Dexter – Recap & Review – Smokey And The Bandit

photo: showtime

Dexter
Smokey And The Bandit

Original Air Date: Oct 16, 2011

Karen Belgrad – Senior Editor
karenbelgrad@
thetwocentscorp.com

I firmly believe the strongest aspect of Dexter is the chilling, cold tone of Michael C. Hall’s voice. He can describe anything from toy horses to blood slides and make it sound eerie, tense, and calculating, yet insanely calm at the same time. Without the sound of his voice, we’d almost certainly have to admit some things are a little dull so far this season.

I’m all for exposition episodes that explain and further the plot. But this hour was straight-up filler. So let’s get right down to it and hope next week (which looks pretty great from the previews) moves us a lot further along.

The one storyline that really needs steam is Professor Gellar and Travis. They spent the hour torturing the jogger (Nathan) that they snatched last week. Gellar needed Nathan to be pure and Travis was responsible for making sure that Nathan repented enough to be forgiven by God. When Nathan tried to escape and begged for his life, they declared him ready. The next thing we know, a dismembered and crudely sewn Nathan is horseback riding down a very public street to the horror and astonishment of onlookers. It may not be the response the writers were looking for, but all I could think of was the very, very bad horror comedy, Frankenhooker. This was the very end of the hour, so hopefully next week, we kick this story into high gear.

Elsewhere, we had Deb, outfitted in a bad professional blazer, trying to assert herself as lieutenant. Angel was incredibly supportive, even guiding her when LaGuerta was trying to undermine her at every turn. Deb tried to reach out to Quinn, but he’s clearly still hurting and sullen over their split. When Deb brings in a Chicago detective (Mike Anderson, played by Lights Out’s Billy Brown) to interview for her old position, and he sexist-ly thinks she’s some lackey and asks her to get coffee, we finally see that Deb has had enough. She puts him in his place with a few f-bombs and words we’ve been missing from Deb.

The baddie of the week is Walter Kenney (played by Ronny Cox). When Miami Metro is called to a hooker murder, Dexter rather quickly realizes it fits the M.O. of a serial killer he used to scrapbook (seriously) back in the 80’s, the “Tooth Fairy” from Oregon. Dexter realizes it must be a retiree and he narrows it down to Walter pretty handily. Pretending to scope out a nursing home for his father, Dexter “befriends” the crotchety old man and becomes his errand boy. The best part of the hour is Walter sending Dexter to grab his prescription, a six-pack, and his porn (Teen Ass, Nipple Parade, and Spanked, if you’re curious). Dexter then follows him to a storage locker, where he later discovers a box of incisors that Walter had kept of his victims. Dexter is bothered that the only thing this serial killer/old man has is a souvenir box of his killing days. He can’t help but see the parallel to his own possible future.

Walter later calls Dexter, claiming to have gotten lost on the bus. When Dexter picks him up, Walter pulls a gun on him, having ID’d him as Miami Metro and “goggled” him online. Dexter knowingly crashes his (newly repaired) vehicle and gets Walter on the killing table in his nursing home apartment. But when Walter romanticizes about his son figuring out he was a serial killer, Dexter smothers him to look like a heart attack, protecting his son from knowing. He then dumps the teeth souvenirs off his boat.

Dexter voice overs about how hard it is to find meaning as we get older. We montage over Angel driving his dream “Smokey and the Bandit” Trans Am, Quinn having sex with a random girl, Masuka’s intern Ryan stealing an Ice Truck Killer memento (she’s fascinated by the case), and Dexter putting Harrison to bed. When Dexter goes to put his newest slide in his box, though, he drops the box, breaks one slide, and the rest are scattered on the floor. He looks to be in tears as he realizes he doesn’t know which goes where/when, and he has no order anymore.

So what did you think of this hour? Are you as anxious for movement in the Gellar/Travis story as I am? Where you surprised to see the return of Brother Sam? And, most importantly, like Ryan, do you think in the right light Masuka is kind of cute?

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