Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Last of Us, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

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

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Dexter: New Blood 1.8: The Hug in the Car

An excellent, satisfying Dexter: New Blood 1.8, even though we knew pretty much exactly how this episode would end.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Meaning, there was no way that Kurt was going to kill Harrison, however close he came to doing that. Harrison is too important a character, in this season, and I hope in seasons that I hope will follow. But Kurt came pretty close. And all I regret about that scene in his cabin with Harrison is that I couldn't have some of that venison, because it sure looked good.

But the single best moment in this episode is Harrison hugging Dexter in the car, after Dexter tells his son about that dark passenger that he and Harrison have within them. That hug in itself will be the basis of everything that comes after, everything we'll ever see between Dexter and Harrison.

And the ball is now in Angela's court. She's beginning to get some evidence to confirm her suspicion that we saw emerging last week, that Dex is the Bay City Butcher. And it's tough to see how this will be resolved, with just two episodes left to this season. I can't quite see Dexter throwing her off track, at this late date. But I can't see Dexter killing her or going to prison, either,

I suppose Dexter might allow himself to get locked up, if that some way safeguarded Harrison. But how could Dexter protect Harrison, if Dexter were behind prison bars? The future is always opaque, especially in these concluding episodes of the season, and that's a good thing for this series.

See you back here next week as we get another glimpse.

Reviews of Season 2: 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 Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter

Hightown Season 2 Finale: Brilliant End-Up, Looking for 3

You know, I've been noticing over the years that the penultimate, aka next to last, episode in a television season is often better than the finale. Last week's episode of Hightown was superb, powerful, hard to surpass. And I've just seen the finale. And, you know what? It's even better than last week's episode. There may be a pattern of finales not being as good as the penultimates, but in Hightown Season 2, this ain't it.

So ... where to start. My wife who watched the whole season said right away that Charmayne should've been given more of an armed escort on her trip to Boston. I had a feeling that she wouldn't get there as soon as I saw her in the car with Jackie and Leslie. It's not because they are women. It's because Charmayne needed more coverage, given her importance. And as soon as Leslie told Charmayne the car wasn't stopping for anything, I had feeling she would escape.

Jackie is brilliant in her instincts, but unseasoned. Her emotions, including empathy, are always close to the surface. So her response to Leslie was predictable -- as was Leslie turning on her the day after.

On to Frankie and Osito. It was good to see what happened to Frankie in prison. He deserved it. But is he dead? I'll once again cite one of my principles in reviewing: if you don't see someone's head cut off or riddled with bullets there's always a chance that the recipient survived. We'll just have to wait for Season 3, and at this point, Hightown has yet to be renewed. I think Starz would be crazy not to renew this superb series, which got better and better, from Season 1 to 2, and as Season 2 progressed.

In a third season, we'd get to see Osito in charge. I've been saying through both seasons that Atkins Estimond's character is one of the most memorable in this series, in which there are many. Monica Raymond as Jackie was also outstanding, a lot more vivid than she was in Chicago Fire. James Badge Dale as Ray and Riley Voelkel as Renee were also especially excellent.

Speaking of which -- I'm glad to see them together. But, given that Renee's shooting of Jorge was accidental, I'm wondering why she can't just tell Ray exactly what happened? I guess that reluctance, and several other things, shows there's still not 100% trust just between them.

Dohn Norwood as Alan also deserves a shout-out for that incandescent scene in which he lets Ray know exactly how he feels about that "lateral" move to "bodies" aka homicide. That call from Boston will give him some strong material to get his spot back in Season 3.

So bring it on, and I'll be back here with weekly reviews.

Friday, December 24, 2021

Podcast Review of Station Eleven 1.4-5

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 229, in which I review episodes four and five of Station Eleven on HBO Max.

Podcast review of Station Eleven episodes one to three.

Written blog post review of Station Eleven 1.4-1.5

Also mentioned in this podcast: blog post written review of Season 3 finale of Succession.

Check out this episode!

