Comic-Con 2011 panels: DEXTER, FRINGE, SPARTACUS, TORCHWOOD, TRUE BLOOD & THE WALKING DEAD

San Diego Comic-Con is winding down for another year. I'm sure most of you have been watching and reading the coverage online in some capacity, but I thought I'd embed a few videos of various panels that are relevant to DMD's own coverage. Below are the panels for Dexter, Fringe, Spartacus, True Blood, Torchwood and The Walking Dead. Most were filmed using the "wobbly-cam" that's all the rage, so the quality's not great, but I commend Starz for ensuring their Spartacus panel was professionally recorded in its entirety. (You can click through the subsequent "parts" of each video via YouTube.)

A few more panels may be added soon, when they become available. But in the meantime: enjoy!

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Trailer: DEXTER, season 6 – He'll Make You A Believer

"Yes. It's begun."

After the disappointing tease and the arty promo, we finally have a full-blooded trailer for the sixth season of Showtime's Dexter, which premiered at San Diego Comic-Con. I've said all I can say about this show, but I can't deny this looks like a big improvement over season 5, and potentially season 4 if Edward James Olmos's character is as absorbing as John Lithgow's. Pleased to see the visuals seem more creative and dark, reminding me of the show's dark and pulpy first season. Later years basked in the warm Miami sunshine too much for my taste, as I much prefer the neon-lit nightlife feel of the city on camera. (Not that it's the real Miami, of course.)

If you have anything left to say about Dexter, say it below. This trailer has restored some of my enthusiasm, I must admit. Has it done the same for you?

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Trailer: DEXTER, season 6 - Hallelujah

"Is it possible... I serve a... higher purpose?"

Showtime have released a minute-long promo for the sixth season of Dexter. There's no footage from the show itself, it's just Dexter (Michael C. Hall) walking down the aisle of a church in his apron, surrounded by religious statues, as his voice-over chews on the idea he's effectively doing God's work...

It now seems incontestable that season 6 is going to tackle the character's religious side, which sounds like rich territory still to explore. At the very least the show will have some fun with religious iconography and spiritual themes. I still think Dexter's best days are behind it, but the eponymous character's so compelling I'll be back for this. Of course I will.

Dexter season 6 premieres on Showtime this autumn, most likely late-September.

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Infographic: DEXTER

I just thought I'd post this infographic for Showtime's Dexter, which gives you lots of interesting trivia about the show. Strange to note that Dexter Morgan kills 10 or 11 people over the course of every single season--is that some kind of agreed quota the writers have to hit? Curious. The infographic doesn't include fifth season data, unfortunately, but I'm sure it'll be updated at some point.

[via The Guardian]

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Scott Buck discusses DEXTER season 6

Entertainment Weekly have a terrific interview with Dexter's new showrunner Scott Buck, where he discusses the show's past and present. In particular, Buck reveals details about the forthcoming season (spoilers if you haven't seen season 5 yet), with the following confirmations:

• Dexter will be "very strong, sure-of-himself" this year, in contrast to season 5's anguished shadow, and on something of a spiritual search because he's worried his son Harrison will inherit his "dark passenger". In many ways the show will be returning to its roots, but with Dexter as a "more evolved serial-killer".
• Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) will be playing religious studies professor Dr Geller. Colin Hanks (King Kong) will be playing an acquaintance of Geller's called Travis, who has "fallen under his power". Molly Parker (Deadwood) is playing Travis' big sister Lisa Marshall. Mos will be playing a "street thug who found God while in prison" called Brother Sam.
• The season will involve a serial-killer who murders with "great conviction" because he believes he's in the right, partly inspired by the real-life Zodiac Killer. There will be a season-long adversary, but also multiple villains along the way.
• Baby Harrison will have a new "sparky, upbeat" nanny called Jamie (Aimee Garcia), as they decided to let Maria Doyle Kennedy leave the show because Buck admits they "wasted her" last year.
• A new "hard-ass detective from Chicago" called Mike Anderson (Billy Brown) will feature.
• Loose-ends like the "Kyle Butler" situation (Dexter's false identity from season 4, known to the Trinity Killer's surviving family) will be returned to again.
• Quinn will "hit some dark days" and his relationship with Debra will be explored further.
• Buck refused to be called on hopes Debra will discover her brother's a serial-killer this year, understandably.

After reading this interview I'm more intrigued about season 6, and I must admit that having Scott Buck run things feels like a wise move. He's been writing for Dexter almost from the start, so really knows its strengths and weaknesses, and the episodes he writes tend to be highlights. I just hope he understands fans are now very aware Dexter follows certain patterns, and are inured to the show's tricks. What once felt raw, shocking, gripping and cutting-edge in season 1 and 2 has become formulaic and almost comfortable in later years.

Maybe Buck won't be able to stop the rot spreading (because this is just what happened when feisty, edgy shows mellow in old age), but I'm hoping season 6 is a return to form in some way. Or just more entertaining than season 5 ended up being, really. The spiritual/religious angle is certainly something I'm quite interested in, if it's done well.

And if nothing else, season 6's guest stars are an interesting mix (certainly more alluring than Julia Stiles and Jonny Lee Miller were last year), and I'm especially interested to see how Olmos fits into the show.

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Edward James Olmos joins 'Dexter'

Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica) has been added to the cast of Dexter for its sixth season, joining the previously announced Colin Hanks, as an expert on religious artifacts, and Mos (formerly Mos Def) as an ex-convict who's found religion. Olmos' character is described as a "brilliant, charismatic professor of religious studies."

Olmos confirmed the news in a tweet:

"It's true... I'm coming for you Dexter...."

Clearly the next season of Dexter will be tackling the issue of religion, which I'm sure the central character will have something to say about in a pithy narration or two.

My feelings about Dexter are well-known: I adored the show's first two seasons, but everything since has been variations on a formula. Season 4 was a return to form in some respects (mainly because of John Lithgow's electric performance), and season 5 had the occasionally successful flourish, but I still think the show has a natural lifespan that's been stretched beyond capacity. That said, religion sounds like fertile ground for the show to tackle, and the casting this year is quite promising. Admiral William Adama locking horns with Dexter Morgan, eh? So slay we all.

Dexter returns to Showtime in September.

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Teaser: 'Dexter', season 6; Hell Breaks Loose

Showtime have released a brief teaser for the sixth season of Dexter (see above.) There's no new footage, just a recap of the various foes Dexter Morgan has taken on over the years. Noticeably, the teaser ignores anything that happened in season 5. Make of that what you will...

The season's tagline is "Hell Breaks Loose" and audio of Debra Morgan screaming is used to insinuate she learns the shocking truth about her brother this year. I hope this is true and not a cynical marketing trick, as there's increasingly very little about Dexter that's capturing my imagination these days. As I keep saying, Showtime need to find themselves another hit and allow Dexter to retire with a two-season plan that brings everything to a satisfying conclusion. That's the only way to re-energize the show enough to keep everyday fans passionate, as I fear a major backlash if the writers are forced to keep the wheels spinning because Showtime have set their sights on a season 7, 8, 9 and beyond...

Season 6 has a new showrunner in veteran Dexter scribe Scott Buck, with Showtime president David Nevins offering these words on the season from the 4th Annual TV Academy Honors in Beverly Hills:

"Dexter this season will be in some ways a return to the Dexter that you've seen in the early seasons. There's a really interesting story and journey that he's going to be on this year. There’s going to be some degree of getting back to his roots."

"There will be a microscope on the Deb/Dexter relationship this season. Over time you’re going to see that relationship evolve and change, no questions about it.

"[The season's villain] is not one big bad. There's one interesting story that will move through the season, and it will be cast very interestingly, but it's not exactly that one person."

It's also known that the production's looking for three new characters: Jamie, an outgoing Latina grad school student in her mid-20s; Mike, an African-American detective from Chicago who doesn't get on with Dexter (ahem, Sgt Doakes is back?); and Louis, a lab intern friend of Masuka's. Update: it's been announced that Colin Hanks has joined the show on a recurring basis. Could be be playing Masuka's pal?

What do you make of these teases? Is Dexter still a show that excites you, or do you think the premise is just not elastic enough to continue for much longer?

