S01.E04: H Is for Hero

[paigow]

The father of the person whom Dexter killed makes an unexpected announcement; Harrison is considered a hero to the entire town after he was involved in a serious incident at school.

Airdate: Nov 28 / 21

[paigow]

Harrison is not an imposter... but definitely evil...

Old Caldwell is definitely the "Runaway Killer / Embalmer" .. Douchebag Billionaire is a red herring? 

How many more Homeland Carrie / Brody anvils are coming?

[aghst]

Yeah they gave away all the secrets.

I thought they might stretch the "does Harrison also have a Dark Passenger" plot for most of the season.  

Presumably, Harrison knows about Dexter so is he really going to go "how dare you looked through my things?"

But less than half way in (?) maybe they plan to have some father-son bonding activities involving knives and avoiding detection.

Also, no more suspense about the identity of the Runaway killer.  Another middle aged serial killer (like Trinity) who's been operating for who knows how long.  But are the missing girls only a recent thing?  Because Caldwell didn't start killing only in the last year or two.

Meanwhile, he's running a con to find out what really happened to his son, found out Dexter knew about the son's past incident.

Was the bullied kid really going to massacre his classmates?  So Harrison prevented carnage and he's already living by the Code?  Or he isn't living by the Code, he was just feeding his appetite and used the supposed Columbine wannabe as a cover?

But that's not sustainable, how many people can he attack, even supposedly in self-defense, before his cover is blown?

So Dexter will teach?

 

[Penman61]

Minor point, but the podcaster's actual podcast that Harrison was listening to has the completely wrong vibe for actual true crime podcasts, unless Gossip Girl Does Murder exists or some such.. (Only Murders In The Building is a glorious example of getting that actual vibe comically right.)

[paigow]

That picture of Trinity looks like it was taken inside Metro Dade. No surveillance camera has that kind of angle... so who took it?

35 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Dexter’s 100th episode‼️🎉🎈🎊🥂

 

Super Meta Moment... All those people in the actual episode must have been crew members...

[paigow]

47 minutes ago, aghst said:

Was the bullied kid really going to massacre his classmates?  So Harrison prevented carnage and he's already living by the Code?  Or he isn't living by the Code, he was just feeding his appetite and used the supposed Columbine wannabe as a cover?

Ethan was never going to massacre anyone... Harrison framed him to join the cool kids while also capturing the "moral high ground" - i.e. douchebags created their own enemy - and undying loyalty from said douchebags.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Kurt lied about Matt because he’s working on some theories that he has in mind. He was being secretive with Iron Lake PD because Matt could be killed by Seneca men for killing the majestic white buck and Angela could be protecting them. With Dexter, he’s trying to find out whether Dexter knows more than he’s letting on.

There’s also a possibility that Kurt has an accomplice. He does the luring, kidnapping & shooting, and his partner does the embalming, burying etc.

Does Harrison know about his mom’s murder, that he’s the little boy in the blood pool and his dad is the Bay Harbour Butcher? Whatever happened between him and Ethan that day, he could be triggered after listening to that podcast.

Dexter was so eager to prove that his son has some dark tendencies. When he found that straight razor, he seems satisfied.

A drone from Kurt, interesting! Harrison will definitely stumble upon something dangerous with that drone, something that he shouldn’t see. And things will escalate from there. By being around Harrison, is Dexter selfishly putting him in danger?

Angela and Molly working together in the missing girls’ case? Meh… Molly isn’t that interesting.

[paigow]

1 minute ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

By being around Harrison, is Dexter selfishly putting him in danger?

Harrison is the selfish one for initiating contact with a man obviously trying to disappear, then hanging around dropping guilt bombs. Dex intentionally killed his own murderous brother... He will probably try to kill Harrison at some point and fail. 

[CarpeFelis]

15 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Does Harrison know about his mom’s murder, that he’s the little boy in the blood pool and his dad is the Bay Harbour Butcher? Whatever happened between him and Ethan that day, he could be triggered after listening to that podcast.

Dexter was so eager to prove that his son has some dark tendencies. When he found that straight razor, he seems satisfied.

He definitely knows he’s the little boy in the blood pool—we saw pictures of Trinity and Rita on his phone. Whether he knows Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, hard to tell.

Was it my imagination or did Dexter seem to have a little smile on his face as he concluded that Harrison has a Dark Passenger?

LOL @ when Harrison asked Dexter about being that scared and he VO’d “I wrapped bad guys in plastic and killed them”.

[Snazzy Daisy]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

Harrison is the selfish one for initiating contact with a man obviously trying to disappear, then hanging around dropping guilt bombs. Dex intentionally killed his own murderous brother... He will probably try to kill Harrison at some point and fail. 

