Sunday, November 07, 2010

My Review of Dexter's 4x11: "Hello Dexter Morgan"

Written by Scott Buck And Lauren Gussis
Directed by SJ Clarkson

Trinity: “Hello, Dexter Morgan.”

Three words as simple as “Hello, Dexter Morgan” should never sound that creepy but when they’re being uttered by Arthur Mitchell, there’s no way that they can sound anything but creepy. Dexter really, really is fucked this time around.

I really don’t know what he was thinking that he was going to achieve with Trinity this time around. If the last six episodes haven’t proved anything, they should’ve proved to Dexter that Trinity is ever bit as smart as he is, if not more. There was no way Trinity was going to hand over 50,000 dollars to Dexter and the end scene was excellent.

Trinity finally knows who exactly Dexter is and all it took was murdering a real Kyle Butler, setting up a trap in the arcade and following his enemy to Miami Metro. The only question is – what does Trinity do next? I doubt he’s going to be stupid enough to actually attack Dexter in the police station of all places but he certainly has the upper hand.

If Dexter hadn’t procrastinated all season with killing him, he wouldn’t be in this mess. Last week had presented him with the perfect chance to finally do in the serial killer and Trinity slipped through his fingers. Trying to play the role of blackmailer this week only gave Trinity a chance to get clever and he certainly played it well.

Though to be honest, this week was all about Trinity being clever. He’s gone from the killer who was tempted to end his own life to getting a new lease on life thanks to Dexter saving him a few weeks. When Trinity wasn’t getting one over on Dexter, he also managed to deal with his daughter without bloodshed.

I actually did think the second that Christine was released from police custody, it would’ve been the moment that Trinity decided to silence his daughter for good but instead he just coldly dismissed her, which was a pretty reckless thing to do, considering that he didn’t know whether or not she would start talking to the police about her father’s whereabouts.

I hate to admit it but to a certain extent, I felt a little bad for Christine. All she wanted was her father’s approval and she never got it. Killing Lundy to protect him didn’t earn and neither did lying to the police when being grilled by both Angel and Deb also didn’t either. Christine could never really catch a break with her father.

Which was why I was hoping that when she did decide to open to Deb about the shooting that she would also reveal who Trinity was (and therefore blow Dexter’s attempts of throwing the cops off the scent) but alas, she didn’t. She did however admit to killing Lundy, asked Deb for forgiveness and then proceeded to shoot herself afterwards.

It might not have been the best of endings for the character but it certainly did its bit in resolving the case with Lundy. Deb was wonderful during these scenes as well. Not only did she manage to keep her cool when talking to Christine twice but even when she refused to forgive Christine, Deb managed to not let her anger towards the woman overwhelm her judgement in the manner either. I don’t think Deb would’ve able to have done that a couple of seasons ago.

And as for the plots that were more romantic and less about murder – certainly an interesting bunch. Angel and Maria might have made the unwise move to marry in order to obstruct Matthews from getting a discipline hearing but given that Matthews has been a genuine jackass over their relationship, I’m actually on their side with this one.

As for Rita confessing to Dexter about her kiss with Elliot – glad that plotline’s been resolved. The fact that Dexter punched Elliot in my opinion serves to remind that he really isn’t faking it when it comes to Rita and that makes me a happy viewer. Unfortunately by the time I review the next episode, I won’t be so happy.

Also in “Hello, Dexter Morgan”

Isn’t it odd that the police aren’t seriously gunning for Arthur after Scott was rescued? Then again, Arthur was able to go around the station without being noticed too.

Trinity: “Let me ask you a question. What kind of man witnesses a child abduction and doesn’t call the police?” Who are you, Kyle? What do you want?”
Dexter: “Money.”

We learned that Christine’s mother was called Lorraine Hill and has been dead for five years. Angel also found the postcards that Trinity sent to her from his kills.

Rita (re Elliot): “Shouldn’t we talk about this?”
Dexter: “I thought we just did.”
Rita: “You didn’t say anything.”
Dexter: “I’m putting it behind me. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

Christine: “I don’t wanna talk about your daddy issues, okay?”
Deb: “Fine. Let’s talk about yours.”

Dexter framed a truck driver named Stan Beaudry for being the Trinity killer after he killed him.

Stan: “I’m gonna rip your heart out.”
Dexter: “Yeah, I heard.”

Dexter: “Love thy neighbour. Bullshit.”

Masuka made me laugh in this episode with the way he blurted out to Dexter about Rita and Elliot. Quinn’s nastiness towards Dexter also started spilling out in front of Deb.

Dexter (to Deb, re Trinity): “I’m sure he made mistakes. We weren’t looking.”

Christine: “You know what I did? I shot you, I killed Lundy.”
Deb: “Okay.”
Christine: “I’m so sorry.”

Chronology: December 3rd and 4th 2009 for this episode.

Excellent episode. “Hello, Dexter Morgan” is certainly building towards an unstoppable finale, that I literally cannot wait to see what happens next, even though I’m pretty scared to watch a certain storyline come to life.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

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