Dexter will return to Showtime this autumn, most likely late-September.

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Aborted Reviews: 'Being Human': S1-3, 'Caprica': 1.14 - "Blowback", 'Dexter': S4 & 'Dollhouse': S2

I write a lot of stuff I never actually post here, usually because I proof-read and don't think it's good enough. It's true! I keep all my writing on a Word document that's currently 113 pages long, mostly consisting of hazy ideas for polls, talking points, random media-related articles, some research, etc.

Sometimes there are reviews (often of TV box-sets) that I struggle to find time to write from start to finish, so end up tinkering with them over a period of weeks, sometimes months -- mostly on afternoons when there are no reviews to write for shows I watched the evening before. Unfortunately, this means that these reviews can reach a moment in time where their "moment" has passed. Or, simply, I've become bored working on them, and they remain forever unfinished. Recently I've become frustrated with this fact, and increasingly aware that such reviews are destined to sit on my laptop forever, slowly turning into relics of my own mind. So, to hell with it, why not just publish what I have, in whatever state they're in?

And that's what we have here. A handful of TV reviews (mostly aborted or unfinished box-set appraisals) of Being Human, Dexter and Dollhouse, with a latter episode of Caprica thrown in for good measure. Obviously, these aren't finished (some are just "set up" really), but I think they're of sufficient quality to be posted. I hope. I don't think I'll ever find the time and proclivity to finish them, so hope you enjoy reading what I did manage to cobble together. Maybe this will embarrass me to finish what I started more often, or not start to begin with!

But that Firefly box-set review really IS coming. Honestly. Note its absence here. Trust me...

DVD Review: BEING HUMAN – Complete Series 1-3; kitchen sink supernaturalism

It's a peculiar premise that shouldn't work as well as it does: a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost share a house together. It's the kind of concept that could be taken in different directions, tonally, but Being Human goes for character-based drama with a gentle sitcom undertone, punctuated by moments of startling horror. It's a sweet confection that should delight most people drawn to Being Human, although the show's let down by several problems underpinning its mythology.

Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a 115-year-old vampire who led a hedonistic lifestyle with his diminutive "recruiter" Herrick (Jason Watkins) over the 20th-century, before deciding to abstain from human blood, get an inconspicuous job as a hospital porter, and live with his werewolf friend George (Russell Tovey.) The two pals move into a pink semi-detached house in Bristol, later becoming aware they're sharing it with Annie (Lenora Crichlow), their landlord's dead fiancée, and a unique support group is formed as the trio attempt to "be human" without arousing suspicion from friends and neighbours.

The premise is actually quite flawed, as the idea of overcoming your nature to fit in with mankind only works in the case of a vampire going through withdrawal symptoms -- which act as a drug addiction allegory, natch. After all, George is perfectly human for 353 days of the year, while Annie has little choice but to accept she can't be seen by normal people to achieve "social acceptance". But still, the interaction of the three characters living under one roof is the focus of the series, and fortunately the actors have an engaging rapport. Mitchell is the mandatory brooder who struggles to turn his back on his debauched past, particularly with Herrick on every corner trying to coax him back into the fold; George is the intellectual, emotional, socially-awkward guy who's tormented by his werewolf curse; and Annie's the insecure, ditzy, and impulsive one trying to understand her situation as a spirit.

Series 1 deals with storylines that are most pertinent to the show's themes and intent, as each one neatly highlights the major issues and concerns the lead characters have. Mitchell exists in a state of constant temptation from the vampires beyond the sanctuary of his new abode; George starts having a relationship with a headstrong nurse called Nina (Sinead Keenan), while trying to keep her ignorant of his hairy affliction; and Annie starts to piece together the circumstances of her death and, after realizing her fiancé murderer her, decides to exact justice from beyond the grave so she can "move on" to the next life. Each storyline cuts to the core concerns of the characters and their struggles with their very natures, and it's a synergy that Being Human never quite manages to top in later years.

By Series 2, there's more confidence in Being Human's ability to deliver compelling drama and horror, so some of the humour takes a backseat. Instead, the mythology of the show widens to encompass the presence of an organization headed up by a Dr Jaggatt and a former-priest called Kemp (Donald Sumpter) who are aware "supernaturals" exist and intend to eradicate them. Added to that, Mitchell turns preacher in trying to get the city's vampires to join him in blood abstinence; George and Nina's relationship disintegrates in the wake of George passing on his lycanthropy to her (a thin AIDS allegory), which thus pushes George into a hasty rebound with a single mother; and Annie tries to find a purpose now that she's chosen to remain earthbound.

It's a strong series, but perhaps one that alienated fans who were attracted to Being Human because of its lead character's interactions and veins of comedy. The trio tend to get lost in their own situations too much, while there's a clear sense of desperation about how to deal with Annie (who's even given a corporeal body for awhile, almost out of desperation over the constraints of a character most people can't see.) But there's enough imagination and self-belief to keep you watching, together with some genuinely gripping sequences – like the moment when George loses track of time and starts to transform into a werewolf in the middle of a primary school. A genuinely tense and visually superb sequence of mounting horror and uncertainty.

Finally, Series 3 offers minor reinvention. Mitchell, George and Nina move to Barry Island in South Wales to escape the previous year's events and, after renting a former B&B called Honolulu Heights, Mitchell manages to rescue Annie from the purgatory she was banished to the year before. From there the show takes a more inward-looking approach to its drama -- as secrets, lies and lost memories play a part in tearing the four friends apart. Guest stars play a more active role than ever, often headlining largely standalone episodes that are scheduled to break up the year's deeper story. We meet a middle-aged vampire trapped in a teenager's body, a party girl turned into a zombie, George's milquetoast father, and new semi-regulars are introduced in haggard werewolf McNair (Robson Green) and his sheltered son Tom (Michael Socha), before the return of an amnesiac Herrick lends the whole series an unpredictable edge when he becomes their lodger in the attic.

DVD Review: DEXTER: Complete Series 4 (2009)

After the misfiring third season, Dexter needed to deliver a convincing comeback in its fourth year, and found the answer to its prayers in esteemed actor John Lithgow. The series went back to its roots of having Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) contend with another serial-killer on his patch; namely The Trinity Killer (Lithgow), a fiend who's escaped detection for three decades, but has returned to Miami to end his clandestine killing spree.

Retired FBI Agent Lundy (Keith Carradine) has become a self-made Inspector Abberline to his very own Jack The Ripper, determined to catch Trinity while colleagues/friends treat his theories as bunkum. Meanwhile, new father Dexter struggles to find balance between his parental responsibilities and entrenched need to slaughter criminals. The twist to this particular tale is that Dexter comes to realize he has much to learn from Trinity; a wiser, more experienced killer, having apparently perfected the art of hiding in plain sight...

The common weakness of Dexter is that most subplots unrelated to its eponymous anti-hero play like dispensable off cuts from a formulaic cop show, and that continued to be the case here. Fortunately, season 4 finds a compelling way to involve Dexter in Trinity's life for an extensive period of time, and does a great job slowly unraveling the psychosis at the heart of season 4's villain. It has the backbone of an unraveling mystery, which takes the sting out of the more tedious subplots.

Lithgow uses his pallid features and piercing blue eyes to unnerving effect, acting a portent of what Dexter's life could become, yet he's still able to evoke sympathy when the root of his problem is eventually revealed. It's a performance that buoys the entire season, even when various leaks burst through the hull, bagging Lithgow a deserved Emmy award. More importantly, he provides Hall with someone of comparable skill to bounce off, and the season takes full advantage of these two heavyweights. A visual tableau at the tail-end of "Hello, Dexter Morgan" paints the two actors as boxers squaring up to each other in the ring. To continue the allegory: season 4 may have its weak rounds, but it ends with a chilling knockout punch.

