Writer: Scott Reynolds
Director: Steve ShillCast: 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), C.S Lee (Masuka), Preston Bailey (Cody), Christina Robinson (Astor), James Remar (Harry Morgan) & Geoffrey Pierson (Captain Matthews)
Dexter's plot to frame Sgt Doakes as the Bay Harbor Butcher continues, but a startling revelation about his dead father threatens to derail his plan..."I should warn you, Sergeant...
you can't play on my feelings. I don't have any."
you can't play on my feelings. I don't have any."
-- Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall)
The end is in sight for season 2 of Dexter, and perhaps for Sgt Doakes (Erik King), too. After last week's climactic events, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has the gruff lawman locked up in Jiminez's cabin, debating how best to deal with him -- as just killing Doakes goes against the Code Of Harry... but letting him go free would result in his capture and major fallout with his loving sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), trusting girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) and her innocent children...
There's Something About Harry essentially gives us another look at Harry Morgan (James Remar), the so-called architect of Dexter's unique brand of justice. Doakes' delving into Dexter's past unearthed a secret about how Harry died, which he uses to ensure Dex isn't so quick to just kill him and let the truth die with him...
Dexter, having bandage up the gunshot wound to his thigh, manages to return to his house and gets Lundy (Keith Carradine) to call off his personal FBI protection -- much to Debra's concern. Now free of the Feds' prying eyes, Dexter investigates his father's death deeper -- evoking a memory of Harry being told by Captain Matthews (Geoffrey Pierson) that a dangerous killer called Juan Rinaz escaped conviction just because of a beaurocratic slip-up. That moment appears to have been the trigger for Harry's decision to focus his son's blood lust into a constructive area, ensuring criminals get their just desserts by way of vigilantism.
In the present, Dexter goes to see Matthews on a golf course and inquires about anything suspicious surrounding his father's dead, and Matthews reluctantly reveals that Harry actually committed suicide by overdosing on his heart medication... and he helped cover-up the autopsy report to protect Debra and Dex from the truth.
At the Miami Metro, Debra's subpoena on Doakes' phone records reveals he called LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) after he was announced as a prime suspect, which calls into question LaGuerta's work principles. LaGuerta is still convinced old friend Doakes is innocent and manages to find evidence he couldn't have killed one of the Butcher's victims, because her personal records show he was on 24/7 stakeout with her at the time. But, after showing her detailed findings to Lundy, she's frustrated to learn it won't hold-up to scrutiny because of her unprofessional handling of Doakes' phone call to her...
Back at the cabin, Dexter decides to frame Doakes as the Bay Harbor Butcher, so he drugs Doakes' bottle of water and, while he's unconscious, puts his fingerprints on some of his knives/saws and drops them off the jetty of a local scuba-diving club -- to be found by the police as irrefutable evidence that Doakes is their killer.
An added problem arrives when one of Jiminez's criminal friends begins texting Jiminez's phone, now in Dexter's possession. Dex can't risk someone turning up at the cabin and discovering Doakes inside, so he arranges a meeting with the texter (Jose Garza) at the bar where Jiminez's worked...
Debra and Lundy's relationship falters, when Debra gets the impression Lundy is preparing for their relationship to end once the Butcher has been caught. Indeed, Lundy has assumed Debra always knew their pairing would come to an end when the case was closed, given the nature of his job, but Debra was more hopeful their blossoming romance would somehow continue.
I'm less convinced the Debra/Lundy storyline is building towards anything special now, as it seems to have become just a more normal story to follow amongst the abnormal nature of the show at large. I'm a little disappointed it hasn't tied-in to some of the grander storylines this year, but Carpenter and Carradine definitely work surprisingly well together.
In the weakest subplot, Lila (Jaime Murray) is still hanging around like a bad smell, despite the fact her character's storyline came to a natural conclusion episodes ago. Here, Lila is cozying up to Angel (David Zayas) more overtly, to try and make Dexter jealous. But, after hearing that Dex's relationship with Rita is slowly getting back on-track, she take desperate measures and takes "date-rape" drug rohypnol after having sex with Angel, and passes out in the bathroom..
It's frustrating to see the character of Lila fall this far, as she's no longer integral to the series and has just become a big distraction. She was a breath of fresh air when arrived and began messing around with Dex's loyalties, but now that she's been downgraded to simple crackpot status, she's less interesting and twice as irritating.
I hope there's some method to this madness (to be revealed in the few remaining episodes), because at the moment the drop-off in quality surrounding her character is one of season 2's few mistakes. It's like she's only there to show her boobs now... although I suspect the writers are trying to turn Lila into someone Dexter's Code will permit him to kill -- and give us the pay-off scene of loopy Lila discovering the object of her affection is a twisted killer.
The episode ends with Dex capturing Joe Garza (off-screen) and hauling his body back to the cabin, where he dismembers his body as the Butcher's "final victim" in front of a clearly disgusted Doakes. Once Dex has finished his grizzly work, Doakes can only sit facing away from the horror, numbed by the monstrosity he's just witnessed... which is paralleled by a flashback of Harry walking in on a younger Dex, cutting up the body of Juan Rinez, the killer who walked free because of beaurocratic incompetence...
At this moment, Dexter realizes that Harry couldn't deal with the stark realities of what he turned his adopted son into: a monster. Days later, he committed suicide. For all intents and purposes, Dexter killed his father... and has been following a Code that may have met with his father's approval in theory, but not in practice...
Overall, There's Something About Harry is a noticeably quieter affair than recent episodes, gently building on some of the smaller subplots (Rita/Dex, Lundy/Debra, Lila/Angel) and allowing the Dex/Doakes battle of wits to burn at its heart. It's also great when the flashbacks impact present events, and the revelation about Harry's death and his disgust and guilt over what he turned his son into, will have big ramifications for the show at large...
Indeed, for the first time since early season 1, the moral queasiness over what Dexter is returned in fuller force. We were again reminded that, despite the fact he works in a moral grey area, Dexter is still a lawless serial-killer with a pretty sick ritual to his killing. Throughout the series, we've also had the knowledge that a heroic cop was behind Dexter's vigilantism, and was only doing his best to channel evil into good... but now even that's been taken away...
So how will Dexter cope now, knowing that his beloved father couldn't handle the adopted monster he created? If the all-knowing Harry was wrong and misguided, Dex has lost that paternal blessing... which surely calls into question what he's been doing all these years...
2 December 2007
Showtime, 9.30 pm
