“Dexter Season 8″ – All’s Well That Ends Well

In my previous reviews of the Showtime series “Dexter” (http://sogooditsscary.com/?p=168 http://sogooditsscary.com/?p=37) I mentioned that the overall theme of the series is Dexter’s gradual change from cold psychopath with a fake life to a fully feeling human being with a life he cares about who happens to kill people.  There are also themes for different seasons, such as parenthood and religion.  With the final season we continue Dexter’s journey towards humanity with a seasonal theme of family.

One of the first things that struck me about this season was the lack of mayhem.  Despite being the final season of a show about a serial killer, there weren’t more murders or more spectacular murders, though of course people are killed fairly regularly.  Instead, the focus is on continuing to explore the relationship between forensic specialist/serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) and his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter).

Destroy and rebuild

Things have changed in the aftermath of last season’s finale, in which Debra shot and killed Captain LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) to protect herself and Dexter when LaGuerta discovered Dexter’s identity as the Bay Harbor Butcher and uncovered Debra’s complicity in the cover-up of his killing of the Dooms Day Killer.

For me as a viewer, seeing the annoying, corrupt, and frequently revolting LaGuerta take one to the chest and die instantly was like an early Christmas present, a dream come true, not unlike Tara getting a shotgun blast to the head in “True Blood.” Even better, unlike Tara, LaGuerta stayed dead.  The producers may have known she was annoying because the first scene of this season is the dedication of the LaGuerta memorial bench.  Of the attendees, only her ex-husband, now-Lieutenant Angel Batista (David Zayas) seems to care that the LaGuerta Memorial will be a place “where people put their butts.”  I enjoy that idea, and the idea that birds will crap on it, and homeless people will sleep on it and possibly soil themselves at the same time, as a continuing testimony to LaGuerta’s great works of public service.

Dexter seems unfazed by her death, but Debra isn’t dealing with it well.  She quit the police force, where she had been promoted to lieutenant, and started working or a private investigation firm.  We find her undercover on a case, taking excessive risks as she gets personally involved with the jewel thief who took the jewels she is supposed to recover.  She’s indulging in prescription and illegal drugs, usually at the same time, and is smoking and drinking, all in an effort to numb the guilt and pain she feels for killing her former captain.

Bravo encore, Jennifer Carpenter!

I noted in my review of Season 7 that Jennifer Carpenter’s performance was exceptional, and I was immediately impressed again this season as her character took a dark, desperate turn.  In the first few episodes we see flashes of Debra the detective, collecting evidence and working on the case, but then she turns instantly into Debra on a self-destructive tailspin, snorting cocaine and passing out in her car while driving drunk.  When Dexter confronts her, we see angry, hurt Debra defiantly pushing Dexter away.  to stay in the hell of her own making.  It’s impressive to watch and makes me hope that whatever work Carpenter gets post-”Dexter” is something worthy of her talent.

Dr. Vogel and the Brain Surgeon

The primary plot of the season then, is seeing how Dexter will save Debra from herself and how the two of them will manage to have a relationship in the aftermath of LaGuerta’s murder.  This is made more complicated with the introduction of Dr. Vogel (Charlotte Rampling), a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of psychopaths.  Returning Deputy Chief Tom Matthews (Geoff Pierson) worked with Vogel years ago and has called her in to consult on Miami’s latest serial killer dubbed, “The Brain Surgeon” because the victims are found with the backs of their heads cut off and areas of the brain removed.

Vogel takes an immediate interest in Dexter for a unique reason: She worked with Dexter’s adoptive father Harry to create the code of conduct Dexter uses to survive as a serial killer.  As this revelation about Dexter comes to light, Vogel steps in to help Debra stabilize her life after diagnosing her with post-traumatic stress disorder.  In turn, Vogel enlists Dexter’s aid in catching the Brain Surgeon when that case becomes a personal threat.

