Dexter - Everything is Illuminated, S05E06

Two clear and concise plot lines with just enough crossover to feel cohesive is making for an excellent season of Dexter. I continue to enjoy Dexter (Michael C Hall)'s lack of involvement with the Santa Muerte murders, while his relationship with Lumen (Julia Stiles) appears to be providing him with exactly what he needs to heal.

Yes, he is very frustrated with the damaged girl's attempts to make herself feel better - she is a mind coming undone, but with a focus similar to his, she could make it through. I am glad that by the end of the episode Dexter agreed to help her out, conceivable preventing himself from getting into more danger because of the trouble she has been causing, but also because it gives him a mission. He cannot save Rita, or avenge her. Her killer is already dead, and at his own hands although he did not know it at the time. But perhaps killing someone specifically to help another individual will accomplish what he needs.

Meanwhile, Masuka (C.S. Lee) has been killing me. Watching him describe the crazy sex antics which led to the deaths of two people Dexter actually killed was almost as funny as when we got to see his dragon tattoo an episode or two back. I laughed for the entire scene and had to rewind and watch it a second time so that I could find out what was actually going on in it.

Finally, I was actually happy with the Angel (David Zayas)/Maria (Lauren Velez) developments. Bringing in a lady who might lead to the capture of two serial murders is definitely a step up from a puppy. Not only is Angel finally redeeming himself before his wife, he is also reminding us that he is a capable cop. I'd almost forgotten that. Plus, Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) are a couple!!! When Deb asked him to tell her that the relationship wouldn't end badly...well what relationship of Deb's ever has. I suppose when she broke up with Anton, that wasn't so bad, but she clearly didn't have deep and true feelings for him. I just hope that Quinn doesn't break her heart because he is convinced Dexter isn't the stand up guy everyone else believes he is. It's probably a really good thing that Doakes and Quinn were never at the precinct together, or else Dexter would have had a really hard time of things.

Can't wait to see the second half of the season.

Dexter - First Blood, S05E05

Alright, so the cast that the precinct is pursuing is actually moving forward, while Dexter (Michael C Hall)'s personal quest remains both unclear and centered around Lumen Pierce (Julia Stiles). Sure, I continue not to be impressed with the Angel (David Zayas)/Maria (Lauren Valez) story arc. I am never a fan of relationship drama - I'd much rather see the complications of a couple getting together, like Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and Deb (Jennifer Carpenter).

Quinn is such an interesting character. First of all, he's hot (and I've thought so of Harrington since I saw him in Taken). And then you have the interesting balance of this likable guy, who clearly cares a great deal about Deb, both as his partner and as a woman, with a complete jerk. Okay, so he's right that there is something wrong with Dexter, but the way he's been going after him, especially when he's got Deb in the middle, it just extreme. Plus, there's the side of him that's a dirty cop, taking money from crime scenes, not reporting his CIs, and bribing other cops into doing his dirty work. When he told Deb he wasn't good for her, he was telling the truth, but how bad can he really be if he is warning her off? As a lady who has always had a thing for the redeemable bad boy, I choose to believe that Quinn will in fact be good for Deb, regardless of the tensions between him and Dexter.

Again, I want to praise the plotline about the serial killers from Venezuela. The discovery of the advancement of their style and technique is terrific fodder for development. I also continue to love watching Deb with an excitable and positive young cop because it is so endlessly amusing to see her so cynical with someone who has not yet reached that point. I also like the fact that for once Dexter is not trying to kill the main suspect of the murders his people are investigating. Sure, that might change before the season is over, but for now I am enjoying the idea that the cops might actually catch their suspects.

As for Lumen and Dexter, well, again it's hard to say where that's going. Dexter has developed a saviour complex after the death of his wife, and Lumen is a perfect target for his own release. Sure, he wants to help her and kill her assailants - as long as they are guilty. And that segment with him and Harry (James Remar) where he nagged himself into recognizing the impossibility of the sex offenders guilt, well that was just a beautiful moment of watching Dexter's disconnect with reality.

And now that Lumen has again refused to leave Miami, but Dexter believes that she has, there are even more possibilities for future outcomes.

Dexter - Beauty and the Beast, S05E04

So lets talk about Julia Stiles, who is portraying Lumen Ann Pierce. Now, I recall one of my prominent drama professors say these words about her: "Whoever told Julia Stiles she could act?" And I can't say that I've ever disagreed on this point. But as a completely messed up kidnapping victim, she's doing okay.

Alright, so we had to have a woman who was, in her own way, as messed up as Dexter (Michael C Hall) because otherwise the bond of trust between them would not be believable. But this does have a ring of Season 3 to it, where Dexter is trusting his secret to someone who is equally insane and who will probably expect his help in the murders she herself is planning. The difference is that her murders are far more justified that those of Miguel, but it's not going in the best direction.