Harrison:

“I guess we all have 2 sides to us. Maybe we’re a little bit hero and a little bit, I don’t know, monster. It’s all about which side wins out in the end.”

 

1 hour ago, CarpeFelis said:

Was it my imagination or did Dexter seem to have a little smile on his face as he concluded that Harrison has a Dark Passenger?

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by SnazzyDaisy

[preeya]

This episode with the high school students & related problems reminded me of "13 Reasons Why."

Edited November 29, 2021 by preeya

[Morrigan2575]

Well, we had 2 big reveals and both seemed obvious. I'm assuming there will be a twist somewhere. 

[ShadowHunter]

Episode 3 and 4 have at least been better. The first 2 episodes were a bit blah.  Screw you Harrison.  I felt bad for him hearing about Trinity and thinking of Rita but now I don't care much for him.  

[AuntieMame]

21 hours ago, paigow said:

Harrison is the selfish one for initiating contact with a man obviously trying to disappear, then hanging around dropping guilt bombs. Dex intentionally killed his own murderous brother... He will probably try to kill Harrison at some point and fail. 

Well, Dexter having to kill his own son might be interesting at least, but as he killed his own brother already it does drain some of the dramatic conflict out of the situation. Perhaps the writers could stress the whole Abraham and Isaac thing with Harry and Deb as a combination God and the Greek chorus? 

This episode was better and I know I will watch the full season but Harrison with a Dark Passenger seems obvious. Maybe it’s as another poster said, there is a twist coming. I devoutly hope so. 

I felt bad for Ethan. Really bad. Poor kid. Bullied his entire life and now stabbed and off to juvie and judgmental psychological “help”? Ethan’s entire life just got sacrificed even if Harrison’s stabbing him wasn’t fatal. If I were Ethan I might come to wish that Harrison had just killed me cleanly.

Seriously. If Ethan had survived high school and adolescence he might very well have evened out into a normal adult. Now he has no chance. His treatment of Ethan even before the stabbing makes me see Harrison as a predator. 

It’s horrifying that this is just glossed over and dismissed by the writers and ultimately the audience. Then again, so many innocent people suffered when Dexter covered his crimes that putting the blame on others is just par for the course. Maybe part of Harry and Dr. Psychopath Whisperer’s code should have included “Don’t make the innocent suffer.” No kidding I felt terrible for Ethan and his family. And Dexter now knows the truth. And he probably has some clue as to what Ethan is facing. We heard Rudy/Binie’s story after all. I know this is a tiny part of the episode and the throw away character will never be mentioned again but I was horrified. And what kind of cop just dismisses what the other victim says? Because the truth of the matter is that she had two kids who had been stabbed. One awake and hurt, one unconscious and very seriously injured. She assumes that the seriously injured person is the aggressor? What kind of logic is that?

ETA: The actress even seemed to have trouble spitting out the line about “…no matter what reasonable doubt Ethan tried to raise, I didn’t believe him because Harrison is a big, fat hero and that’s all there is to it. So there!”She noticeably stumbled over that line.

Oh, and against all odds, I ended by liking the podcaster. I liked that she demonstrated her utility by finding one of the few girls who was a runaway and then reassured Angela that the others were gone without a trace and that Angela wasn’t delusional or off on a hare. It made me like the character. I doubt it will happen and it’s only a (indifferently written) subplot but I would watch these two catching the Runaway Killer. Meeting some of Mollie’s more interesting armchair detectives might be fun too. It seems the bloom is off the rose of Dexter Saran-wrapping people to his table. Especially since he’s not even good at it anymore. Another stretch in the implausibility olympics. Dexter would never be this incompetent at killing and covering even with a decade long break. 

One thing I am curious about is what life was like with Hanna. Why isn’t Dexter asking more questions? What did Hanna tell Harrison? What happened to the half million Hanna brought to Argentina? How did Harrison’s darkness develop? When did he find out about Trinity? Especially since it was firmly established that Hanna killed to survive and didn’t enjoy it and would just as soon never kill again. How did she deal with the developing Dark Passenger? Did she see it? Try to change things? Did she talk about the code? Knowing some of this would make the show more toothsome. 

Edited November 29, 2021 by AuntieMame
A few more thoughts.

[ShadowHunter]

I do hope Dexter gets more involved with the missing girls soon. Usually he was involved with getting the big bad of the season around the 4th or 5th episode.  Agreed he needs to talk more to Harrison and ask about Hannah and talk about Rita as well.  

[arachne]

When Harrison was eating those eggs, I couldn't help thinking, You want some hot sauce with that? 😉

(Dexter v.o.: He even eats like me.) 

[AngelaHunter]

57 minutes ago, AuntieMame said:

 Why isn’t Dexter asking more questions?

