Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; Bosch; Citadel; Criminal Minds; Dark Matter; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outer Range; Outlander; Presumed Innocent; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Diplomat, Last of Us, Lazarus Project, Orville, Way Home; True Detective; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent

The Dexter Season 8 premiere - first of the final twelve episodes in the series - was so powerful it could almost have been the series finale itself. But it wasn't, and with eleven more episodes to go, we can get an idea of what a searingly incandescent send-off of this unique series (one of the very best ever on television) we're in for.

Unsurprisingly, Deb doesn't want anything to do with Dexter, and Dexter's starting to crack under the strain. Deb's going off the deep end as some kind of bounty hunter, and Dexter's wracked with guilt and wants to save her. All of that is unsurprising because of what happened to Laguerta last season. It's the only thing unsurprising about this season's story.

First, there's the extent to which Dexter is beginning to fall apart over Deb. He not only screams at Harrison, uncharacteristic for the pure love he feels for Harrison as a father, but even more uncharacteristically takes Harrison to a dangerous place - because he believes Deb's life is in danger - and even more amazingly leaves Harrison alone in the car. Fortunately nothing happened to Harrison, but it was a very close call.

And that's not the biggest kicker on this show. Charlotte Rampling as Dr. Evelyn Vogel is called in by Matthews to help on a case. She's more interested in Dexter than she should be in a "blood guy," as Dexter realizes and tells her. Turns out she knows all about Dexter - or, at least, Dexter's origins as a brutally traumatized little boy.

Is she another expert in serial killers - a female Frank Lundy - who may be just a little better than Lundy and manage to bring Dexter down? That could have been a possibility based just on tonight's episode. But, in the coming attractions, we see that she wants Dexter's help in nabbing a serial killer - someone, Vogel's afraid, who may be one of her former patients. Of course, she could still bring Dexter down, whatever her initial motives, or after her initial motives are satisfied.

Is ok it to talk about coming attractions in reviews? How should I know - I just write reviews, I don't consult rules, Harry's or otherwise, about how to write the reviews. So I also couldn't help notice in the coming attractions for this final season that Deb is walking into the Miami police station, saying she wants to confess.

So we have a quite a ride ahead. Matthews sarcastically mentioned "Mercury in retrograde" tonight - which it is, both in our reality and on the show. It's characterized by plans gone awry. We can count on that for Dexter Morgan. As for us, the plan for a memorably fabulous final season of Dexter seems right on course.

See also Dexter Season 7.1-3: Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 7.4: The Lesson in Speltzer's Smoke ... Dexter 7.5: Terminator Isaac ... Dexter 7.6: "Breaking and Entering" ... Dexter 7.7: Shakespearean Serial Killer Story ... Dexter 7.8: Love and Its Demands ... Dexter 7.9: Two Memorable Scenes and the Ascension of Isaac ... Dexter 7.11: The "Accident" ... Dexter Season 7 Finale: The Surviving Triangle