With each kill, the Brain Surgeon has been depositing a jar with the preserved brain sample on Vogel’s doorstep.  When she brings Dexter on the case, two jars are left, labeled “His” and “Hers,” indicating the killer knows and is watching her. Vogel believes the killer is a former patient of hers, but she doesn’t know which one, and she can’t tell the police because the methods she has used in the past were sometimes unorthodox.  Were these methods to come to light as the police helped her it could cost her career. Dexter agrees to find and stop the Brain Surgeon before he kills Dr. Vogel or him, but she has had dozens of clients, and all of them were psychopaths, so it’s not an easy task.

This brings up another point I addressed in a previous review, which is relatively minor but still a concern for the series overall: How many serial killers can realistically be in the Miami area? Seriously.  I understand the urge to kill Miamians – the snowbirds, the retirees, the tourists, the excessive number of transplanted New Yorkers, the endless pastel colors, it’s maddening.  But it’s not our biggest city, and the idea that there would be a new serial killer at work there every year for several years seems unlikely.

With this season as Dexter goes through Vogel’s patient list we find that there are several operating in the Miami area at the same time.  I find that hard to believe.  I know the show’s shtick is Dexter killing bad guys, but there are other kinds of bad guys out there.  Rapists, serial rapists, terrorists, child molesters, pick one and put him on Dexter’s table, we’ll still watch.

Hannah McKay returns

The final challenge facing Deb and Dexter is the return of Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), the love of Dexter’s life.  She is the only person who accepts him as he really is because she’s a killer herself.  Deb has problems with Hannah in principle because at her core Deb is a cop and Hannah has gotten away with multiple murders.  But she also has serious problems with Hannah because Hannah tried to kill her and only stopped trying to kill her because of her feelings for Dexter.

When Hannah comes back this season we find she’s married to the super-rich Miles Castner (Julian Sands) who happens to also be super-controlling.  Hannah likes having a new identity security, and luxury, but she wants freedom and possibly love.  So she reaches out to Dexter, who helps despite Deb’s protests.

It’s great to have Hannah back for several reasons.  One, she’s beautiful and she and Dexter have excellent chemistry.  Two, she’s an excellent character with depth who is portrayed well.  Three, going with the season’s theme of family, Hannah rounds out a very warped family dynamic that includes Dr. Vogel (mother), Dexter (son), Hannah (wife), and Deb (sister), plus others who cycle in and out, all of whom play off each other in fascinating ways.

Endgame

With Hannah coming in for the second half of the season, the series starts to wind up, with suspense increasing every episode as Dexter continues his hunt for the Brain Surgeon while trying to keep wanted fugitive Hannah from being arrested.  Once again a couple, Hannah and Dexter decide to grab Dexter’s son Harrison and run away together to ind whatever version of Happily Ever After can be achieved by two serial killers.  But Dexter insists on killing the Brain Surgeon first, so the race is on to kill him in time to board the plane to a new life.

This plays out very well, and the plots weave together nicely, with a federal marshal who is pursuing Hannah eventually enlisting Jacob Elway (Sean Patrick Flannery) Deb’s boss at the detective agency, in the attempt.  There are moments when it seems there’s danger at every turn, which is exciting except for one logistical problem.

I’ll die before I dye

As much effort as Deb and Dexter put into keeping Hannah safe, she doesn’t make much effort herself.  Think of “The Fugitive,” either the classic TV show or the excellent film with Harrison Ford.  Even with his name and picture everywhere, wrongfully convicted murderer Richard Kimble is able to avoid capture with an alias, a shave, and some hair dye.  Hannah may not be a world-famous surgeon like Kimble, but she is very smart, and so is Dexter.  Yet neither of them thinks to get Hannah some dark hair color so her eyebrows and hair will match, and maybe pick up some sunglasses and touristy clothes.

Nope, every time Hannah takes a risk by going out in public she has long blonde hair and fashionable outfits, making her look exactly like the Hannah McKay who has her picture all over TV.  Dexter points out in one episode that being out with Harrison may help because the police are looking for a woman alone, not a woman with a child.  True.  But even with Harrison she was still recognized.  Had Hannah made herself look like a soccer mom with a cap, a t-shirt, some shorts or sweats, and maybe Popsicle or Oreo stains on her shirt, that would have probably done the trick and only taken about 5 minutes.  For a smart show, that bit was a bit on the obviously dumb side.

