter the sitcom years?

Absolutely agreed Pacino. I sort of feel everything not involving Lundy/Trinity are a bore. Rita must die also. So annoying of a character. Theyve never been particularly good to its supporting cast but Rita in particular stands out.

Also Dexters sister is disgusting and it makes me want to vomit everytime shes on screen.

[John-Locke]

Aren't they (Dexter & Deb) married in real life now? Ewwww!

[stereosforgeeks]

Aren't they (Dexter & Deb) married in real life now? Ewwww!

Eww indeed.

[burlivesleftnut]

In head H@rry needs to skedaddle. He ruins everything for me. If they keep it up, I am quitting. It's just lame writing to rely on that shit.

[papalazeru]

In head H@rry is his repressed fears manifesting as his dad, and what better time to emerge prevalent then when Dex, loses a body thus possibly ruining his cover and his life (in both senses).

The good thing about ep two was seeing Dexters emotions being allowed to bubble to the surface and I think maybe Dex will lose H@rry when he becomes more emotional and in touch with real people, which his child is doing.

[judderman]

Aren't they (Dexter & Deb) married in real life now? Ewwww!

Eww indeed.

It's not eew. Eew would be if they were brother and sister in real life and played married on screen.

[stereosforgeeks]

Aren't they (Dexter & Deb) married in real life now? Ewwww!

Eww indeed.

It's not eew. Eew would be if they were brother and sister in real life and played married on screen.

Eeewwww is seeing sticks and bones naked.

[TheBaxter]

in-head harry does need to get lost. in the 1st 2 seasons, he only existed in dexter's flashbacks. he didn't "talk" to dexter in the present. they started that in season 3, and it was one of the things that made that season less good than the prior seasons. in season 4, it makes a little more sense, only in that dexter is a dad now, so his own dad coming to him as the voice of his subconscious is understandable. but it's unnecessary. the first two seasons were built on dexter's voiceovers giving us the insight into dexter's thoughts. now we have his voiceovers AND his dad doing the same thing, and that's just not good writing.

i'm also not too enthused about the batista-laguerta relationship. thar lies nothing but lame soap-opera.

lithgow gives me the most hope for this season. lundy... i dunno.... the smug act is wearing a bit thin. i hope he returns to the awesomeness of season 2, but it hasn't happened yet. maybe when he faces off with lithgow, we'll see it.

and overall, i'm not that enthusiastic about the overall direction of the show... slowly "humanizing" dexter and making him more sympathetic. maybe next season we'll have the season where he tries to give up serial killing but is eventually forced to return to it, just like superman II and spiderman 2 and every superhero story where the hero has to give up his powers before eventually realizing that's who he is and returning to it. we kinda had that in S2, with dexter's 12-step program, but he never really planned to give it up, he just wanted to understand himself better. but the way this season is going, it's not hard to see him eventually deciding to give up serial killing for good because the family life and job and everything are too much to handle. i guess making dexter more human is the easy and obvious way to go, i just wish they weren't doing things so easy and obvious.

[TonyWilson]

in-head Grande Rojo does need to get lost. in the 1st 2 seasons, he only existed in dexter's flashbacks. he didn't "talk" to dexter in the present. they started that in season 3, and it was one of the things that made that season less good than the prior seasons. in season 4, it makes a little more sense, only in that dexter is a dad now, so his own dad coming to him as the voice of his subconscious is understandable. but it's unnecessary. the first two seasons were built on dexter's voiceovers giving us the insight into dexter's thoughts. now we have his voiceovers AND his dad doing the same thing, and that's just not good writing.

i'm also not too enthused about the batista-laguerta relationship. thar lies nothing but lame soap-opera.

lithgow gives me the most hope for this season. lundy... i dunno.... the smug act is wearing a bit thin. i hope he returns to the awesomeness of season 2, but it hasn't happened yet. maybe when he faces off with lithgow, we'll see it.

and overall, i'm not that enthusiastic about the overall direction of the show... slowly "humanizing" dexter and making him more sympathetic. maybe next season we'll have the season where he tries to give up serial killing but is eventually forced to return to it, just like superman II and spiderman 2 and every superhero story where the hero has to give up his powers before eventually realizing that's who he is and returning to it. we kinda had that in S2, with dexter's 12-step program, but he never really planned to give it up, he just wanted to understand himself better. but the way this season is going, it's not hard to see him eventually deciding to give up serial killing for good because the family life and job and everything are too much to handle. i guess making dexter more human is the easy and obvious way to go, i just wish they weren't doing things so easy and obvious.