TV Review: 'CAPRICA' 1.14 – "Blowback"

"Blowback" kicked off the final five episodes in glorious style, delivering panache and forward momentum with the key stories: Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) discovered the Guatrau have been smuggling some of his Cylons off-world to fight in the Tauron civil war, so persuaded its leader to stop this illegality with the promise of quicker results with his life-changing resurrection program "Grace"; Lacey (Magda Apanowicz) was sent to Gemenon aboard an STO vessel with other young recruits, only to find herself embroiled in a violent hijacking by a group of polytheists; police Captain Duram (Brian Markinson) was pressured by his boss Gara Singh (Peter Wingfield) into revealing who his informant is working undercover at Sister Clarice's (Polly Walker) abode; and Clarice herself finally got her hands on Zoe's infinity broach, which contains a backup of the martyr's avatar software, which she hopes will form the basis of an STO "afterlife".

For once, there wasn't a single storyline that bored me here, which was a huge relief after a mid-season run of duds, which felt responsible for Syfy yanking the show off-air and deciding to cancel it. Maybe they should have waited a few weeks? Everything was very neatly handled and very entertaining, with Lacey's storyline being particularly gripping as the poor girl was forced to fight for her life before the hijackers executed her fellow "heathens" and ejected their bodies out of an airlock. The twist that the entire situation was a staged test of loyalty managed to fool me, despite being a common trick, and I enjoyed the final moments when Lacey realized those who failed the test were blithely executed by an armed Cylon. The penny seemed to drop for Lacey that she's joined a religious cult that are actually as crazy as the fake polytheists.

Blu-ray Review: DOLLHOUSE - The Complete Second Season (2009)

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was given a last-minute reprieve by Fox after its low-rated debut season in 2008, but after being transferred to the "graveyard slot" of Friday nights, the network announced its cancellation barely four episodes into its sophomore run. Fortunately, the axe fell early enough for Whedon's team to condense their potential five-year plan into the remaining half-dozen episodes. This resulted in a rip-roaring season that, while unsurprisingly hectic and devil may care in attitude, birthed so many interesting ideas and surprises that the loyal fan-base were given a satisfactory conclusion and several of the year's most exciting hours of sci-fi drama last year...

To recap the premise, Dollhouse concerns a secret organization that has pioneered mind-altering technology, enabling them to erase and implant memories into human brains. They currently use this technology to create "dolls"; willing volunteers who sign away periods of their life for financial recompense, allowing their bodies to become the shell for various personalities that a client demands. The dolls can become the world's greatest midwife, hiking companion, prostitute, soldier, secretary, pop star, or any other occupation desired. More controversially, dolls can be given the personality and memories of actual people, living or dead (provided they've had their minds copied and stored for future use). The very idea throws up an abundance of existential questions and ideas, most of which Dollhouse explores throughout its two seasons: from "sleepers" who don't even know they're dolls, sent out into the real world to keep tabs on people trying to expose the Dollhouse, to questions of mortality if one could continually inherit a host body and transfer your consciousness to a new one when age or health becomes an issue.

"Echo" (Eliza Dushku) is our heroine, a feisty volunteer for the program's Los Angeles facility, run by the authoritarian Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), who has the unique ability to retain her memories of past experiences and personalities after the obligatory "treatment" (mind erasure) that followers every assignment. In season 2, Echo's ability will prove instrumental if they're to destroy the Dollhouse from the inside-out, with the help of Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett), a former FBI Agent who attempted to rescue Echo in season 1, but is now a double-agent working for the enemy, and Echo's former "handler" Boyd (Harry Lennix), a fatherly figure who's questioned the morality of the Dollhouse from the very start.

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Scott Buck promoted to showrunner of 'Dexter'

There's another change of showrunner for Dexter's sixth season next year, as Chip Johannessen steps down for Scott Buck to takeover. Buck, a former writer of Six Feet Under, has been involved with Dexter since season 2, becoming an executive-producer by season 4. He's also been the right-hand man of former showrunners Clyde Phillips and Johannessen, so it's been decided he's the natural replacement.

This is great news, I feel. Buck's episodes are often amongst the best of each season, and it's believed he has a better rapport with the writing staff than Johannessen (who, to be fair, was kind of thrown into the mix for season 5, fresh from working on 24.) But I'm sure having Buck in charge will go down well with the writers he's worked with all these years, and he undoubtedly knows the show extremely well.

I'm not sure why Johannessen had decided to leave, or if he was asked to step aside. Season 5 was Dexter's most successful year in terms of ratings (averaging 5m per episode), but it received mixed reviews because of its creative awkwardness. Maybe there was a feeling behind closed doors that Johannessen's ideas and direction wasn't working? It's obviously a tough show to break new stories for after five years, but hopefully Buck will rise to the challenge.

I still think the best news would be Showtime agreeing to set a fixed end-date for the series, allowing the writers to work towards maximizing the impact of Dexter's vigilantism being exposed to the world. That's undoubtedly a storyline they can only do for the final season, so there obviously needs to be some pre-agreement in place, because at the moment the show tends to get renewed the week its current season's finale airs.

I like to think a cable network like Showtime (traditionally a place for quality over quantity), would be more willing to ensure one of their top shows doesn't dwindle and die, but that's probably naïve. What Showtime really needs is a new show to overtake Dexter's popularity, so they can retire Dexter without feeling like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

What do you make of Buck's appointment as the big boss? Will it really make a difference, or are the problems with Dexter insurmountable if you're constantly asked to tread water instead of attack the natural end-game of a show with this premise?

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'DEXTER' 5.12 - "The Big One"

Or The Big Easy. The finale of season 5 wrapped things up in a mostly predictable way, and the few moments when something unexpected happened was resolved swiftly. It was disappointing more often than stimulating, and left me ambivalent about the show's future. I still like the general premise, love Michael C. Hall, and there's occasionally a seasonal guest star who elevates the iffiest of material, but strict adherence to formula means Dexter's lost that what's-going-to-happen-next? spark that was once so central. There were moments in "The Big One" where I'd have been on the edge of my seat three years ago, but now it's too clear the writers won't rock the boat to make the ride more thrilling, just in case it capsizes...

"You can't save one thing to make up for another, Dexter. It's just not the way the world works." -- Jordan Chase

Continuing from "Hop A Freighter", Lumen (Julia Stiles) has been kidnapped by Jordan (Jonny Lee Miller) and taken to the scene of her gang-rape at a ramshackle summer camp Jordan used to frequent as a boy. This leaves Dexter (Hall) scrambling to find his soul mate, before Jordan assumedly kills Lumen to avenge the demise of his clique, but anticipated obstacles fell into Dex's path: nanny Sonya (Maria Doyle Kennedy) returned from Orlando with his kids and their grandparents for baby Harrison's first birthday, while Liddy's (Peter Weller) dead body was discovered and Dex had no option but to help investigate his own crime scene.

Additionally, Quinn's (Desmond Harrington) involvement with Liddy came to light, after LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) noticed blood on his shoe, and he was taken in for questioning as the prime suspect in Liddy's murder. Meanwhile, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) caught a lucky break with the search for Jordan and closed in on the fugitive's location, unaware that her brother is now a few steps ahead of her, desperate to find and kill Jordan before he can hurt Lumen...

"The Big One" resolved the various storyline of this year and put a cap on its theme of morality and the grieving process, which was good. The only problem is everything was wrapped up in a mostly uninspiring and occasionally stupid way. Dexter arriving at the summer camp, only to crash his stolen car and get captured by Jordan, felt like a great way to twist the screws, but Jordan's upper hand was short-lived because Dex had somehow managed to keep hold of one of his knives, using it to stab Jordan through the foot and cut through his restraints. Dexter kept a knife about his person as a plan B? Jordan didn't think to search Dexter for weapons before he tied him up? It was all too convenient and made Jordan appear very stupid, which he arguably is.

He was hardly a criminal mastermind, as I don't even understand what Jordan's plan was in this episode. He kidnapped Lumen to draw Dexter into his web, to kill them both as revenge for their dismantling of his "rape club", but that's very short-sighted. Success doesn't get the cops off his back, so it might have been cleverer to use Lumen as leverage over Dexter, agreeing to spare her life if Dexter can sabotage the investigation into the "barrel girls". Even if that's impossible, he could at least have proposed it to Dexter over the phone. Instead, Jordan went into a meltdown, with Jonny Lee Miller apparently channeling Heath Ledger's Joker in the scene where he tried to frighten Lumen.

