My Review of Dexter's 5x10: "In The Beginning"

Written by Scott Reynolds
Directed by Keith Gordon

Lumen: “I wanna be the one that does this.”
Dexter: “It’s one thing to watch it, it’s another to actually do it.”
Lumen: “I know.”
Dexter: “It’ll change you.”
Lumen: “I’m already changed.”

Ain’t that the truth or what? Lumen really is changed and it’s kind of what Deb was alluding to when it comes to the victims of Jordan and his cronies. Something as traumatic as what the barrel girls were subjected to would change anyone but Deb was wrong to an extent with Lumen – she is surviving and that we have Dexter to thank for.

It was only a matter of time before Lumen actually got to kill one of her captors and despite Dexter’s warnings, it made sense that she took that next step. I had no sympathy at all for Alex Tilden and I actively cheered Lumen on for killing the bastard because once Jordan is done with, Lumen’s dark passenger will probably leave. Dexter, she’s not.

Alex definitely fell into a different category than the men that were previously killed. While Boyd was deluded into thinking that he was a saviour and Cole and Dan were both threatening and fiercely loyal to Jordan, Alex seemed more than happy to hand Jordan over if it meant that his life was going to be spared.

Perhaps Alex was right to be that treacherous to Jordan but did him no favours after Lumen actually finished him off. Now with four out of five men down, Jordan’s going to have up his game if he doesn’t want to end up as part of a slide collection because he’s clearly not grasping the concept of getting in over his head.

I loved that his attempts to threaten Dexter during the swabbing for DNA scene spectacularly backfired on him this week as well. Jordan’s used to manipulation but Dexter’s one of a few men who doesn’t fall for his seminar bullshit and Jordan did seem surprised when Dexter wouldn’t back down. Similarly I also got a kick out of seeing his attempts to get Deb to discover Dexter and Lumen at work with Alex backfiring as well. For a man who’s quite clever, Jordan’s making a lot of mistakes.

Leading to another thing – what he did actually hope to achieve by getting Emily to tell Lumen everything about her own ordeal at the hands of Jordan and his mates? Probably for Lumen and Dexter to slip up but that one has backfired on him so far. Still though, I was a little freaked out over his hold on Emily.

Given the absolute monstrous things he subjected Emily to with his friends, Jordan’s control over her was a scary sight to behold. The poor woman really seemed to hang off his every word and was desperate to please him. What was also interesting was the reveal that Jordan himself never seemed to rape Emily but only riled the others into doing it. Seemingly he must have done that with the others girls as well, including Lumen.

Getting back to Lumen, Dexter took a lot of tentative steps with her in this episode. He moved her into his apartment, he got her more involved in picking a kill room and even showed her many of his tricks of the trades. They even dressed similarly as well during their attack on Alex and that was before they slept together.

This led to the next thing – Dexter and Lumen having sex. There was no way that was not going to happen and the fact that they waited this long was actually good timing. Mainly because it felt earned and it felt logical and even though it’s likely Dexter’s relationship with Lumen won’t last after Jordan’s out of the picture, as a viewer I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can for the next two episodes.

Meanwhile in relation to the investigation side of things, can Deb get any better at her job? Again, I loved the way she just naturally kept piecing things together until she copped on that the killer for Boyd, Dan and Cole was one of the barrel girls lucky to escape and while I hoped that her suspicions of Jordan don’t die down any time soon, it just goes to show how great she actually is with her job. It’s almost enough for me to want her to arrest Jordan, even though I know that won’t happen.

Also in “In The Beginning”

Jordan Chase is really Eugene Greer and Emily was forced into taking that picture of him with Boyd, Dan, Alex and Cole.

Dexter: “They say history has a way of repeating itself but I will never put my family in danger again. Now that Jordan Chase knows that Lumen and I are on to him, I need to plan for the worst.”

I think Dexter was wise to send Harrison with Sonya to Orlando but Jordan could still easily get to him through Deb as well.

Dexter: “Congrats. Looks like your filing days are over.”
Deb: “Yeah at least until LaGuerta’s mood changes.”

Emily: “Do I look like the kind of person who knows Jordan Chase?”
Lumen: “He knows who you are.”
Emily: “How?”

There was still tension between Deb and Quinn as well as Maria and Angel in this episode.

Lumen: “I know you risk your life every day that you’re with me. You’ve been my only way through this.”
Dexter: “I guess we both met each other at the right time.”

Dexter: “People may be stronger than you think.”
Deb: “Believe me on this one, you’re wrong. There’s no way of coming back after this.”

It was actually effective but harrowing of Lumen watching her own DVD and Deb watching the other 12 DVDs of the barrel girls, especially with both scenes cutting into each other.

Liddy: “Usually it’s the boy child that ends up doing the police work, not the girl, but here you are in the geek squad.”
Dexter: “Yeah, blood spatter suited me more.”
Liddy: “You like the blood, huh?”
Dexter: “I like catching bad guys.”

Jordan (re Lumen): “You told her about Alex?”
Emily: “I told her the truth, like you said though I didn’t want to. Are you in trouble, Jordan?”

It’s interesting that both Jordan and Liddy were spying on Dexter and Lumen and both of them seemed to miss that they switched houses when they were killing Alex.

Jordan: “Thank you Dexter. I’m here for you.”
Dexter (to himself): “And soon, I’ll be there for you.”

Dexter: “But with Lumen, I’m someone different. In her eyes, I’m not a monster at all.”

Chronology: Not long since “Teenage Wasteland” and this episode did not feature Harry.

Awesome episode. “In The Beginning” continued the excellent trend of strong episodes and with only two more to go, it will be interesting to see how this is all wrapped up. Jordan Chase, you need slapping down.

Rating: 10 out of 10.