Ditto.

[TheBaxter]

ok. this last week's episode may have been the worst episode of dexter yet. this is what the show's been reduced to? dexter chasing down a vandal in his own suburban neighborhood? pretty sad.

on the plus side, lithgow's scenes continued to rock. especially the first scene where he makes the woman jump off the building. that was even creepier than the bathtub scene, just because of the way he makes her do it herself... making someone commit suicide by their own hand, rather than killing her outright herself... great stuff. his second scene was weird and cool.

and lundy returned to awesomeness this week too. although i'm dreading the inevitable love triangle about as much as i dread another scene of laguerta and batista making goo-goo eyes at each other. but lundy in his hat and glasses, talking about how the only time he really gets a thrill is when he's on the hunt, that was the lundy i want to see.

masuka's truck was one of the funniest scenes of the show ever. all it was missing was 'Pussy Wagon' written across the tailgate.

[TonyWilson]

ok. this last week's episode may have been the worst episode of dexter yet. this is what the show's been reduced to? dexter chasing down a vandal in his own suburban neighborhood? pretty sad.

on the plus side, lithgow's scenes continued to rock. especially the first scene where he makes the woman jump off the building. that was even creepier than the bathtub scene, just because of the way he makes her do it herself... making someone commit suicide by their own hand, rather than killing her outright herself... great stuff. his second scene was weird and cool.

and lundy returned to awesomeness this week too. although i'm dreading the inevitable love triangle about as much as i dread another scene of laguerta and batista making goo-goo eyes at each other. but lundy in his hat and glasses, talking about how the only time he really gets a thrill is when he's on the hunt, that was the lundy i want to see.

masuka's truck was one of the funniest scenes of the show ever. all it was missing was 'Pussy Wagon' written across the tailgate.

Ditto.

Not to mention H@rry popping up to spell out the gate/paint metaphor for the audience.

[TheBaxter]

yeah, pretty much anything with dexter's daddy is a drawback. but really, setting dexter after a vandal is so lame. even if his reason is because it's interfering with his ability to sneak out at night... it's still lame to watch dexter putting on a mask and going after a teenage kid, compared to the usual prey he stalks. i did like the last scene with rita seeing him smashing the floodlights, but i'm also worried it will lead to a rehash of the season 2 stuff with her getting suspicious of him leading to him pretending to be a drug addict. this time though it'll be "ooh, does rita suspect dexter is the vandal?" that's just not a very compelling story.

they need to get dexter and lithgow together soon, and get the interesting stuff rolling.

[Pacino86845]

And let's not forget Debra's investigation into H@rry's CI files... if they really wanted to keep H@rry around they could've used him in flashbacks again, this time from Debra's point of view... and it could've been interesting to see how maybe he was a different father to her than he was to Dexter, something which we got clues about before anyhow. Might've been neat to see some more along those lines... the only drawback would be seeing more of Debra, whom I can't stand one bit. I don't even find Rita that annoying because she's some decent eye candy, but Debra just utterly grosses me out.

How hot is the whore of a reporter, though? HELLO!

[TheBaxter]

but in debra's flashbacks, she'd be played by a different actress most of the time, so at least you've got that going for you.
the reporter chick is hot. better (pardon my) tits than lila. let's hope she gets as naked as often as lila. i much prefer seeing her naked to lithgow.

[Jakester]

Reporter whore's got puffy nipples. Not that that is a drawback, just an observation. I loved Pardon My Tits Lila, though. That's still an awesome line, too.

[papalazeru]

And let's not forget Debra's investigation into H@rry's CI files... if they really wanted to keep H@rry around they could've used him in flashbacks again, this time from Debra's point of view... and it could've been interesting to see how maybe he was a different father to her than he was to Dexter, something which we got clues about before anyhow. Might've been neat to see some more along those lines... the only drawback would be seeing more of Debra, whom I can't stand one bit. I don't even find Rita that annoying because she's some decent eye candy, but Debra just utterly grosses me out.

How hot is the whore of a reporter, though? HELLO!