I don't blame Miller entirely; there was pulp potential in the idea of a wealthy self-help guru masterminding a den of rapist killers without getting his own hands dirty, but the writers never got a firm handle on the idea. I appreciated the moment Jordan tried to talk his way out of being stabbed by Lumen, as the writers suddenly remembered he's supposed to be a skilled orator and pop-psychologist, but more could have been achieved with that moment. It was an abrupt and limp ending for Jordan (who proved to be a white-collar idiot with a silly catchphrase), and the catharsis of Lumen killing someone was handled better in a similar scene with henchman Cole weeks ago.

I had hope that Jordan's quick demise meant that wasn't the episode's zenith, particularly when it almost immediately led to Debra discovering the abandoned summer camp and approaching Jordan's lair, alone, unaware that her brother and his "tenant" are packing away their tools after killing Jordan. The show regularly plays with the idea of Debra discovering Dexter's true nature, as it's something the audience has been teased with from season 1, but it's fast becoming a joke now.

The twist here was that Debra arrived in the basement, walking in on her once hypothetical vigilantes, who were fortuitously obscured behind a plastic sheet. The idea that Debra, affected by the plight of Jordan's thirteenth victim, would decide to bend her own code of conduct and give them an hour to escape, was certainly plausible and in-keeping with Debra's moral changes this year, together with her history as the unwitting girlfriend of a murderer. It just seemed to be a little ridiculous she didn't want to see the vigilantes faces, and too much of a convenient way to avoid Debra discovering the truth. It was one step away from Debra actually witnessing Jordan's death via shadow play.

I understand and accept that letting Debra know her brother's a serial-killer is a bold move you can't reverse, and potentially disastrous given the format of the show, but that was actually avoidable here. Debra could have discovered Lumen's "number thirteen" and has been getting help from her own brother, as that only implicates him with the Jordan Chase situation. If that happened, she'd have even more of a reason to let the vigilantes go, as her brother's one of them, and it would have been fascinating to watch Debra and Dexter debate everything afterwards. Dexter could have essentially told the truth, confined to this season's events, that he agreed to help Lumen kill her rapists because he wanted to atone for his inability to save Rita from another predator. I think it's totally credible Debra would accept what her brother's done (kill a gang of bad guys at the behest of a victim she sympathizes with, too), which would have been a part-reveal to lay a foundation to Dexter's bigger reveal that he's a full-blown serial-killer one day. Or maybe you disagree? The writers certainly do.

The situation with Quinn coming under suspicion of killing Liddy felt rather flat, strangely. However, the denouement reveal that Dexter tested the blood on Quinn's shoe but lied about its origin was an interesting development. It seems that Dexter did it so Debra can perhaps be happy with Quinn, but also to protect Quinn from being jailed for a crime Dex knows he didn’t commit. What's good is that Quinn knows the blood was Liddy's, so he therefore knows Dex covered his back, but does he suspect why? I mean, assuming Quinn doesn't think Dex killed Liddy, then he knows Dex is someone who let a murderer avoid jail, just so he could continue to date his own sister and make her happy. Isn't that MORE suspicious?

Since she learned Dexter's secret, the fate of Lumen was one of season 5's key questions. Usually, people who know Dexter's secret end up dead, but Lumen wasn't a danger to Dex with that information, so it felt likely she'd be killed by Jordan or perhaps Debra. Either that, or escape unharmed, which is exactly what happened. As annoying as it still was, I can accept the fact Lumen's "dark passenger" was exorcised the moment her knife went into Jordan's heart, and that she'd want to put all that behind her now. So she didn't love Dexter, she was just enthralled and comforted by him, otherwise she'd have stayed and become the perfect cover for his vigilantism. No wonder Dex felt a little used, throwing that plate against a kitchen cupboard in a rare outburst of anger.

Overall, season 5 resolved itself in 12 episodes and didn't offer a cliffhanger or notable change to character dynamics. The storylines were self-contained, meaning season 6 can start with a relatively clean sheet, having dealt with Dexter's grief (however inconsistently). There's a chance Quinn will start to question Liddy's inexplicable murder, Deb's morals will probably turn greyer, and the writers will have to find another way to keep Dexter's kids out of the picture. The trouble is, given how season 5 was of blotchy quality and, beyond a few strong ideas (a gang of villains, Lumen), mostly hamstrung by the show's self-made formula, I'm just not that excited by the prospect of a sixth season. Maybe we'll get another John Lithgow-quality villain for Dex to contend with, which could be fun, but there's nothing left to Dexter's premise that really gets my blood pumping beyond (a) Debra realizing her brother's a killer and (b) Dex being exposed, caught, killed, or jailed.

And none of that's likely to happen until Showtime decide to pull the plug on Dexter, giving the writers enough time to build a suitable final season, which isn't going to happen until the ratings dip disastrously or Michael C. Hall makes a judgement call and only agrees to return past his contracted sixth season if the show's given an end-date to work towards. It's a luxury given to very few shows, but one I hope Showtime extends Dexter's way, before a truly abysmal season kills the show dead.

Asides

• Lumen is the only person who knows Dexter's secret and is alive, so the door's open for her to return. Do you think that's likely, if Julia Stiles is open to it?
• Why didn't Debra mention the fact Rudy was Dexter's brother? Is this nugget of information she discovered in season 4 being ignored? It felt like the writers avoided it, when it could have been a nice reminder that Debra made that discovery last year.
• Is Quinn suspicious that Liddy was killed? Can't the cops get access to Liddy or Quinn's calls? Doesn't anyone notice Liddy's surveillance equipment was checked out by "Quinn"? Has anyone searched the vicinity of Liddy's van, because there's a laptop condemning Dexter in the water close by.

WRITERS: Chip Johannessen & Manny Coto
DIRECTOR: Steve Shill
TRANSMISSION: 12 December 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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'DEXTER' 5.11 - "Hop A Freighter"

The last quarter-hour was spry and exciting (if unsatisfying in reflection), but there was a peculiar atmosphere hanging over this episode. It felt like the writers knew they had too much to cover in two episodes, so "Hop The Freighter" was an attempt to abruptly, but plausibly, end the thorny Liddy (Peter Weller) storyline. Intriguingly, this episode's story is credited to Glaswegian crime author Karen Campbell, leading me to hypothesize that writers Scott Buck and Tim Schlattmann turned to her for help in credibly getting from A to B, ready for what threatens to be a dutiful finale. Whatever the evolution of this penultimate episode, it was an hour governed by plot-mechanics and ultimately robbed the season of its few volatile elements...

Stan Liddy's investigation into Dexter's activities has been the wildcard of season 5, as it's been so disconnected to anyone else's storyline that it was hard to fathom how it would resolve. Credit to the writers for coming up with believable ways for Dexter to realize he's being snooped on by a surveillance camera (his baby monitor picked up the transmission, he traced the bug's serial-number to Quinn at the Miami Metro).

That all worked very well, but it still felt like such a wasted opportunity to have Dex solve this additional puzzle so quickly. Equally frustrating was the fact Liddy, like Sgt Doakes before him, played his cards too close to his chest, for no real reason. If only he'd let Quinn (Desmond Harrington) know about his photographs of Dexter and Lumen (Julia Stiles) dumping suspicious bags into the ocean, or that he's video-taped Dex instructing Lumen on how to wield a bowie knife, things would have played out very differently.

But, of course, the writers know they can't let any character act rationally when it comes to exposing Dexter (remember Doakes taking Dex's blood slides to Haiti rather than hand them to Miami Metro?) So Liddy kept his evidence contained, and didn't speak to anyone about it, meaning he was a lone target for Dex to eliminate in order to keep his secret safe. It was certainly exciting to see Liddy get the jump on Dex, tasering him in the neck, bundling him into his van, then trying to force a confession out of him. Peter Weller's been having great fun in this broad role, but the manner of his character's dispatch was disappointing.

It's the second time Dex has been captured (after season 3's finale), and the second time he's wriggled free with relative ease -- here, simply kicking Liddy in the face and plunging a knife into his chest. There was added tension in the fact Quinn was circling the seemingly empty van, having been summoned by Liddy to assumedly see Dex confess, but in your heart you knew there was no chance Quinn would discover anything.

