S01.E05: Runaway

[AngelaHunter]

13 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

And how the hell did he have the time to dismantle the kill room, dress the guy, and drag him to his computer?

He did it all between the time he looked out the window to see the car door open and cops enter the house.  It should have taken at the very  minimum half an hour - 45 minutes to clean up the kill room and stage the drug dealer. I guess it took the cops all that time to get out of the car and into the house, or is Dexter a wizard now?  Come ON, show! I'm not hard to please at all when it comes to my entertainment - I happily overlooked all the inconsistancies, illogic, and plot holes in the OS (just where was Harrison when Deb forced Dex to move in with her and how was that explained to others? Oh, well.) - and other shows -  but haven't yet found a way to turn my brain completely off.

 

3 hours ago, Pike Ludwell said:

I was hoping he'd drop the plastic thing. I've always thought it was such an overdone part of the ritual it was ridiculous.

That made sense to me. As a blood spatter expert he knew very well that just one drop of blood escaping could and most likely would be found no matter how careful the killer is or how well a crime scene is cleaned up. The plastic ensured this wouldn't happen. After all, he WAS a "very neat monster"!

[Tippi]

It really was nice to see Angel/David Zayas again.  That was a bright spot amidst the gloom.  I am starting to wonder if the climax of the series will be Dexter saves Harrison from Kurt, or Harrison saves Dexter from Kurt.  Don't care, I am not fascinated by the Kurt storyline and persona like the other big bads from season 1-5.

How tiresome is the wild teenage party trope?  TV writers, please give this cliche a rest.  I found the drug dealers pitiful, and I don't think the show was going for that.  The blogger is annoying AF.  The actress playing Chloe did a good job with what she had to work with.  MCH is so creepy now in the role that Logan would have to be googling did Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer) escape from prison.  Too bad MCH has not been given any opportunity to show any charm.  I did like his singing and the song was weirdly appropriate. 

[Erh3d]

On 12/5/2021 at 2:11 PM, paigow said:

Caldwell needs to fire the housekeeper for failing to find a giant glass weapon when making the bed....

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[SunnyBeBe]

2 hours ago, Tippi said:

It really was nice to see Angel/David Zayas again.  That was a bright spot amidst the gloom.  I am starting to wonder if the climax of the series will be Dexter saves Harrison from Kurt, or Harrison saves Dexter from Kurt.  Don't care, I am not fascinated by the Kurt storyline and persona like the other big bads from season 1-5.

How tiresome is the wild teenage party trope?  TV writers, please give this cliche a rest.  I found the drug dealers pitiful, and I don't think the show was going for that.  The blogger is annoying AF.  The actress playing Chloe did a good job with what she had to work with.  MCH is so creepy now in the role that Logan would have to be googling did Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer) escape from prison.  Too bad MCH has not been given any opportunity to show any charm.  I did like his singing and the song was weirdly appropriate. 

Yeah, the writers can’t resist the teen story quite often with adult dramas.  Are they trying to appeal to teens?  Would teens actually watch this show?  I can’t imagine it, no matter how much they focus on Harrison and his friends.  I don’t know anyone under 40 who watches it.  

[CarpeFelis]

About that glass shard—I think she either smashed the mirror in the bathroom to get it or she’d had it stashed in her backpack all along as protection since she was on her own.

[Pike Ludwell]

20 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

That made sense to me. As a blood spatter expert he knew very well that just one drop of blood escaping could and most likely would be found no matter how careful the killer is or how well a crime scene is cleaned up. The plastic ensured this wouldn't happen. After all, he WAS a "very neat monster"!

Some plastic is wise. I realize it's about blood spatter, but I was saying he overdid it -- covering basically the whole room? As a blood spatter expert he could have come up with more efficient ways of handling it. Maybe a a little plastic strategically placed under and beside them and a little plastic "tent" above them, would work. A key thing of his Code is don't get caught. Using that much plastic slows things down and impedes rapid escape, if necessary, and just complicates things. Then there's the purchase, installation, and disposal of a massive amount of plastic. The more time he spends at the site the greater the chances of someone seeing.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Pike Ludwell

[aghst]

Dexter is a neat freak.