Yay! We've found a replacement for the Lyra tits. Awesomness.

I don't know what you're all bitching about here, I really enjoyed the ep. It gave good development of the story and characters, admittedly some of it seems a little retreaded but I think it's going to change.

I actually think the story between Dex and Rita is going to have interesting consequences because that look he gave at the end of the ep to her, that wasn't the Dex she was used to seeing. This time I don't think he's going to blame it on drugs - he's got a child. I think Rita is going to see another side of Dex which is going to make her question the relationship.

Dex is getting tired and it's quite interesting because he's becoming more human and at the same time bringing all the inhuman qualities to the surface. He doesn't have so much control over his emotions like he used to - that could make him slip up.

Plus, I adore Lithgow's story, the fact that the killer is utterly oblivious to the fact that the police are hunting for him and he's just going about his life - I like being part of that in the series because at the moment it has nothing to do with Dexter and yet you know it will have everything to do with him by the end.

I agree with the comments about the love triangle though. Been done before but Debs conversation with Anton on the phone and her dialogue felt quite real - the way she tried to hide it....from a super detective....like he didn't figure that out.

Dur Deboruh!

[Pacino86845]

Interesting episode... VEEEEEERY interesting!

Not much in-head H@rry, I'm used to him more or less now, just hope they keep his appearances minimal.

Dexter's hunt was more compelling than it had been lately.

John Lithgow continues to scare the shit outta me.

The spoilery parts are pretty awesome...

Y'all think Lundy's gonna die? My initial feeling was that he did have to die, but even after having seen Trinity's face, Lundy still doesn't know who he is... ok he could always release a police sketch based on a detailed description. So yeah, Lundy will probably DIE!

Too bad it looks like we won't be seeing more of that hot reporter... fucking Quinn, just keep yer damned mouth shut!!! You're ruining it for the rest of us!!

[papalazeru]

Interesting episode... VEEEEEERY interesting!

Not much in-head H@rry, I'm used to him more or less now, just hope they keep his appearances minimal.

Dexter's hunt was more compelling than it had been lately.

John Lithgow continues to scare the shit outta me.

The spoilery parts are pretty awesome...

Y'all think Lundy's gonna die? My initial feeling was that he did have to die, but even after having seen Trinity's face, Lundy still doesn't know who he is... ok he could always release a police sketch based on a detailed description. So yeah, Lundy will probably DIE!

Too bad it looks like we won't be seeing more of that hot reporter... fucking Quinn, just keep yer damned mouth shut!!! You're ruining it for the rest of us!!

Loved it!

Dex was back on form and it felt like a fix for a junkie. We've been starved of stalky Dex for a while and now that we've seen him back, we can rest in pieces

Lundy will die because he left the description and Debs will follow up on it. I'm hoping Dex will be angry that someone shot Debs and work out that it's the serial killer

Anyway, that's my thoughts. An excellent show, and I don't think we've got rid of that reporter just yet.

I just thought of something, What if the shooter is Anton?!?!?!?!

[Pacino86845]

Some of the folks over at the TBs think it might be... I dunno, I think it's a bit much for that character. Er, don't think we need spoiler tags anymore...



The shooter was wearing gloves and searched through Lundy's pockets. Deb was shot, but still conscious, would Anton risk getting seen by her just to make the shooting look like a robbery? Especially since she's a cop and would instinctually know how to get a visual description of a shooter.

Also, another theory from the TBs is that it's the vacation killer. That would be one ENORMOUS coincidence unless the vacation killer is a character linked to the police department (which would be totally yawn-inducing) and somehow hates Lundy and Deb...?

Although the shooting was a very un-Trinity thing to do, I didn't suspect anyone BUT the Trinity Killer until I read the TBs.

EDIT: Also "I'm found" was an awesome line, so simple and yet, combined with Lithgow's delivery, brilliant!

