After last week’s intensity, this episode felt like a step back, albeit a necessary one. Neither Dexter nor Trinity kill anyone, Deb’swalls are back up, Rita’s still trying to “make it work” and the supporting cast romance continued its snoozathon. But a slow hour of Dexter is still better than 99% of what’s on television and this one did give us some essential developments.
Let’s start with the obvious, Trinity. I don’t think anyone doubted that Lithgow could successfully pull a 180 with his performance, but it was still delightful to watch the most prolific serial killer in history become Arthur Mitchell, church-going family man. The characterization is so strong that it’s almost enough to make us forget what a twisted monster Trinity actually is, it certainly seemed to work on Dexter. While he’s committed to killing Arthur, he quickly moved from wanting to plagiarize a few of his camouflage techniques to outright admiration of the man’s achievements. Of course, Trinity’s not someone Dexter ought to admire, for reasons we’ll get to in a minute.
As I indicated, the rest of the cast felt somewhat stagnant this episode, but at least there seems to be some direction plot-wise. Deb gets her emotions back under control and proves capable enough to connect Trinity to Lundy’s death. There’s also a convenient phone call to get her back on Laura Moser’s trail. Angel and Laguerta may have ended their relationship, or at least moved on to more interesting territory. And Rita pulls Dexter into couples therapy and seems to accept his need for space. I wouldn’t call any of these developments forced, but it did all feel like housekeeping for the arcs; events that needed to happen but weren’t terribly interesting to watch. It would’ve been nice if they’d been spread out a little more, but then I suppose last week’s awesomeness would’ve been diluted.
The saving grace for this episode was Trinity getting into the bathtub with his wife. The reconstruction of the bath-tub bleed-out was chilling and reminded us that as well adjusted as Arthur Mitchell seems, he’s still the same monster from episode one. It’s for this reason that Dexter cannot follow his advice. Mitchell shares his dark passenger with the world, and so is able to be a monster and a husband/father. Dexter keeps his monster in the shadows, and so moves closer to not being one. The bathtub scene would be analogous to Dex and Rita exploring some bondage fun. It’s a thoroughly twisted notion and not the kind of thing we, the audience, want to see Dexter doing. As much as Trinity seems to have all the answers, becoming like him would involve Dexter sacrificing what humanity he has.
Final Thoughts
I think this episode firmly placed the season in the Dexter mould. He’s met someone that seems to be offering the acceptance and belonging that he really wants, but is really just an enabler for the Dark Passenger that will need to be dealt with. We’ve seen it before, but I’m having too much fun to care.
I’m disappointed that there wasn’t a follow up for Dex and Deb after last week. I wasn’t expecting the floodgates to stay open, but an acknowledgment of what they shared would be appreciated.
What does Quinn add to the series?
