Dexter: Beauty and the Beast (S5E4)

Posted by: Ramya  •  October 18, 2010 @ 1:33pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Harry's Code has never been explicitly outlined for us, but we get the gist:

1. Don't get caught
2. Only kill bad guys

But when those two commandments are in conflict, what is a serial killer to do?

Last week's kill, leaves Dexter in that exact predicament: he unknowingly goes to town with Boyd Fowler in front of an innocent witness. She comes in the form of a shaken and inevitably damaged Lumen Pierce – one of Fowler's future victims. If set free, she is a damning liability. But the other option endorsed by the Ghost of Harry is far more severe – consider it collateral damage and get rid of her.

It's a big decision but lucky for Dexter, when life gives him lemons, he likes to lock people in cages and mull over things.

Miami Metro has their hands full with the latest Santa Muerte murder. With some help from Dexter and his intricate knowledge of cigar ash, they are able to pull a partial print from a cigar found at the crime scene. This leads Deb and the rest of the team to the murderers – well, at least one of them. Unfortunately, he shields himself with a teenager and is able to give Deb the slip, slit the throat of the hostage and call her a "stupid bitch" in the process. How's that for multitasking?

This leads her right into propositioning some comfort sex from Quinn. Quinn, who is looking gaunter than ever these days, is reluctant this time around as betrayal is his middle name. Joey Betrayal Doakes Quinn. After an anti-climatic confrontation with Jonah Mitchell (yum), Quinn gets a verbal beatdown from Laguerta as well as a suspension for his investigation into Dexter.

As if Laguerta is not dealing with enough, Internal Affairs announces they will be launching a formal investigation into the bar fight from a few episodes back. She orders Mr Maria Laguerta aka Batista to go apologize to the cop he landed in the hospital. Apologizing 'lo siento' works wonders, and the cop grudgingly agrees to drop the charges. However, turns out the IA agent is more interested in the reason for their fight: the cop's statement regarding Laguerta's oral skills – the non speaking ones.

Meanwhile, Dexter's extra curricular activities from the previous night ran a little late and Sonja has been making some killer overtime. She is none too pleased with this development and justly calls out Dexter for being unreliable before quitting. Dexter comes to realize that honesty(ish) is the best policy so after explaining a legal version of the night's events, he is able to coax Super Nanny back.

Earning Sonja's trust back inspires him: "If I can get the crotchety, judgmental babysitter from Ireland to trust me, why not [Lumen]?" He takes Lumen on a little road trip and shows her Fowler's barrel collection. He explains how by killing Fowler, he has saved her and many more innocent women from a formaldehyde-y demise. This reveal along with pulling out the dead wife card, allows him to gain Lumen's trust. But trust goes both ways. Taking advantage of their dark secret sharing time, Lumen reveals that Fowler wasn't the first to abuse her. Cryptically and vengefully, she says "there were others".

This episode wasn't epic as a stand alone but it does beautifully set up the Lumen/Dexter arc. This relationship has the potential to really explore the hypocritical ethics of The Code: it works for Dexter but why is it innately wrong when it comes to anyone else?

As exciting as Quinn's pursuit of Dexter is, it is a doppelganger storyline of the Doakes saga. Similiarly, I fear that Lumen is headed down the already explored Miguel Prado route. I doubt Dexter will take her under his wing as his new protégé but I do think she has the makings of vigilante killer that Dexter will eventually have to rein in or eliminate.

Tags: Dexter, Beauty and the Beast, Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Julia Stiles, James Remar, desmond harrington, Season 5, Episode 4

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