IMO, Dexter has never displayed an iota of interest in anyone if he wasn't going to use them or kill them. He may ask questions now, but he knows if Harrison is truly like him, everything he says will be a lie. Judging by how he answered Angela's few questions, he's pretty good at lying, just like Daddy Dexter.

Dex is in a great place to resume his moonlit hobby. The cops there don't know nuthin' about nuthin'.  A bunch of girls vanish? Oh, well. Probably runaways. Some martini-chugging blogger girl has to try and find them. Angela is bedazzled at her skill.

The Harrison stabbing - none of them thought to look or check the wound and see what Dexter saw at a single glance, that the incident couldn't have happened the way Harrison said. Let's just announce that Harrison is a hero (something Dexter always wanted to be even after Biney disabused him of that notion) and Ethan is a monster, even though he never hurt anyone before yet turned on the one person who befriended him. Solved!

[AuntieMame]

23 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

IMO, Dexter has never displayed an iota of interest in anyone if he wasn't going to use them or kill them. He may ask questions now, but he knows if Harrison is truly like him, everything he says will be a lie. Judging by how he answered Angela's few questions, he's pretty good at lying, just like Daddy Dexter.

Dex is in a great place to resume his moonlit hobby. The cops there don't know nuthin' about nuthin'.  A bunch of girls vanish? Oh, well. Probably runaways. Some martini-chugging blogger girl has to try and find them. Angela is bedazzled at her skill.

The Harrison stabbing - none of them thought to look or check the wound and see what Dexter saw at a single glance, that the incident couldn't have happened the way Harrison said. Let's just announce that Harrison is a hero (something Dexter always wanted to be even after Biney disabused him of that notion) and Ethan is a monster, even though he never hurt anyone before yet turned on the one person who befriended him. Solved!

Argh! I can’t seem to work the posting interface today. You make a good point, people on the socio-psychopath continuum aren’t interested in others. But the whole point of Dexter the character is that he isn’t like the other psychopaths. He wants to be a hero. He comes to love the wife he acquired for camouflage. The loss of his adopted sister gutted him. I know consistency is going to be an issue when changing some of the psychology but not all of the psychology of a serial killer. It just bothers me when characters don’t ask really obvious questions that anybody of any psychology or personality would ask. 

And yeah, turning on his one (false) friend doesn’t make any sense either. Even if Angela is a dolt, don’t you think Audrey would be plugged into every shade of teen dynamic? Well, it’s official. I hate Harrison. Dexter is like a combination predator and ne’er do well. Harrison is cruel. 

Edited November 29, 2021 by AuntieMame
I hate Harrison.

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, AuntieMame said:

I know this is a tiny part of the episode and the throw away character will never be mentioned again but I was horrified. And what kind of cop just dismisses what the other victim says? Because the truth of the matter is that she had two kids who had been stabbed. One awake and hurt, one unconscious and very seriously injured. She assumes that the seriously injured person is the aggressor? What kind of logic is that?

I'm not sure I agree that this will never get mentioned again or that it's a throw away. However, I doubt Ethan will get justice, he will suffer and/or die and innocent victim of "the dark passenger".

I'm curious if Harrison planned it or reacted after listening to the podcast? Like he got emotional and then wanted a taste? Of course that would depend on if Harrison killed Hannah.

 

 

[AngelaHunter]

3 hours ago, AuntieMame said:

But the whole point of Dexter the character is that he isn’t like the other psychopaths. He wants to be a hero.

IMO, Dexter is not a psychopath. Sociopath, yes, and he has never been capable of feeling empathy or love for anyone, not even Rita. He merely felt some vestigial guilt over her brutal murder but he got over it pretty quickly. He never loved her and he doesn't love his son. He attempted to redeem himself by helping Lumen (and there was something in it for him too. of course) and became the hero he always wanted to be.

I doubt this was Harrison's first attack on anyone. He may be practicing and working up to the murder of innocents just like his uncle Brian, unless Dexter teaches him the Code. HIs mother was murdered, his father abandoned him and his serial killer guardian died. Fucked up, he is.

[Tatum]

How much did Harrison truly frame Ethan? I mean, I realize he stabbed Ethan first and then himself, but those pictures Ethan drew were real...was the kill list real? Also, assume Ethan did stash weapons in his room, pilfered from his dad's collections. Not at all defending Harrison but is it possible a school shooting plan was in the works? Or did Harrison somehow mastermind the whole thing?  Were the kill lists and the drawing schematics of where people sat in classrooms forged?

 

I couldn't tell if Harrison was acting or if he was genuinely shocked to hear that Ethan would never be coming home, that his family's lives were all irreparably damaged. I felt so sorry for both the parents, especially the dad.

