Dexter S08E03 Review - "What's Eating Dexter Morgan?"
"People get used to living in denial. It's just easier, you know?" --Elway
Oh, what a rocky road this new season of Dexter is already shaping up to be. The season premiere was a reminder of everything wrong with the aging drama. The second episode, meanwhile, was a demonstration of what the show is still capable of when it's firing on all cylinders. And the third? Well, the third, which aired on Sunday, lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
Even though we were treated to a few compelling scenes in these 50 minutes, there's not a whole lot to say about "What's Eating Dexter Morgan?" that I haven't already commented on in my first two Dexter pieces. The Vogel story is still a consistently rich mine of new perspectives and thematic focus. The Quinn-Jamie-Angel dynamic is still hackneyed and boring. And the downfall of Debra Morgan is still somehow interesting, even while it continues to stall developmentally.
First, I'm gonna go on the record and say that something's up with Deb's new boss Elway. As insignificant as this new character is to the overall story, the writers are weirdly compelled to keep showing his affable exasperation toward Deb's post-traumatic antics. Not only that, but that's two episodes in a row where he's forced her to drink some kind of nasty-looking energy supplement...or so he says. This could just be an innocent character quirk, but it seems like the direction and editing in those scenes are trying to telegraph some future significance with Elway. Of course, Deb's always had a bad track record with the men in her life, so chances are Elway's more than he appears to be.
I liked that the writers found a way to rope Quinn back into Deb's orbit via the DUI incident at the beginning of the episode. More than his vague promise to pass his stupid sergeant's exam, his coming to bail Deb out really shows Quinn trying to be more mature. Later in the episode, Quinn doubles down on the Responsible Adult angle and calls Dexter to the office after Deb drunkenly confesses to killing LaGuerta--a revelation Quinn mercifully misconstrues as mere survivor's guilt. Dexter using his ominous syringe to spirit Deb away was a nice touch, and I especially enjoyed Vogel's impressed reaction upon seeing Dexter do his thing.
As I said, the Vogel storyline continues to be the most intriguing part of the season so far, even though the plot stalled for most of the episode. Instead of getting more backstory into Vogel's past and the origin of the Dark Passenger, we have to suffer through Dexter stalking a suspicious mall employee, only to discover he's not the man who's been threatening Vogel, but only a harmless little serial cannibal. In the end, Dexter inevitably gets the poor guy on his slab, and has his customary moment of pre-murder self-awareness when he tells his victim that they are both monsters who cannot help themselves. As I observed after watching the premiere: without Deb as a vicarious moral compass in his life, Dexter's naturally gonna give in to his Dark Passenger, and to Vogel.
By this point in the series, we know Dexter's not a true psychopath; Vogel is starting to realize this too when she observes Dexter's legitimate empathy for Deb. But every time Vogel brings this up, Dexter is having none of it. He must be a heartless killing machine. If it turns out he's not, how can he live with himself for all the death he's dealt over the years? No, Dexter prefers to keep telling himself he's a monster who's only good at one thing. He's been sinking further into the depths of denial, and if Deb doesn't come around and reorient him soon, that denial could very well consume him.
Written by Modern Sin