[TheBaxter]

this week's episode was definitely a return to awesomeness. much better seeing dex hunting a killer cop (and a super-hot killer cop at that) than some neighborhood vandal. at first i thought the kill room was in his own house, then i realized it was the cop's daughter's bedroom. but i wonder how long it will be til dexter does kill someone in his own house (hopefully rita).

i'm sad to see lundy go, just now that he's got his groove back. although at least it nips one love triangle melodrama in the bud for this season. from capone's "game-changer" review, i really thought it was gonna be rita and/or one of the kids who got killed. or deb. i suppose deb COULD still die, but you know she isn't gonna. not until she finds out dexter is a serial killer, at least, and that's probably still a few seasons away. plus, michael c hall is the star of the show, and he'd be pissed off if they killed off his girlfriend. so deb won't die... but if she had, then that would have really been awesome.

i've been getting used to inhead harry. not that i like it any better. i've just accepted that it's part of the show and it won't be going away any time soon, so no point letting it detract from the rest of the show.

i don't think we've seen the last of the reporter... though sadly, we may have seen the last of her tits

so this is the closest to a face-to-face confrontation we'll see between lundy and lithgow. that's sad, but now it will put dexter on lithgow's trail, and that's what we've been waiting for this season, so things are finally ramping up and that's good. there's no doubt lithgow was the killer. it's not anton - he's gonna be the jilted boyfriend sitting by deb in the hospital but getting upset when he finds out deb and lundy were making out behind his back. and as for the vacation killer -- maybe lithgow IS the vacation killer... maybe he does those other murders to divert the police's attention away from his other crimes? otherwise, i think the vaca killer isn't going to be anyone significant.

[TheBaxter]

almost forgot... one of the best scenes was lithgow goading that dude into beating him up.... "gentleman!" "what did you say?" "you're a gentleman!" and then cowering in fear, waiting to get hit... that was as messed up a WTF moment as him crying in the shower naked in Ep1. trinity is one seriously messed up dude.

[Pacino86845]

Hear hear!

Maybe we lost the tits, but I hope she'll at least show an ass cheek every now and again...

Trinity as the vacation killer is a really cool idea... assuming the VK is someone else, if we haven't got any clues as to who it is already, they might start cropping up in the next couple of episodes (like Ben Moser).

[TheBaxter]

btw, after reading through the talkbacks, some of those people are crazy! i think they are suffering from lost-itis or 24-itis or something, where they think EVERYTHING is a twist. it's pretty obvious the killer was trinity, and you have to reaaaalllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy stretch to think it's either anton or the VK. this show isn't about crazy out-of-left-field twists, like those other shows, at least not since the 1st season. last year, everyone thought the skinner was going to end up being quinn, or prado's brother, or whatever, and it turned out to be just some guy. despite my theory about the VK maybe being trinity, i dont really think that's going to be the case, it's gonna turn out to be another 'just some guy.'

i do like the one guy's idea though that killing lundy messed up trinity's pattern, and he'll have to start all over again. because otherwise, what reason would trinity have left to stay around? unless he thinks deb recognized him and now he has to go after deb. but if his pattern got screwed up and he has to start over, deb could be the first victim (anyone want to see her and lithgow naked in the tub together while she gets her thigh cut?), and then rita can be his 2nd victim (though she's got 3 kids, not 2.... dammit they screwed that part up), and then dexter REALLY has a reason to go after him.

[Pacino86845]

Heheh, well I thought LAST week's episode was good!!



What excitement!!

Although Deb's emotional breakdown at the shooting site was embarrassing to watch, I literally cringed for the entire duration of her curse-laden sobbing.

Man I just want Rita to shut up and remove her shirt... I'm not an asshole, the show makes me this way! I'm telling you, Dexter is one unintentionally misogynistic series in its portrayal of women!

And speaking of tits... yep, they're back in ALL THEIR GLORY!!!! Hurrah for reporter tits!!! Quinn is still an r-tard though...

Holy shit Dexter's on Trinity's trail!!! WOW, two excellent episodes in a row!! Well we got to see what the leaky faucet meant, fair enough that they introduced it last week... a nice device to bring in some personal conflict that didn't look like they pulled it out their asses.

Why the title though? Dirty H@rry? I guess it just referred to the scene in which baby H@rry soiled himself... LOL, also a connection with the rifle Dexter has stashed away?

Vacation Killer's dead... I sort of forget the details of this arc because other more interesting things had been happening, but are we SURE that Rose guy is the real Vacation Killer? I guess we'll find out soon enough...

Overall a very nice return to form for the series, after episodes 2 and 3 I was really beginning to get worried... also there's no way that next week's episode won't be good, even if they decide to slow things down.