 

I also think Angela must be the most incompetent police chief ever. I get it that Iron Lake doesn't have the resources Miami has, but come on- Harrison said he saw Ethan coming at him with a knife. Yet Ethan managed to get a completely clean shot with the knife, that just happened to be pretty shallow and non lethal? Harrison and Ethan have no wounds besides the stab wounds? No bruising, no scratches, nothing that might occur when two high school boys are scuffling over a knife? For such a genius, Harrison sure was sloppy, especially knowing who his father is (in terms of forensics). Harrison must know how suspicious Dexter would be, and his self righteous affront at Dexter's questions was way overdone. There's no way Harrison could think he fooled Dexter.

 

Since Angela isn't interested in doing much besides posting up various crime scene photos for any interested passerby (at this point, she might as well post everything on the Iron Lake PD social media pages since there is no security in the police station and she tells anyone who wants to know anything about whatever case she's working on), hopefully Iron Lake has good attorneys nearby who could destroy Harrison on the witness stand.

[Tatum]

I am not sure I think Caldwell is the one kidnapping and killing the women. While things don't look great for the blue haired runaway, Caldwell gave her money for a bus fare home. He offered her a job. When he said, "I can't keep giving you money"...it seemed like he was trying to relive his talks with Matt, only making better choices as a parent. Perhaps he was merely grooming her to gain her trust, but I just don't see Caldwell as the Big Bad.

 

ETA: The most recently killed girl said she had to make sure she had enough money leftover for bus fare the next morning. The blue haired girl said she needed bus fare to get home (although she didn't buy a ticket when she did get money). How are all these girls winding up in Iron Lake in the first place? Who, when they're down to their last few dollars, decides to get off the bus in this tiny town, for the sole purpose of having to wait around for a bus to take them out of town a day or two later? This storyline does not make sense. It does not appear that the town is near any large cities, so how are these girls even winding up in town long enough to catch the serial killer's eye?

 

On another note, Caldwell seems suspicious of both Dexter and Harrison. I understand why Dexter has pinged his radar, but not sure about Harrison. It's possible he was just using the situation with Harrison as an opportunity to needle Dexter, but something about the way he was going on and on about how great Harrison was- it seemed like he was actually mocking him. I don't think Caldwell truly thinks Harrison is a hero.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Tatum

[ahpny]

45 minutes ago, Tatum said:

How much did Harrison truly frame Ethan? I mean, I realize he stabbed Ethan first and then himself, but those pictures Ethan drew were real...was the kill list real? Also, assume Ethan did stash weapons in his room, pilfered from his dad's collections. Not at all defending Harrison but is it possible a school shooting plan was in the works? Or did Harrison somehow mastermind the whole thing?  Were the kill lists and the drawing schematics of where people sat in classrooms forged?

What seems clear is that the drawings were real, and Harrison seemed appropriately alarmed when he first saw them. That point additionally seems confirmed by the parents' complaint to Harrison about not coming to them first. Indeed, if Harrison were on the up and up fully, why didn't he go to someone after seeing those drawings, like Ethan's parents, the school guidance counselor, his father, his father's cop girlfriend? No answer to that question yet.

What seems unclear is how real or progressed any of Ethan's plans were regarding his kill list. Maybe those drawing were effectively cosplay in his own revenge fantasy and Ethan never intended to act on anything. Or maybe that's wrong, and Ethan had a cash of weapons at home, which would demonstrate far more ominous intent (as Angela worried). We just don't know, and don't know if Harrison is tampering with "evidence" to push a particular story away from the truth. We also don't know why Harrison would do that, if in fact he is doing that.

What seems perhaps most probable from what we do know is that Harrison stabbed Ethan - at least in his view - to "save" the kill-listed students and not so coincidentally to make myself out to be a hero. Just as Dexter saw Matt's unavoidable and inevitable danger to so many others after the high-powered gun purchase, Harrison may have viewed decade-tormented Ethan as an innocent-harming time-bomb waiting to explode violently at any minute. In a sloppy and inchoate way, Harrison's "code" blessed taking Ethan out - if not quite killing him. Harrison may not have realized how ruinous his plan would be to Ethan's parents and apparently never thought through the full consequences of tarring Ethan as a psycho-killer-wanna be.  Harrison's interactions with Ethan's parents suggested at least some of this.

[Tatum]

6 minutes ago, ahpny said:

What seems perhaps most probable from what we do know is that Harrison stabbed Ethan - at least in his view - to "save" the kill-listed students and not so coincidentally to make myself out to be a hero. Just as Dexter saw Matt's unavoidable and inevitable danger to so many others after the high-powered gun purchase, Harrison may have viewed decade-tormented Ethan as an innocent-harming time-bomb waiting to explode violently at any minute. In a sloppy and inchoate way, Harrison's "code" blessed taking Ethan out - if not quite killing him. Harrison may not have realized how ruinous his plan would be to Ethan's parents and apparently never thought through the full consequences of tarring Ethan as a psycho-killer-wanna be.  Harrison's interactions with Ethan's parents suggested at least some of this.

