A vast improvement in this week's installment of
Dexter, as Every Silver Lining... boasts an intriguing and captivating episode.
Interesting choices in characterisation are made laying the ground work for what will inevitably be
an emotional and tumultuous narrative, comprising this elongated farewell.
So last week ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger. Dr. Evelyn
Vogel, dubbed the ‘psychopath whisperer’, rubbed Dexter up the wrong way
evoking a somewhat threatening attack from the titular character, only to be
met with the response “You can’t kill me Dexter... I don’t fit Harry’s code”.
Queue an international response of “...whaaat?!”. Well thankfully, in this week’s
episode we continue right where we left off, by learning how on earth Miss
Vogel is aware of Dexter’s commandments.
It turns out that, via replay of an old home video, Vogel
was indeed good friends with Dexter’s father, Harry. As a professional in
psychopathic behaviour, Harry confided in Vogel regarding Dexter’s worsening ‘condition’
– an obsession with blood and murder that in turn screams “I’m going to be a
psychopath when I grow up”. It’s quite a revelatory moment for Dexter really,
as whilst watching the home video and hearing explanations from Vogel, we find
out it was she who created this ‘code’ Dexter has abide by – she helped ‘create
him’, likens herself to his ‘spiritual mother’. But of course, this revelation
raises questions. Why is she revealing all of this now? Why is it only now that she has come into Dexter’s life? The answer is, she needs a favour. 
Last week’s murderer,
dubbed ‘The Brain Surgeon’ - as he removes a piece of brain that evokes empathy
from his victims - has been threatening Vogel, by leaving pieces of said
cranium anathema on her doorstep. In her words, “it’s hardly a love letter” and
of course sparks fear over her safety. Naturally Dexter inquires, why
not call the police? But of course, life in Miami is not that simple and it
turns out The Brain Surgeon is one of Vogel’s former patients, and placing him
in police custody may bring to light her past ‘unorthodox’ methods of
treatment. Instead, she’d rather Dexter do what he does best and ‘take care of
it’. All of a sudden, the seemingly lovely Vogel is perhaps not so lovely after all, and an enigmatic narrative strand is thus brought to light - who is Vogel really? Perhaps she
is more sinister than lead to believe, after all, she dictates that psychopaths are a 'gift of nature', an 'indispensable demographic'... who
sometimes kill to make the world a better place – every silver lining...
The characterisation of Vogel is an interesting one. On the
one hand, we have the sudden introduction of a maternal figure in Dexter’s
life. She knows his deepest secrets and even supports them. Vogel believes in
Dexter and could well be a solid foundation for him. However, there is an
overwhelming sense of secrecy that shrouds her sudden resurgence into Dexter's life. At times she
appears manipulative and more often than not, utterly untrustworthy – a feeling
also shared by Dexter himself. All in all it’s an evident set up – is Dexter
merely a pawn in a far bigger plan of Vogel’s? What is she hiding? And with
a particularly liberal view over the nature of psychopaths, does that make her a greater threat than any of them? Regardless, a denotative mission has been set up
for the mean time, whilst such various questions will inevitably be answered – Dexter must find The Brain Surgeon for Vogel before the Miami Police
Department do. Although, there is one distraction throwing him off his trail...
Dexter is of course distracted by the ever increasing, self-destructive tendencies of his sister, Deborah. She remains testy, edgy and
forever in a post-potent haze of alcohol and pills. As a means to regain some
form of credibility amongst the legal forces, following the colossal screw up of her skip-trace mission with Briggs, she promises her boss Elway she
can obtain his stolen jewels – which was her mission
in the first place before becoming romantically involved with him. Consequently, she travels to Briggs’ storage unit, only to be followed by El Sapo - a hit man also
coveting said jewels. Both characters tussle
but El Sapo reigns supreme leaving Deb
battered and bruised.
The next day Dexter is called to a crime scene, involving a very dead El Sapo. The demise of whom was caused by a few erratic gun shots. He poaches evidence left at the scene and in an unsurprising twist, yet nevertheless full of impact, realises Deb murdered El Sapo. Upon confronting her about this she exclaims, “Anything can happen in this hell hole that is my life... your gift
to me Dexter”. So here we have the second set up of this
series – Deb as a loose cannon, the unpredictable liability in Dexter's previously controlled existence. The revelation of Deb’s murder (in addition to
a mistake he made in tracing The Brain Surgeon) leads to an emotional epiphany
for Dexter in the episode's climax – all of a sudden he fully understands the damage he has done to his
beloved sister. About time too.
This may become a tired sentiment over the next few weeks
but the shows strengths really do lie in the Deborah-Dexter dynamic – the dialogue,
performances and overall characterisation between the two truly make for the
most captivating viewing. Similarly, it is briefly worth noting that Detective Quinn’s relationship with Deb has
also been re-introduced to the story line this week, beginning an interesting and heartfelt sub-plot.
So there we have it, an overall intriguing set up this week
as two ladies are situated within Dexter’s emotionally convoluted life. An
already evident pull is at play, between Vogel – a manipulative and maternal
figure that may in time evoke trust from Dexter – against Deborah – a self-destructive
and unpredictable sister who poses increasing threats each week. Question is,
who will he side with?
What were your thoughts on this week's episode of Dexter? Post a comment!
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