DEXTER 2.5 – "The Dark Defender"

Writer: Tim Schlattmann
Director: Keith Gordon

Cast: Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan), Lauren Velez (Maria LaGuerta), Julie Benz (Rita Bennett), Jennifer Carpenter (Debra Morgan), David Zayas (Angel Batista), Erik King (Sgt Doakes), Keith Carradine (Special Agent Frank Lundy), Jaime Murray (Lila), James Remar (Harry Morgan), Dave Baez (Gabriel), Preston Bailey (Cody), JoBeth Williams (Gale Bennett), Christina Robinson (Astor) & Katherine Kirkpatrick (Laura Moser)

Dexter discover one of his mother's killers is alive in Florida, and Lila suggests he meets with him to provide closure on that tragedy. Meanwhile, Lundy and Debra investigate the marina...

The Dark Defender provides some deepening of Dexter's personal history, after he tells Lila (Jaime Murray) about his mother's brutal death at the hand of chainsaw-wielding thugs. Lila suggests he investigate the whereabouts of his mother's killers – the men essentially responsible for turning child survivor Dex (and brother Brian, as it happens) into a twisted killer.

Dexter (Michael C. Hall) soon tracks down some police audio tapes surrounding the tragedy, and we're treated to a fascinating flashback with Dex sitting in on a meeting between his mother Laura Moser (Katherine Kirkpatrick) and adopted father Harry Morgan (James Remar), across the decades. And it appears Harry knew his biological mother before her grizzly fate...

This revelation essentially begins to twist the saint-like Harry into a more textured and deceitful character. A few episodes ago we saw Harry call teenaged Dex a "monster" during a flashback, so it seems the lawman wasn't quite the totally understanding, honest lawman he was made out to be in season 1. Is this the beginning of Harry's downfall in Dex's estimation?

It's not long before Dex traces the last surviving killer of his mother to a bar in Naples, Florida. Lila thinks Dex should confront the man, to provide closure on the matter, so the two embark on a road trip together, stopping off in a motel for a gratuitous shower scene for Jaime Murray (most welcome). It also marks the first time I've really noticed Dex take a genuine sexual interest in what he's seeing, as his encounters with Rita (Julie Benz) always seem like well-rehearsed fakery. It was also amusing to see Lila treating such a deadly serious trip more like a light-hearted "date" at times!

There's a slightly uncomfortable superhero undertone in this episode, as Dex finds the Bay Harbor Butcher (his alter-ego?) is becoming casually celebrated by the public for killing criminals, and a comic-book artist has even based a superhero called The Dark Defender on Miami's new anti-hero.

The superhero parallels have always been there in Dexter, but making it so clear in an episodes just comes across as silly – particularly when the aforementioned Dark Defender looks uncannily like Dexter, and provokes a silly dream sequence when the Defender rescues Dex's mother from her killers.

The show already walks a fine line by treating serial killers as twisted entertainment, but to show Dexter as a costumed superhero was a step too far, really. Thankfully, it's an error in judgment that doesn't last very long...

Elsewhere, Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) and Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) head to the Coral Cove marina to search for evidence of the Bay Harbor Butcher, after lab tests on algae used to weigh down the killer's bodies were traced to a handful of city marinas.

Lundy is fast becoming a wonderful character now, as he has a pleasantly focused, yet playful demeanour. There's also a growing sense that Lundy's becoming a father figure to Debra, although whenever Dexter starts dealing with family issues, you begin to suspect imminent disaster. Is Lundy too good to be true, dishing out romantic advice whilst munching on tuna sandwiches?

There's also a small subplot for Rita, her visiting mother Gale (JoBeth Williams) and Dexter – after Gale discovers Dex's drugs habit and warns him off her daughter, convinced he'll break her heart like ex-husband Paul did. What makes these scenes work, is how Gale is probably right, and Rita will be spared a lot of heartache (again) if she heeds her advice. But obviously, she's still 100% behind Dex and believes he's a grounding presence in her life.

Less successful is a minor story for LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) and Sgt Doakes (Erik King), who are involved in an underwritten murder plot, which only really exists to remind audiences they were once romantically involved. I think this will be pursued better in future episodes, so for now it's just a gentle hint that doesn't detract from more pressing matters.

Debra and boyfriend Gabriel (Dave Baez) begin to hit the skids already, when paranoid Debra snoops in Gabriel's e-mails and takes messages headed "Ice Princess" to mean she's research for a book he's writing that's linked to her The Ice Truck Killer ex-boyfriend. But it seems Gabriel really could be her aptly-named angel, as Lundy discovers he's a children's author and Ice Princess is the name of his latest book. It works well enough, although I have a tough time imagining gym-jockey Gabriel as a writer!

Back at the motel, Lila has been left alone to scrawl on a "cottage porn" painting, transforming it into a volcanic scene of fire and lava. Dex heads off to confront his mother's killer, finding the old man working in a bar lit with blood-red bulbs. For the first time, Dex forgets the Codes Of Harry governing his behaviour and launches into a vicious attack, brutalizing the old man and throwing him onto a pool table.

Only Lila, on a phone, is able to talk him out of committing murder, mistaking his laboured breath for someone about to start taking drugs again. Dex uses her as a crutch and successfully leaves the scene, later curling up to Lila on their motel bed, almost childlike on her maternal lap.

There follows a great scene from Jaime Murray, as Lila recounts a moment of tragedy from her own past, when she accidentally killed her drug dealer boyfriend Marko in a house fire. Dex doesn't consider it a crime if he "deserved it", and the pair are clearly making a real connection now. As Dexter's closing narration suggests, he thinks Lila could be The Dark Defender's "sidekick" -- someone he can trust and confide in... but, while Lila is certainly screwed-up and a little twisted herself... I don't think she'll embrace Dex if he tells her the truth about himself. Do you?

The final scene provides a solid departing punch, as Dex uses a black-light to scrub his boat of any incriminating evidence... not realizing the police have installed CCTV cameras everywhere. How will he explain his late-night clean-up to his work colleagues?

The Dark Defender was another solid episode, in a season that has yet to put a foot wrong. The continuing development of Lila and Dexter is really blossoming now – so much so, that poor Rita's storylines are beginning to be a distraction.

It was also great to see Lundy and Debra's "relationship" grow, particularly as it's still unclear if Lundy's intentions are honourable, or not. I could have done without the on-the-nose superhero ramblings at times -- which just made Dexter look as silly as its surface-level concept perhaps is – but other than that, episode 5 finds season 2 reaching its mid-way point with fresh questions bubbling in your head.


28 October 2007
Showtime, 9.30 pm