Recap
- While keeping tabs on Debra, Dexter investigates a new “Brain Surgeon” suspect. He finds a former patient of Vogel’s named AJ Yates, who had a very violent history as a youth. He discovers that Yates himself is a victim of brain surgery, with a huge scar on the back of his head, and he wonders if this was some the result of Vogel’s “experiments,” which disturbs him. He quickly goes to see Vogel at her house, to confront her on the issue. She does remember that there was an X-ray that revealed that Yates had a lesion on his brain. She thought that it could be contributing to his violent behavior, so she recommended that the hospital staff have it removed. Not long afterwards, she had to transfer elsewhere, so she didn’t know for sure if the procedure was completed. While he’s there, Dexter asks for an update on Deb. Vogel does a quick impromptu therapy session with Dexter, suspecting that this was the real reason he visited her. She theorizes that Dexter needs Debra because she acts as a mirror so that the can see the bright side of himself, but without her, all Dexter sees is darkness.
- Debra and Vogel return to the shipping container again, but this time with a twist. Vogel takes an even more aggressive stance on the issue, confronting Debra on killing LaGuerta again. She locks the door to the container to challenge Debra with a few facts. She could have just stayed at the party, but she chose to intervene. That’s the mark of someone with a strong conscience. Dexter is a psychopath, who truly doesn’t know right from wrong, but Debra does. Vogel wants Debra to realize that she is a good person who was forced to do a bad thing for the greater good. She had to protect Dexter. This seems to put some of Deb’s mind at ease.
- In one of the smallest stories of the episode, we get to see a really big moment for Masuka. There has been a very attractive young coed coming to the police station looking for him. He thinks it’s either one of his past sexual partners, or a potential new one. She finally gets him when he’s in his office, and he pulls out one of the most corny seductive routines you’ll ever see. She kills his buzz when she says that he’s her father. It turns out that Masuka was a sperm donor twenty years ago, and she is the product of the donation. It seems like there’s no doubt that she’s his daughter, since she has Masuka’s eyes and his trademark laugh. At the end of her debut scene, it looks like Masuka is really pleased that he has a daughter.
- Dexter checks up on the fingerprints he found in Yates’ home and discovers that they came from three young women who recently disappeared. He later returns to Yates’ home, where he finds it deserted. Yates has left, and it seems he went in a hurry. All the shoes in the closet are gone. After some scrutiny, Dexter finds the secret door leading to the basement. Once he sees the monitor system, he realizes that Yates knew he was here. He also finds some more evidence proving that Yates is the brain surgeon. After hearing a noise, he also finds the young blonde woman in the basement, recognizing her as one of the missing girls. When he tries to help her, he sees that she’s been stabbed in the gut. Thinking quickly, he stops the flow of blood long enough to get her to the hospital.
- Debra returns to work at the P.I firm. Elway decides to keep her company, sharing dinner with her while she does some paperwork. They take the time to bond while talking about their respective family dramas. Deb expresses how much she idolized her father, and is realizing that she’s much more like him than she ever thought. Back at Vogel’s home, Debra finds another DVD of Harry’s sessions with Vogel. It appears to be the final session that the two ever had. Harry is shaken after walking in on Dexter’s kill room, and he seriously questions what they’ve created by molding Dexter this way. Vogel is more pragmatic, saying that the man Dexter killed deserved it. Harry responds, “No one deserves to be in pieces!” He then tells Vogel that he doesn’t know if he can live with this, and then walks out of the room. Back in the present day, as the video ends, Debra wonders how she’s supposed to live with Dexter’s secret, if her father couldn’t do it.
- Dexter calls AJ Yates, posing as an attendant of the nursing home where his father lives. He claims that Yates’ father’s health has taken a turn for the worse, and this brings AJ running. However, when Yates realizes it was a trap and Dexter has him cornered, he shockingly rips out his father’s breathing apparatus, setting off the alarms which will alert the nurses. Dexter is shocked that Yates would kill his own beloved father to escape, and Yates leaves through the window in that moment of hesitation. Dexter manages to leave the nursing home without alerting the staff, but he’s still shaken by what he saw.
- Debra visits the police station and she meets Quinn in the parking lot. He inquires about how she’s been doing, noting that she looks much better, and she apologizes for everything she put him through lately. He also tells her about his relationship with Jaime, who is suspicious of Quinn’s relationship with her. Deb tells Quinn that she only wants him to be happy, and gives him a hug and kiss on the cheek. This seems to give him a bit of a mixed message regarding her feelings towards him.
Analysis
To be quite honest, I felt like the episode before this one was a bit of a step down from the first two. It wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t quite as interesting as the first two were. This new one, is exactly what the doctor ordered.
The writing was noticeably good overall. You can feel the tension when Dexter enters Yates’ home, not knowing that he’s being watched, and that tension only grows with time. I’m rather impressed with how they made this character special. The viewer will be very shocked at Yates’ actions with his father. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a murder quite like that on the show, which will go a way towards making him more memorable. Of course, the most shocking moment of the episode was the ending with Deb forcing Dexter off the road. They lulled the audience into a false sense of security, and then proceeded with a genuinely surprising, but fitting action.
This episode had some of my favorite uses of cinematography in the whole season. In the shipping container scenes with Deb and Vogel, they used light to speak volumes about the character. For instance, Vogel is standing with her back to the light, which hides her face and body in shadow. This image seems to imply that while she may be playing the role of an angel to help Deb, she’s still got too much darkness to be trusted. Deb was framed the exact opposite way, facing the light, but surrounded by shadow. This use of lighting reminded me of a pivotal scene in Citizen Kane. Later in the episode, when Dexter sees Deb for the first time after a week or so, the lighting is a little soft so we get to see Deb through Dexter’s eyes. She looked healthy and happier than she’s been all season.
I found the most powerful scene in the film to be Harry’s final video session with Dr. Vogel. He’s absolutely right about the fact that nobody deserves that, and the viewer can and should strongly empathize with Harry. Deb’s single line of dialogue perfectly captured the essence of her journey at this point.
One thing I’ve really liked about his season is the enhanced presence they gave Harrison. Now that the character is older, we get to see him in some more interesting situations. I thought the popsicle opening from last episode was great, and this episode continued. Harrison and his invisible friend in this episode was absolutely adorable. Every time the kid shows up, he makes me smile.
This episode changed quite a bit about relationships in the series, and we’re sure to get even more changes in the future. Dexter’s final season has been doing well, thus far. I’m looking forward to the next one.