Courtesy of Showtime
Dexter sinks back into the murky abyss of obviousness as the Brain Surgeon storyline takes a not-so-surprising turn and our favourite serial killer plots his escape.
Let’s bitch it out…
With only a few episodes left before the series finale, it’s incredibly disappointing how safe (and boring) Dexter is playing things. Considering a recurring theme of this final season has been a return to the beginning, it’s no big surprise that that also includes Dr. Vogel (Charlotte Rampling) and her reasons for devising the Code. It makes perfect sense that she would have had her own psychopathic son, Daniel (Darri Ingolfsson) – also known as Oliver Saxon, former boyfriend of dead Cassie – who supposedly died long ago in a fire.
And wouldn’t you know it: he’s not actually dead!
The fact that Daniel is alive and well and bludgeoning people to death in Miami is just one of the many obvious and groan worthy elements in ‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’.The fact that the episode plays out in a predictably pedestrian way is just another symptom that Dexter doesn’t know how to build on its momentum heading into the series finale. The show is more popular than ever, it’s going out on its own accord and this is the best it can do?!
If there’s one positive thing that can say one thing for the episode, it’s this: at least the terrible exposition/cliched elements have been mostly played out. Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) failed attempt to go behind Vogel’s back, his underestimating of Daniel at the Cafe and, finally, the reveal that Daniel is at Vogel’s house. If we have to go through it, then let’s suffer through it for this episode and be done with it.
This is apparently the end game story that Dexter wants to tell, and while it’s unfolding at a snail’s pace and with a seemingly deliberate lack of suspense, mystery or excitement, all we can do is watch (and write angry reviews). I’m hoping that ‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’ is the last of these kinds of episodes. Memo to Dexter: Let’s dispense with the perfunctory exposition and limp twists and just get on with things! Because if we have to go through more uninspired cat-and-mouse games (this includes the Yvonne Strahovski Hannah storyline), then the final three episodes are sure to go down as a huge disappointment…and a wasted opportunity.
Courtesy of Showtime
Other Observations:
- While the “let’s grab the money, oops there’s a Marshal” aspects of the Hannah storyline are beyond tired, there are a few positives. One is the appearance of The Shield vet Kenny Johnson as Deputy Marshal Clayton. The other is forcing Hannah and Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) into close proximity. The uncomfortable dinner between the two women, as Deb debates whether or not to eat Hannah’s potentially poisoned meal, is delicious
- Just in case you didn’t know Elway (Sean Patrick Flannery) is an a*shole, he once again yells at Deb for not sharing his financially-driven outlook on life. I’m now taking bets that he tries to track Hannah down himself and ends up getting caught in the Daniel crossfire and killed. Any takers?
- It’s either him or Quinn (Desmond Harrison). Though the likelihood of Deb’s former boyfriend has cooled considerably since Quinn more or less dropped away from the A plot a few weeks back, he could still end up a late season fatality. It seems much more likely that Deb and Quinn will simply reunite to ensure that Deb gets her happy ending by series’ end, though
- As predicted last week, Argentina is the place to go when escaping with your serial killer girlfriend. Hannah and Dex makes plans to grab Harrison and go, just as soon as the Brain Surgeon is dealt with. Or you could just go? Do us all a favour and just give Miami Metro Daniel’s name and skip out. It’ll end better for everyone
- Ugh to that moment when Harrison wishes Hannah could be his mom so that later he can nearly confess to Marshal Clayton that she’s in his drawing. This kind of on-the-nose crap writing drives me crazy!
- That moment when Dex refuses to tell Deb who Daniel is or why she needs to stay away from him? ARGH, SO FRUSTRATING. Characters in TV always seem to refuse to tell each other things you would so clearly say in real life and it’s solely for the purpose of creating dramatic tension later If this ends up coming back to put Deb in danger I will be beyond peeved
- Finally, I love how Daniel was a perfectly normal human being when he was dating Cassie or upset about her death, but the moment he goes to the Cafe (and later at Vogel’s) he’s stiffer than the Terminator. I get that he lacks empathy, but that doesn’t explain why he can pass for normal one minute and suddenly be a robot the next
Best Lines:
- Hannah (when Dex asks if she’ll be okay at Deb’s): “Sure. We’ll just hang.”
- Hannah (when Deb asks if she’s kidding by inviting her to dinner): “Totally fair”
Your turn: are you frustrated at the slow/obvious pace of this episode? Do you wish that Dexter would just grab Hannah, Harrison and Deb and leave Miami? Are you excited for three more episodes of feet dragging and predictable cat-and-mouse games? And who’s more likely to bite it: Quinn or Elway? Sound off below
Dexter airs Sundays at 9pm EST on Showtime