Dexter: Now it’s personal

Dex and Harry, his real dark passenger
Dex and Harry, his real dark passenger

By Elaine Bergstrom

One of the most intriguing things about Dexter the series is how perfectly its creators see the internal conflict of Dexter the killer. And in Sunday’s episode, “Dirty Harry,” Dexter goes through a series of revelations, the second far more troubling than hopeful.

It begins with his reaction to the news that Debs had been shot, a deep anger that has him saying, “If Debs dies, I’ll be (pause) lost.” And there is just a hint of a question in that final word, as if he isn’t sure that what he feels is true or, more likely, amazed the he can feel so deeply about another person.

But what he does know he feels is pride at how well he is holding his dual life together. Unlike serial killers who are loners, he has a family. Of course, now that Rita has found out about his apartment, things are a bit strained on the home front, but you have to respect him. Other than keeping mum about his true nature, he doesn’t lie. I sometimes think he has used up his quota on lies keeping the big one under wraps, and is somehow forced to be honest about the rest. Had it been me, I might have said, “I knew Debs was going to break up with Anton. I was keeping it for her” or “I’m using it as an office” but he’s better than that.

And since he didn’t lie, he got to spend the night at his apartment, all the better for tracking down Trinity. He was too late to save the third victim but arrived with enough time to track Trinity (pause) home. Home to a suburbia where is wife and kids and all the trappings of humanity that Dex himself has acquired are waiting.

He is me, Dex says as he puts away his needle and leaves before he is seen. And it’s clear that he still wants to kill Trinity, but he may want to study him first, to see how he manages to maintain his own facade. Likely viewers want to know, as well, since so far we’ve seen Trinity fall deeper and deeper into his own psychosis. And now that’s Trinity’s done his three deaths, how much longer before he needs to kill again.

If there was a downside to “Harry” it was how easily Debs accepted the idea that the Vacation Killer shot her and Lundy, even though they were at the scene of Trinity’s next kill when the shooting occurred. And when she realizes that the Miami newspaper article on Lundy caused his death (probably in the next episode), expect Quinn’s life at the station to become a bit strained.

Next: Nip/Tuck‘s Roma Maffia (Liz) puts in an appearance as a counselor working to help Dex and Rita save their marriage. Given the current crisis, maybe a separation would not be such a bad thing.

And, for more Dexter, the webisodes are up but so far they are more Blackberry than blood, which is to say the ads seem longer than the story. Fans of the series may want to check back every few weeks to get the whole 5 minutes rather than settling for a minute one week, a second the next.