S01.E06: Too Many Tuna Sandwiches

[Tippi]

I thought this episode was the best one so far, up until the podcaster trotted right along with Creepy Santa into the underground chamber and the Little Demon broke the other kid's arm.  I'm trying to think what would happen to Harrison after a stunt like that?  I would think he would be hauled off to juvie court/jail and Dexter/Jim would be sued out the wazoo.

[Starchild]

7 hours ago, paigow said:

Jim is paying taxes as a gun store employee. Fred may not be the brightest bulb, but he is not going to cheat the IRS with undocumented staff

I was thinking more of any unpaid taxes Dexter had at the time of his "death". How voracious is your IRS anyway?

[paigow]

15 minutes ago, Starchild said:

I was thinking more of any unpaid taxes Dexter had at the time of his "death". How voracious is your IRS anyway?

If Dexter did not have a will, the IRS would take all his assets to cover unpaid taxes.

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

If Dexter did not have a will, the IRS would take all his assets to cover unpaid taxes.

Someone so meticulous and anal-retentive probably had a will, if only to protect Deb and Harrison. So yeah - where's the money?

His apartment sold in 2017, for only 205K. I wonder if he had paid it off. 🤔

 

[ahpny]

12 hours ago, BooBear said:

12 hours ago, Starchild said:

Most interesting thing I learned from the episode is that it is NOT illegal to fake your own death. I imagine then that they get you for something else, like tax evasion.

Not sure that is true. Fraud is a crime and "Jim" had to engage in Fraud to be living the life he is

It might be correct that the isolated act of faking your own death isn't technically illegal, but as noted, almost anything else you would do after that to pass yourself off as someone else is likely to be infested with fraud. Yes, you can legally change your name to anything you like, but you can't do that to hide crimes or for any other nefarious purpose.  Presumably, Dexter has made up a whole new person, with new ID, and other personal information that is false. Using that false information - which he presumably does nearly every day - would seem to be several types of crimes. The government can make up new identifying stuff - as in a witness protection scheme - but that doesn't mean private people can do the same thing. They can't. Who knows what he uses for a social security number. And presumably he pays taxes. How could the IRS simply start receiving taxes from some guy who's never before existed (or more importantly to them, never paid taxes before). Maybe, like Don Draper, Dexter assumed the identity of a real person who had truly died?

[paigow]

46 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Someone so meticulous and anal-retentive probably had a will, if only to protect Deb and Harrison. So yeah - where's the money?

All the people he would bequeath things to are dead / erased... Deb & Rita are truly dead... Hannah & Harrison are erased... So even if there is a will, nobody is left to inherit anything... except the IRS

[Tatum]

On 12/12/2021 at 10:21 PM, AngelaHunter said:

and he may certainly have killed Doakes if Elvira hadn't done it for him.

Hahahaha. Elvira.

[TVbitch]

Thank God they seem to have toned "Deb" down. I'm glad, but it makes no sense, cuz things are getting much more tense and complicated for Dexter, so you'd think she'd be going ballistic. 

Harrison definitely has emotions. Can he be saved? I think only if Dexter dies. 

[Morrigan2575]

14 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Thank God they seem to have toned "Deb" down. I'm glad, but it makes no sense, cuz things are getting much more tense and complicated for Dexter, so you'd think she'd be going ballistic. 

Harrison definitely has emotions. Can he be saved? I think only if Dexter dies. 

To me it makes sense that Deb is toned down. She's a reflection of Dexter's internal struggle, he's pretty much happy now that he's killing again. Plus he probably enjoys the thrill of getting away with it and, knowing he's smarter/better than the cops.  Even the fear of getting caught would probably provide a high

 

[Tatum]

26 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

. Plus he probably enjoys the thrill of getting away with it and, knowing he's smarter/better than the cops. 

 

If Dexter is hanging his hat on being smarter than the Iron Lake PD, that's a low damn bar.  The Wet Bandits could have outsmarted these guys.

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, Tatum said:

If Dexter is hanging his hat on being smarter than the Iron Lake PD, that's a low damn bar.  The Wet Bandits could have outsmarted these guys.

True, I actually wouldn't mind a VO about that. He was surprised that first guy brought in over Missing Matt to be good.

[DoctorAtomic]

This is way picky, but while I enjoy the use of the podcaster VOs to remind us of the original show, the actual narration is just awful in terms of believing that's an actual podcast. Similarly, I'm surprised they went wrestling as the big high school sport instead of hockey. 

