TV Guide sez:

"I will not kill my sister. I will not kill my sister. I will not kill my sister." So much love for MCH's delivery there.

Ah, Deb. That guy in the gym was really hot. Too bad you'll probably never date again.

A very close call with Chino and his guys. Dex sure wiggled down that manhole fast heh. But finally he prevailed. I totally freaked out when Dexter shoved that big stick tranquilizer thing right in Chino's throat. Ouch!

The flashback to Dexter in the cargo container calling out to his brother as Harry took him away was kind of heartbreaking.

Speaking of children, I liked the touch of Cody swinging his legs as they sat listening to the priest during Paul's funeral. It's such a kid-thing to do. Also "aww"ed at his "does this mean you'll be my dad now?" logic.

Was suprised that Dexter admitted to setting Paul up. Even more surprised by Rita not freaking out and dumping him... even though now she thinks he's a crack whore. This should be interesting...

And boy... I was expecting it, yet still I jumped out of my skin when Brian shot out of the water at the end.

This episode seemed slower than the premiere, overall, but I'm so thrilled to have the show back that it's all good.

"Rest in peace... I am."

Good thing you got rid of the doll’s head, Dex. Somebody would have seen it and been suspicious eventually.

Well, that episode certainly was packed. Where to even begin? Dexter was really, really scattered, to the point that he forgot Doakes was stalking him. I mean, he was asking Masuka for advice! Sorry, Vince. Don’t think Dexter’s interested in beef bus burger. For the sake of the story, it’s good he got back on his game. He couldn’t be so sloppy and the show still be believable. Little Chino was a great nemesis, though. “He’s officially the highest point in all of Florida.” The character was great for the one-liners alone.

And Deb. Wow, Deb. I thought she was going to latch on to Mr. Boxer Man. I was screaming, “No! No! It’s much too soon, and he’s wearing red shorts!” But he was a plot point to show Deb’s still off the chain. It’s a good thing making a kid pee has its privileges and gets you vital information. Otherwise, Deb would be in even more trouble.

Maria remains true to form. She’s opportunistic on the half of others! I’d watch it with Lauren, though. She could have some crazy in her.

The scenes with Rita and the kids were great for Dexter’s facial expressions. When the family went up to say goodbye to Paul, Dex could not have looked more freaked out. And when Rita was grilling him about Paul’s shoe? Priceless. I could hear him thinking, “Should I, um, agree? Yes? Ooooh, okay, that didn’t seem so bad. All right. All right. Keep admitting the truth. It actually seems to be…working?”

Too bad Biney's not going to be showing up as a figment of the imagination anymore.

That tranq gun's gotta show up somewhere, and when it does, it won't be good for Dex.

“He isn’t your husband…anymore…type of thing.”

Rita's husky voice is so hot... until she starts to get louder, and then it sounds affected. But when she's quiet... money.

Deb is completely fucked. I wonder when she's gonna cross the line so far that she can't get back. Pulling a gun on a kid, regardless of his gang affiliations, is pretty far.

SO GLAD Dex finally pulled the trigger, so to speak. That was a straight up orgasmic face when he killed Chino. I've never cared less about one of his victims, though. That poor little girl has no one now, because of that prick.

Can't even believe he confessed to hitting Paul. There's going to be some serious shit between Rita and Dex. And why would she be ok with another drug addict boyfriend!? I'd fucking peace on that if I were in her position. Damnit, Rita.

Deb repeatedly being a lazy ass about the oj cracked me up.

Don't like Rudy continuing to appear. It's a tired manner of storytelling, and I really wish this show hadn't gone that route. I hope it'll be resolved soon, because it's lame and needs to stop.

Not half as good as the premiere, but still LOVE.

So did I! And it was even in the extended preview they ran last week - and I still jumped.

Good stuff.

Agree, very heartbreaking Brian calling out for Dexter as they are split up.

Also nice to see a little closure with Brian - at least having a conversation that will prompt Dex to think a little deeper about who/what he is.

I think that Rita was just happy that Dex didn't lie - anything he would have said short of "Yep, I did it, I set him up with the drugs" would have been a deal breaker for Rita.

Here's my take on her reaction (may be subject to change based on re-viewings):
She's so used to men lying to her, and she had convinced herself that Paul was somewhat right and that Dex was involved, that she was probably expecting Dex to lie at which point she'd have to decide to dump him or not. Since he told her the truth (in her eyes) she felt some relief that there was some trust between them and that he could be 'helped' or 'redeemed'.



