22 December 2024: The three latest written interviews of me are here, here and here.

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Dexter: Original Sin: Season 1 Finale: Satisfying


A thoroughly satisfying ending to the first season of the blockbuster prequel to Dexter: Dexter Original Sin.

[And there will be spoilers ahead ...]

In a nutshell, one of the two killers who wreaked havoc on Miami got his just deserts in this finale, and the other is still at large and revving up for more slaughter.  And that's the way it had to be.

Spencer wasn't really a serial killer.  He was a police captain crazed by fury over what his wife had done.  And the son that he tried to kill and the boy he did kill to cover his tracks deserved none of his fury, so the captain certainly deserved to die.  And the fact that Dexter delayed giving into his impulses and first saved Nicky, shows that he had reached an ideal level to start his adult life, given his compulsions, as he and Harry realize.

Meanwhile, there was no way this first season finale could end other than with Brian looking at the happy family -- Harry, Dexter, Deb -- on the outside looking in, in a menacing way, menacing just by the very fact that he was there.  Dexter: Original Sin is handcuffed in a way all sequels are, to tell a story that converges with what we know comes after.  To diverge from that reality is possible only in alternate history and time travel stories.  Those are science fiction.   And Dexter in all episodes and now the third series is the antithesis of science fiction (much as I love that genre, as a reader, a viewer, and an author).  Dexter is about reality, with a vengeance.

And since we know the role that Brian plays in our reality, in the original Dexter series on Showtime, there's was no way Brian could be anything other than menacing at the end of the first season of this prequel.

It was also good to see Deb settle on path that would get her to Miami Metro.  But here I'll say that knowing what will happen to some of the characters in Original Sin in later Dexter stories makes me more than a little sad.  But that also is unavoidable in prequels.  They are, again, stories in which the future is already written.

I'm really looking forward to the continuing story of the older Dexter -- Dexter: Resurrection -- set to be on the air this summer.  And I'm more eager than ever to see the next season of Original Sin.  I look forward to seeing you back here, as I continue to review every episode.  Well, I won't actually see you, but you know what I mean.

See also Dexter: Original Sin 1.1: Activation of the Code ... 1.2-1.3: "The Finger Is Missing" ... 1.4: The Role of Luck in Dexter's Profession and Life ... 1.5: Revelations and Relations ... 1.6: On the Strong, Non-Serial-Killer Parts of the Show ... 1.7: First Big Shocker ... 1.8: Dexter's Discovery ... 1.9: Brian's Story




And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Geller Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love



And see also
 Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review





Friday, February 14, 2025

The Gorge: Hi-Tech Blast from the Past



Thought I'd take a brief break from reviewing science fiction like Severance, which will break your brain if you watch it too much and try to understand.  The Gorge, though the story takes place in the present, harkens back to Creature from the Black Lagoon and Them -- simple stories with clear-cut heros and monstrous monsters, the pride and joy of the theaters in the boroughs in the 1950s, where in the case of The Allerton Theater on Allerton Avenue in The Bronx, you could get in for a double feature with a quarter.  And if you somehow missed one of these movies and the popcorn and the candy, you had a good chance seeing it a few years later on Million Dollar Movie, I think on Channel 9 in New York City --  where they shoulda been if they weren't there.


the Allerton Theater in the 1950s

The Gorge's story actually goes back just a few years before the 1950s, and the horrors it reveals -- mutants ranging from everything, including human-and-tree combos -- are the result of science gone awry at the end of World War II, with Oppenheimer and the atom-bomb specifically mentioned as a parallel development.

[Ok, here's an advisory about some spoilers ahead ... ]

And The Gorge is also a love story, with a male and a female sharp-shooter on both sides of the gorge.  When they're not fighting off villains of the worst kind, he writes poetry and she loves it.  They start off communicating with pen-on-paper viewed through binoculars across the gorge, and, of course eventually get together and fight the monsters in all kinds of ways.

By the way, when I say villains of the worst kind, I'm referring not only to the monsters who are partially human, but the monsters who are completely human, and try to exterminate our heroes with the latest in drones and weaponry.  Sigourney Weaver makes an appearance as one of the evil people, and Miles Teller (who looks familiar but I can't remember where I saw him) and Anya-Taylor Joy (who looks familiar because she starred in The Queen's Gambit) play our two loving commando heroes.

So, hey, if you're in the mood for a bit of adrenalin and true love in an insane life-and-death pressure cooker of a situation, you can't go wrong with The Gorge.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Liaison: Crime and L' Amour



So I just binged Liaison, a six-episode French/British spy thriller that streamed on Apple TV+ two years ago.  It's still up there -- one of the joys of streaming -- and I'm glad it is.  I don't how I missed it when it first aired.  I see that critics gave it mixed reviews, another example of the poor vision and/or hearing of some of the people who somehow continue to share their myopic assessments to hapless readers.

First, I should say that I'm not surprised Liaison was so good.  The French have a knack for putting up excellent police series.  They know when a couple running away from police, or in the police themselves, always find time when they're caught in tight spots, figuratively and literally, to hug, kiss, pull together even more, and do what comes naturally.  This mix of crime and l'amour always hits the spot, if done right. It made Spiral, a French police drama, one of the best ever on screen.  Thus a spy thriller with a French ambience, which after all is a kind of police drama, has big leg up in emotion.

