DEXTER 2.7 – "That Night, A Forest Grew"

Writer: Daniel Cerone
Director: Jeremy Podeswa

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), Dave Baez (Gabriel), Preston Bailey (Cody), JoBeth Williams (Gale Bennett), Dale Midkiff (Mr Wilson) & Christina Robinson (Astor)

Dexter sends a manifesto to the local press as the Bay Harbor Butcher, which keeps the investigation distracted. Elsewhere, Dex finds himself pulled between sexy Lila and Rita's kids...

That Night, A Forest Grew is a workmanlike episode of Dexter that doesn't contain anything totally revolutionary, just a few bursts of adrenaline amidst gentle development. Which is fine with me, as sometimes you need episodes to focus everything and lay new roots for the rest of the season to grow from...

Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is clearly growing concerned about the progress Lundy (Keith Carradine) is making in finding the Bay Harbor Butcher, so he's written a 33-page manifesto of rambling nonsense and sent it to the Miami Tribune. The newspaper is eager to publish it, but Lundy wants to scour it first for clues, not realizing it's a dead-end...

It's interesting to see the changes to Dexter's character in season 2, as he's now taking firm steps towards "rehabilitation", by spending more time in bed with Lila (Jaime Murray) than chopping up criminals wrapped in cling-film. Indeed, there's an assortment of sex scenes for Dex and Lila throughout this episode, including one where Dex breaks into a stranger's house to have sex on their bed!

With Dex engaged in high-octane bedroom gymnastics -- in stark contrast to his derisory thoughts about sex last season, I might add – ex-girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) is doing her best to cope with their split. Her mother, Gail (JoBeth Williams), is now relishing the chance to spend time with her grandchildren, even if her professional teaching methods don’t compare with Dex's laid-back approach, according to Cody (Preston Bailey).

Meanwhile, bullish Sgt Doakes (Erik King) has been warned off antagonizing Dex by LaGuerta (Lauren Velez), but is still sniffing around Dex's family history – according to Camilla, a woman Dex's father entrusted to cover-up the murder of Dex's biological mother.

Dex decides to make a deliberate move to rid himself of Doakes', by setting him up for a fall at the crime scene of a murdered sunbather. It's here that he feeds Doakes incorrect forensic information about the likelihood that the girl's father is the culprit. Doakes is therefore convinced Mr Wilson (Dale Midkiff) killed his own daughter, acting on Dex's off-the-record intel, and engages in a fruitless interrogation of Wilson that astonishes LaGuerta when Dex's official report totally clears Wilson of the deed.

There quickly follows one of season 2's highlights, as Doakes and Dexter butt heads in the office (quite literally), and Doakes is immediately suspended from duty when he brawls with Dex in the office, apparently unprovoked. It's a great sequence -- but is Dex wrong to take Doakes on and therefore give him more reason to pry into his personal life?

Lila's personality is also fleshed-out some more, as she's revealed to be very domineering and used to getting what she wants – weirdly symbolized when she smashes her landlord's light bulb so he'll replace it, and her own, that much quicker. She also becomes extremely jealous when Dex is drawn back into Rita's family circle, to attend to Cody's school presentation on Saudi Arabia.

This sudden swing back to his old life irritates Lila, particularly when Dex purposefully ignored her phone call, so she promptly sets fire to one of her sculptures she just sold for $18,000 -- consequently burning down the building in an attention-seeking tactic to make Dex scurry back to her.

So yes; it looks like Lila is a bunny boiler, but is this twist to her character just an added complication for Dex if he ever tries to break-up with her, or does it mask something even more sinister?

One subplot treated with a lighter touch concerns Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) and her burgeoning relationship with older man Lundy. Here, after witnessing him listening to classical music in his office, she's soon lost in the symphonies of Chopin on her iPod during a gym session with fitness fanatic boyfriend Gabriel (Dave Baez).

Lundy's calming influence on chaotic Debra culminates with a brilliantly understated moment together on a bench, during Lundy's daily lunch break, with Debra making a subtle move that results in their first kiss. Needless to say, boyfriend Gabriel is quickly dumped...

The Debra/Lundy subplot has been pleasant to see develop this season, although the fun really comes from trying to guess how they'll both figure into the bigger picture. I have my suspicions, but the unpredictable nature of this season is one of its main delights. Will Debra discover Dex's true nature and persuade Lundy to let him go? Will Dex be forced to kill Lundy, his sister's apparent soul mate?

Towards the end, Lundy comes to realize the Butcher's manifesto is just a calculated time-waster to keep the investigators preoccupied -- meaning the killer is aware of how best to cause chaos in a crime team. Lundy pens the words "LAW ENFORCEMENT BACKGROUND" up on a whiteboard, as his hunch about the Butcher puts him another step closer to unmasking Dex as Miami's wolf in sheep's clothing.

Overall, That Night, A Forest Grew is notable for a few big steps taken in the Doakes, Lila and Debra subplots -- although the bulk of the episode is quite restrained and lacks a compelling narrative. The manifesto idea seems belatedly injected into the show, just so Lundy can make the unlikely leap to consider a law enforcement worker could be the killer, while the scenes with Rita and her mother seem superfluous without Dexter's involvement.

This is an important episode for the advances in some key subplots, but nothing particularly gripping holds it all together. Average stuff, but still enjoyable and undeniably interesting.


11 November 2007
Showtime, 9.30 pm