Yeah, that would make Harrison a little less cruel.

 

I do think Ethan truly did have weapons in his room, and from the pictures, this included at least 3-4 firearms. I don't think it's very likely Harrison would have been able to do that. That is quite the contrivance that Harrison would have been able to steal all those items from Ethan's dad and hide them around Ethan's room without anyone noticing.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Tatum

[AngelaHunter]

3 hours ago, Tatum said:

I also think Angela must be the most incompetent police chief ever.

And the most naive. She just believes anything anyone - including a boy she barely knows -  tells her and it's "Okay, fine. Case closed". Barney Fife may have dug a little more than she did.

[MicheleinPhilly]

Ugh. I'm very disappointed at how quickly this went from must-see tv to "I guess I'll watch Dexter now" in such a short span of time. I don't know if it is the storyline or the actors but I'm just not feeling it. 

The actor playing Harrison has ZERO charisma and everyone else in the town comes across as ignorant rubes. 

I'm not even that intrigued by the "big bad." There's like 37 people living there - how hard can it be to find someone's murder cabin? 

I'll obviously stick with it, but it feels like a bit of a slog at this point. 

[Tatum]

3 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Ugh. I'm very disappointed at how quickly this went from must-see tv to "I guess I'll watch Dexter now" in such a short span of time. I don't know if it is the storyline or the actors but I'm just not feeling it. 

The actor playing Harrison has ZERO charisma and everyone else in the town comes across as ignorant rubes. 

I'm not even that intrigued by the "big bad." There's like 37 people living there - how hard can it be to find someone's murder cabin? 

I'll obviously stick with it, but it feels like a bit of a slog at this point. 

Yeah even before this episode I found Harrison's scenes painful to watch. All the teenage characters come across as super obnoxious. Audrey is just as bad although she's clearly supposed to be the moral beacon of this crowd.

 

I assume there is a reservation nearby the town which is where the killer is getting some of his victims (this show is veering into Yellowstone/Taylor Sheridan territory regarding unreported violence against Native American women), but not sure how so many runaways from other areas wind up in this little town. There's like 30+ missing young women.

[MicheleinPhilly]

44 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I assume there is a reservation nearby the town which is where the killer is getting some of his victims (this show is veering into Yellowstone/Taylor Sheridan territory regarding unreported violence against Native American women), but not sure how so many runaways from other areas wind up in this little town. There's like 30+ missing young women.

Exactly. Where is the FBI? Where is the national media? They are obviously trying to make a point about how little attention is focused on black and brown girls and women when they are missing but law enforcement's lack of attention and focus other than Angela's bulletin board is gross. Are they doing ANYTHING in relation to these girls? I know that it is in some ways sickeningly true to real life, but in a town where you would think a missing chicken would be headline news, I'm finding the law enforcement incompetence to be really jarring. 

[Tatum]

7 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Exactly. Where is the FBI? Where is the national media? They are obviously trying to make a point about how little attention is focused on black and brown girls and women when they are missing but law enforcement's lack of attention and focus other than Angela's bulletin board is gross. Are they doing ANYTHING in relation to these girls? I know that it is in some ways sickeningly true to real life, but in a town where you would think a missing chicken would be headline news, I'm finding the law enforcement incompetence to be really jarring. 

And how did these women get on the bulletin anyways? The pictures (and the potential victims) appear to be a mix of local Native American women and non local Caucasian young women classified as runaways. So...they ran away from home, spent a night or two in Iron Lake, disappeared again, and...went up on Angela's bulletin? How would she even know about them then? Is she just combing nearby jurisdictions for missing young women and throwing them up on her board?

 

They had years to come up with some kind of logical storyline and subplots and everything just feels really slapped together. Let's focus on the poor media coverage of missing/exploited non white women! Let's focus on Dexter's son being evil (or is he?)! Let's have Dexter take on another serial killer! let's give Dexter a romance with someone who will eventually suspect him! (well that may be hoping for too much).  For the last one, Rita, who I think was comically oblivious to most things, had more critical thinking skills than Angela.

[aghst]

51 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Exactly. Where is the FBI? Where is the national media? They are obviously trying to make a point about how little attention is focused on black and brown girls and women when they are missing but law enforcement's lack of attention and focus other than Angela's bulletin board is gross. Are they doing ANYTHING in relation to these girls? I know that it is in some ways sickeningly true to real life, but in a town where you would think a missing chicken would be headline news, I'm finding the law enforcement incompetence to be really jarring. 