Still, this storyline was the highlight of an otherwise mechanical episode. It was basically an hour of groundwork for next week, to show us that Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) is convinced Jordan's (Jonny Lee Miller) the ringleader of the "rape club" they've discovered, knowing he's the only common link between the other suspects. She just needed to make this a sound hypothesis by finding the link between Jordan and Dan the dentist, which would be enough to get a court order to prevent Jordan leaving the country for a European tour. Debra also has faith in her "vigilante theory" (that the thirteenth victim escaped and is now killing her rapists, with help from a sympathizer), which resulted in one nice scene between Debra and her brother, where she admitted there's a kind of love in this twisted Bonnie & Clyde-like duo.

Last week's climax, with Dex and Lumen sleeping together, caused disagreement amongst fans (some believing it was an unnecessary development that tarnished the memory of Rita, others thinking it was inevitable and intriguing progression), but "Hop A Freighter" treated their relationship very straight. There was no guilt or second thoughts the morning after; they're very much partners in every sense of the word now. Two killers, both forged in personal tragedy. Dex has someone he can trust implicitly for once, but I still suspect it's going to come to a sticky end in the finale.

Jordan's story was rather thin here, and whatever happens it seems unlikely he's going to avoid Dexter's kill-table or prison. And it's unavoidably going to be the former, because he'd drag Dexter down with him if it's the latter. It's a shame the show now has so many unwritten rules to obey, which its audience is aware of. I'd love this show to surprise me by having Jordan tell Debra about her brother, even if that would be a disappointingly easy way for Debra to learn the truth. And there's the rub. The show can only surprise us in some ways, by disappointing us in others.

The climax found Emily doing Jordan's bidding (for unexplained reasons -- Stockholm Syndrome?), and luring Lumen into her home so Jordan can deal with her. Owing to his distraction with Liddy, Dex got to Emily's house too late, realizing that Lumen's been kidnapped by Jordan. This sets up a finale broadly similar to season 1's, when someone close to Dex (his sister Debra) was kidnapped by the season's villain and Dexter had to save her while avoiding the simultaneous police investigation.

I can't see how season 5's finale can avoid walking this analogous path, with the only remaining uncertainty being Lumen's ultimate fate. Will she kill Jordan? If so, will she be caught by the police and go to prison, but refuse to reveal that Dexter was her accomplice? Will Jordan kill her, resulting in a similar ending to season 4? Or will Dex and Lumen both escape, having killed Jordan, leaving the cops with an unsolved mystery about who the vigilante was? Maybe they'll surprise us and have Jordan survive, to blow the lid on Dexter? Nah...

Overall, "Hop A Freighter" certainly wasn't boring or appalling, but it was quite average and disappointing in many ways. Season 5's had some great ideas and moments, but the execution of the story has been very choppy. And just when you think the season's turned a corner into uncharted territory, or gained some unpredictability, it quickly finds a way to draw everything back into its box.

Still, season 5's been getting some of the show's best ever ratings and Showtime have renewed the show for a sixth year. After that, the regular cast can renegotiate their contract, or choose to leave the series. I'm hoping Michael C. Hall either (a) tells the writers that season 6 will be his last, allowing them to write towards a series finale, or (b) agrees to stay, but negotiates an end-date for the show to work towards.

As the titular character, he has the power to determine how long this show lasts, and I'd rather it goes out on a high while it's still possible. Or maybe I'm being naïve and Hall's happy to continue for season 7, 8, 9, 10... as he still enjoys the character. Let's just hope the audience don't fall out of love with Dexter Morgan before the curtain falls.

Asides

• The amendment at the top of this review is due to a subsequent discovery that the Karen Campbell who co-wrote this episode isn't the aforementioned Scottish author, but actually a junior writer working on the show who was given a break. Apologies for any confusion, and credit to Gareth Watkins for investigating this.
• A drop of Liddy's blood splashed onto Quinn's shoe, having trickled through a gap in the van's bodywork. I'm guessing that will come into play in the finale. It's certainly going to look very suspicious that Liddy's "missing", right? And if Quinn somehow notices the blood spot on his shoe and has it tested, will it identify Liddy? If so, will Quinn get back to Liddy's van quick enough to bust in and find his body? Either way, won't he be doubly suspicious of Dexter after all this?
• Killing Liddy breaks Harry's Code, even if he was a "bent cop". Dexter didn't know anything about Liddy's background, so I think we're to assume the Code's #1 rule ("don't get caught") allows Dex to take such action? Mind you, compare this to season 2 when he couldn't kill Doakes when faced with a similar situation. Inconsistency for the sake of the easiest solution to a storytelling problem here?
• Quinn circling Liddy's van, unaware Dexter's trapped inside, felt like a steal from a very similar situation in Breaking Bad's third season episode "Sunset".

WRITERS: Scott Buck & Tim Schlattman (story by Karen Campbell)
DIRECTOR: John Dahl
TRANSMISSION: 5 December 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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'DEXTER' 5.10 - "In The Beginning"

"In The Beginning" was aptly titled, as this episode delivered back-story to Jordan Chase (Jonny Lee Miller), revealed the origin of his childhood gang, and ended on the "consummation" of Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and Lumen (Julia Stiles) partnership -- Adam and Eve figures in their unique Garden Of Eden, killing the various snakes slithering through its grass. I guess Liddy's (Peter Weller) surveillance tapes might be considered the Tree of Knowledge that threatens to cast them out into the wilderness as fugitives...

"... with Lumen I'm someone different. In her eyes, I'm not a monster at all."

There were seismic developments in this tenth episode, as we sprint to the finish. I have issues with some of them, but it was a mostly satisfying leap forward for season 5's story. Following last week's episode, Jordan has revealed he knows Lumen's alive and busy killing his associates with the help of Dexter, so everything became a game of chess with the two sides considering their next move. Needless to say, Dex favoured going on the offensive. The "barrel girls" case was re-opened, with Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) and Quinn (Desmond Harrington) searching prime suspect Cole's house and discovering thirteen DVDs chronicling the torture of various women. As Lumen is the girl videotaped on the final disc, Dex was forced to switch the DVD for a sabotaged blank before his colleagues watched it and forced him to explain the fact Cole's final victim and his mysterious blonde "tenant" are the same person.

The investigation into Emily Birch, the woman whose blood Jordan keeps in a vial around his neck, reaped plenty of reward for Lumen. Emily was the gang's first victim 20 years ago, a summer camp counselor raped at the encouragement of Jordan (or chubby Eugene Greer as he was then), before being forced to take their photo for posterity. Emily wasn't killed like the current crop of lookalikes Jordan's cronies subject to the same ordeal, but is the source of Jordan's business ethos ("if you want something, take it!") and, in a strange reveal, revealed to still be in contact with Jordan because they share a "bond". I'm guessing Emily has a case of Stockholm Syndrome, or is simply too traumatized or brainwashed to have ever gone to the police, while Jordan exhibited signs of severe intimacy issues with women (gently removing her hand when she laid it on his). This explains why he never gets his hands dirty with any crimes; instead preferring to take a backseat and enjoy the vicarious thrill of being a spectator to his brainwashed friend's depravities. To be honest, Emily's back-story came across as very awkward and implausible, but we'll have to suspend our disbelief. There's a chance the remaining two episodes will smooth the cracks over, I guess.

One thing I appreciated about this episode was the discovery of video evidence that gave us a visceral insight into Lumen's torment and mental state. You can always sympathize with someone who's traumatized and has physical wounds to make you recoil, but it's something entirely different to see snapshots of the actual abuse and hear it unfold. The sequences where various characters suffered through watching Cole's DVDs were a genuinely haunting reminder of the show's grittier early years, allowing your imagination to fill in the blanks. Recently I complained about the lack of flashbacks to sell the villainy of Jordan's gang (especially as season 5's villains have done very little on-screen to make you hate them), and this episode found a good way of doing that without the need for a narrative back flip.

