Thursday, October 11, 2012
My Review of Dexter's 7x02: "Sunshine And Frosty Swirl"
Written by Manny Coto
Directed by Steve Shill
Deb: “You have to be completely honest with me. That is the first rule.”
Dexter (to himself): “My new code.”
Yeah, but will it be a code that can last? I really have no idea but I find the idea of Deb attempting to rehabilitate Dexter from killing a rather interesting one. I mean Deb is in an unenviable position here. If she can make this work, it will raise a lot of questions about Harry’s code that haven’t been already raised.
I liked that Deb went through the gamut of emotions in this episode. Dexter admitted to her that he was a serial killer and went further by telling her about his code, Dark Passenger and even Harry’s involvement. These were things that Dexter actually could’ve kept to himself but perhaps he was wise being honest with Deb straightaway about them.
Deb’s reactions were brilliant though and each of them believable as well. She was disgusted with Dexter’s honesty, conflicted about what to do with him legally and also desperate to prevent him from killing again by becoming his guardian of sorts. I think the most interesting thing was Deb not knowing herself if it would work.
She had every right to believe that way, given Dexter’s brutal honesty about his urges to kill and the fact that he came pretty close to actually killing Louis in this episode as well. Personally as pleased as I was that he resisted the urge to kill Louis by calling Deb, a tiny bit of me was disappointed too.
Louis has managed to become one of the most annoying, pathetic and potentially dangerous characters on this show and that’s saying a lot. The fact that his motive for cancelling Dexter’s credit cards was because of the bad review the latter gave over his computer game was ridiculous but the fact that he then got in Dexter’s face after being threatened to keep his distance definitely highlighted that Louis will be a problem if Dexter doesn’t act quickly.
Dexter doesn’t necessarily have to kill Louis but he’s going to have to do something pretty fast in order to neutralise him as a threat. If Louis is vindictive enough to cancel credit cards and invade personal space, then I can only imagine what he’ll attempt to do if he actually becomes privy to what Dexter really planned to do with him in this episode.
That being said though, as annoying/pathetic/potentially dangerous as Louis is, I think I might prefer him to Isaak, George and the rest of these mobsters/strip club owners. I know I’m being hasty but two episodes in and I’m not really finding them all that compelling as villains. They’re not Travis levels of disappointing but apart from killing a blabbermouth bouncer, Isaak will have to step up his game as a villain in order to impress.
I will say however that this whole plot with Kaja/Viktor has given both Angel a certain bite that is working well enough for his character and while Quinn’s storyline with the stripper Nadia is something of a cliché, at least the guy isn’t as head wrecking as he normally tends to be, so plus points there. Plus, it was nice to actually see Quinn mostly act like a professional in this episode as well, given that it’s mostly a rarity for the character.
Also keeping with interesting enough plots, I am loving Maria this season. Even if Dexter is lucky enough to keep Deb onside, he won’t have the same luck with Maria if she can prove that the Bay Harbour Butcher is both a) not Doakes and b) still active. Much as I know what it could mean for Dexter, I kind of want Maria to figure it out.
Also in “Sunshine And Frosty Swirl”
The title comes from an ice cream brand seen in this episode by a convict named Wayne Randall, who was helping the police with a previous crime spree of his own.
Dexter: “I call it my Dark Passenger.”
Deb: “You gave it a name?”
Shouldn’t Jamie be a tad suspicious that Dexter is currently living with his sister about now? She didn’t really seem that fazed in the episode.
Harry (re Deb): “I never wanted her to go through this, Dex.”
Dexter: “Neither did I.”
Dexter: “I don’t think there are clinics for what I’ve got.”
Deb: “We could make one. I could be your clinic.”
Dexter got the mannequin hand and thanks to Masuka, he realised that it was Louis who bought it and sent it to him. Louis has also previously ruined a former employer by using child pornography.
Deb: “Are you seeing blood now?”
Dexter: “Nope, just spaghetti.”
Louis: “I was screwing with you.”
Dexter: “Why?”
Louis: “Because I came to you with help for my game and you said no.”
Wayne Randall gave the impression he was on a mission for redemption but by killing himself at the end of the episode, it turned out he was lying.
Dexter (re Deb): “She’s my sister. Also my boss.”
Wayne: “Congratulations, you just redefined hell.”
Dexter: “I’m never gonna be normal, Deb.”
Deb: “Yeah, none of us really are.”
Chronology: From where “Are You?” left off.
Unusual title aside, “Sunshine And Frosty Swirl” definitely delivered as an episode, although there are times so far this season, when it seems to be a two hander with Dexter and Deb. I’m not complaining though because so far, it’s definitely an improvement on the previous year.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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