That's what the plastic, ritual. the slides, etc. were all about.

He was meticulous in his job in Miami and in Iron Lake.  He probably organized the ammo and the lures and stuff.

[Pike Ludwell]

Yes Dex is a neat freak, but that doesn't mean there aren't other neat ways to handle spatter. And the way he uses plastic is at odds with the higher imperative of his Code -- don't get caught. He spends an inordinate time with the plastic - time in which someone could witness him. He needs fast mobility in case of unexpected events, like on this episode. There are more efficient ways of containing spatter than covering the whole room. And those alternative ways can be done very neatly.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Pike Ludwell

[roughing it]

23 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

It should have taken at the very  minimum half an hour - 45 minutes to clean up the kill room and stage the drug dealer. I guess it took the cops all that time to get out of the car and into the house, or is Dexter a wizard now? 

Maybe the cop was waiting for backup?

[AngelaHunter]

3 minutes ago, roughing it said:

Maybe the cop was waiting for backup?

Maybe. Maybe he stood there for 40 minutes, long enough for the drug dealer to pack up all his crap and escape out the back door.

[Anela]

On 12/5/2021 at 11:25 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

Is it too much to hope that Harrison meets the same fate as those girls?  🙀 I’ll show myself out now…..lol.

I thought that he was going to kidnap Harrison, to avenge his a-hole son.  

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 12/7/2021 at 6:45 PM, Tippi said:

Don't care, I am not fascinated by the Kurt storyline and persona like the other big bads from season 1-5.

AMEN! He's a big, drunken schlub who obviously has issues but I don't feel an ounce of creepy menace from him. I just find him gross. Oil baron guy comes across much creepier to me. 

[DoctorAtomic]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I thought that he was going to kidnap Harrison, to avenge his a-hole son.  

I was thinking the same thing, but he doesn't know Dexter killed the son. Yet. (speculation). 

I did like the girl actually having some wits about her, and trying to fight. 

I'm not really feeling the plot with Harrison. Not the actor's fault. I'm not really interested in a chunk of the show with high school kids at a party rolling. 

[anoninrva]

5 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I was thinking the same thing, but he doesn't know Dexter killed the son. Yet. (speculation). 

I did like the girl actually having some wits about her, and trying to fight. 

I'm not really feeling the plot with Harrison. Not the actor's fault. I'm not really interested in a chunk of the show with high school kids at a party rolling. 

I'm thinking Dexter is going to kill the old man. Maybe they'll flip the script and have him kill Dexter?  That seems unlikely.

Harrison isn't particularly well-written.  I can't help but think that they're using him as a vehicle for teenaged Dexter, and nothing so far has disabused me of the notion that he has the same "Dark Passenger".

[AngelaHunter]

6 hours ago, Anela said:

I thought that he was going to kidnap Harrison, to avenge his a-hole son.  

But he has no idea Dexter killed his a-hole son. He just seems to have an attraction to runaways. wanting to mentor them and then kill them. I thought it was only girls but maybe not.

[DoctorAtomic]

The wall in Angela's office is all young women about 18-ish. I don't think they said any guys when missing.  

[paigow]

Caldwell employs a lot of town kids at the diner during the summer. Hiring Harrison during winter raises awkward questions.

[Tatum]

I thought it was interesting that the blue haired girl seemed to figure out he was going to kill her anyways, and she might as well mess up his ritual. In her shoes, I might have naively thought he had a change of heart, and even if I thought he was going to shoot me in the back I might still try and run for it. Rushing a guy with a gun was a ballsy move. And what exactly is his ritual anyways? This did not seem like the first girl situation. I wonder if he felt Blue Hair was just too uncooperative (or pushing it by trying to seduce him) and decided to cut his losses.