It was also fun to see Dexter and Lumen go after banker Alex Tilden (Scott Grimes), the last remaining member of Jordan's group, particularly because Jordan was clever enough to have manipulated them towards Alex so he could raise the alarm when Dexter arrived at Alex's house to kill him. Inevitably, it was Debra and Quinn who answered the call, setting in motion another of the show's tense sequences where it feels like Dexter's seconds away from being caught. The show does this a lot, but I allow it to work despite my higher brain knowing they'll never allow Debra to discover her brother's secret simply by walking in on him. Writer Scott Reynolds essentially pulled the Silence Of The Lambs trick, by having us mistakenly believe Dexter's kill-room was inside his victim's house, when he'd actually taken him off the premises. Was that a little contrived? Doesn't Dexter usually kill his victims wherever he catches them, without much transportation? Maybe he's been extra careful because he knows Jordan's a threat?

Anyway, perhaps the biggest moment of "In The Beginning" was the catharsis that was delivered to Lumen. She's now every inch Dexter's protégé, the Robin to his Batman, even getting to wear a female version of Dex's "costume" (complete with signature black gloves Dex bought for her especially), and going through her life-changing first kill by stabbing Alex. "Aim for the heart" advised Dexter. Lumen certainly did, in both senses of the word, as they returned home and, in the afterglow of having killed one of her torturers together, undressed and made love. You could see the warm contentment in Dexter's face in their post-coital cuddle; here's a woman who knows everything about him, all his darkest secrets, but actually understands his motivations, accepts him for who he is, and even participates in his vigilantism. For him, she's the dream woman and perfect life partner.

Liddy's investigation is still rather amateurish in some ways (because simply following Dexter around would deliver the goods), but he realized how big a fish Dexter is by the episode's end. Having acquired some high-tech surveillance, Liddy was able to snoop on Dexter and Lumen with a camera planted in their house, meaning he has physical evidence of them conspiring to kill. It'll be interesting to see what his next move is, as any sane person would go straight to the cops, but I'm guessing Liddy wants to get unambiguous evidence that Dexter's a killer – perhaps by finding a way to get one of his kills on tape. It still feels inevitable that Liddy will be discovered and killed, most likely by the Code-less Lumen, but the uncertainties here are very enjoyable. Dexter has absolutely no idea about Liddy, which means he's totally defenseless and distracted.

Overall, "In The Beginning" hit my pleasure spots more regularly than usual, and is perhaps my favourite episode since the premiere, simply in terms of the big developments and shakeups. The writers were adamant that Lumen wasn't going to replace Rita, so they either changed their mind or were trying to put audiences off the obvious scent, but I'm okay with that. It's just a shame every season of Dexter has told a self-contained story, so I have very strong doubts Lumen's going to become a permanent character on the show. Dexter doesn't hit a reset-button every year, but it certainly tends to clear the deck of everyone who was introduced in the latest season. Season 5's been different enough to have me doubt myself, but I still can't help thinking ahead and predicting who's destined to die or disappear, simply because Dexter usually begins every season with a clean slate.

Asides

• How long will Dexter's happiness last? Is Lumen going to be killed by Jordan? Is she going to have second thoughts and leave town? Will the writers bring her back next year, as the undoubted replacement for Rita? If so, Dexter's going to look very bad in front of Astor and Debra for lying about his feelings for Lumen and assuring them she's no rebound! Is she a rebound?
• It's a common issue not exclusive to this episode, but does anyone else find Dexter's voice-overs patronizing sometimes? The writers use them to have Dex remind the audience of previous plot-points, which I can understand, but these odd ways of recapping events often feels contrived and unnecessary. Is there anybody watching Dexter who just dips in for the odd episode and genuinely needs these mental asides?
• Is it going to be explained why there's a 20-year gap between Emily's victimization and the barrel victims? Are there other murders in-between these two eras that Dexter and Lumen aren't aware of? Did Jordan and his gang only recently start committing crimes, maybe as a twisted midlife crisis, re-enacting their youth? Or is this just a failure of storytelling logic we have to swallow?
• Irish nanny Sonya's proving to be relatively pointless this season (beyond filling time and giving us a plausible way to allow Dexter freedom away from his infant son), unless they pull something out of the hat very soon.
• Are you happy that the entire Santa Muerte storyline is now utterly redundant, and only really existed to cause later friction between Angel, LaGuerta and Debra?
• I enjoyed the scene where Jordan volunteered to get a mouth swab to clear himself of any wrongdoing, getting to spend a few moments in Dexter's company. Seasons tend to arrive at points where the anti-hero and villain share some screen time like this, both unable to alert the authorities for fear of blowing their own cover. It's reliably juicy.

WRITER: Scott Reynolds
DIRECTOR: Keith Gordon
TRANSMISSION: 28 November 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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'DEXTER' 5.9 - "Teenage Wasteland"

I question the decision to give us a predominantly self-contained character-based story, focusing on Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and step-daughter Astor (Christina Robinson), so close to the end of this season. In previous years, the last four hours have been a juggernaut of tension, surprises and shocks, but "Teenage Wasteland" felt like something that could have been dealt with mid-season. So while there were great moments that I enjoyed, and it was an episode I could appreciate on many levels, it wasn't something I could totally get behind.

This week, Dexter's became the gym buddy of Jordan Chase (Jonny Lee Miller), who wants to help him deal with his bereavement through exercise and his best-selling philosophies (which he admits he plagiarized Plato.) Dexter has a different motivation: to prove Jordan's guilt as ringleader of Lumen's (Julia Stiles) rapists. After noticing Jordan wears a pendant containing a vial of blood, Dexter resolves to get a sample and match it to a missing person on the police database, thus confirming it's a "trophy" of Jordan's crime.

However, Dex becomes sidetracked from his mission by the surprise return of a drunken Astor, who's run away from her grandparents with best-friend Olivia, and is surprised to find Lumen in her late-mother's house. Believing Dexter's already got himself a new girlfriend (seemingly confirmed when baby Harrison calls Lumen "mama"), Astor became angry with her step-dad's behaviour, forcing Dexter into more uncomfortable situation he's ill-equipped to deal with. And matters are complicated when Lumen discovers that Astor's friend Olivia is the victim of an abusive father, prompting Dex to take action...

As the primary focus, your reaction to this plot will colour your opinion of "Teenage Wasteland" as a whole. Christina Robinson was better in this scenario (a tearaway teen, trying to reconnect with the stepdad she's chosen to blame for her mother's loss), than I felt she was dealing with the immediate aftermath of Rita's demise. It was especially good to see Astor react to Lumen's presence; who, despite being introduced as a new tenant (even to Debra), was commonly perceived as an inappropriate rebound for widower Dexter. And while that's not the case, it certainly feels like Dexter could have a more fruitful relationship with Lumen; a woman who knows his ugly secret and still accepts him.

The way this storyline segued into Dexter going after Olivia's violent father, beating him with clinical precision in an alleyway, was certainly an enjoyable moment, but still something that felt extraneous to the season's concerns. The return of ghost Harry (James Remar) to congratulate Dexter for using his inner monster for a chivalrous reason, not merely to feed a homicidal mania, was a nice touch -- although I'm not convinced this is the first occasion Dexter's hurt/killed someone for another person's direct benefit. Hasn't the show explored this before?

Anyway, the fact Dexter's actions resulted in him receiving the gratitude of Olivia's family, the praise of Harry (together with an apology that he never saw this altruism in Dexter before), and helped repair his relationship with Astor, felt designed to be a turning point for Dexter's rehabilitation. I doubt the show is headed in the direction of Dex becoming a normal blood-spatter analyst who's kicked his passion for killing criminals, but there are occasional episodes when he takes a step closer to normality and is duly rewarded.

At the Miami Metro, Debra's (Jennifer Carpenter) banishment to the archives reaped an unexpected reward, when she realized DNA found on the dead "barrel women" came from multiple people, meaning culprit Boyd Fowler was likely part of a gang. She brought this to the attention of Angel (David Zayas), but both had trouble convincing LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) to re-open the case, because doing so would reflect badly on her performance as lieutenant.

I'm not sure I believe nobody would have realized DNA found on the dead bodies came from different people, either before or after they were tricked into believing Boyd Fowler was the only perpetrator, but at least now the Miami Metro are close behind Dexter's investigation. Most seasons take this approach, but it's always quite fun to see what happens when the two worlds collide in the final episodes. Also intriguing to see the writers continue to turn LaGuerta into the biggest bitch on the planet, even if she did renege on her decision by the end. She's either going to be redeemed in the next few episodes, or die to give the audience some relief.