It's a good point, that little town can hardly be a transportation hub to other places in NY state let alone other cities out of state.

If all the missing girls were from that little town it would be a huge deal, the place would be crawling with county, state and federal cops.

So most of the girls are from out of town and just meant to be passing through?  How often are transportation hubs with long-haul busses placed in a small town, especially one with a lot of snow?  If they want to say most of these girls were from maybe within a 200-mile radius, which is still at least a 4 hour bus ride, that would make sense.

[Tatum]

5 minutes ago, aghst said:

It's a good point, that little town can hardly be a transportation hub to other places in NY state let alone other cities out of state.

If all the missing girls were from that little town it would be a huge deal, the place would be crawling with county, state and federal cops.

So most of the girls are from out of town and just meant to be passing through?  How often are transportation hubs with long-haul busses placed in a small town, especially one with a lot of snow?  If they want to say most of these girls were from maybe within a 200-mile radius, which is still at least a 4 hour bus ride, that would make sense.

That's what I don't get. We've seen two young women now who just appeared in town, and both talk about taking buses back out. So like, how did they end up there in the first place? What was their point in coming? It appears both women hopped on a bus, got off in Dexter's town, with next to no money, no place to stay, and not knowing a single person there. Maybe we are supposed to assume that these  girls are from towns which do not have buses to anywhere but Iron Lake? So they would have to at least pass through Iron Lake, maybe for an extended period of time, before they can catch the next bus on to their final destination?

 

That's pretty far fetched, but I suppose it's not worse than the chief of police just shrugging her shoulders over a stabbing incident and saying, the new kid says it happened this way, so that must be true, despite a ton of evidence to the contrary. Case closed.

[AngelaHunter]

2 hours ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Ugh. I'm very disappointed at how quickly this went from must-see tv to "I guess I'll watch Dexter now" in such a short span of time

Same. I forgot about it Sunday night until after 10p.m. and then debated watching it. What a difference from the OS, when I simply couldn't wait to watch each week, and would immediately rewatch every episode. 

I thought this new series might try to make amends for the insulting crap we got served for 3 seasons, but it all just falls flat and is kind of meh. Dexter is boring, I don't care about his kid, the Keystone Cops are laughable, and poor Deb has been rendered unbearable. Even Clancy Brown can't save it for me.

I didn't have really high hopes, but mighty disappointed I am. 🤒

[AuntieMame]

So many good points from everyone, the main theme developing being that the new Dexter just isn’t hanging together. I love stories in all mediums and willingly suspend my disbelief, but this is like listening to someone lie to you. You might nod along in the moment but your instincts nag you that something just isn’t right. When I remember the brilliance of the unlikeable but morally right Doakes as the antagonist in the original recipe Dexter I’m disappointed too. 

In his day to day emotions, Dexter does act and seem more like a sociopath, but when you have a barely manageable urge to strap people to a table and murder and dismember them and you not only need it but enjoy it and crave it, well that edges into psychopath territory to me. There are theories that many sociopaths aren’t even criminal and that they thrive in the parts of society where morality and and compassion aren’t assets. 

Yes, Ethan might have been working up to some sort of school massacre but I read the character as more of a messed up Walter Mitty type. As @ahpny put it, these were revenge fantasies so that he could survive. I think Harrison saw Ethan’s drawings and had an idea rather than being a brilliant mastermind who planted guns and did everything. I started to like Harrison when he defended Ethan and hoped for a bit of friendship between two damaged survivors, one a more practiced survivor. 

Thanks to everyone who noted how nonsensical all of these random girls riding the buses in and out of Iron Lake is. I haven’t paid as much attention to that part of the plot just because it made so little sense I was pretty much ignoring it until given a reason not to. 

As for the Keystone cops, don’t even police in small towns have to go to the police academy? And actually learn things? Because rural doesn’t mean crime free. 

Dexter feels like a shell. 

On 11/29/2021 at 1:08 PM, AngelaHunter said:

IMO, Dexter is not a psychopath. Sociopath, yes, and he has never been capable of feeling empathy or love for anyone, not even Rita. He merely felt some vestigial guilt over her brutal murder but he got over it pretty quickly. He never loved her and he doesn't love his son. He attempted to redeem himself by helping Lumen (and there was something in it for him too. of course) and became the hero he always wanted to be.

I doubt this was Harrison's first attack on anyone. He may be practicing and working up to the murder of innocents just like his uncle Brian, unless Dexter teaches him the Code. HIs mother was murdered, his father abandoned him and his serial killer guardian died. Fucked up, he is.

Edited November 30, 2021 by AuntieMame

[aghst]

Can someone briefly summarize how Dexter killed his brother?  Was it when they were kids, not adults?

Also what happened with Doakes?  Did Dexter kill him?  What would have been his rationale?

