What I’m Watching: Dexter

Dexter: Season 4, Episode 5 “Dirty Harry” (B+)

The freedom to live out his private life that Dexter experienced last week was clearly short-lived, as Rita pries deep into his secretive side when she answers his phone call and discovers that he didn’t give up his apartment. Her prying is obnoxious to the point of being detrimental for Dexter’s productivity, as it’s supposed to be to create obstacles for him, and it will be tough and frustrating for him to gain back her trust. The relationship between Dexter and Deb is really fleshed out almost more than ever in this episode, first with his narration that he’d be lost without her and then with their talks throughout the episode. The outright dismissal of Anton is long overdue since he was really just part of a leftover season three plotline, which for me contained the least compelling arc (the Skinner can’t compare to the Bay Harbor Butcher/Doakes or the Ice Truck Killer). It’s a shock that Lundy is gone just like that, but it’s a terrific sendoff for the character to have him essentially giving instructions to Dexter through the voice recordings he made. Dexter actually catching the Trinity Killer in the act of committing murder was quite jarring, and his pursuit of him back to his house was intense. The revelation that comes to Dexter at the end of this episode is absolutely shocking and brilliant, that the Trinity Killer has a wife and kids, just like him. That moment proves that this show hasn’t jumped the shark by incorporating yet another serial killer instead of focusing just on Dexter. The presence of the Trinity Killer is beneficial, if not crucial, to the development of Dexter as a character, and it’s absolutely fascinating.