No spoilers

I’m not going to give away the series’ ending, just in case you didn’t spoil it for yourself elsewhere.  It’s good, and fairly powerful, even surprising.  Now, with the last season done, “Dexter” can join “Firefly,” “Veronica Mars,” “X-Files,” “Star Trek”  and other shows that have ended, leaving fans wanting more.  New episodes, a movie, another movie, a spinoff, anything.  But please, not a musical.

“Dexter Season 7″ – It All Comes Together

In my review of “Dexter” Season 6,(seen here  http://sogooditsscary.com/?p=37) I noted that TV series are frequently a sum of their parts. With “Dexter” Season 7 this is even more so.  This season brings together plot elements from throughout the series, but does so in a way that viewers new to the series can still follow along.

Part of the way this is achieved is by boiling the series down to the basic elements – key characters interacting and having basic conflicts that anyone can follow, supplemented with concise, effective flashbacks. By doing this, Season 7 ended up being a really tight, enjoyable season one could watch without a playbook or viewer’s guide, and possibly the strongest season since Season 4.

In getting back to the basics, the season doesn’t feature a big name star like Edward James Olmos, John Lithgow, or Julia Stiles.   There’s no serial killer for Dexter to capture.  The majority of the season focuses on the repercussions of last season’s cliffhanger, in which Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) sees Dexter (Michael C. Hall)  kill the Doom’s Day Killer, and Dexter knows she saw him.  The season actually picks up from that moment and progresses very logically from there.  This conflict – of how a police lieutenant in charge of homicide reacts when her brother and closest friend , who is also a homicide forensic specialist, is a murderer – is the central plot of the season and it’s done very well.  Debra and Dexter have several actual arguments during the season, but there’s real weight between them in every scene, all season long.  The tension of Debra looking at Dexter and knowing he is a killer who will kill again and has lied to her for years runs through everything.

 The unsavory subplot from Season 6, in which Debra may be in love with Dexter, also comes up, but at most it’s an undercurrent, not something that’s explored at all, and that’s a great relief.  Ultimately I think it shows why Debra is so committed to Dexter, even more than a sister would be expected to be,  but I’m glad that’s as far as it has been taken.

Return of the Bay Harbor Butcher

One sub-plot that spins directly off from the Dexter/Debra dynamic involves Debra’s superior, Captain Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) reopening the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation, with Dexter as a prime suspect.  The investigation becomes an obsession for LaGuerta, who hopes to clear the name of her former lover, Detective Sergeant Doakes (Erik King), a man who also secretly thought Dexter was the butcher until Dexter killed him and framed him for the murders.

Isaak Sirko – Death from the Ukraine

There are two other major plots for the season, both of them very good.  First, we have the major villain of the season, Ukrainian mobster Isaak Sirko (Ray Stevenson).   In the season premiere, Homicide Detective Mike Anderson stops to help a driver change a tire.  The driver, Ukrainian mobster Viktor Baskov, kills Anderson and escapes.  The Miami police force goes into overdrive to identify and track down Anderson’s killer, and so does Dexter, who finds and kills Baskov before he can escape to the Ukraine.

Baskov’s disappearance attracts the attention of his superiors, known formally as the Kaska Brotherhood, especially Isaak Sirko, who comes to Miami to find out what happened to Baskov and avenge him if necessary.  Baskov proves to be a charming, intelligent, and extremely lethal adversary who over a period of several episodes hunts Dexter while Dexter is hunting him.  In one particularly impressive moment, we see Dexter lead Isaak into a trap, which illustrates Dexter’s cunning as well as Isaak’s ruthlessness and skill.

In the scene, Dexter is being followed by Isaak, who doesn’t know Dexter is on to him.  Dexter goes into a bar run by the Colombian mob, who are deadly rivals of the Kaska Brotherhood and slips out the back.  Isaak follows him into the bar and is immediately confronted by a group of armed Colombians waiting to kill him.  Despite being outgunned and outnumbered, Isaak kills every man in the bar in less than a minute, receiving only minor wounds himself.  Before that scene, we had seen Isaak kill one person in a brutally efficient manner while still being charming, but after that scene in the bar, despite not being a serial killer, Isaak becomes one of the most terrifying villains to appear on the show, second only to John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer.  Everyone around him is afraid of him.  He could kill anyone at any time.  And yet he’s a charming, likable guy.

