DEXTER 4.2 – "Remains To Be Seen"
Or was it? Well, no. I turns out Dex had hidden the dismembered body somewhere before his crash following his "kill room" interruption, but Dex is suffering from amnesia following the accident, so he spends the entire episode trying to find the body parts by retracing his steps from the abandoned boxing ring. Time is of the essence if Dexter's to tie up this grizzly loose end, but he's also called to the scene of another "vacation murder" and finds his time being dangerously split, prompting a binge on Red Bull and intrusive visions of his late-father Harry (James Remar).One of the weaker aspects of Dexter has been the supporting cast, either because their characters aren't as interesting, or they're just never given storylines that truly hold your attention. So far, season 4's doing a better job than it has in awhile. The return of Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) helps Debra's (Jennifer Carpenter) character enormously, as the pair have an easy chemistry and fun camaraderie, plus Lundy's return puts Debra in a difficult position with current boyfriend Anton (David Ramsey).
I'm not really sure the sudden relationship between Angel (David Zayas) and LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) is going to be worth our time, but it's not sucking up too much narrative right now so it's easy to let it slide. It was interesting to see Quinn (Desmond Harrington) painted as a bent cop here, as Dex witnesses him stealing some cash from a murder victim's safe – particularly as we were led to believe, incorrectly, that Quinn was corrupt last season – but we'll see how that develops. Quinn also has a love-interest in svelte investigative reporter Christine Hill (Courtney Ford), who I'm predicting is leading him on purely for the work-related benefits. Still, this new direction for Quinn is better than anything he was given to do last year, and I like how he's not certain that Dex saw him steal the cash, so he's tentatively trying to endear himself to our blood spatter expert... and doing a bad job.
As of right now, the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) isn't particularly prominent in the show, which I think is for the best. We're just getting to see how he operates. This episode showed how he randomly picks his next victim (a middle-aged woman he notices walking by on a pier), stalk her to note her movements, before buying a dog and using it to meet and ingratiate himself with her.It'll be interesting to see how far his ritual takes him, as we could perhaps go many episodes seeing Trinity (aka Alan) become romantically involved with his next target until making her his next kill. Maybe he gets a kick from successfully fooling his victims over an extended period of time, before revealing his true intention? Or is he all about the quick, easy kills? Right now, we're being led to believe Trinity's a very patient and methodical person, so I'm expecting to see the screws tighten very, very slowly.
"Remains To Be Seen" was arguably just an hour of filler in some ways, teasing us with the prospect that Dex's hectic lifestyle and lack of sleep has made him sloppy enough to get caught -- and that's partly true. But this season is apparently all about seeing Dex try to cope under increasing family pressures, so this episode did a good job reinforcing that theme, while simultaneously setting up a few new subplots and fleshing out some relationships.
4 October 2009
Showtime, 9/8c
written by: Charles H. Eglee directed by: Brian Kirk starring: Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan), Julie Benz (Rita Bennett), Jennifer Carpenter (Debra Morgan), Desmond Harrington (Joey Quinn), C.S. Lee (Vince Masuka), Lauren Vélez (Lt. Maria Laguerta), David Zayas (Angel Batista), James Remar (Harry Morgan), John Lithgow (Arthur Mitchell), David Ramsey (Anton Briggs), Courtney Ford (Christine Hill), Keith Carradine (Frank Lundy), Christina Robinson (Astor), Preston Bailey (Cody), Onika Day (EMT), Japheth Gordon (Cop), Vanessa Marano (Rebecca Simmons), D. Davis Morin (Doctor), Aaron Refvem (Boy) & Tasia Shere (Francis)
