Last Night On ‘Dexter’: Is There A 12-Step Program For Serial Killers?

Today’s a holiday to many people who don’t work on the Internet, and therefore a slow news day, so a week before we rev up our Monday morning season three The Walking Dead coverage, I thought we’d take one more look at Dexter, at least until something momentous happens on the Showtime drama. So, how did Debra react when she found out that, not only had Dexter killed Travis on purpose, but that he’s a serial killer with a very lengthy history of murders?

To be honest, she was surprisingly chill with the news. Yes, she took a moment to vomit, but once the news settled, she wasn’t scared (as I would be if I’d found out a sibling had a 20-year-history of MURDERING PEOPLE), and she didn’t show any real intention to turn Dexter in, despite the fact that she’s a police officer, or — as she noted herself — “the worst cop ever” for failing to notice that her own brother was a serial killer. She did make a few wise cracks, however. Why wouldn’t she turn Dexter in? Because she recognized that she was an unwitting accomplice in his crimes, and would therefore likely lose her job, and because, well, Dexter is her brother and she doesn’t want to see him spend the rest of his life in prison … or worse. Oh, yeah: AND BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO BANG HIM.

Ultimately, she treated his Dark Passenger like anything else that makes a person not normal, like owning too many cats or eating breakfast for dinner everyday. We’re all a little weird, right?

What’s her solution? Rehab.

In one of the silliest contrivances of the series, Deb decided that Dexter would move in with her, she’d keep an eye on him, and they would work together to rehab exorcise the serial killer and get “to the good underneath.” Is there a 12-step program for serial killers? Will sibling therapy really keep Dexter from killing?

No. But, Dexter’s affection and respect for his sister does mean that he’ll try to keep the bloodlust at bay, and if he can’t, at least he’ll be honest with Deb, as he was when he stopped himself from killing Louis, therefore depriving us of one hell of a satisfying kill. But then again, to kill Louis would be to go against The Code: Louis is not an evil guy (at least, not yet); he’s an asshole. If Dexter expanded his permissible kills to assholes, 75 percent of Florida’s population would be targets.

That said: How great was Louis? He cowers into a simpering weakling when Dexter had his hands around his throat, and in his very next scene, he’s making out with Dexter’s nanny and telling him that he’ll “catch him at work.” Louis is just asking for it, and I kind of love him for it.

Meanwhile, LaGuerta is still trying to hunt down the real Bay Harbor Butcher, and (Warning: Idle speculation) her trail may lead her to Quinn, and though Quinn isn’t the Butcher, that may not stop Dexter from trying to set him up. It’s not helping that Quinn is messing around with a stripper with connections to the Ukrainian mob, which may eventually put him in a position where he will have to kill someone, which would cast the right amount of suspicion on him to appropriately frame him as the Bay Harbor Butcher. But how would Deb react to her ex-boyfriend being wrongly blamed for the murders of her brother?

Speaking of the Ukranian mob, we got our first glimpse of what is perhaps this season’s big bad, Isaac (Ray Stevenson), a deliciously fun psychopath who casually and ruthlessly killed Tony, the bouncer from the strip club. I like the Stevenson character, but I’m not sure he’s a particularly novel in the Dexter universe.

The scene of the night, however, goes to Wayne Randall, the “reformed” serial killer who wasn’t reformed so much as he just wanted to spend a few days in the sun, enjoy and ice cream, and throw himself in front of an 18-wheeler (sorry. No GIF available yet).

Meanwhile, the comic-relief moment of the night — as usual — goes to Masuka.

Next week: Yvonne Strahovski!

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