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Station Eleven 1.4-5: Shakespearean Prophet

Well, if you thought Station Eleven wasn't dead serious, you'll give up any hope that it wasn't after you've seen episodes 1.4-5, up on HBO Max today. No, only kidding, of course. This is a series about the near extinction of the human species, so how could it not be deadly serious? But I wasn't really kidding, if that makes any sense. As serious and to-the-core frightening as this narrative was from the get-go, it's even more, a lot more so, after these two new episodes.

Before getting into why, let me say that the cinematography and music in this television series is an Impressionistic triumph. The images range from the watercolor fields of Monet to the rage and confusion in oil of Van Gogh (nice phrase, right?). And the music is some kind of riff on Debussy, though as far as I know none of the music in this TV series that is more like a movie was actually written by him.

[Ok, time for just one big spoiler ... ]

I guessed pretty early on in 1.5 that Tyler was, or would grow up to be, David aka the Prophet. And in 1.4, we learn why Kirsten tried to kill him, and why he deserved to be. I said in a review of the Succession season 3 finale that that ultra-contemporary series was Shakespearean. Not to throw too many compliment bouquets, but the post-ultra-contemporary Station Eleven is Shakespearean, too. It shouts that out literally from the stage at the beginning of the very first episode with King Lear. And it continues that, with actors who speak as if they are on stage not screens,* in situations which are exquisite human tragedies.

Tyler's voyage in that airport was a sight to behold. Although Station Eleven had this quality all along, that airport story for the first time tipped the balance from science fiction to horror, though the action was psychological, not blood and gore. I'll also say, as the series completes its midpoint, though I know already that I'm going to think the series will conclude its first season far too soon. And that's because it's taking so much time to tell its story, and I'm luxuriously bathing in, with a wary eye, every minute.

Station Eleven is quickly shaping up, with not much time left to contest it, as the best new science fiction series from a non-classic source on 2021 television.

*You can hear my Bronx accent in the audio podcast of this review:

Meet the Alternative History: What If Bill Clinton Had Resigned in 1998?: Political Analysis Meets Alternate History

I don't usually review podcasts here. But given my love of alternate history -- as reader, viewer, interviewer, reviewer, and writer -- how could I resist. I saw Jeff Greenfield this afternoon on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, talking about the special four-episode Meet the Alternative History series on Chuck's Toddcast, and I just finished listening to the first episode.

First, a word about how I've come to be such a devotee of alternate history. As an author of time travel science fiction, it's hard not to encounter alternate history, since any trip to the past is always on the verge of engendering an alternate history (see this Zoom lecture I gave last week to a Science Fiction and Philosophy course in Germany for more on that). Sometimes the consequences can be major (you stop the assassination of JFK), sometimes they're just a tasty flourish (I had Joe Biden elected President in 2008, in my 2014 novel, Chronica). As a reader and viewer, Philip K. Dick's 1962 The Man in the High Castle (in which the Axis powers won World War II) is among my all-time favorite novels, and the Amazon Prime series adaptation of the novel among my all time favorite television series (see my in-depth interview with Rufus Sewell, who starred in the series). So alternate history fiction is as familiar and welcome to me as a walk on the beach on Cape Cod Bay, or a cool sunny day anywhere.

To be clear, the conversation between Todd and Greenfield in this podcast episode is not alternate history per se -- or not "alternative" history, an alternate name for alternate history which I don't like as a name as much as alternate history. The conversation is rather, just that, a conversation. But it's a very informed conversation, in which Todd and Greenfield consider all the political ingredients and possible political consequences of Bill Clinton resigning in 1998. Al Gore becomes President. Would Joe Lieberman have been his running mate in 2000? Probably not. It could have been Dianne Feinstein. And what about 2004? Would Gore have run again? Where would Barack Obama have been in 2008, with Gore finishing his second term as President (assuming he ran and won)? What about Hillary Clinton? What about Trump?