I thought the response from Angela about 'Dexter' was overwrought too, after (I know we know he's lying) he's laying out quite a lot of trauma for what would be the first time to anyone. She has 100% right to be ticked, but making it all about her just seemed kind of derivative. I agree with her saying he was a bad parent, but the whole 'all this time you lied' was kind of eyeroll. Until you actually need him. 

The therapy scene was kind of flat for me. I've been reading a lot of the comments, and I'm kind of leaning to Harrison not being what he seems either. I don't think he's not the real Harrison so far but maybe he's knowing more than he's letting on. 

Nothing about the actor, but Harrison centered scenes just don't do anything for me. He's fine. I'm just not that engaged in his solo plots. 

To be fair, there's enough about the show that's holding my interest - I'm interested in how the missing girl plot will play out, for one. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by DoctorAtomic

[Tatum]

11 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

This is way picky, but while I enjoy the use of the podcaster VOs to remind us of the original show, the actual narration is just awful in terms of believing that's an actual podcast. Similarly, I'm surprised they went wrestling as the big high school sport instead of hockey. 

I thought the response from Angela about 'Dexter' was overwrought too, after (I know we know he's lying) he's laying out quite a lot of trauma for what would be the first time to anyone. She has 100% right to be ticked, but making it all about her just seemed kind of derivative. I agree with her saying he was a bad parent, but the whole 'all this time you lied' was kind of eyeroll. Until you actually need him. 

The therapy scene was kind of flat for me. I've been reading a lot of the comments, and I'm kind of leaning to Harrison not being what he seems either. I don't think he's not the real Harrison so far but maybe he's knowing more than he's letting on. 

Nothing about the actor, but Harrison centered scenes just don't do anything for me. He's fine. I'm just not that engaged in his solo plots. 

To be fair, there's enough about the show that's holding my interest - I'm interested in how the missing girl plot will play out, for one. 

I totally agree with all of this- in Angela's shoes I would absolutely break things off with him, because Jim Lindsay is basically a carefully crafted alter ego (I mean, she doesn't know this, but she wouldn't be wrong to suspect it), but her whole "every time I called you Jim it was a lie" was completely melodramatic and really belongs on a soap opera.

 

I think the actor who plays Harrison isn't great, and the character is poorly written. It's not a matter of a layered, flawed character, it's more of an inconsistent, writers can't decide how to portray him and want to stay a step ahead of the audience so the character changes based on which way the storyline is going, kind of thing which is annoying and also kind of cheap. And the actor can do puppy dog eyes/tears but that's about it. Anything requiring additional nuance from him just falls flat.

 

I think Molly gets some good lines here and there (the massage place only got 2 stars on yelp? sure I'll sit through this conference with you), but agree her podcast narration is grating.

[anoninrva]

33 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I think the actor who plays Harrison isn't great, and the character is poorly written. It's not a matter of a layered, flawed character, it's more of an inconsistent, writers can't decide how to portray him and want to stay a step ahead of the audience so the character changes based on which way the storyline is going, kind of thing which is annoying and also kind of cheap. And the actor can do puppy dog eyes/tears but that's about it. Anything requiring additional nuance from him just falls flat.

It's going to be a lot harder to sympathize with Harrison as his "Dark Passenger" emerges.  His violent episodes begetting "oh, poor me" consequences, without even a Code just look like violence to me, tragic upbringing or not.  From choking the bullies, stabbing the wannabe school shooter (and what bullied child doesn't fantasize about revenge?), to now just completely ignoring the rules of wrestling, I can't see his arc ending well.

[DoctorAtomic]

57 minutes ago, Tatum said:

I think Molly gets some good lines here and there (the massage place only got 2 stars on yelp? sure I'll sit through this conference with you), but agree her podcast narration is grating.

I'm not a prude and my daily language sometimes would make a sailor say, 'whoa, take it down a notch', but for a podcast you want millions of people to d/l, throwing in all the f bombs just strikes me as unprofessional more than her brand. They're placed weirdly in her monologue too, like she's forcing it to be edgy. It's not a show about a podcast so I don't really care that much, but it's hard to buy she's that popular. I like the character, but every time they go to her podcast it's jarring. And I even agree that it's a good way to provide exposition to the show past. 

29 minutes ago, anoninrva said:

His violent episodes begetting "oh, poor me" consequences, without even a Code just look like violence to me, tragic upbringing or not. 

