What I’m Watching: Dexter

Dexter: Season 4, Episode 8 “Road Kill” (B+)

Let’s start off with a hearty round of applause for Deb. The usually unimpressive detective has been nothing but a whiny distraction lately, and she manages in this episode to make a staggering breakthrough that disconnects her shooting and Lundy’s death from the Trinity Killer. The way she worked through it with Masuka was pretty cool, and those two really are the most unlikely duo to make a major revelation, so kudos to them. Dexter’s rush to get out of Miami and find something science-y as a cover conference for his extracurricular Arthur activities in Tampa was fun, and it’s good to see the wheels spinning in his head. He was very clever in the way that he established his alibi and took a quick photo with the weatherman to send to Rita. Dexter’s previous affair was mistakenly referenced by Masuka in this episode in an attempt to defend Dexter’s honor, and that’s not going to go over well when Quinn tries to dredge up old skeletons. It’s also fair to say that Rita is entitled to an affair of her own with her fish-frying neighbor, though the way she values family will probably prevent her from slipping. It’s a good thing that Dexter is being careful about securing proof he was at the conference, since his current activities would certainly give her cause for concern that he’s having another affair or addicted to drugs again. Seeing Arthur slip and really go nuts was pretty intense, and Dexter’s decision to save him so that he can kill him later instead of letting him jump is a bit troubling since it’s clear that what he wants to do won’t go exactly as planned, and someone besides the Trinity Killer is probably going to get hurt.