If politics and alternate history are your cup of tea, this little podcast will be delicious listening. Not that I agreed with everything Todd and Greenfield said. Both loved only the first season of The Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime, whereas I loved it all except the ending of the final season (see, again my interview with Rufus Sewell). But, though Greenfield has written some alternate history (which I'm now more likely to read), the alternate history of science fiction is neither his nor Todd's speciality. Politics is. And the result is a great conversation, bubbling with effervescent scenarios, which I look forward to hearing more of, with additional guests, in the next three episodes.

Listen to Meet the Alternative History on Spotify or Goodpods.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Podcast Review of The Matrix Resurrections

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 228, in which I review The Matrix Resurrections.

Written blog post review of The Matrix Resurrections.

Check out this episode!

The Matrix Resurrections: Great Mix of Deep Philosophy and Fast-Moving Action

I just saw The Matrix Resurrections on HBO Max. It may be the best Matrix since The Matrix -- that is, the first movie, so I'm saying Resurrections may be better than the two earlier sequels, certainly better than the third in the original trilogy, Revolutions.

One of the reasons I'm thinking this is how well the meta angle is handled in Resurrections. We find Neo working as a programmer, whose great accomplishment was writing a computer game called "The Matrix". He's sucked into a journey in which reality vs. fiction as an explanation for what is happening vie for our attention at every incandescent turn, and there are many of them.

[Note: For once, or as a rarity, there WON'T be any big spoilers ahead ... ]

Let's talk about the acting. Keanu Reeves as Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity were excellent. I was prepared to be annoyed at Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus and Jonathan Groff as Smith, because their original incarnations by Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving were so brilliantly, searingly memorable. But the new actors for these crucial characters were quite good. In the first three movies, Smith was for most part the more keenly acted and therefore more unforgettable character -- delivering such now immortal lines as, to Neo, "How can you speak if you have no mouth?" with perfect laser, razor precision -- and even though Groff is not quite as knife's edge as Weaving, his Smith will be somewhat memorable, too.

Among the new characters, by far my favorite was Neil Patrick Harris as The Analyst -- a big step up from Doogie Howser, MD but in a related medical profession -- and I very much liked the unpredictable villainous kindred relationship between him and Smith. Both had a fair share of bon mots, and if I had to choose the most profound it would be The Analyst's observation that feelings make fictions real. In addition to these lines that could have come from Plato -- who notoriously distrusted both feelings and art (see his Republic) -- we also get some good ultra-contemporary commentary from some of the characters. I guess my favorite would be the Merovingian's, a returning character, who lashes out at both Facebook and Wikipedia in a tense, verge of bursting into action scene. It's probably worth noting that Facebook didn't exist when we last saw Merv in Revolutions in 2003, and Wikipedia was just a tiny three years old, so his denunciation of these two social media giants is understandable, if not fair to Wikipedia, which has done far more good and much less damage than Facebook.

Without telling you anything more about the plot, I'll say it's plausible, exciting, and works well with its three predecessors. The action and special effects were outstanding, as always, and the characters' awareness of the deep philosophic issues that underlie their exploits endows this movie with a refreshing intellectual heft. I'd say The Matrix Resurrections is a triumph of a reboot, and one of the best now around in the burgeoning genre.

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Time Travel: Reading, Watching, Writing It

The complete lecture (with captions) I gave via Zoom to Michael Waltermathe and Christian Weidermann's Science Fiction and Philosophy class at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany 16 December 2021.

Interview in Chinese Journal

Honored to have this interview with me (by Liangyi) just published in China (cover of journal and 1st page of interview in photos) -- interview about my media theory, science fiction, and music.

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Hightown 2.9: Heroes and More Seasons

A classic next-to-last episode 2.9 of the season tonight of Hightown on Starz, which, if it follows the lead of much current television, may well be better than the season finale in two weeks.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

Hey, the episode had a happy ending: Ray and Renee in each others' arms. In addition: Jackie's hunches and stick-to-it-iveness finally paid off, and even impressed Leslie. And just for good measure, Alan was happy, too.