I'm not clear on why he wanted to find Dexter if all he was going to do was be constantly hostile. He certainly should have taken Dexter to task, but after settling in and going to school, meeting people, etc., sure, things aren't going to be always smooth, but, you know, move out and get your own place if it's so unbearable. He's acting out to get a response from Dexter, but I'm not sure what else Dexter can do. 

I actually laughed when he broke the guy's arm. Hey, don't headbut me. Bet you won't do it next time.  

[paigow]

Olympic style wrestling is not a submission combat sport. Score points with takedowns / pins. There is no tap-out because choking and attacking limbs are illegal moves.

[roughing it]

On 12/12/2021 at 9:21 PM, AngelaHunter said:

Shocking moment(for me): Kurt punching the dead girl's face. I wonder what he does with the faces? Some macabre art installation?

My guess is that he was trying to repair her face since the shot destroyed her face.

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

My guess is that he was trying to repair her face since the shot destroyed her face.

Yes, he was definitely trying to fix it, but lacking in skill. I'm just wondering what he's doing with all the intact faces or heads of his victims. Maybe he's a Vincent Price fan trying to emulate "The House of Wax".

 

[DoctorAtomic]

That could be that he's got a 'museum' somewhere of them. We're assuming the body in the caves is his early possibly failed work, and it's unlikely they are unrelated because of watching tv a lot. The question is where he would have this museum. The cabin seemed to be the only building there. 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

 The question is where he would have this museum. The cabin seemed to be the only building there. 

The surveillance room was not packed with bodies... How big IS that cabin???

[anoninrva]

1 minute ago, paigow said:

The surveillance room was not packed with bodies... How big IS that cabin???

We haven't seen upstairs.  That would still be pretty cramped with a dozen corpses, though.

[DoctorAtomic]

If all the girls on the board in Angela's office are his victims, that's about 18 or so. He's going to need a sizeable place. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

10 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

If all the girls on the board in Angela's office are his victims, that's about 18 or so. He's going to need a sizeable place. 

He has his own “skeleton lake” like the one in Himalayas…

[qtpye]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:32 PM, aghst said:

Kurt either has these runaways as trophies like the way people get taxidermists to stuff animals they kill or he has some horrific scene using them as mannequins.

The one he shot in the eye couldn't be salvaged.

So he's trying to pick up the next runaway, turns out she's traveling with a boyfriend.  OK do teens set out to travel across the country just hitchhiking and not enough money  these days?  They ran out just going from Maine to upstate NY.

Because there doesn't seem to be much hitchhiking by callow youth anymore.  Just a trope in movies and TV or maybe they just have old writers?

Meanwhile, they ALL seem to run out of money in Iron Lake before they can continue their journeys to distant destinations.

Kurt tries to settle for Molly, whom Dexter feared would find him out.  Yet she had no idea Kurt was luring him into a kill room until she was inside the building, while Dexter's spidey sense was going off the hook.  So much for true crime podcasters being savvy.

Harrison says he is angry all the time and want to hurt people.  Audrey has also lost parents so she's into it?  Sex with an angry young man with possible psychopathic tendencies is such a good idea.

Yeah they're totally not in the same weight class.  Maybe if Harrison was more skilled but his opponent is suppose to be some kind of champion.

However, looked like Kurt and Dexter were ready to wrestle and Kurt is big -- in the gut.

Angela found Iris in the cave that Kurt didn't want searched.  Now she wants Dexter the forensics genius, but not Dexter the lover.

 

On 12/12/2021 at 3:41 AM, Glade said:

As someone who legally changed their name (first, middle, and last) I felt very attacked by Angela.  Harrison's wrestling opponent looked substantially bigger than him, would they really be in the same weight class?  I kept thinking Teddy was going to turn out to be a spy for Kurt and entomb Angela in his mausoleum-cave. 

 

On 12/12/2021 at 10:22 PM, ajsnaves said:

Maybe, instead of Dexter Morgan Forensic Expert, she really needs David Fisher Mortician. 
 

I just want Dexter and Harrison to get along. They have so much in common. They could be a formidable serial killing machine. But Dexter needs to take the first steps, and tell Harrison about his (Dexter’s) mother and brother. Ease into the whole vigilante killer thing. 

 

On 12/12/2021 at 11:48 PM, anoninrva said:

I don't know anything about wrestling, but it seems unlikely Harrison would have been matched with that kid who was not only much bigger than him, but also a state champion.  I also find it hard to believe he could so gratuitously break the kid's arm and not get a whiff of warning about it.