In the case of Liaison, the British, who also have the own appealing ways of presenting a spy story -- epitomized of course by James Bond -- meld with the French to make an once combustible, sarcastic, and devoted production.  Eva Green (Penny Dreadful) and Vincent Cassel (Westworld the series) in the lead roles are in the middle of a high tech, terrorist tale of corruption and those who are struggling to stop it, and it's tough to tell, or supposed to be tough, to tell who is the hero and who is the villain.  Although--

[And here's my warning about spoilers ahead .,.. ]

I said "supposed to be tough," because I never lost my faith for a moment in the these two appealing heroes.  It was fun to see them driving from both sides of the front seat, as well as wielding knives and guns and avoiding their lethal result with a combination of prowess and sheer luck.

Now the short series ended in a way which leaves the tableau wide open for a second season.  I have no idea if that will or won't happen. But if it does, rest assured I won't wait two years to watch it.


Saturday, February 8, 2025

Dexter: Original Sin 1.9: Brian's Story

Well, the blood-splattered ingenious story in Dexter: Original Sin 1.9 is not just about Dexter's older brother Brian -- the notorious Ice-Truck Killer who played such a crucial role in the very first season of the very first Dexter TV series that began on Showtime nearly 20 years ago -- it's also about Captain Spencer.  But I didn't want to overload the title of this review.

[And there will be spoilers ahead ... ]

The two stories are intertwined.  Dexter thinks he has a serial killer on the table.  We know that this serial killer is not Spencer.  He is still a monster who has kidnapped his own son and cut off his finger -- to punish his former wife, the boy's mother, who left Spencer -- not to mention that he killed another boy, Jimmy Powell, to draw any attention away from anyone from Miami-Metro who might suspect he kidnapped his son.  But he wasn't at all responsible for the various adults who've turned up murdered in the previous episodes of Original Sin.

That killer, we learn in 1.9, is Brian.  Indeed, we see Brian take another victim with a chainsaw, with flashbacks that show him, as a boy, trying to suffocate baby Deb because she was making too much noise crying.  With only one episode left to go in the first season of Original Sin -- and (if I remember correctly) with the older Dexter not starting out suspicious of his brother in the first season of the original Dexter series in 2006 --  it's likely we've seen the last of Dexter looking for the not-Spencer serial killer in Original Sin. But you never know.

Meanwhile, we're treated to another example of Dexter's wiley intelligence near the end of the episode.  Spencer escapes after Dexter tells him he'll be back.  Not because Dexter is still learning his craft as a killer.  It's because Dexter realized he couldn't trust Spencer to tell him where his son Nicky was.  So, although we don't actually quite see it, he must have cut some of that plastic that was holding Spencer down on the table, allowing Spencer to break loose, and when Spencer speeds away in his car -- he's still able to drive alright with nine fingers -- Dexter pulls out after him.  The best way for Dexter to find out where Nicky is.

Not only was that a clever move, Dexter also manages with Spencer on the table to deliver one of his best lines of the season, musing, as he resists the thrill of killing Spencer, that Dexter now knows what "serial killer blue balls" feel like.  A memorable line delivered by Michael C. Hall.  (Hey, that would have been an even better title for this review than Brian's Story.)

See you back here next week with my review of the first season finale.

See also Dexter: Original Sin 1.1: Activation of the Code ... 1.2-1.3: "The Finger Is Missing" ... 1.4: The Role of Luck in Dexter's Profession and Life ... 1.5: Revelations and Relations ... 1.6: On the Strong, Non-Serial-Killer Parts of the Show ... 1.7: First Big Shocker ... 1.8: Dexter's Discovery




And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Geller Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love



And see also
 Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review




Severance 2.4: Innies Out in the Snow

Well, as I've been saying, Severance's outstanding second season on Apple TV+ seems to be getting better and better, with episode 2.4 delivering one of the wildest stories so far, with our innie team of four -- Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irv -- now out in the snow, doing the furthest thing from frolicking, at least for everyone other than one couple.

[And here's the warning about spoilers ahead ... ]

I guess the most important revelation in this blinding story is that Helly's innie is really her outie Helena, a prime member of the Eagan family, daughter of Jame, CEO of Lumon.  Irv pays the price of telling us this, by being banished from the severed floor by Milchick.  Unclear how long he'll be banished from the show -- if at all -- but I hope he isn't.

Now all of the above was exciting enough, but the Helly/Helena story also delivers her finally making love with Mark.  As I said last week, I thought the two of them should have kissed in episode 2.3, but in retrospect that was a good build-up to what they did in the winter wonderland in 2.4.

Helly/Helena's feelings for Mark also put in a different light what's happening on the severed floor with Ms. Casey, who was revealed at the end of season one as Mark's beloved wife Gemma.  Depending upon how deep Helena's feelings for Mark are, she may want to keep him separated from his wife.  And speaking of Mark, we saw him at the end episode 2.3 undergoing some kind of integration.  We now know that the procedure didn't kill him.  But did it work?  And, if so, how entirely?

