From what I’ve heard and read, a lot of writers for movies and television feel that the voicever is a cheap tactic. To have to rely on putting a character’s thoughts out there verbally, rather than via visual cues or good old fashioned acting and writing, is sometimes seen as a cop out. Dexter‘s a good example of when a voiceover is not only done well, but it’s essential to the story.
Case in point: Rita taking Dexter’s car keys. Dexter’s outward actions told Rita that she was right and that he felt defeated, handing the keys over because it was “the right thing to do.” Dexter’s head, however, told a different story: use this opportunity to score some points for later, when he really needed “time for himself.” This is just one example of many when the voiceover puts us in a position where we’re not just watching Dexter do what he does, we are Dexter.
Along those same lines, a great quote from Dexter’s head: “OK, if I count yesterday, this is day two of me being the best husband in the world. I can last another five days.”
About a month ago, I wrote in my preview post for this season that The Trinity Killer brought a different sort of “Dark Passenger” to Miami. Dexter makes note of that same thing in this episode, saying Trinity is “a very different monster” than he is. And so far that’s held up very true, especially from what we’ve seen of Trinity’s methods, and then from the aftermath of his killings. Trinity appears to have some sort of motive in all of this, and of course that’s the sort of thing that’s going to get him caught.
Dexter? Well, he doesn’t have a “motive” now, does he? He just feeds his Dark Passenger like some sort of parasite, though his criteria for the menu choices are vague enough that even someone like Lundy may not find that mysterious pattern that would ever lead straight to Dexter.
Something else we’ve seen of Dexter is how he admires certain things other serial killers do, starting with the Ice Truck Killer and his very neat and clean way of dealing with the bodies. Both the Ice Truck Killer and The Trinity Killer do something that Dexter would never do while following the code of Harry: they leave their kills in the open, to be found. That’s something Dexter seems to always admire from other killers, but the reason for them doing so is because, deep down, they want to be caught (as some psychoanalysts will tell you). Dexter, on the other hand, is living the Code of Harry, where the number one rule is: do not get caught. Has Dexter ever hinted at a deep-down desire to be caught and healed from his macabre urges? Maybe a tiny bit last season, but I don’t sense a deep down desire for it, do you?
This desire for being caught comes back to the Trinity Killer’s latest kill. In this episode we saw him leave a line of what appeared to be ashes from a dead person, which he keeps in a jar in his home. Who was that? Why leave something like that behind if it’s not some sort of calling card to help the authorities find him? It could be used to throw the scent off his tracks, but that’s unlikely here. I am curious how Miami Metro is going to find that piece of evidence, though, before rain washes it away.
Lastly, the metaphor for the painted door could be a sign of what’s to come with Rita. As the ghost of Harry said, Dexter can throw all the paint he can over the nastiness underneath, but in the end that nastiness is going to bleed through and show the world what’s really underneath.
I know; I’m deep.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Oct 11, 2009 @ 22:00 EST5EDT
I’m fairly certain that the ashes are from his mother’s urn, who, naturally, jumped to her death. It’s part of his need to “honor” her rather than be caught. Rain or the wind could easily have dispersed the line by morning, and even if the police had found it, it wouldn’t help them to find Trinity.
Also, pouring the glass of Glenfiddich and saying “You’re next?” Definitely his father, whom he bludgeoned to death.
I thought that was rather obvious as well and it surprises me we haven’t had any of the characters discussing this. Especially Lundy, in whom I will be severely dissapointed if he hasn’t figured this out by now (and isn’t just keeping it to himself for some reason).