But that expression on Frankie's face as he saw Renee and Ray hugging shows the two are not out of the woods, or home free, or pick your cliche, just yet. Frankie is a highly intelligent, resourceful bad guy. He'll now do anything in his power to kill Renee and Ray.

How much will he be able to do behind bars? Well, if last season was any indication, he can do plenty. He can call the shots, hire hitmen, the whole enchilada. Of course, he won't have Osito to help him. Osito will likely be out of prison, soon. He may well leave the life of crime to be with his physical therapist. If he stays in crime, it certainly won't be as Frankie's lackey.

The finale should tell us some of this. It's doubtful Ray will get everything he wants -- back with the police, living happily ever after with Renee and Frankie & Renee's son. But I hope he gets at some of this -- with any luck he'll be with Renee when she has his baby,.

But that's getting pretty far ahead of the story, and may await season three. Yeah, no formal announcement has been made, but given the power of season two, and it's inevitably unfinished story. I'd say a third season of Hightown is a likely certainty (how's that for an oxymoronic phrase). In the meantime, I'll see you here with a review after the season two finale.

Dexter: New Blood 1.7: Dexter vs. Kurt

The big question for Dexter in Dexter: New Blood 1.7 was whether Angela and the police would arrest and convict Kurt or would he, in Dexter's inimitable inner voice, end up on Dexter's "killing table".

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

But the episode ends with Dexter being kidnapped by one of Kurt's tools. The significance of this is what has been clear all along: Kurt is a capable opponent of Dexter. He's unflappable under all kinds of questioning. He's fast on his feet, quick to come up with a plausible and savvy explanation for his DNA on the bit of skin on Iris's tooth. Kurt says it's his father's, whose DNA of course would be similar but not identical to Kurt's, but in a deteriorated sample which could lose those differences, or make them unclear, with the result that Kurt could not be successfully prosecuted.

So Dexter has no choice but to go after Kurt, and get Kurt on that killing table, but it won't be easy. Not only is Kurt cunning, but Dexter has to get Kurt on the table under Angela's nose. And though she and Dexter drew closer in this episode, no small feat given that she had discovered Dexter's true identity, Molly who has turned out to be pretty sharp is now getting Angela suspicious of Dexter maybe doing more than just taking on a new identity.

Meanwhile, Dexter has something of a breakthrough with Harrison, actually a big breakthrough in realizing he has to tell Harrison about the serial killings Dexter did in Miami, but it's impossible to know how that will work out. It conceivably could strengthen Harrison's impulse to violence, which is precisely what Dexter doesn't want for his son.

With just three episodes left of this outstanding rebooted series, here's a prediction: Harrison's predilection to cause people bodily harm will help Dexter, maybe even save his life, in Dexter's battle with Kurt.

See you back here next week.

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Podcast Review of Station Eleven 1.1-3

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 227, in which I review the first three episodes of Station Eleven on HBO Max.

Written blog post review of Station Eleven 1.1-3.

Check out this episode!

Station Eleven 1.1-1.3: "Looking Over the Damage" Well Worth Seeing

With Apple TV+'s run of superb science fiction -- Foundation, Invasion, and Finch -- temporarily on pause, it looks like HBO Max has picked up the slack with a powerful new series, Station Eleven, a new Matrix movie up next week, and the first half of Dune this past October.

The first three episodes of Station Eleven introduce us to a complex, perilous, beauty of a story. It's a story about the passion and agony of creating art, about bringing a story into being. And, oh yeah, it's a story about "the end of the world," due to a super-virulent (super-all-too-familiar) flu that kills over 99% of the population.

So, well, almost the end of the world (shows how we’ll we’ve actually done in our real, off-screen world), and therein lies the heart of Station Eleven. A heart within a heart, a play within a play, because Station Eleven is not only the name of this series, it's the name of a book that Miranda (outstanding performance by Danielle Deadwyler), a major character in this series, wrote. (A much more appropriate meta than what Facebook says it's becoming, I would say.) And the book is no mere prop for a meta-title. It's something that "ruined my life," as said by Miranda and her husband.