Helena notices something different in Mark after they sleep together -- is she sensing that Mark's innie is not quite the same?   One thing about Severance that you can always to rely upon: no matter how many questions it seems to answer, it always also leaves some new ones on the table, whether on the severed floor or out in the north in the ice and the snow and the freezing ponds.

See also Severance 2.1: Ultimate Fake News? ... Severance 2.2: Multiple Dylans ... Severance 2.3: Innies<->Outies


Thursday, February 6, 2025

Paul Levinson interviews Sarah Seltzer about The Singer Sisters


Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 407, and my in-depth interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel, The Singer Sisters.

Relevant links:

 


Check out this episode!

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Paul Levinson interviews David Browne about Talkin' Greenwich Village


Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 406, and my in-depth interview with Rolling Stone writer David Browne about his masterful book, Talkin' Greenwich Village. We talk at length about Dave Van Ronk, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, The Blues Project, Bob Lind, and a little less about many others, including Hegel and his spirit of an age.

Relevant links:


Check out this episode!

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Severance 2.3: Innies<->Outies

Of course, every episode of Severance is about innies and their outies, but 2.3 was especially so, a potpourri of vignettes (I don't know why I'm getting so French) that effectively told a bouquet of stories.

[And voici my warning about spoilers ... ]

The ultimate innie and outie story is no doubt the attempt to re-integrate the two.  We saw how that worked out for Petey last season, so Mark taking a shot at that at the end of the episode is a major event, indeed.  As always, since there's no way Mark is going to turn into a vegetable after this -- at least, not for too long -- it will be significant and fun to see what comes from this.

Another innie and outie story in 2.3 is Dylan's, whose innie is now getting a little time with his outie wife, thanks to the goodness of Lumon.  Of course, things don't work out as well as either Dylan's innie or outie might have hoped, but we do learn that Dylan's outie -- as we also saw last week -- is a bit of a loser.  Not surprising, because who in their right mind would want to go through the whole severance procedure.  I mean, the show is highly enjoyable, but that's in significant part because the procedure certainly is not.

We see Helly in and out, too.  But my favorite scene with Helly was after she and Mark take the elevator down to innie-land (actually, innie-floor), and they're close to kissing.  Helly clearly wants Mark to kiss her, and she makes that moderately clear.  But Mark (the idiot) doesn't.  And given that Helly was the one who kissed him last time, he certainly should have.  Not to mention that Helly is very kissable.

And then, of course, we have the people who are only outies.  Milchick is gifted a series of portraits of Kier, rendered as a black man.  To his credit, he doesn't really like them, though he puts on a good show to Natalie, who has the best facial expressions in the business.  This was actually a very important scene, because if Milchick turns against Lumon because of its racism, well ...   (And he was also carrying those blue balloons.)

But that's getting ahead of ourselves.  I'll see you back here next week with my revue of 1.4.

See also Severance 2.1: Ultimate Fake News? ... Severance 2.2: Multiple Dylans

Dexter: Original Sin 1.8: Dexter's Discovery

Dexter: Original Sin continues to be an unguilty pleasure to watch, with many outstanding elements in episode 1.8.  But I'll focus ahead on the one that struck me the most.

[And here's the spoiler warning ... ]

It was Dexter's discovery, voiced near the end of the episode, that he not only has a hunger to kill those who deserve it -- in his inimitable way -- but he could sense the darkness in other killers as well. In this case, Captain Spencer, who has not only kidnapped his own son, and cut off his finger, but in episode 1.8 kills I don't how many people exactly, just to cover his own tracks.  (He has had his son's shirt planted in his victims' house.)

But this actually makes another crucial point.  Not all "darkness" is the same in Dexter's world.  Dexter gets pleasure from killing, but not from killing innocent people.  Not even innocent people who might reveal Dexter's killing.  After all, it was Deb who killed LaGuerta in the original Dexter series, not Dexter. Harry's code, which Dexter internalized, strictly forbids the deliberate killing of any innocent person.

So what Dexter realizes he can recognize in others is the general "darkness" of being driven to kill other people.  And this, of course, is something that can both fuel and guide Dexter's hunt for victims. (I have a vague recollection that Dexter may have collided with another beneficial serial killer -- that is, a serial killer of other killers -- but I can't quite recall where in the original series that happened, if it happened at all.) 

Other notable parts of this important episode include Deb learning the truth about her boyfriend (I told you he was bad, an obvious point), and Laura Moser nearing her end.  Which I very much regret, because I think she and Harry are a good couple.  But, hey, you can't change history, unless you're telling an alternate history storyfar , which all the Dexter stories so far are definitely not.

See also Dexter: Original Sin 1.1: Activation of the Code ... 1.2-1.3: "The Finger Is Missing" ... 1.4: The Role of Luck in Dexter's Profession and Life ... 1.5: Revelations and Relations ... 1.6: On the Strong, Non-Serial-Killer Parts of the Show ... 1.7: First Big Shocker




And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Geller Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love



And see also
 Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review




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