I hope he is - would rather see a happy, confident Dex than a distracted, off-his-game Dex - considering all that he has to deal with.

He was very cute! She'll be back to dating. It's only been a couple months, but...

She needs to be back on leave. She is NOT ready to go back. At all.

Loved the scene between her & dex at the end. However, I hate how everyone dumps on him, but he has no way to ask for the same consideration. Rita mandating that he go to Paul's funeral and then interrogate him about the show really annoyed me. Deb always walking over him, etc.

He was up the creek if he denied being a drug addict, so he admitted it. Wouldn't Rita have noticed track marks? Dexter works in the forsensics unit of a crime lab and he would know these things. Why he didn't tell Rita that Paul had pot and a GUN in his room is beyond me. Plus, Paul attacked him first. At least now he has an excuse to be unavailable...Meetings!


In church, I was like, shut up dex, they can hear you talking to Biney. They can't hear him, though. I definitely gasped loudly when Biney rose out of the water. I think that is the last of him. He has more important things to get back to doing.

Little Chino "has never killed a kid"? What was he going to do when Dex got him? Obviously, he hadn't done it yet, but his intent was there. Loved that Dex used LC's own saber for that.

Haha, Doakes...shut down at GO!

The show referenced my favorite musical, yay!

Why not tell her he found the heroin in his room? That's what I want to know. Where'd you get the drugs? I found them in his nightstand. Seems simple enough. How'd you know how to cook them? I'm in forensics; seen it at a dozen crime scenes.

I guess he just decided not to lie at all. But come on, Dex, lie!

couldn't resist posting this on the motivator thread: http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/in...t&p=8974636

Here are my random thoughts on the episode:

1. Why does Dex not see Chino's men waiting for him? Why does Chino let his men let a guy point a gun at him even if they will jump him? How does Dex escape that ambush? -- All implausible;

2. Anyone see a case of Hollywood Anorexia in this episode? Too skinny and unless she puts on some weight the rest of this season I would say she did not lose it to support the role but because she has that same Hollywood disease;

3. How does Dex explain a bent tranq gun and how is anyone able to borrow such a device?

4. Why is Chino always alone if he is the leader of some big gang and is being followed by a killer?

5. Would love to see more Biney Ghost, but that would be too Six Feet Under if it happened again, so I will allow it to go and will always appreciate the startle I received when I saw Biney's Ghost pop out of the water.

Who are we talking about here? Jen Carpenter? She looks awesome as far as I can tell. Yeah, she's thin, but Deb's become some freakish gym rat. And besides which, I don't think she looks unhealthy, so I'm a bit hesistant to point fingers at the actress and her supposed Hollywood aspirations.

Yes, she does look too too skinny. When she is working out she looks like an anorexic. I wonder if the writers wrote the workout routine into the script to explain her boney frame this season. Again, if she doesn't gain some weight as the season goes on and her character gets more at ease I will consider it a Jen problem and not a Deb problem. Come on, you can like a show and an actress, but that should not stop you for calling out an anorexic look and how unhealthy it is.

I do like the show, and I do like the actress, but I don't know how much that has to do with me accusing people of having eating disorders. It's not really up to me to decide what is and isn't unhealthy, especially when I have absolutely no proof, save about 40 minutes of screen time on a tv show. But I think we're getting a little off topic here, so I've said my piece on the matter.

I do think she's a bit too skinny, but she doesn't look boney to me. I read some where last season that she is an avid runner. If she runs long distance, then that would possibly explain her very thin frame. Most of the long disant runners I've seen are extremely skinny, to the point of skeletal. But, as thin as she is, her arms in that gym scene didn't look boney. They had a nice tone to them. If she were anorexic, she wouldn't look toned.

Speaking of skinny, anyone concerned that they might have already guessed how the season is gonna play out? It seems to me that the skeletal framework of season 2 was laid bare - two people in the station tracking down a serial killer that leads right into the house, with Dexter playing the one off the other.

Neither speculation or spoiler - just the skinny right there.

I agree this was a slower episode, but it was still fantastic. They're slowly building up the whole Bay Harbor Butcher thing, which I can just tell is going to be awesome.

Loved Doakes being shut down. He definitely doesn't play well with others. Sometimes I can't stand his character due to the over-the-topness of the portrayal, but he was perfect tonight.

Rita's starting to annoy me. I was hoping that Dexter admitting to being a drug addict was going to get rid of her forever. Oh well.

Special Agent Rock Star can't be all that awesome if he has the serial killer right there in front of him, and he's not even suspicious of his demeanor, right? Okay, I'm nitpicking, but as he spends more time around Dexter, he should pick up something.

