The season opener of Dexter set up and promised a lot for us fans of horror and all things creepy. A new religio-fanatic killer on the loose intent on spreading some kind of twisted message, Dexter picking up the pace on the kills, a little bit of emotional chaos here and there. Last night’s episode was more an exercise in “Remember what we promised you last week? Well, let us remind you of it.”
Sure we got a kill, but it was uneventful. In fact, it was a wee bit confusing as to why Dexter knew he wanted to kill this man. There was no stalking, not tracking — it was a sort of wham bam you’re dead now man! In fact, it made Dexter seem almost like a normal killer. We don’t want that.
From what I understand, this is the final season of our favorite serial killer and they seem to be throwing in as much as they can. So much so I worry it can derail them from the main thrust of the the show — the moral dilemma that haunts Dexter as he kills those to both bring them to justice and ease his own demons.
Probably the most sketchy plot line that seems to be developing is the political pissing match between Laguerta and her superior. A lot of people are going to get thrown under the bus for this one, but it doesn’t really seem to feed the beast that is the purpose of the show. Of course it’s always good to throw a wrench or two in the works — but don’t do it just to be doing it.
This episode only gave us a glimpse of Edward James Almos as the killer and, I have to give them credit, the man is twisted. There is certainly something going on there and I hope we get to see more of him and less of his mousy underling. The image shown on the “Next week on Dexter” tease of the peacemeal man on the horse was powerful. Give us more of that and less of the side-tracking marriage proposal drama and I think we’ll all be good to go.
All in all, this is still looking like this season will help our favorite serial killer go out with a bang — or a nice, as it were.