 

On 12/13/2021 at 11:06 AM, khyber said:

No they would not. I was friends with a lot of the wrestling team in high school. No one ever went up in a weight class, always down. No one even wrestled at their normal everyday weight. Those guys ran around in rubber/plastic suits in the Florida sun to sweat off as much as possible before the weigh ins.  The only exception was the guy who wrestled in the heavy weight class, they actually made him gain weight.

 

On 12/15/2021 at 9:30 AM, Tatum said:

I totally agree with all of this- in Angela's shoes I would absolutely break things off with him, because Jim Lindsay is basically a carefully crafted alter ego (I mean, she doesn't know this, but she wouldn't be wrong to suspect it), but her whole "every time I called you Jim it was a lie" was completely melodramatic and really belongs on a soap opera.

 

I think the actor who plays Harrison isn't great, and the character is poorly written. It's not a matter of a layered, flawed character, it's more of an inconsistent, writers can't decide how to portray him and want to stay a step ahead of the audience so the character changes based on which way the storyline is going, kind of thing which is annoying and also kind of cheap. And the actor can do puppy dog eyes/tears but that's about it. Anything requiring additional nuance from him just falls flat.

 

I think Molly gets some good lines here and there (the massage place only got 2 stars on yelp? sure I'll sit through this conference with you), but agree her podcast narration is grating.

They might as well gift Harrison with super hero powers at this point.

He scores at genius level on his placement tests, becomes a hero to the popular crowd, has the prettiest girl in town fall in love with him (who looks like a young Julia Stiles that just walked off a Hollywood set), and can fight like a ninja master. 

Maybe Harrison should start mentoring Dexter.

Edited December 16, 2021 by qtpye

[Chaos Theory]

Dexter didn’t always follow his own code. I remember the time he killed the child molester that was creeping on  one of Rita’s kids.  Since he wasn’t a killer he didn’t fit the code but Dexter went after him anyway.   There was the “accident” of Season 3 that introduced Jimmy Smitts.  The whole thing started because Dexter accidentally killed the wrong dude and then had to cover it up.    The unintended consequences is that he ended up destroying an entire family.     But he also wouldn’t kill Doakes  (even though he is a huge threat) but when Lila does it for him he is perfectly willing to kill her.  

Edited December 16, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[Tatum]

39 minutes ago, qtpye said:

 

They might as well gift Harrison with super hero powers at this point.

He scores at genius level on his placement tests, becomes a hero to the popular crowd, has the prettiest girl in town fall in love with him (who looks like a young Julia Stiles that just walked off a Hollywood set), and can fight like a ninja master. 

Maybe Harrison should start mentoring Dexter.

 

He's a genius and also street smart, but didn't consider that his blood spatter expert father might think his knife wound was inconsistent with Harrison's story. He hangs with a serial killer and brushes off his father's warnings that something is off about the serial killer because Serial Killer is nice to him, and has taken a huge interest in him, which isn't weird at all.

 

I'll grant him the Audrey thing. She clearly suffers from Marissa Cooper syndrome where she's bored in life and the new kid in town doesn't have to be particularly charismatic to catch her interest. She's a dim bulb herself and full of self righteous indignation so Harrison could be the lamest person ever (and I kind of think he's in the running already), and still seem cool to her.

[qtpye]

6 hours ago, Tatum said:

He's a genius and also street smart, but didn't consider that his blood spatter expert father might think his knife wound was inconsistent with Harrison's story. He hangs with a serial killer and brushes off his father's warnings that something is off about the serial killer because Serial Killer is nice to him, and has taken a huge interest in him, which isn't weird at all.

 

I'll grant him the Audrey thing. She clearly suffers from Marissa Cooper syndrome where she's bored in life and the new kid in town doesn't have to be particularly charismatic to catch her interest. She's a dim bulb herself and full of self righteous indignation so Harrison could be the lamest person ever (and I kind of think he's in the running already), and still seem cool to her.

I was just impressed that after a night of vigorous love-making with the serial killer wunderkind, her hair and makeup was still so perfect.

I was less impressed that she did not think about getting him out of the house before morning. I guess gaining all those awesome num-chuk skills did not leave her time to watch crappy teen movies.

Edited December 16, 2021 by qtpye

[Kristi800]

Quote

he's a reflection of Dexter's internal struggle, he's pretty much happy now that he's killing again. 