And we've seen the full cycle... any guesses as to what "story" Trinity is telling with his ritual? Something from his own past? A reflection of his current life in some way?

[TheBaxter]

it was a really good episode... not as good as last weeks, but very good. i don't think this needs spoiler tags, but i'll go ahead and stick wwith them for now.

first, the non-spoilery stuff. i bet all the people who thought anton or the vaca killer was the one who killed lundy feel dumb now! (the fact that trinity killed lundy is not a spoiler because it was obvious from last week's episode). i second the hooray for the return of reporter-girl's tits. showtime needs to make those things the star of a new spin-off series. deb's breakdown... well you can't say that actress doesn't give it her all. dexter's reaction to it wasn't what i expected, i was thinking if this is how she reacts, what's she gonna do when she finds out her brother is a serial killer? i thought it would harden dexter's resolve to make sure she doesn't find out his secrets, but mostly he just thinks "trinity has to pay for this." also when she says "your bad choices don't get people killed" ... was that meant to be a joke? because usually when they make those kinds of "saying something about dexter that's funny because they don't realize dexter is a killer" jokes, they immediately cut to a reaction shot from dexter making a face or something, or some witty internal dexter comment, to make sure we the audience realize it was a joke, but they didn't do it that time

now more spoilery stuff...

the vaca killer is definitely dead. which is fine, there was nothing interesting about him, he was just a violent mugger, and that storyline served it's purpose. does make me wonder what the rest of the homicide cops will have to do the rest of the season though, with the vaca killer dead and lundy's death supposedly solved. i guess they'll be investigating the dude who got bludgeoned. i wonder if it will make them rethink lundy's theory and start looking for trinity themselves. otherwise they'll just be sitting around with their thumbs up their asses (or angel's thumb up laguerta's ass... or quinn's thumb up that reporters ass, which actually, would be fine by me).

i was surprised dexter got on the trail of trinity so quickly. i thought it would take at least a couple more episodes before he found out trinity's identity. seems pretty obvious how the show will go from here, dexter will be torn between wanting to kill trinity, and wanting to observe him and learn from his ability to lead a dual life and keep his killing secret from his family, like dexter is trying to do. but that can't last the whole season, when we're only 5 episodes in. there's something else sneaky that's gonna change the direction of the season, but i have no clue what it is. i do think, though, that by the end of the season, either rita or deb will find out the truth about dexter. last season was all about dexter trying to find someone to trust with his secret, only to find out he couldn't; so this season will be the opposite, he'll be trying to figure out how to keep his secret hidden, but he'll be found out.

if rita finds out, it's hard to imagine she'd be accepting of it, but maybe if it happens a certain way; like if one or all of the kids is in danger from trinity, and dexter kills to save them, then she might accept it. when she found dexter's trunk, part of me thought he might reveal it right there, though it wouldn't have made sense. but she could be on the right track now, especially if she hires a PI to follow him to figure out what he's hiding. but if she does find out, and becomes his accomplice, at least her character would have some value then. maybe we'll find out that trinity's family, or at least his wife, knows about his killing and puts up with it, and dexter will think that if trinity's family can accept it, than maybe so will his. actually, i really like that idea. dexter finds out trinity's family is a family of killers, and tries to reshape his own family to be the same way.

on the other hand, if it's deb who finds out, it's easier to see how she could become his accomplice, because trinity killed lundy. so if dexter reveals it to her and gets her to help him get trinity, and also tells her that he was the one who killed the ice truck killer, she might go along with it. after all, she's got nothing left but him anyway, and she's so emotionally fragile from everything else that's happened that she might just accept her brother is a killer rather than risk losing someone else close to her.

[judderman]

I just found out that Hot Reporter is Brandon Routh's wife. Well, we can say the guy has accomplished at least one thing in his life. Her name is Courtney Ford, the sort of cringingly All-American name you have fun coming up with alternative versions of: Bethany Buick. Alexis Lex. Britney Knicks. Ashley Cash. Hanna Montana. Madison Avenue. OK I'll stop.

Anyhoo I think this whole thing is rather OCD on Dex's part. When the divers found his dumping ground, he changed his ritual. Now that his wife has rumbled his apartment, he needs to change his ritual again. The only real problem he has is hiding his trophy collection. He can keep his tools anywhere. Even move sites if he has to. His laptop might be problematic if Rita were to see "Scream Bitch Scream" on his search history, but he can use it anywhere there's a wireless broadband connection. The only problem is how to keep his trophies cold. I've been pondering how he might do that without his air conditioner but I can't think of a way.