Dex's inner monologue while the agent was going over the case was pretty funny. However, he doesn't seem particularly intimidated.



The first part I can fanwank by saying Dexter was extremely sloppy because he was "off his game," and he did not take his necessary precautions because of his blood lust. As to the second part, what was more implausible for me is that he made it down into the storm drain so quickly.

The look of relief on Dexter's face as he plunged the knife into Chino was both hilarious and hella disturbing.

I cracked up so hard at that, and then I thought, "Does that cheapen the scene in the finale?" and then I thought, "No, it actually strengthens their brother-sister relationship because that's what actual brothers say about their sisters, except it's just extra funny since Dexter could kill her if he really wanted to."Oh my God, yes. Hell, I fucking experienced an amazing relief of tension. We, the audience, really want to see him kill someone again. It's...kind of wrong.Yeah, that was surprising. But it didn't look like he could lie his way out of it. And, yes, pretty funny that she pegged him as a drug addict, when in fact he's really a murder addict.Oh, I loved that. I know it's been done before, but we get the chance to see more Dexter/Rudy scenes, which is good. I thought it might be a neat recurring thing, but it looks like Dexter's moving on, so we won't be seeing him again. I really liked the way they did that, tackling head-on the fact that his performance anxiety is because he killed his brother. Dexter had to face that fact hard and get over it, if he was to stay on his game at this important juncture.Yeah, I had a similar feeling. Maybe not half, but just not as good as the premiere. But still LOVE. This show.

Looks like Dexter read his own books and found the Gulf Stream. Good for him.

I am really not caring about Esme Pasquale's relationship problems. Really, really not caring. But she owes Maria two now. That could prove interesting.

Loved it, didn't want it to end.

Getting down the drain fast? Adrenaline

The "finally" look on Dexter's face after plunging the knife - I almost had an orgasm - definitely the climactic relief after "waiting to exhale".

Another piece of Dexter's humanity cracking the door open - he cannot successfully lie to Rita.... he can't say he didn't slap Paul upside the head with a frying pan, and he's so frazzled by that admission, he can't think of a decent lie to explain the drugs.

Another great one-liner - "Just dropping somebody off", as another body part hits the water.

One problem with tonight's episode: shoddy police work. Unless I am thinking about this the wrong way, Little Chino's video shouldn't have cleared him of anything. Angel pointed out that the video's timestamp could be messed with, and him holding up the paper with a date on it does NOT prove he was somewhere at that time. Who's to say he didn't go out to his backyard 5 minutes before they went to the police station, held up a copy of yesterday's paper, filmed it, edited the timestamp and brought it to the cops? And if I made that mental leap in about 10 seconds, I can't believe none of the cops did. (Or the writers, for that matter.)

And then right after it, he basically repeats the same facial gesture he made after hitting Paul, but this time, it's more of a "Well, there it is. Hope this doesn't blow up in my face."

Yeah, I...didn't get how the hell that stupid video cleared him. Yesterday's paper still exists today.

This is why I love this show. I was feeling the same things and at the same time a little bit (okay, not so much) disturbed that I was actually rooting for Dexter to finally be able to kill again.

My daughter found this show on the DirecTV 101 airings a few weeks ago, and it quickly became a favorite of the family. We actually ordered Showtime just for Dexter.

Dexter, bringing teenagers and their parents together.

Yeah, some dubious plot points (mostly relating to Chino). Hope its not indicative of the writing to come.

And the thing with the new female boss is just plain lame. Why introduce a strong female character only to make her so pathetic?

That's really weird, isn't it, Postkantian? When she came in last season, she was supposed to be tough as nails and shit. And now she's broken up about her cheating fiancé? That's the plotline they give her? It's like they reworked her character between seasons.

I was just amused that Brian decided to grow his hair out in the afterlife. And his lip healed.

There are many a woman like Pasquale. Tough as nails at work, a ball breaker and/or ball buster when it comes to running things in the office but horrible at relationships. Perhaps Dexter might have to kill her cheating boyfriend too. I am not spoiled, I am just speculating.

I had been trying to figure out where I recognized Doakes from and I finally figured it out. He was Silky Ford in an episode of the first season of Law & Order. He had the same overly buffed body then and that was about 15 years ago.

I thought this was a fine episode. Maybe not as good as last week, but still good. I've been a bit spoiled, since I sort of downloaded and watched it back in July, but I still loved it.