 

Harrison is SO annoying with his hurt feelings over Dexter calling him a liar. Why doesn't Dexter call him out on why? Just say, Harrison, I find it very unlikely that the stab wound you got could have been from Ethan rushing you. It's got nothing to do with which one of you is more trustworthy, rather, what you say happened seems near impossible. Honestly I kind of hate Harrison. He's annoying in general and the actor just bothers me.

 

Angel name dropping Debra, Dexter, and Harrison in his conversation with Angela is just the laziest writing ever. And she's not the only idiot on the police force- these cops regularly interrogate people in front of any civilian audience? Also, why was Dexter not charged with assault?

 

 

[AngelaHunter]

6 hours ago, Tatum said:

Also, why was Dexter not charged with assault?

These cops seem to feel that taking the law into your own hands is understandable and can be excused if someone did something despicable . Dexter really did hit the jackpot with this place. He should have resumed his little moonlight hobby sooner there.

Too bad they weren't so lenient in Miami.

Dexter: "Yes, I beat Arthur Mitchell's head in with a hammer, used a chain saw to cut him into mangeable chunks which I stuck into biodegradable Hefty bags and dumped in the ocean, but he was a very bad man. He killed a bunch of people and destroyed his whole family!"

VO: "Heh. Just like I did. How ironic."

Iron Lake Cops: "Hey, I get it, bro. You're free to go but just try not to do it again."

VO: "I won't. Not today, anyway."

Dexter: "Gee, thanks. Here, have a donut."

VO: "Cops. So easily distracted by high sugar content."

[Tatum]

26 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Dexter really did hit the jackpot with this place. He should have resumed his little moonlight hobby sooner there.

Right???

I find it hard to believe any police chief would be cavalier about sensitive information being said in front of her civilian boyfriend, and allowing him to peruse the crime photos for fun, but her employees asking drug dealers for their sources while sitting in a room with an open door and a civilian sitting in plain sight right outside? Why not just invite him along to your drug bust for funsies? Maybe there's a kindergarten class who can tag along on a field trip as part of their Say No to Drugs education?

 

ETA: Also, I find Dexter's Papa Bear routine pretty rich. Hey, Dex, this is the same kid you never once bothered to check on in like 8 years. I know you trusted Hannah, but you know, unforeseen circumstances and all that, and it wouldn't have killed you to confirm, just for yourself, that Harrison was being cared for properly. But let's be real, you only want to play Dad to a mostly independent teen who may be a mini-you. 7 year old Harrison was just too much work if you didn't have a round the clock nanny or a wife who had such low standards thanks to an abusive ex that she only cared that you weren't beating her or her kids and pretty much handled all domestic duties and asked no questions of you.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Tatum

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, Tatum said:

or a wife who had such low standards thanks to an abusive ex that she only cared that you weren't beating her or her kids and pretty much handled all domestic duties and asked no questions of you.

OH, hell yes. Poor Rita, who also no idea what a marriage was all about. But when she started getting feisty and asking questions and making him think up yet more lies, she merely became another hindrance and an albatross around Dexter's neck. He expected her to stay the way she was when they met - a beaten woman with no self-esteem, a timid mouse to serve as his disguise and not bug him.

Serial killers and families just don't work out well.

1 hour ago, Tatum said:

But let's be real, you only want to play Dad to a mostly independent teen who may be a mini-you.

I don't know. I kind of think if Harrison hadn't happened on Caldwell and been talked out of taking off, Dexter may have played the concerned parent but would probably have breathed a sigh of relief. He has no attachment to his son, if that really is his son.

[Elizzikra]

On 12/5/2021 at 11:14 PM, WaltersHair said:

Does anyone feed or take care of Dexter's animals?

We've seen Harrison do it at least once - when he was doing all the chores after Kurt's advice.