Dexter - Dex, Lies, and Videotape

 

What a mess Dexter lands himself in. Those "cocaine tapes" with his biological mother (a drug informant) and Harry (the cop using her to score the coke, eventually leading her to her death) seeming to discuss "meeting up and hooking up" has Dexter all bent out of shape. Then there is this love triangle Dexter buries himself in after sleeping with Lila after a fight with Rita over a voice message on the phone about that trip to meet up with the one responsible for his mother's death...this after a really awkward and uncomfortable dinner, instigated by Gail all too giddy to further drive a wedge between her daughter and Dexter, inviting "sponsor", Lila. Lila clearly loves to stir the pot as much as Gail does. Lila wants Dexter. Gail wants Dexter gone and Rita all to herself. There are two "breakups" in the episode after Rita learns Dexter was away with Lila (no fucking), and the second when Dexter admits to sleeping with Lila after the first breakup. A bonafide soap opera has broke out. What is pivotal about this episode is Dexter must share his experience with Rita about witnessing his mother's death thanks to Lila's blabbing about it at the icky dinner. Seeing two women obviously competing for Dexter without it being said in the open outright at a dinner table with the potential mother-in-law present and a Dexter wanting to be anywhere else but in this house at all presents a situation steeped in melodrama. And even with all this, Dexter learns he was recorded by a camera while cleaning up his boat of any potential evidence at the marina (he'll need to delete that recording through a fire alarm pull and hiding behind a chair)! The hits keep coming, too. Doakes learns from Deb that Dexter isn't an addict of the narcotics kind, providing the scent needed to pursue him for whatever "worse" he might be hiding...Dexter is fed up with Doakes following him, breaking into his lab to listen to his tapes, obsessing over his every move, even going to LaGuerta about a complaint. LaGuerta cools Dexter down and tells him to take a break away from the job -- leading to Dexter fucking Lila during a sporadically rainy Miami day -- and tries to talk to Doakes about his obsession. Doakes isn't about to cool his jets, though...he sees Dexter as someone dangerous. Doakes is actually right, but this is only the second season, so the creative behind the show will find some clever means for Dexter to escape this "independent investigation". 

What I liked about the episode is Dexter's life crisis considering he's dedicated his life to the Code of Harry, with Lila his sounding board and advice -- not sure that is wise, but she spends a lot of time at anonymous meetings -- trying to come to terms with his own mother sexually involved with the man who raised him. Harry cheated on his stepmother with his biological mother. Harry's "moral code" is now bupkis. This code "kept Dex in check", set him up as someone who could "pretend to be normal" while using that urge inside to kill pointed at a certain kind of victim. Now Lila isn't aware, yet, just what Dexter's addiction is, but her advice about "starting fresh and embracing a new lifestyle" doesn't seem to be working in his favor all that well. And we do see Dexter bent out of shape, yelling, confrontational, a little rough with Lila (who likes it) in bed, and trying to get his shit together. It is a very interesting side of Dexter that isn't controlled. When he goes to LaGuerta about Doakes, Dexter is quite flustered and intense, not his usual cool and restrained. So you get a chance to see Dexter less understated...unless with Rita. That's the thing about Rita...Dexter never raises his voice or confronts Rita in any way aggressive or threatening. Lila seems to be that woman that Dexter can be totally unchained, almost altogether himself. You'd think that perhaps Lila is more cohesive a partner than Rita. But Rita is that "good" side that Dexter needs while Lila would probably further provoke him towards (or encourage out) the Dark Passenger. A Dexter without a code...this episode presents that possibility.

Meanwhile, it looks like Deb is falling for the older Lundy, worried that his recent requests for Dexter will be a repeat of her father...Harry spent more time with Dexter, not his daughter, even though Deb doesn't realize there was a reason (or reasons) for that. I love that Lundy prefers Dexter because Masuka is such a perverted creep, a relief to Deb who responds by hugging him. Deb feels as if she's always competing with Dexter so Lundy telling her it wasn't because he prefers his help to hers is exactly the response her ego needs considering how she's had to fight, scratch, and claw to get to where she is in the force. The copycat Butcher Bay killer (who isn't clean, precise, organized, or sly), Ken Olson (Silas Weir Mitchell), provides a momentary distraction during the investigation, but Dexter makes sure he isn't a nuisance by the end of the episode...where the copycat killed, Dexter made sure to leave his body parts in bags for Lundy and the Butcher Bay task force to find.

A ton of developments in one single episode...the show was hitting its stride, it sure felt. Amusing moment and a great piece of acting: JoBeth Williams, when her mother Gail hugs Rita, unable to contain this satisfying smile, knowing her work (and Lila's) might have been the properly placed dagger into the heart of Dexter and Rita's relationship. 4/5