The Esme storyline isn't my favorite either, though. But, as wompwompwomp said, there are many women like her. I happen to be one of them. :P Me in a relationship is like Fred Phelps in a gay bar. But I digress. I hope the story is mostly about LaGuerta trying to claw her way back up to the top.

So Doakes has always looked like a tick about to pop?

I was a bit pissed with the lack of previews, but hey. Maybe it's better to be unspoiled for once.

I'm much looking forward to Dexter in rehab.

I love Rita, but why does her voice have to get all deep when she's trying to sound serious? It's very distracting. I want her to have these serious heart-to-hearts with her chipmunk voice.

Why on earth was Cody playing with a Russian babushka doll? That was so odd.

Why didn't Harry scoop up both kids? It's not hard - I have stairstep kids and I toted around two at once all the time.

Deb is such a fantastic runner that it made me like her more.

So Pascal used police resources to tail her fiancee and left a crime scene to go deal with him? That's some top-notch leadership there. I wonder if the entire function of her character is to make us like LaGuerta and miss her as the Lieutenant. If so, it's working.

I like that Angel is sweet and loyal, but you just don't cover for a cop who is unhinged enough to pull a gun on a child who was vandalizing a car. It rang false especially since he was willing to turn in Doakes.

So Dexter and Debra are going to continue living together? That's cool, but maybe they can find a place with 2 bedrooms before things get really ugly.

But it's Deb! He understands why she's unhinged. Besides, all she needs to do is think positive.There's a big difference between murdering someone with no provocation and flying a bit off the handle after having gone through a traumatic experience.

I prefer the deeper voice. Chipmunk Rita hits my ears all wrong.

The Esme plotline felt like a too-easy way to give LaGuerta some leverage to get back to her old job - or beyond.

That's one of the reasons I dislike it so much - it's just a blatant way to shift the power balance back. And the concern it's not that there is such a divide between her public and private lives - it's that the writers have crossed that divide to exploit the one in favor of the other. And it looks to me as if the actress playing her is pissed off about it to, because her performance changes as if to say - fuck, this is not what I signed up for!

If anybody has read the books, can you please indicate whether the implausible developments (regarding Chino and Esme) has been inherited from them. My understanding is that the second book is poorly written, and maybe the television writers are simply hamstrung by what they've been given.

"If anybody has read the books, can you please indicate whether the implausible developments (regarding Chino and Esme) has been inherited from them. My understanding is that the second book is poorly written, and maybe the television writers are simply hamstrung by what they've been given."


I have not read the second book, but did read an article with the author of the books which seemed to indicate he was a bit pissed with how the show deviates from his book in the second season.

The second season is not based on the second book at all.

No he didn't. Paul was being all threatening and creepy but never attacked Dexter. What I don't quite understand is why Dex didn't tell her the full truth about the Paul incident. It was an act of impulse.



The same excuse he used to borrow it.

Plus, it's making LaGuerta look too nice. I want her being her bad self again.

He also didn't see the real reason she freaked out. If he knew that she was freaking about graffiti on the car, he would definitely turn her in. He thought she saw the kid and decided to go after him for info.


He was creepy enough to warrant it. Wasn't Paul bragging about how he was going to get Rita back? Dex told Rita it wasn't planned, but she didn't believe him because he then went and got the drugs to plant on him. If Dex had planned it, he would never have dropped the shoe and left tracks that he didn't cover up.

Yes, I agree that Paul was very much threatening to make his and Rita's lives miserable forever, and remember he had tried to rape Rita and had pending assault charges against her that could have given him custody. But what I loved about the portrayal of Paul was that he was a charmer - and he could convince people, even Rita, of his good intentions despite his history. Dexter saw through this and took out the trash. It's morally ambiguous, sure, but Rita is better off now that Paul is dead. (Paul is dead, heh.) But Paul's fate shines a light on vigilantism. As much as it can do good in the short run, it's bad for the world in the long run.

I really like the show's portrayal of Rita's complex reaction to Paul's death and Dexter's guilt. It is realistic. Victims of abuse to retain affection for their abusers. Abusers like Paul are charming. Also, Rita would cling to her relationship with Dexter, especially if she believes some sort of rehab moral construction could cure him of what prompted him to hurt Paul. She's in over her head, of course, but she's reacting exactly as a battered woman who is trying to get over it would behave.

The great irony is that Dexter would never lay a hand on her or the kids, yet he is way more dangerous than Paul ever was.

Yeah - I got a little choked up. I think what bothered me the most was the fact that I can't imagine anyone not trying to grab BOTH kids and get them out of there (or at least holding on to them and waiting for someone else to come help). Leaving a child in there, screaming, was horrible.