The series unfolds in a mode first perfected in Lost: now, or close to now, when the extinction-level pandemic strikes, and twenty years into the future, when we see how a small group of survivors struggles and (at this point) perhaps triumphs in a way. When we're in the now, we see flashforwards (the plural of Rob Sawyer's excellent term); when we're in the future, we see flashbacks to the present. This makes the story a little difficult to follow, but it's worth that price. Station Eleven, in just three episodes, has already unfurled a rich, memorable tapestry of characters and humanity, as they "look over the damage," another one of the mantras of the series.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

It's already left us with all kinds of questions. Why, exactly, did Kirsten (well played by Mackenzie Davis, with great facial expressions that in themselves tell the story) try to kill that guy (Prophet?) in episode 1.2? Because he said Kirsten and her troupe were "monsters"? I doubt it's because she has that thin a skin. Because he told Kristen that some of her friends would start to "disappear"? He didn't say he would make them disappear. There must be more to that stabbing, but that's good grist for the continuing narrative.

I'll also mention that this series -- based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel that I haven't read -- is evocatively photographed and accompanied by outstanding music, including Dylan's "Don't Think Twice." I'm not going to think twice about continuing to watch this vivid series, and I'll be back here with reviews.

... Station Eleven 1.8-9: Before and After ... Station Eleven 1.10: Hope and Plaudits

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Narcos: Mexico 3: Lives and Deaths

I really enjoyed the third and final season of Narcos: Mexico, and regret that there won't be another season, devoted to Chapo. Yeah, I know there have been other series and movies about Chapo, but his story deserves to be done up in the inimitable Narcos way, especially his ingenious escape via tunnels, which (as I've mentioned before ) I've always admired. When I was kid living in the Bronx, I used to think that the best way of escaping police if they were after me was to dig a big tunnel under the Hudson and up to the Catskills. Fortunately, I didn't commit any crimes and they never came after me,

Back to Narcos: Mexico 3, it was great to see Pacho (good acting by Alberto Ammann) again. He's the only character to appear in every season of Narcos and Narcos: Mexico, and that's quite an accomplishment. The character and the real person had a hand in the drug traffic in both Colombia and Mexico.

Alas, Pacho ends up dead. As does Amado (good acting by José María Yazpik), the Lord of the Skies. Though for Amado, there's a hint at the end of the season that maybe he actually escaped from the hospital plastic surgery, or with that plastic surgery that changed his face. In real history, Amado definitely died. But the circumstances -- exactly what went wrong in that hospital -- are not clear. In Narcos: Mexico 3, we see his lover -- the love of his life -- walking back to her house after taking a stroll on a beautiful beach in Chile. We see two glasses of wine on the bureau. Who was that second glass for? And we see a model plane, obviously suggestive of the Lord of the Skies. So ... who knows what that scene was suggesting, and, who actually knows what happened in real history? Maybe they did plastic surgery on some recent corpse to make his face look like Amado, while the real Amado, not looking like himself after successful plastic surgery, left the hospital and got to Chile unscathed.

The rest of this final season was good, too, hammering home the message that the U. S. barely knew what it was doing in its war on drugs. I had to laugh in one of the concluding episodes when Barry McCaffrey, U. S. drug czar, says in a real newsclip that we had the situation well in hand. I know Barry, he's currently a commentator on MSNBC, and if I ever have a chance I'll ask him how he felt about that clip in Narcos: Mexico.

But drugs, though the U. S. badly bungled our declared war on them, are no laughing matter. And the whole Narcos series stands as a powerful, brilliant portrayal of how and why that war went so wrong.

the Neanderthal cartel

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Succession season 3 Finale: Tom

I've been watching, immensely enjoying, but not reviewing Succession season three. I think it's the best season of this superb series so far. And I thought I'd say a few words about the finale, which was the best episode of this season.