Hannah McKay – Pretty Poison

The final major plotline of the season is Dexter’s new love interest, Hannah McKay.  Early in the season, Dexter and the other forensic specialists are out in the field, working with a convicted spree killer who has agreed to divulge the location of the missing bodies of his victims so they can be laid to rest.  After the man commits suicide, Miami homicide turns to his former girlfriend and accomplice, Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), who now is running a plant nursery after moving on from the crimes of her youth.  Hannah agrees to help the detectives in exchange for immunity from prosecution for involvement with the crimes.

Upon finding one of the bodies, Dexter sees through forensic evidence that Hannah’s story of not killing anyone, or doing so only at the direction of her boyfriend, is not true.  She killed in a brutal manner, and she may have gone on to kill again.  Debra has similar suspicions, and is intent on bringing McKay to justice.  Dexter decides he’d rather kill Hannah, but he falls in love with her instead.  They begin a relationship, and for the first time Dexter doesn’t have to hide the fact that he’s a killer.  Hannah accepts that part of him and understands.

This of course complicates matters more between Dexter and Debra.  Debra is already trying to work through the fact that her boyfriend is a killer, albeit a killer vigilante.  But now his girlfriend is also a killer, and perhaps not for good reasons.  Now Debra has to choose between justice and breaking her brother’s heart.

Emotional wellness through murder

All of these plotlines play into a theme that has continued throughout the series  – Dexter is becoming more and more human.  In earlier seasons it was established that Dexter doesn’t feel what most humans fee.  Joy, fear, sadness, love – they are all concepts he can define but he has no real connection to them.  He is a creature of logic who has created a fake persona and a fake life around himself to mask the reality of being a serial killer.

However, little by little, season by season, real feelings have crept in.  Grief over his murdered wife.  Love for his son.  Love for his sister.  And now in this season, love for Hannah, which forces him to justify how Dexter the man and Dexter the coldblooded killer can coexist.  He now has a life he doesn’t want to abandon, but he loves killing as well.

Season 8, which has already been billed as the series finale, should be interesting.  I look forward to it.

“Dexter” Season Six – Can Colin Hanks Be Scary?

One of the things that makes reviewing a series different from reviewing a standalone book or film is that it’s part of a greater whole and may be difficult to examine as a single work. This is definitely the case with the sixth season of the hit Showtime Series “Dexter”, which is not only a sum and reflection of the previous five seasons, but as a hit show clearly knew there would be a seventh season.

In Season Six the series once again provides Miami Homicide forensic blood analyst and serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) with a primary adversary for the entire season. This time it’s the Apocalyptically-themed Doomsday Killer (DDK), who is in fact a pair of killers played by Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks. When I found out the season’s guest stars I couldn’t wait for the DVD’s release so I could watch the entire season in a marathon of suspense, gore, and dark humor. I do this with every new season of “Dexter”, but with the addition of Olmos I expected it to be one of the best seasons ever.

Olmos is an outstanding actor known most recently for his portrayal of Commander Adama on “Battlestar Galactica,” but most well known for portraying Jaime Escalante in the film “Stand and Deliver”, and Lt. Castillo on “Miami Vice,” as well as the small but memorable role of Detective Gaff in “Blade Runner.” Given the powerful strength of the performances of Jimmy Smits and especially John Lithgow in previous seasons, I thought the portrayal of Olmos as Dexter’s latest adversary would take the show to an even greater level. At the same time, I wondered if Colin Hanks, whom I only remembered as Peggy’s priest from the second season of “Mad Men” had the presence to portray a serial killer or apprentice serial killer.

