Well, I was wrong last week about Captain Matthews and what he told Dexter about Harry's suicide. If tonight's superb Episode 11 is to be believed - and I can't see why it should not, on this issue - Harry indeed took his own life, and Dexter's feeling that the suicide came from his father's incapacity to accept Dexter for what he really is seems warranted.This was the major spur of tonight's show, in which Dexter comes this close to confessing. He let down his father, he let down everyone. He might as well give it up.
Except, Dexter realizes that he didn't really let down Deb, and his confessing would be the thing that would let her down. Deb is standing up for yourself and her man Lundy, and has even revealed Lila's true identity, and run her (or so Deb thinks) out of town. Deb is happier than she's ever been before, and Dex doesn't want to take that away from her. In a telling interior voice, he says to himself and us that Deb's belief in him can sustain him - his sister's belief in him has replaced his father's code.
Except - and there always "excepts" in Dexter, that's part of what makes the show great - Maria has some evidence that seems to exonerate Doakes, and Lundy's beginning to think that Doakes may not be the BHB. True, his superiors are closing in on Doakes, but when the FBI gets to cabin ....
They'd find Doakes, who knows Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, and Lila - who, according to the coming attractions, is informed of Dexter's true inner demon by Daokes. She looks horrified in the clip - but will this revelation make her hate Dexter, or be drawn to him, even more?
She has already framed Angel for date rape, all on behalf of trading Angel's fate for Dexter's coming back to her.
How much will all of this come into play in next week's finale? Likely it all will, and even more. One thing we also know is the cabin will be ablaze....
I'm betting Dexter survives (easy bet) and Doakes and Lila do not. I don't see how Doakes can live, and Dexter can continue, if Dexter does not want to confess ... And Lila - much as I'd like to see her on the show next year, I think she's coming to the end of her rope....
And I'll be back here next Sunday, a few minutes after 10, with my review.
See also Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Season 2 Finale: All's ... Well
The Plot to Save Socrates
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
more about The Plot to Save Socrates...
Read the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates .... FREE!
3 comments:
Hello Paul, for once I am stumped. This is a great show. I don't know how this will turn out. Lila will kill Doakes and maybe die. the FBI would close the case but because of the evidence Maria has Lundy will secretly stay on it. Maybe Lila will live for a little while and blackmail Dexter. I even felt bad for Doakes this episode so the show must be good because I have always hated him. Well thats my theory and you
Paul, I've been a fan of this series (and especially its writers) up until this point, but I just didn't think Dexter's decision that confessing would "let Deb down" was credible. Up until that point, he'd spent the close of Episode 10, and most of this episode, wracked by guilt over Harry's suicide. The guilt was entirely believable, based on the self-discovery that Dexter's been going through in the entire series. After all of that buildup, it made absolutely no sense -- either logically or on a gut level -- that Dex would do a complete U-turn, and come up with such a facile rationalization, based on those few minutes with Deb. I'm afraid that the pressure of the writers' strike may have led to a rush to complete the scripts for the final two episodes, and a corresponding, precipitous drop in quality.
Sanguine -
Here's how I see this: Dexter really doesn't want to end his way of life, and go to jail. So not letting Deb down is both real, and at the same time a good vehicle for his deeper feelings of self-preservation.
I'm glad you raised the question - because I didn't go into the detail in the review.
Post a Comment