Review: ‘Dexter’ – ‘Scar Tissue’

A quick review of tonight’s “Dexter” coming up just as soon as I’m majoring in beautiful…

This is the last of the four episodes I saw in advance of the season, and the last that I can write about before I dive into the teeth of Comic-Con and press tour, so it may be a while before I weigh in on another episode (or even see another one). Before I take that time-out, though, a few specific thoughts on this one:

1)Everything to do with Quinn somehow having a chance at a promotion continues to defy both logic and dramatic interest, but I’m glad to see Masuka getting one more subplot of his own before the end. Not only does it bring in Dora Madison Burge (Becky from “Friday Night Lights) as his sperm-donated daughter, but Vince has generally been the show’s most successful supporting character because the writers know to mainly use him for comic relief. There may be a sweet moment or two in here, but for the most part, I suspect this is going to be Misadventures in Parenting, and I look forward to C.S. Lee getting his moment.

2)The Brain Surgeon comes on camera, but eludes Dexter. His main goal, though, seems to be to put Dexter and Dr. Vogel together, and to further advance the idea first suggested last week that Dexter didn’t necessarily have to become a serial killer and was pushed into becoming one by a shrink with a theory she wanted to test. We’ll see how this plays out down the road, but if it’s just an excuse to let Dexter off the hook for his crimes, then blech.

3)Deb drives Dexter into a lake, nearly drowning herself in the process. While our man is obviously going to survive this particular cliffhanger – the show won’t spend three-fourths of its final season on Quinn’s promotion and Masuka’s daughter – this illustrates just how deep the schism has grown between sister and brother, even if she decides to swim after him in the hour’s closing moments. And you just know that Vogel is going to use this to drive the wedge deeper and deeper between them.

What did everybody else think? And how are you feeling about the final season a month into it?