Finally, Quinn (Desmond Harrington) can’t seem to stop Stan Liddy's (Peter Weller) investigation into his girlfriend's brother. Liddy has become convinced that Dexter's involved in a serious scandal (having witnessed him dumping ominous black bags into the ocean with Lumen), and wants nothing more than to expose whatever's going on a way to get his job back.

I wish the writers were doing a better job with Liddy's investigation and role on this show, as he's such a remarkably abrasive and horrid character (in a good way). Peter Weller is riveting in the role and his character deserved a better arc, as someone who's effectively a replacement for Sgt Doakes. It's especially fun to see him antagonize Quinn, who treats Liddy as an awful mistake he can't seen to undo. But why isn't Quinn more interested in the photos of Dex and Lumen dumping bags in the sea late a night? Hopefully Liddy will come into his own now, as he's resolute in getting to the bottom of Dexter's activities.

An uneven episode, but the good moments gradually stacked up in its favour. I was particularly pleased with the final scene, where Jordan Chase (aware Dex tampered with his pendant) called his house and had Lumen take a message for Dexter ("tick, tick, that's the sound of your life running out...") before adding "take care Lumen." A really unsettling moment, nicely played by Miller, whose power was neatly visualized by him staring out across the city from a high-rise window, God-like.

It certainly feels like the gloves are off between Jordan/Lumen/Dexter, as there's no secrets between them and nobody has the upper hand. We've been here before (did anyone else think Dex sharing gym time with Jordan echoed his closeness with Arthur Mitchell last season, too?), but it'll be interesting to see how the writers draw things to a close. The pieces may be familiar, but it's how they’re played that counts now. I just hope this season's off kilter pacing doesn't kill the momentum again.

Asides

• I recall that Jonny Lee Miller's ex-wife Angelina Jolie used to wear the blood of her lovers in a vial around her neck, so was that detail here a bizarre in-joke?
• I'm glad Quinn's revealed to Debra that he suspected her brother was Kyle Butler, associate of the Trinity Killer. Hopefully that's another seed planted in her mind that, added to her discovery the Ice Truck Killer was Dex's brother, will make her delve deeper into her sibling's history.
• Is the absent Irish nanny officially a trivial element of season 5 with no major significance? For awhile, I kept expecting some crazy reveal that she's related to someone Dexter knows.
• Who taught Harrison the word "mama", huh?
• Any theories on the woman whose blood Chase keeps in his vial? It's someone who's alive, so is it a relative? Wife? Girlfriend? Is it an innocent display of love? Surely not.
• Has Jordan noticed Cole, his head of security, has vanished since his latest seminar?
• "Teenage Wasteland" is the erroneous name of a song by The Who, correctly titled "Baba O'Riley". The song has the lyric "teenage wasteland" repeated so often it became widely mistaken as the title. Confusingly, "Teenage Wasteland" then became a different song by The Who's Pete Townshend.

WRITER: Lauren Gussis
DIRECTOR: Ernest Dickerson
TRANSMISSION: 21 November 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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'DEXTER' 5.8 - "Take It!"

I'm having a tough time parsing my thoughts about Dexter this year. While there was much to enjoy about this episode, I'm finding there's a background hum of predictability. I'm becoming desperate for a radical twist or unexpected merger of a few storylines, but neither seem very likely. "Take It!" was definitely entertaining and certainly had some great moments, as most episodes tend to be when they focus on Dexter (Michael C. Hall), but there's something about season 5 that isn't clicking. I suspect it's because, for all the intriguing flourishes the writers have crafted, and their wise decision to forego the traditional focus on a single "big bad", the bones of these ideas have been gnawed on before.

This week, Dexter attended one of motivational speaker Jordan Chase's (Jonny Lee Miller) weekend seminars, intending to kill his head of security Cole (Chris Vance) in an adjoining hotel room. Lumen (Julia Stiles) is becoming a trusted partner-in-crime, tasked with shopping for Dex's supplies (plastic wrap, bin liners) as the fate of another kidnapper is slowly sealed. She even got the option to break her connection with Dexter and return to normality, after her fiancé Owen arrived in Miami and tried to win her back, unaware of the nightmare she's been through.

Additionally, the shark-like presence of Stan Liddy (Peter Weller) swam closer, as he staged a minor car accident with Lumen, in order to get her insurance details and use them to investigate her personal history. And while Quinn's less keen to investigate Dexter, in light of his relationship with his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), it seems that Stan's tasted blood and isn't keen to let the matter drop...

Over at Miami Metro, the bungled Fuentes undercover op is having serious repercussions for Homicide, forcing Lt. LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) to save her career by pinning the blame on fresh-faced Circa (April Hernandez), before Debra angrily kicked up a stink over LaGuerta's obvious ploy, and thus found herself the new scapegoat. On the plus side, it appears that Angel's (David Zayas) official version of events may take the heat off Debra, while consequently throwing his own wife to the dogs.

The entire situation at Jordan Chase's seminar is where this episode soared, thanks to a compelling sequence of events therein. Chase's surprise in getting Dexter onto the stage, to talk through his recent bereavement in front of a ghoulish audience, was a strong moment. It was an especially good idea to have Chase's ideology make particular sense to a predator like Dexter, as his teachings essentially boil down to making people embrace their primal instincts. In that sense, Dex is the model student. And, of course, it's a philosophy Chase has created because he's carrying his own Dark Passenger.

When Lumen unexpectedly arrived at the hotel, that's when things started to hot up. It was fun to see Lumen help Dexter prepare his kill-room, wrapping the furnishings in plastic sheets, and the tension certainly raised when Cole bumped into Lumen in the lobby and attacked her in the primed room, before Dexter arrived and took control of the situation. There followed arguably the season's most important scene so far, with Lumen watching Dexter plunge a knife into Cole's sternum, realizing he's a practiced killer and, after hearing Dexter's potted history (his mother's murder, his need to kill ever since), seemingly accepts him as a psychologically damaged person whose actions she understands and empathizes with. She may even be the thing that will mend his shattered psyche following Rita's death.

However, while that's certainly a big moment and was brilliantly played by Hall and Stiles, it's nothing we didn't expect to happen shortly after Lumen was introduced. After five years, it's only natural that a TV show will become easier to second guess, but that fact does undermine developments that would have been more impressive in the show's earlier years. I would probably have gone crazy over "Take It!" if this were season 3, but we've already had two prominent guest-stars aware of Dexter's true nature, so it's not really fresh territory -- despite the fact Lumen's uniqueness is that she's a well-adjusted person who's genuinely accepting of Dexter, unlike his previous confidants Lila and Miguel.

Overall, "Take It!" was a lot of fun and, for once, the subplot at the Miami Metro worked quite nicely on its own terms. It's just a shame that storyline seems to be entirely separate to the A-story now, meaning it's essentially filler -- apparently designed to write LaGuerta out of the show. Yes, I'm predicting she'll do the honourable thing, take the blame, and be transferred somewhere else as punishment soon. The character has never been very compelling, and the show would be energized if there was a stronger, more interesting boss.

Also worth mentioning that Debra is unsettled by her lack of guilt over shooting someone dead for the first time. There was a great scene with Dexter trying to help his sister get perspective on the deed, comforting her with the line "some people don't deserve to live", hoping she shares his attitude. For a moment I thought Debra might be revealed as someone equally as emotionless as Dexter when it comes to killing, but they're not blood relatives, and the fact Deb's confused and frightened by her lack of feeling is what makes her different -- and more human.

A very good episode, in a season that's had its fair share of good episodes, let's be honest -- but am I alone in missing the moral grey areas that were more potent in season 1 and 2? True, the show has had to evolve to a place easier to keep the drama continuing and the audience engaged with the lead character, but occasionally I remember how knottier the show was when it began, when you were more sickened by Dex. If this were season 2, a part of me would be urging Lumen to heal Dexter and turn him into a "real boy" (as the Blue Fairy?), but because it's season 5 it's just a cool circumstance that Dex has a faithful confidant.