On the other hand, I love the change between Harry (James Remar) and Dexter. Remar is hardly given credit for his role. As a part of Dexter's subconscious and his multiple personalities, Harry isn't his own character, and so becomes a benefit to Hall's performance. The two play so well off each other, and in the past, Harry has been the side of Dexter's personality which most resembled us. He is the logic, the one who understands the rest of the world, or at least he was. In Season 5, with his prompting of Dexter to get rid of the girl to preserve the First Rule, never get caught, we side with Dexter who claims his First Rule as never hurt an innocent. Between his accidental murder of an innocent man last year and the horrible murder of his wife, innocence has taken on a position of importance above and beyond anything else in his code. Even if Lumen promised up and down that she would escape and inform on him to the police, he still could not kill her.

And as Dexter continues dealing with the aftermath of his latest killing, Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) continues to have major issues over her feelings of inadequacy as a cop. Again, I love that she is turning to Quinn (Desmond Harrington). I can't help but believe that what he would love more than anything else is to be with her, to care for her and love her. Too bad that doesn't work with his belief that there is something very wrong with Dexter. It makes the relationship very interesting for the same reason I find this season interesting. I have no idea where it is going. And I am very much enjoying that feeling because, while the show is not being predictable, I firmly believe that it has a solid direction and is following it carefully.

Dexter - Practically Perfect, S05E03

And finally I feel as though the season has been launched. Of course, I could be wrong, but the direction appears clear, and while we are back to two main plot lines, we have forward momentum and little confusion.

On the one hand, we have the cases of the detectives of the precinct, and on the other, Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall). It would be nice if those two things came together - and naturally we do have the crossover of Quinn (Desmond Harrington)'s vendetta against Dex - but for the present the decapitations have little to do with the animal clean-up expert or the young lady he was holding hostage.

I'm enjoying Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) a whole lot this season. I have always found her foul mouth highly entertaining, but between watching her interact with an enthusiastic uniformed cop who is not so different from the Deb we met at the beginning of season 1 and watching her fend off the advances of Quinn who can't seem to shake his desire to bed her again, she is my favourite character this season. I LOVED her nanny interviews at the beginning of the episode. Her expectations and terrifying questions made it near impossible to not trust the nanny that she and Dexter ended up picking.

Watching Dexter, on the other hand, isn't entertaining. It's too heart wrenching. Even while he was chasing his victim around and got shot in the chest with a tranquilizer, I wasn't really laughing because I'm still too upset over the effect Rita's death has had on him. When he finally got his kill, his dissatisfaction was equally dissatisfactory to me. What it led to - a still living victim who had witnessed his crime - will lead him to a problem far more complicated and far less easy to let take care of itself than he had when Doakes was on his trail. And when you add Quinn's hunt and the mysterious trail to locate Kyle Butler to the mix, I can't help but feel that getting over Rita's death is one of many major difficulties in his life.

But as long as the plots remain cohesive and tight, bring on the complications.

Dexter - Hello, Bandit, S05E02

At present, we are without a clear and obvious plot for Season 5. Yes, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is currently on the trail of another serial killer whom he plans on eliminating (and I have to wonder just how many serial killers there are in Miami for him to so constantly have his pick of them), and there is the question of the whereabouts of Arthur Miller and Kyle Butler, but will those carry us through the season? And what about the latest set of murders being investigated by the precinct? I am concerned about the directionlessness - it reminds me of the multiple arcs of Season 3, which was the show's worst season. So far, however, I remain excited and interested by what is going to happen next.

As always, the side plots are either really exciting or very annoying. Maria (Lauren Valez) and Angel (David Zayas) are only just married and already they are having major conflicts. Not over minor disagreements but over the sorts of things they really ought to have discussed before they go married. Besides which, I'm unimpressed with Maria's response to Angel's questions about her money. Sure, it is hers, and there is no reason that she needs to be sharing it with him now (although, if that's how she feels, why didn't they sign a prenup?), but when they get to be 80 walking together down the beach hand in hand, is she going to have him living in poverty while she is secure? I really don't see the point of that tension.

On the other hand, I am loving Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and Quinn (Desmond Harrington). Deb's continual issues with men, her turning to her partner when she needed physical comfort, and her refusal to admit that any of it happened never cease to entertain. Plus, Quinn's desire to act so supportive and caring towards her makes him seem like an ideal boyfriend, even though he's got plenty of his own issues. We don't need to get into the tension that would exist in their relationship if Dexter were ever accused of a crime. Quinn would be only too ready to believe it, while I don't think Deb would accept what she was seeing even if she stumbled into the middle of one of his executions.

The focus, of course, has to be on Dexter. How he is coping with the loss of Rita and the distance between himself and his children makes complete sense with all the character development until now. I love that he wants to be on the hunt, wants to continue to find peace and purpose in killing other serial killers, but that somehow he is no longer entirely fulfilled by the practice. Hopefully this won't result in more random murders (although who would have missed his irritating neighbour?).

What I want is for next episode to pick up and give me a clearer sense of where this season is going. Dexter is such an excellent show and I am delighted to have found the time to watch an episode; I hope it continues to be worth my time.