The answer was surprising. I didn’t expect Hanks to be bad, but I expected Olmos to be significantly better. Olmos had plenty to work with – his character, Professor James Geller, is obsessed with the Book of Revelation and is using a series of murders to bring about the apocalypse. Former student Travis Marshall (Hanks) is the sometimes hesitant acolyte Geller uses to do much of his dirty work. Neither performance is bad, but Olmos, who is normally low-key, effectively fades out as the season progresses and the focus shifts to Hanks, who develops from a fresh-faced nice guy who happens to kill people to a fresh-faced killer who happens to be nice sometimes.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. John Lithgow gave what may be the performance of a lifetime during his season of “Dexter,” and Julia Stiles provided a complex memorable performance, but I didn’t see anything of that level in this season. What I did see and will never forget, is one of the single most disturbing scenes or concepts I have encountered in any film, book, or television show, and that’s the Four Horsemen scene that appears early in the season. While Dexter’s other adversaries may have been more dangerous, the Doomsday Killer is one of the most memorable, and with the Four Horsemen scene, even Dexter is taken aback by the sheer brutality and twisted brilliance of it. It has to be seen to be believed.

Naturally, there are subplots throughout the season involving Dexter’s supporting cast and one is typically Dexter’s sister Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter). In each season, Debra’s career as a police detective progresses and she has a new love interest. The same is true this season, as she becomes the youngest lieutenant to ever work for Miami Homicide. That’s interesting and done well. It’s the twist to her love life that I have a problem with, and which I think may be a turning point for the show. In this season, Debra has to undergo mandatory psychotherapy after she is involved in a shooting. She voluntarily continues therapy to help deal with the stress of her new position, and during her treatments, the therapist suggests that Debra’s love life has been a shambles because Debra is actually in love with Dexter, who is her adopted brother. To me this smelled of a plotline picked up to generate interest and shake things up, and if it is handled correctly in Season 7, it may have done just that. Or it may be the point people identify where it all went wrong. However it turns out next season, I have to give credit to Jennifer Carpenter for her portrayal of the situation, particularly in the scene when Debra’s therapist first brings up her theory. Carpenter convincingly goes through several stages of reaction to the concept, helping the viewer accept the possibility, though it’s as abhorrent to the regular fans as it seems to be to Debra the character.

One additional thing that struck me this season was believability. The premise of the show is that Dexter is a serial killer who was raised with a code of ethics to only kill bad people, typically criminals who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system. That’s fine. But now that we’re a few seasons in, it’s starting to bother me that every season he faces a new serial killer adversary. It’s Miami. How many serial killers are going to be in Miami? “Miami Vice” dealt with drug dealers, no shortage there. But serial killers are a rarity. I live in Milwaukee. If you combine Milwaukee and Chicago we had Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, and John Wayne Gacy, and that’s over a half century. True, not ever season of Dexter has featured serial killers, but enough have that it’s getting hard to believe.

Also, this season it became obvious that Dexter was basically obstructing justice and endangering the public much of the time. In previous seasons he was clearly a vigilante, an avenger, doing what the police couldn’t. In this season there were several points when he held back knowledge he had about the Doomsday Killer, knowledge he could have disclosed through his role as forensic specialist, that would have enabled the police to get the killer on their own.

Finally, one subplot took coincidence a bit too far. The theme of this season was clearly religion, with the attempt to examine Dexter’s view of faith and forgiveness given that he kills people, but has a moral code. Obviously the idea of religion is addressed through Dexter’s conflict with the Doomsday Killer, but at the same time he strikes up an unlikely friendship with ex-convict and former addict turned street minister Brother Sam, played by Mos Def. I like the Brother Sam storyline, and Mos Def gives one of the best performances of the season as this complex and intriguing character, I just wish the storyline had been used in a different season. Previous or forthcoming, it doesn’t matter, it just seems heavy-handed to have Dexter chasing a religious-themed serial killer while beginning a totally unrelated friendship with a totally unrelated street preacher, even though the matters are fleetingly related at first. It would be like Dexter chasing the Bookstore Killer while learning about the wonders of the alphabet and bookbinding from a new librarian friend. It’s too big a pill to swallow.

All in all I think it was a good season, but not the best of the series and not as good as its potential. I look forward to Season 7,