Am I the only one who giggled a little bit about Caradine playing an FBI profiler named Frank?  Just me? Okay.

My mood may have been off last night, or maybe I was just tired.  My overall reaction to the episode was a big ole "meh."  There were a ton of great moments (Doakes getting crapped on, Dexter finally getting his kill on, etc), but they just didn't add up to a great episode for whatever reason.

For some reason, they aired after Brotherhood. Because, I guess, it made more sense to preview a show that was starting in 60 seconds and wait an hour to preview the previous show? Showtime was weird last night.


I think it's meant to show that LaGuerta has adjusted her politicking. She got majorly burned by the captain with the ITK and now she's being presented with an opportunity to regain some of her previous power by sucking up and "befriending" the new Lt. If anything, Maria's become an even more political animal because she's dialed down the self-promotion. Maria doesn't give a rat's ass about Pascal's personal life. She's gaining critical information and presenting herself as a confidante so she can come at Pascal from either direction. Having said that, I still don't care about Pascal's problems and I, too, feel it's a plot point written out of convenience instead of being organic to the story.

But I did like that she's mentoring Doakes on how to be a better political animal. Sadly, it was woefully ineffective as she should have told Doakes to stop being such a Rottweiler first, but hey. She tried to help out a true friend. I was both saddened and laughing when Doakes got shot down and he blustered away from Secret Agent Rock Star/Asshole, pretty much proving exactly WHY he wouldn't be chosen for the task force.

An entertaining ep but plot stretches aplenty....the Dexter/Rita confession ringed false, an addict??? The whole Chino thing wasn't played well either imo...essentially taken care of too easily.

Still a fun show but hopefully the writing tightens up a little in the next episodes.

Perhaps it speaks ill of me, but I wasn't too bothered by Deb taking the graffiti kid down. Maybe the gun was a little too much, but I seriously doubt she would have shot him. Maybe I'm just too used to dealing with Texas cops or maybe I just love my car too much ....

I really hope we get more info on Doakes' back story soon. I'm becoming tired of him; I think he needs to be reminded of his own sordid past.

I'm also growing tired of Rita. I'm trying to be patient with her because I think they're showing that she is a victim and she still fills that role sometimes. Whether she's defending her abusive ex-husband or not running away when her boyfriend admits to violent behavior and drug use. But it saddens me because she's not putting herself or her kids first. Of course, I don't think I'd ever kick MCH out of my bed, no matter what he did ....

I'm going to have to chime with the "I'm slightly disturbed that I was so very happy that Dexter was able to kill last night" crowd.

Seriously, I woke up this morning and smiled when I remembered that scene. I'm beginning to wonder about myself.

My favorite one-liner of the night: "They ate my puppy."

That made me laugh for like a minute.

This got to me too. Oh and it also maybe explained a little more of Biney's seriously fucked uppedness. I can't seen ot pulling both children out and keeping them together after such a traumatic thing.



THANK YOU!!! This was driving me crazy all eppisode. I mean honestly, keep it in the nightstand to fondle in private, but why would a grown man have a barbie head on his keychain?



Wrong, but oh so right.

I thought this was a good episode, setting up some good stuff to come.

I can't believe that Angel wouldn't notice paint on the hood of their car. Or that Deb wouldn't say "I saw him spray-painting shit on our car." I don't think she'd just chase down a random kid just because he was at the crime scene earlier and knock him down then threaten him on the hunch that he might have info. I think Angel would be more likely to turn her in for that than chasing down a kid for spray-painting a cop car.

I was surprised that Paul didn't have any family or friends to attend his funeral. It would have been interesting to see Rita and Dexter have to deal with Paul's mom, or whoever.

As I recall, she didn't pull the gun until the kid made the ITK reference.

"I was surprised that Paul didn't have any family or friends to attend his funeral. It would have been interesting to see Rita and Dexter have to deal with Paul's mom, or whoever. "

That would have been great. But what was equally good for me was listening to the priest say good things about Paul, about how he tried to be a good father and the like. I thought that it made the point that althought Dex is taking "out the trash" that trash is also someone's father, brother, friend etc and that the cycle never truly ends. Think about the affect on Rita's kids of Dex's actions. Also, anyone think that the son is showing some detached behaviour like Dex in immediately asking if Dex was going to be his new father. Scarey.

Kind of setting him up as an apprentice for Dexter, no?

This was explored in Book 2, even though this season doesn't follow the book in general.