Don't remember what happened to La Guerta or Angel either.

[Tatum]

14 minutes ago, aghst said:

Can someone briefly summarize how Dexter killed his brother?  Was it when they were kids, not adults?

Also what happened with Doakes?  Did Dexter kill him?  What would have been his rationale?

Don't remember what happened to La Guerta or Angel either.

Dexter killed him as an adult because he tried to kill Deb, I believe. He pretended to be in love with Deb and wanted Dexter to participate in killing her. I think he was jealous because Deb wasn't his "real sister".

Doakes was killed in an explosion in the TV series. He lives in the book, but he would have been better off dead. He's tortured and disfigured by one of the the book killers, can't remember who. I think he was following Dexter in both the show and the book and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dexter felt bad in both cases about what happened to Doakes. I don't remember this, but I guess Lila (Dexter's crazy fan/side piece) purposely trapped Doakes in the burning building so he wouldn't come after Dexter. Then once he was dead Dexter decided to make lemons out of lemonade and frame him for a lot of Dexter's murders.

I think Angel is still fine? Deb killed La Guerta because she was about to expose Dexter. Deb never forgave herself or Dexter for that.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Tatum

[aghst]

Thanks, jogs the memory a bit.

[AngelaHunter]

53 minutes ago, aghst said:

Also what happened with Doakes?  Did Dexter kill him?  What would have been his rationale?

Dexter had a dilemma with Doakes as he didn't fit the code, therefore he was torn about killing him (Doakes) to protect himself. Luckily, Dexter's psycho girlfriend, Lila the arsonist, settled that problem for Dexter. Dexter then created evidence to prove Doakes was in fact the Bay Harbour Butcher, which devastated Maria but Dexter was always only about Dexter. No one else is real to him and the collateral damage from his crimes concerned him not at all.

1 hour ago, AuntieMame said:

Dexter feels like a shell. 

Agree.

[Ailianna]

Didn't Ethan say something to Harrison when he wanted to show him the drawings about wanting Harrison's help dealing with the bullies? I felt like that was meant to show Ethan was up to something bad.

[AuntieMame]

4 hours ago, aghst said:

Can someone briefly summarize how Dexter killed his brother?  Was it when they were kids, not adults?

Also what happened with Doakes?  Did Dexter kill him?  What would have been his rationale?

Don't remember what happened to La Guerta or Angel either.

Doakes was killed by Lila because the writers weren’t yet ready for Dexter to break the code and kill an innocent. Doakes suspected, nay knew that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher which led to Dexter keeping Doakes prisoner in a cage in a remote cabin. Doakes was retired special forces who channeled being a trained killer into police work. Much was made of the similarities and differences between Doakes the killer and Dexter the killer. The audience had to dislike Doakes to still root for Dexter. There is one fabulous scene when Doakes is trying to gather evidence on Dexter and they have a direct confrontation in a shipping container storage facility. Dexter grabs Doakes by the throat and Doakes responds with “Lab geek my ass.” There is another scene where Doakes is forced to be present for one of Dexter’s killings and dismemberments when Dexter is holding Doakes prisoner and he is beyond horrified. 

The death of La Guerta is directly connected to the death of Doakes. Doakes was La Guerta’s friend, lover and colleague at various times. Doakes shared his suspicions of Dexter with La Guerta and his suspicions became public too, though thanks to Dexter’s machinations, these suspicions made Doakes look like he was unhinged. La Guerta genuinely grieved Doakes’s death and the fact that he was posthumously framed as the Bay Harbor Butcher. La Guerta never entirely gave up on clearing Doakes’s name and avenging and vindicating him. She too was made to look unhinged. La Guerta tried to trap Dexter in the same shipping container yard and both Dexter and La Guerta we’re caught by Deb. La Guerta begged Deb to shoot Dexter, telling Deb that she was a good person and a good cop. Deb had to make the ultimate Sophie’s choice and shot La Guerta. No matter which choice Deb made it would have destroyed her soul. This is all incredibly tragic and an enormous injustice but the audience isn’t really allowed to feel it because our perspective is Dexter’s perspective, the perspective of a sociopath. Now that I come to think about it, this is both brilliant and morally degenerative to the audience. We know both Doakes and La Guerta are right and decent if flawed people, but we are forced to want Dexter’s survival. Making Deb shoot La Guerta did break that spell a bit though. 

So far we aren’t getting any of that moral ambiguity and discomfort in this new series. We can’t even root for Dexter the shell and Harrison while still something of a cipher, started his career in Iron Lake by destroying an innocent, if troubled person. There isn’t the moral squick factor of rooting for a person who dismembers people. The fact that the people Dexter kills are killers isn’t a saving grace for Dexter because it’s Harry and the doctor’s code. These characters have the depth of a teacup and the moral complexity of a game of tick tack toe. 