But is he? He hasn't been able to really kill anyone the way he would want to and he didn't really want to kill Matt - it was unplanned because he killed the buck - although he did think about it, he didn't act on it. The drug dealer was also low-planning, just wanted to get him as revenge for supplying drugs. He thought about Molly, but seems to be more like clean up than actual need to kill her - like Dark Passenger kill. And then dealing with Harrison's growing feelings - or not dealing with them well. Harry was a good father, and Harrison being a teenager doesn't help an already bad situation and Dex is not experienced with what to do.  

Kurt - he has vibes, but isn't planning on doing anything at this point. 

I'd love to find out how Cody & Aster(?) are doing.

[CarpeFelis]

On 12/14/2021 at 6:35 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I'm surprised they went wrestling as the big high school sport instead of hockey. 

This! I went to college upstate (RPI) and hockey was definitely the big thing.

[Elizzikra]

Quote

nd what makes her so sure he didn’t have some good reason for changing his name? That doesn’t necessarily constitute a lie.

Changing your name isn't a crime but faking your death is insurance fraud if he had life insurance and it paid out. It seems that he would have had a policy through work. Plus there is probably some crime involved in whatever resources were wasted on search/rescue/recovery when the wreckage of his boat was found. I don't think that any of that is what Angela was talking about or was angry about though.

Now that I think about it, when you have faked your own death, I would guess that you can't legally change your name or wouldn't that alert authorities that you aren't, in fact, dead? Or maybe there isn't sufficient communication across states that you'd get caught? If Dexter used fake documents to establish a Jim Lindsay identity, that would also be identity theft (if he stole a real person's documents) or forgery (if he used faked documents).

Quote

For someone who’s supposed to be so smart, Harrison (whom I hate a little more each episode) sure seems to have no common sense. Staying long enough to get caught in Audrey’s bed in the morning? Deliberately breaking that kid’s arm in full view of a gym full of people? Yeah, he was a nasty little cheater with the elbow to the face maneuver, but he deserved to lose the match, not get his arm broken. WTAF, Harrison?!

I think he is smart but has no impulse control.

Quote

I wonder if TPTB read this forum. They gave Deb a complete change of personality, thank goodness. Now she's more like the real Deb.

I don't know if they read it or not but I think that all the episodes have been filmed and are final. They wouldn't have time to make a change like that since just a few episodes have aired. I still miss Deb's creative cussing. That was my favorite part of her personality.

[Peanut6711]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:35 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I thought the response from Angela about 'Dexter' was overwrought too, after (I know we know he's lying) he's laying out quite a lot of trauma for what would be the first time to anyone. She has 100% right to be ticked, but making it all about her just seemed kind of derivative. I agree with her saying he was a bad parent, but the whole 'all this time you lied' was kind of eyeroll. Until you actually need him. 

I was okay with Angela's character till this point. and then her response to "Jim's story" didn't sit well with me and my fellow living room viewers.  She definitely made it about her, and she kinda shamed a man who basically sat there and explained that he was depressed and suicidal when he made those decisions. I realize the viewers know there's way more to the story than that, but as an officer of the law who sometimes gets the call that initially deals with those type of situations as well as an adoptive parent herself, I felt like she should have had a little more empathy and understanding.  From the edited and abbreviated story he told, "Jim" wasn't in the right state of mind and mental health to raise a small boy so he left him in what he believed was the capable care of his stepmother to give him a chance at a better life.

On 12/15/2021 at 9:30 AM, Tatum said:

her whole "every time I called you Jim it was a lie" was completely melodramatic and really belongs on a soap opera.

All I could think was that he tarnished her whole cop sex role play. 😂  Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Sir Psycho Sexy" is at serious risk of becoming their break-up song! 

🎵 I got stopped by a lady cop
In my automobile
She said get out and spead your legs
And then she tried to cop a feel
That cop she was all dressed in blue...

He's a freak of nature
But we love him so
He's a freak of nature
But we let him go 🎵

On 12/16/2021 at 10:23 PM, Kristi800 said:

I'd love to find out how Cody & Aster(?) are doing.

They really needed at the very least a throw-away line to acknowledge their existence. The lack thereof has been bugging me.  I can only hope maybe they are saving them for a potential future season. 

[AngelaHunter]

On 12/18/2022 at 1:32 PM, Peanut6711 said:

From the edited and abbreviated story he told, "Jim" wasn't in the right state of mind and mental health to raise a small boy so he left him in what he believed was the capable care of his stepmother to give him a chance at a better life.

Yes, abandoning his child to life in a foreign country with his girlfriend (not stepmother) another sociopathic, cold-blooded serial killer, and separated from his siblings was the responsible decision. It wouldn't be for anyone who gave a shit, which Dex did not.