In the climactic (too weak a word) closing scene, Shiv wonders who told Logan that she and her brothers were coming by to prevent Logan from selling the company to Mattson. I'd say that has to be Tom.

Last week, in the second strongest (too weak a word) episode of this season, we see Shiv come to Tom and say let's make a baby. This would have been wonderful news for Tom, except in the precoital banter, Shiv says all kinds of deflating things to her husband, including that she doesn't really love him. Shiv may think that he likes that, because it's worked in the past. More likely, it's worked in the sense that Tom was able to swallow it and still perform.

Now Tom has taken a lot over the years. He absorbs it, and trudges on by dishing at least some of it out to poor Greg. But some of Shiv's contempt for him had to have stuck. And my guess is, consciously or unconsciously, he saw a chance for himself and took it -- by alerting Logan about what Shiv, Ken, and Roman were about to do. Typically for Tom, he likely didn't think out all the consequences, or didn't care. He was just glad to be able to do something which, he hoped, would put him in a much better position with Logan, and therein Mattson. That, and what must have been the immense pleasure of payback to Shiv.

In a very real sense, Tom is Shiv's Achilles' heel. Her keen intelligence for some reason was blind to the damage she'd been meting out to Tom, and what he might do about it. But will Tom really benefit from what he did? If his life is true to form, probably not.

We'll see how this 21st-century Shakespearean tragicomedy plays out next season.

=======

See this excellent interview with Brian Cox, published 13 December 2021 in the Hollywood Reporter.

Hightown 2.8: The Devil His Due and Therapy for the Soul

Well, having just seen Hightown 2.8 on Starz, I've got to give the devil his due.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Frankie realizes the police are watching everything he does. More than that, he realizes something is very wrong, that Jorge being dead -- which he's come to realize -- is just the tip of the iceberg of the destruction he's facing. So ... he "changes things up". He cancels Charmayne's i.e., his shipment of drugs due to arrive at Hyannis Airport. And the result?

Jackie's plan is foiled.
Leslie is not going to work with Jackie again (Leslie doesn't appreciate her time being wasted).
Charmaine is scared to death.
Renee still has feelings for Ray, but she's going to be even more compliant to Frankie, in all respects.

Now Frankie (played just right by Amaury Nolasco) couldn't have known that some of this would happen -- he didn't even know for a fact that the police were going to interdict his drugs and nab him at the airport -- but his shrewd instinct paid off. One thing we can count on for sure: Frankie's not going to be taken down easily.

About the only person not really affected by Frankie's move is Osito, who had the best story so far in his arc this season. Despite his ferocity, he's a sensitive guy. Atkins Estimond delivers the perfect performance in his conversation with Janelle. She's not only a physical therapist. For Osito, she's a therapist for the soul.

See you back here with more about the Cape next week.

Podcast Review of Dexter: New Blood 1.5-6

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 226, in which I review Dexter: New Blood 1.5-6 on Showtime.

Written reviews of Dexter: New Blood 1.5 and Dexter: New Blood 1.6

Written review of episodes in all eight seasons of Dexter (the original series):

Reviews of Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent ... Dexter 8.2: The Gift ... Dexter 8.3: The Question and the Confession ... Dexter 8.4: The "Lab Rat" and Harry's Daughter ... Dexter 8.5: Just Like Family ... Dexter 8.6: The Protege ... Dexter 8.7: Two Different Codes? ... Dexter 8.8: "A Great Future" ... Dexter 8.9: The Psycho Son ... Dexter 8.10: Watch Out, Buenos Aires ... Dexter 8.11: "Not the Old Dexter" ... Dexter Series Finale: Solitude, Style, and a Modicum of Hope

Reviews of 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

Reviews of 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 Gellar 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

Reviews of Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ...Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain

Reviews of 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

Reviews of Season 3: Season'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

Check out this episode!

"challenging fun"
- Entertainment Weekly

e-mail received from a reader:
Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchildren. Thanks! Tom

I of course happily replied...

42 reviews of The Plot to Save Socrates!