The final scene in this episode is what everyone’s going to be talking about. While there will certainly be a few people out there wondering how the hell Dexter’s Ice Truck Killer brother could be alive (OK, who are you? Really, now?), what it really shines a light on is that this season’s about the demons lurking in killers’ souls and minds. It’s yet another thing for the unenlightened to refer back to, when the reveal of Gellar being in Travis’s head comes to light.
I’m not really sure, though, why Rudy would be appearing to Dexter at this point. Is it a portion of his Dark Passenger trying for a survival tactic, in the wake of Dexter almost letting a victim go? Brother Sam himself said he saw light in Dexter, and perhaps that killer side of Dexter saw that as a threat, bringing out the heavy guns to keep Dexter in check. The only thing we can do is wait for next week, and then see yet more signs that point to Gellar as being another non-person on the show.
I could be way off on this — and maybe someone’s read spoilers out there that clearly support this observation — but are we supposed to think that Deb might be considering romantic feelings for Dr. Michelle Ross? It’d be an interesting path for her to take, but not so much because she’s changing teams. For one, finally Deb would be getting involved with someone who’s less likely to have a death wish or be a psychotic murderer. The other thing it brings in — if Deb and Michelle got serious — is a professional shrink right close to Dexter. Could she possibly see something in Dexter that others don’t necessarily see, including that Dark Passenger deep inside? And when Quinn finds out Deb went gay after being with him … knowing Quinn, he’s going to go on one hell of a dangerous bender.
I’m wondering about Detective Anderson and his path for the rest of this series, assuming he’s here to stay. He used quick and almost Shield-like police work to get a leg up on the guy Dexter was staking out, even though he turned out not to be the true guilty one to Sam’s shooting. I can see Anderson as a very real threat to Dexter in the coming season(s), first as someone ruining his Dark Passenger feedings by nailing the bad guys before he can get to them, and then, eventually, using those same methods to nail down Dexter as a killer.
The endgame to this season clearly seems to be Travis committing some sort of genocidal event, and I’m wondering if his storing blood in jars has something to do with that. More than likely, though, it’s just going to be part of his next apocalyptic sign, like possibly a body of water turning into blood? But use his own blood for that? The only thing that seems to make sense is that his blood is being used for some sort of season-ending event, because, otherwise, couldn’t his blood be easily traced back to him?
One last thing: Masuka’s new intern, Lewis. He’s infatuated with Dexter and is working on a murderer video game. Could he be part of next season’s premise?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 06, 2011 @ 22:00 EST5EDT
To me it seems obvious that the writers are setting in motion some clockwork between Dexter and his sister.
The fact that his sister is the one who hired Detective Anderson is not an accident; nor was it just a plot device to stir up some tension between her and LaGuerta. Deb has, after her father, the instincts of a good cop and chose him for the department because of her “gut”. Detective Anderson, is in a way, an agent of Deb’s conscience. In turn, Deb, with the help of her therapist, is going to start to self-examine herself and look at her past and her brother’s past.
Dexter himself is going down a road of self-examination, which is signaled by his relationship with Brother Sam, leading him to the ‘fork in the road’. This was the first time he killed not because of his code, but because of his own anger. I would expect he will soon be frightened he was doing this all along, because the decision he made with Brother Sam in itself did not conform to his code. Every other person he killed had the same chance to redeem themselves as Brother Sam, a murderer, did ; yet he killed them, but not him. That’s why his brother shows up. Dexter can’t explain himself by the code anymore.
So, by the end of the season, I expect there will be some threat of confrontation between Deb and Dexter. Probably averted.
Who is Dr Michelle Ross?
*POST AUTHOR*
The shrink who Deb’s been meeting with a couple of times.
I’m pretty sure Dexter has killed out of anger before. Remember after Rita was killed and he bumped into that asshole in some backwoods bathroom? That was most certainly unplanned, as Dex had zero knowledge of that man (or his past actions), he only killed him because he kept bad-mouthing his newly deceased wife. There might even be others, that one just popped in my head…
Should have read all the comments first, Ryan beat me to the punch. Oh well.
And I would also guess Travis is the one who is going to save Dexter, since Dexter saved him. And that will be his role in the season.
“Pay the woman.” Yeah, I’m fully on board with you guys now. I wonder if Miami Metro will find the church in the end and Gellar’s painting of the Whore of Babylon will just be a blank white canvas?
Dexter decided to kill Nick out of anger, but he did conform to the code in the end. It wasn’t the first time, either. Seasons back, when he was fleeing the country on his boat and stopped for gas, he beat that hick to death with the hand anchor in a rage, and for no apparent crime other than being an ass.
If they were going to go that route with Deb, I think Jamie would be a much more likely candidate than Dr. Ross. The two women have already had the personal issues, misunderstandings, and blow-ups you would expect to see in a brand new TV relationship, followed by their “starting over” at Deb’s housewarming. Deb’s even a hard-bitten, guarded professional, while Jamie’s the more open, caregiver type.
I think they’re going the Bones route of burning through interns this season. I expect Lewis will screw up soon enough, only to be replaced by Masuka’s fourth candidate. I did like him calling Dexter a “rock star” (and laughed at Anderson’s flamingo trick).
*POST AUTHOR*
The one thing my wife Deb brought up after seeing last week’s episode was that Travis actually calls Gellar on his cell and talks to him. Still, I believe that can be explained with being all in his head. I won’t be convinced Gellar’s a real person until someone other than Travis interacts with or acknowledges him.
If this were one of those old murder mysteries, when there were only landlines, one of the detectives would take the receiver away from Travis in the middle of listening to Gellar, and all we would hear would be a dial tone, or that number you call to find out the time. Gellar’s cell phone is as imaginary as his ugly sweaters.
Nobody wants to talk about the preview for next week? Because it sure looked to me like mild-mannered little Jonah (A.K.A. Trinity Junior) was attacking Dexter in one of those clips.
how did Jonah know dexter’s name. in the preview he say “Hello Dexter Morgan” like his dad did back in season 4
*POST AUTHOR*
I caught the next episode (via screener) last night, and it’s explained and makes sense if you think about it.
I just watched this episode, and the latest on DVR last night.
I really like the Anderson angle. He may be like Doaks from season 2 and 3, as the only person in Miami Metro that believes Dexter is off in some type of way.