Angel took his twenty year retirement package and opened a restaurant the last we heard. I wish we could get some kind of update on him. 

[paigow]

Dexter did a double red-eye Miami to Paris so he could kill Lila. 

[Elizzikra]

Quote

Angel took his twenty year retirement package and opened a restaurant the last we heard. I wish we could get some kind of update on him. 

I always thought it would have made much more sense for Dexter to leave Harrison with Angel than to send him off with his serial killer girlfriend. Angel was a good guy.

[AuntieMame]

3 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

I always thought it would have made much more sense for Dexter to leave Harrison with Angel than to send him off with his serial killer girlfriend. Angel was a good guy.

Now that’s a good idea and Angel liked kids too. Angel was the heart of the show. I miss him. 

[The Mighty Peanut]

I think Dexter wouldn't have left Harrison with Angel or any other man, regardless of how suitable of a parent they would be because Dexter has spent much of his life yearning for a mother and wondering how he would have turned out with a mother's influence.  He transferred that desire onto his son after Rita was murdered, and there was Hannah, you know, completely trustworthy.

[Tatum]

49 minutes ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

I think Dexter wouldn't have left Harrison with Angel or any other man, regardless of how suitable of a parent they would be because Dexter has spent much of his life yearning for a mother and wondering how he would have turned out with a mother's influence.  He transferred that desire onto his son after Rita was murdered, and there was Hannah, you know, completely trustworthy.

He had a functional adoptive mother didn't he? I think she died when he was a teenager. If I remember right, one of his early kills was a neighborhood barking dog who was disrupting his mother's sleep while she was ill.

 

Also, he wasn't planning on abandoning Harrison when he sent him off with Hannah in the final episode. He really thought he was going to meet them. Debra was recovering and Dexter was going to kill the last Big Bad and then meet up with Hannah and Harrison after. Then Debra took a sudden turn for the worse and became brain dead, and Dexter ultimately decided everyone was better off without him. I guess he sent Hannah a Dear Jane letter with a way to track him down if Harrison had a dark side. Hannah evidently never contacted him.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Tatum

[AngelaHunter]

20 hours ago, AuntieMame said:

Now that’s a good idea and Angel liked kids too. Angel was the heart of the show. I miss him. 

Yes, he was. I love Angel's basic decency. He was the brother Deb should have had instead of that creep. I recall Dexter saying to Angel (much to the latter's confusion) "If I could be like a real person, I'd want to be like you, Angel."

[BooBear]

Did anyone notice that the photo that Molly has of Rita for the Trinity Podcast is her cropped wedding photo?

I think Molly is there for Dexter.

[AuntieMame]

On 12/1/2021 at 4:26 PM, AngelaHunter said:

Yes, he was. I love Angel's basic decency. He was the brother Deb should have had instead of that creep. I recall Dexter saying to Angel (much to the latter's confusion) "If I could be like a real person, I'd want to be like you, Angel."

I remember that scene, I loved it too. 

[heatherchandler]

On 11/28/2021 at 12:58 PM, CarpeFelis said:

He definitely knows he’s the little boy in the blood pool—we saw pictures of Trinity and Rita on his phone. Whether he knows Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, hard to tell.

Was it my imagination or did Dexter seem to have a little smile on his face as he concluded that Harrison has a Dark Passenger?

LOL @ when Harrison asked Dexter about being that scared and he VO’d “I wrapped bad guys in plastic and killed them”.

I totally saw that as a smile!

 

On 11/29/2021 at 2:08 PM, AngelaHunter said:

IMO, Dexter is not a psychopath. Sociopath, yes, and he has never been capable of feeling empathy or love for anyone, not even Rita. He merely felt some vestigial guilt over her brutal murder but he got over it pretty quickly. He never loved her and he doesn't love his son. He attempted to redeem himself by helping Lumen (and there was something in it for him too. of course) and became the hero he always wanted to be.

I doubt this was Harrison's first attack on anyone. He may be practicing and working up to the murder of innocents just like his uncle Brian, unless Dexter teaches him the Code. HIs mother was murdered, his father abandoned him and his serial killer guardian died. Fucked up, he is.

 

I always felt like Dexter told us he was a sociopath but showed us he wasn't.  He claimed to not have feelings or love people, but I don't think that was true.

 

I have been wondering if he killed Hannah.  Do we know how she died?

 

I liked this visual clue to Harrison’s dark passenger.

 

[Zonk]

I'm so sad that Harrison turned out to be a psycho. That makes things way less interesting, imo.

[DoctorAtomic]

Same. I was hoping for more of an unwilling accomplice. 'Mini Dexter' is kind of flat for me.