Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; Black Doves; Bosch; Criminal Minds; Dark Matter; Dexter: Original Sin; Dune: Prophecy; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outlander; Presumed Innocent; Prime Target; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Last of Us, Way Home; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

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

Friday, December 27, 2024

Dexter: Original Sin 1.4: The Role of Luck in Dexter's Profession and Life

A different kind Dexter: Original Sin 1.4 on Paramount+Showtime tonight as Dexter--

(Well, I better warn you about spoilers ahead .... ]

Dexter fails in his mission. Well, mostly. Harry warns Dexter, more than once, that Mad Dog, a professional hit man, might well be too much for the relatively inexperienced (in killing) Dexter to handle. And Harry is right. Mad Dog breaks loose, Dexter runs after him, and the only reason Mad Dog doesn't live to see another episode is he's hit by a car.

Now, since Mad Dog was running to get away from Dexter, in an important sense Dexter was responsible for Mad Dog's death. Which is why I said Dexter "mostly failed". Dexter certainly failed to kill Mad Dog that way Dexter wanted, in the technique we've seen him start to perfect in the previous episodes. But it was sheer luck, from Dexter's point of view, that that car along at just the right time.

Come to think of it, I have the sense that Dexter would be lucky again, more than once, in the long career he has ahead. But I can't think off-hand of any specific example, and it's been years since watched the original Dexter in real time. But I'm inclined to agree that luck has always been a part of Dexter's profession, if it not in his specific plans. And with Dexter played by Michael C. Hall coming back to the screen this coming summer in Dexter: Resurrection, I think it's safe to say that Dexter had a lot of luck in not being killed when his son shot him at the end of Dexter: New Blood.

And there were other good things to see in this fourth episode. It was good to see Joe Pantoliano on the screen playing Mad Dog. It was good to see Deb connecting with that guy, though it's almost certain there will be trouble ahead for her in that relationship. It was good to see LaGuerta beginning to see Dexter's acumen in identifying the reasons that people become corpses (it's always good to see LaGuerta). And most of all, it was good to see Harry finally getting totally together with Dexter's mother. (Well, he'd been resisting her only for an episode or two, but it was still good to see.)

And I look forward to seeing you back here next week when I review the next episode of this fine prequel series.

See also Dexter: Original Sin 1.1: Activation of the Code ... 1.2-1.3: "The Finger Is Missing"