After the climatic end of last week’s episode, where Deb tried to kill both her and Dexter, this week’s episode looks to resolve the emotional turmoil that’s been plaguing the two siblings for the past two or three seasons.
The episode begins with Dexter and Deb sitting in Vogel’s house, getting some much needed family therapy. We don’t know how Dexter and Deb reached this resting point or exactly how the car crash was explained to the authorities. I guess audiences are to assume Dexter told the police that he accidently drove off the road into a query. This circumvention of details has noticeably increased this season, and while the show has done this before, I don’t think Dexter, Deb, or any other character have been particularly captivating enough for viewers to ignore these plot holes.
Vogel explains to Dexter that Deb’s suicide/murder attempt was her “rock bottom” moment and when Deb ultimately saved Dexter, it was her first step to recovery. But Dexter, not wanting to hear any excuses for why Deb tried to kill him, storms out of Vogel’s house.
Meanwhile, Quinn tries to show that he has what it takes to become sergeant by adequately presenting a murder case brief. Unfortunately a wealthy contributor to the Miami Metro Police Department is a suspect in the case. This results in Captain Matthews getting on Quinn’s case about not badgering the rich something–or-other without substantial evidence. Later we find that the killer was actually the charitable contributor’s son, but Quinn doesn’t have enough proof to back his claim.
Also Masuka continues to spend time with his newly discovered daughter while hiring Deb to investigate. Masuka questions whether his daughter wants something more than to just hangout with pops.
Now back to Deb and Dexter. Instead of taking the time to have Dexter slowly forgive Deb over the course of the season, the show speeds up the healing process by putting Vogel in harms way. AJ Yates, aka the brain surgeon killer, breaks into Vogel’s living room and kidnaps her.
Deb walks into Vogel’s home in the aftermath of the break-in and contacts Dexter for help (I guess no one in the neighborhood noticed the obviously shattered first story window of Vogel’s home). So putting recent events behind them, Dexter and Deb search for Vogel together.
But before doing so, Dexter has to ditch a dinner party his nanny Jaime set-up. This is actually the most compelling, unpredictable side-plot in the show currently, because the writers seem to want Dexter and his neighbor Cassie to get together. Why Cassie is so interested in Dexter and what is her importance? I’m hoping the writers thought of a deliciously diabolical reason.
Anyways, thanks to Dexter’s expert tracking skills and Deb’s P.I. connections, Dexter and Deb are able to find the house where Vogel is being held. Vogel was able to hold her ground against Yates by using some psychological mind tricks, giving Dexter and Deb just enough time to trace where she was being held.
With some additional teamwork, Dexter kills Yates via a large metal rod and Deb seems to be emotionally okay with the process. Dexter disposes of the body in the usual manner, except he brings Deb and Vogel along for the boat ride. When Vogel asks Dexter why he bought them he says, “I wanted to be with family.”
Overall, this was one of the more uneventful episodes of the entire series. Not even the side plots were interesting. We know Quinn is probably going to lose the Sargent spot to Detective Miller, Masuka’s daughter probably is hiding something but it’s nothing for him to freak out about, and Deb’s boss digs her.
The death of Yates brings both some satisfaction and disappointment to audiences. On the one hand, viewers won’t have to sit through another season-long adventure of Dexter tracking down a serial killer, and hope the series develops something more original. On the other hand, Yates’ death too quickly solves the emotional discord between Dexter and Deb. Deb was in an emotional tailspin for months after killing LaGuerta, but after nearly killing then saving Dexter, it takes Deb just a couple of days to be sisterly with Dex again.
There is a hint of foreshadowing as Deb jokes “The family that kills together [stays together]…” So maybe Deb will become Dexter’s compadre on his murderous escapades.
To be even more frank, I am hoping the semi-borefest that is the first five episodes of the season are only exposition to a seriously complex and climatic ending like in seasons past. There is still the whereabouts of former love Hannah that we can’t forget about. And no way finding the brain surgeon killer could have been that easy? Why didn’t Yates kidnap Vogel earlier? The season needs to pick up the pace. With the Dexter and Deb debacle coming to a close, this is the time for the show to really explore some creative dynamics between Deb, Dexter, and Vogel, as Dex considers them a “family” and he continues to kill.