This season has been uneven I think because there has been an inordinate amount of setup. Unlike in previous seasons, there has been no contact whatsoever between Dexter and the Big Bad up to now (I see Miguel as the Big Bad of year 3, and even Biney had "communicated" with Dexter before revealing himself). The trailer for the next episode suggests that the principal battle has now commenced, and that the theme of the show will be to contrast Trinity and Dexter's opposing ways of doing things

Is the show misogynistic? Not sure. Certainly none of the female characters on this show are particularly likeable or admirable, but then neither are the men. This show lives in a world where likeability and admirability are somewhat detrimental qualities. The main priorities for the characters on this show are survival and getting the job done.

[Pacino86845]

You forgot about Jenny Rodeo (Rho-DAY-oh)

Naturally my remark was tongue-in-cheek... I think Dexter is the most likeable character on the show, so to make you root for him the others have to have a little dirt under the fingernails.

No wonder Brandon Routh has almost disappeared off the face of the earth (look out for him in Scott Pilgrim!!)... holy crap he hit the jackpot!! Good on him!

[TheBaxter]

ENOUGH! no more spoiler tags!

dexter didn't really change up his ritual after season 2. he still sticks follows the code (most of the time). he still sticks them with a needle. he still wraps them in plastic wrap in a hermetically sealed room somewhere, puts up pictures of their victims, cuts their cheek, takes the blood sample on the slide, and stabs them in the heart. the only part that's really changes is where he dumps the remains: now he dumps them in the gulf stream so they get swept away instead of sitting around on the ocean floor, waiting for some scuba diver to find them. he even keeps his trophies in the same place, even after someone was able to find them there once before. speaking of that, i never got the impression that he used the A/C unit to keep them cool. i thought it was just an inconspicuous place to hide them, that no one would look. he doesn't run the A/C 24/7, does he? imagine the electric bill!

dexter doesn't need the apt to keep his tools and trophies. just get a storage locker! they're a lot cheaper. and it would be a lot easier to explain if his wife finds out about it (i had some old stuff to hold on to, didn't want to clutter up the new house with it, blah blah).

as for misogyny, i don't think the show is purposefully trying to be misogynistic. i mean, rita is probably the must moral, wholesome person on the show. the fact that she is annoying is largely in part because she is an obstacle for dexter, and we want to see dexter killing people, not pretending to be the good husband to his wife. and deb, if people find her annoying, i don't think it's because they purposefully try to make her annoying, she just ends up that way. i think we're supposed to see her as a good cop and tough strong chick who has a lot of shitty things happen to her but is a survivor. people who are annoyed by her mostly just don't like the actress.

[papalazeru]

I thought Debs performance this ep was outstanding considering she's usually pretty flat. The fact she wanted to come back to the scene of the crime to experience the emotions that she's been ripped from make sense.

Dexter is becoming so much more human over time - I'm hoping he's going to tell someone soon, somone close to him.

Rita always gives an outstanding performance, and I think she's going to be the one to figure it out because Dexter can't hide from her - and he knows it.

Lastly, Trinity having a family doesn't quite make sense, the emotions he goes through per and post murder would suggest he's a loner as Dex and Lundy pointed out - so this new factor is quite intriguing.


Honestly, I think the show is quite complex in the way it layers it's themes yet at the same time seems quite obvious. I'm betting the Dex and Trinity relationship is going to become an obsession for Dex but I could be wrong and predict far too much.

It's just an awesome show. Sad to see Lundy go...very sad but kinda obvious.

[Pacino86845]

What I liked about this latest episode is that Dexter basically finding out who Trinity is was pretty surprising, especially since he almost lost him at the office building: he couldn't get in from the staircase, Trinity's car was parked in the indoor parking... as you're watching you think "Oh yeah, obviously he gets close but he isn't going to actually catch up to the guy," but then he does!

Same thing with Lundy's death, it came too soon to be predicted! Had he survived that episode we would all be thinking right now that he would be killed off soon because he "knew too much."

[John-Locke]

Rita always gives an outstanding performance