Asides

• I'm not sold on Stan Liddy's skills as a "private eye", really. I mean, simply following Lumen would have led him to that hotel, so why didn't he? It feels like he's only being as effective as the writers need him to be each week, as it would otherwise be too easy to catch Lumen and Dexter red-handed.
• Has Dexter been dumping bodies that close to the coast all along? Or would a telephoto lens like Stan's be able to see miles out to sea, in the pitch dark? At least we know there's no chance of Cole's body parts being recovered, as he learned his lesson in season 2 and now uses the Gulf Stream to drag them out to the open ocean.
• Great moment with Lumen waking up in Dexter's kill-room, plastic wrap for bedding, having slept peacefully for the first time in weeks. A simple but effective way to show her connection and comfort with Dexter's lifestyle and rituals.
• I loved the macabre sight of Dexter checking out of his hotel room, pulling a trolley of luggage we know contains Cole's dismembered body.
• A prediction: I'm pretty sure Stan's going to be killed by Lumen. He doesn't fit Dexter's code, but obviously can't survive the season with the information he has. So it seems likely he'll be Lumen's first kill, right?
• Was Lumen's fiancé introduced strictly for the purposes of this episode's plot (giving her a choice between love and marriage, or revenge and friendship), or is he now a character who'll be reappearing? If so, will he discover what Lumen's been up to while she was missing? Or will his presence bring Lumen to her senses, belatedly?
• It crossed my mind that Jordan Chase might be innocent, and "Watch Guy" is just someone who used his saying "tick, tick, that's the sound of your life running out". But then I remembered Chase's scene with Cole in the car last week, where his guilty was crystal clear. But there must be something more to come from this story, seeing as there are four episodes left. Maybe Chase isn't the ringleader, it was whoever took the photo of him with his gang as teenagers. Is there anyone we know who fits the profile?

WRITERS: Manny Coto & Wendy West
DIRECTOR: Romeo Tirone
TRANSMISSION: 14 November 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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'DEXTER' 5.7 - "Circle Us"

The first step into the second-half of season 5 kicked things into a more pleasing shape, although I'm a little disappointed so much dropped into Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) lap during "Circle Us". Still, it was great to have an episode that seems to have finished introducing all of this year's key elements, so now we can sit back and hope the remaining five episodes do something interesting with it all.

"Sometimes partners find us, and as much as we try to push them away, they push their way into our lives regardless... until we finally realize how much we need them."

This week, two of the gang who tortured and raped Lumen (Julia Stiles) were revealed: celebrity motivational speaker Jordan Chase (Jonny Lee Miller) and his head of security Cole (Chris Vance), the latter of whom had retrieved Boyd Fowler's oil drums from the swamp and, following a car accident in the city, was forced to flee the scene as the drum's grisly contents spilled across the street. This alerted Miami Metro to the five dead women, beginning another homicide investigation which Dexter had to disrupt (by pointing them in the direction of Boyd), while he investigated the more likely suspects who tried to clean Boyd's mess: "Watch Guy" (Chase) and "Suit n' Tie" (Cole), who Lumen remembers from her ordeal.

Meanwhile, Quinn's (Desmond Harrington) burgeoning relationship with Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) gave him pause about paying Stan (Peter Weller) to investigate her brother, although after hearing news that a young blonde's living in Dexter's house he decided to keep the arrangement going. Is Quinn beginning to suspect that Dexter's a predator who gets his hooks into cute blondes, marries them, then kills them to get his hands on their property?

The Santa Muerte case also continued, with LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) masterminding a risky operation to use a girl as bait to draw the Fuentes brothers out from a nightclub, so they can be arrested. Unfortunately, events took some unpredictable turns inside the club, particularly after Fuentes instead took a shine to undercover cop Cira (April Hernandez) and triggered a shootout with his jealous sibling.

There was much to enjoy about this episode. Although I predicted Boyd's gang leader would be Jordan Chase (the man whose self-help tapes he was obsessed with), I'm still intrigued by the idea of an underground cabal organized by a multi-millionaire, whose public persona is as someone who helps ordinary people, while secretly indulging sick fantasies with his childhood friends. It's virgin territory for the series, and that's an increasingly valuable commodity for a drama in its fifth season.

It's a shame the reveal of Chase and Cole wasn't better disguised, but it nonetheless bodes well for the remaining episodes -- especially because Dexter's attempt to capture Cole at his home was botched, meaning the gang are now aware they have a serious problem to contend with. Following Dan the dentist's warning by phone that Lumen's survived in "Everything Is Illumenated", it's now clear Lumen's getting help from a skilled man to exact her revenge, and it surely won't take long for Chase and Cole to realize her collaborator's connected to the police (as homicide's investigation took an otherwise inexplicable turn in Boyd's direction, following Dexter's planting of Boyd's wallet.)

It's too early to judge Vance and Miller's performances, as they were just asked to play seemingly likeable and cooperative people who dissolved into sinister tones whenever they're alone, but there's promise. I like the idea of a there being an interdependent gang of villains. There's strength in numbers, and Dexter usually goes after unsuspecting individuals, but this scenario is completely opposed to that, so it'll be a tougher challenge.

Luckily, Dexter's no longer alone, as Lumen is starting to prove herself as a partner in crime. Last week I was commented on Lumen having sharp instincts about Dan's guilt, and this week she essentially saved Dexter's life by sensing danger from her position as lookout and helping him escape Cole's surprise attack. There was also the overt suggestion that Dex is beginning to accept Lumen as a friend and accomplice, as he brought baby Harrison over to meet her. There's a gentle suggestion that Dexter's beginning to see Lumen as a replacement for his dead wife, but I'm not sure how far they'll take that idea. Lumen would definitely make a better life partner for him, if only because his lies needn't be so opaque with her. Lumen knows he's a killer; she just doesn't know he actually makes a habit of it to quench a psychological hunger -- yet.

The only subplot I'm flummoxed by is Irish nanny Sonya (Maria Doyle Kennedy), whose overall relevance still isn't very clear. Kennedy gets a sizeable amount of screentime every week, and considering the actress is a respected talent I can't believe the writers don't have something major planned for her. Is she going to discover Dexter's secret? If so, I can't see how. Maybe she'll unwittingly help Dexter by alerting him to Stan's snooping in the weeks to come? It even crossed my mind that she, like Chase, might be a practiced deceiver and there's an ulterior motive for her presence in Dexter's life -- but what? Is she going to kidnap Harrison? I can't believe Dexter wouldn't have thoroughly researched Sonya's background before giving her the job, so it seems unlikely she's disturbed. Maybe the writers simply wanted to keep some kind of familial normality to the show, so Sonya's a platonic Rita?

Overall, "Circle Us" was a satisfying episode focusing on the various partnerships holding this season together (Dexter/Lumen, Chase/Cole, Quinn/Stan, the Fuentes brothers), and there's enough unpredictability to keep me interested to see how things keep unfolding. That said, it's clear season 5 isn't going to equal or surpass season 4 -- and, for me, it's currently the second worse year the show's done. That's partly because all shows get a little creaky in their old age (especially high concept ones like Dexter), and partly because it feels like season 5 doesn't feel as premeditated as previous years, and its hooks aren't as sharp.

Asides

• Aussie actor Chris Vance has appeared on numerous US shows, most recently Burn Notice, but I know him best as Whistler in season 3 of Prison Break. Jonny Lee Miller is, of course, a famous face from films like Trainspotting and Hackers, who also starred in the now defunct legal fantasy drama Eli Stone.
• Peter Weller's brilliantly horrid as gaunt Stan Liddy, but can we please start focusing on his investigation now? Do you think he'll trace Lumen as a "missing person" and jump to the conclusion that she's being held against her will, or that Dexter has leverage over her?
• Every season of Dexter has ended with a prominent character on Dexter's kill-table. I don’t think there's much doubt Chase and Cole will be wearing plastic wrap before the season's done, but will Stan be joining them? Is he "disgraced" enough to fit Dexter's code, if he gets too close to discovering the truth? Or will he be dispatched in an accidental manner like Sgt Doakes was?
• Is there a deeper reason for why Chase's gang have known each other since they were kids? Do they all have a particular reason to hate women, especially blondes?

WRITER: Scott Buck
DIRECTOR: John Dahl
TRANSMISSION: 7 November 2010, Showtime, 9/8c

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