My Review of Dexter's 6x08: "Sins Of Omission"

Written by Arika Lisanne Mittman
Directed by Ernest Dickerson

Deb: “Oh, Jesus, are all brothers assholes?”
Michelle: “Who are you talking about?”

I’ve asked that question about my own siblings from time to time (I’m joking – don’t shoot) but I have to admit, I really felt for Deb in this one. Twice she tried to reach out to Dexter and twice he threw it back in her face. Dexter’s an awesome character but yeah, he really does treat Deb like shit at times.

If he’s not sabotaging some of Miami Metro’s cases so he add more slides to his collection, he’s blatantly lying to Deb and creating more problems for her. Even Dexter can’t use his social ineptitude to get him out of the crappy way he treated Deb tonight. Would it have really killed him to have spent a few hours with his sister?

What makes me laugh is for all the problems Deb has ever dumped on Dexter, she is actually the model sister and I thought her therapist was being a little silly in assuming that Deb doesn’t always let Dexter get things off his chest. Anyways, even if there was some truth in it, Deb did her best to try and be there for Dexter.

When she got annoyed with him for visiting Jonah in Nebraska, it was because she felt that Dexter didn’t give her the option to try and let her be there for him and I have to admit, I did side with Deb there. Even with the dinner, she was trying to reach out to him and Dexter didn’t give her a chance.

It’s not that I don’t understand why Dexter keeps Deb at arm’s length but surely, he’s got to realise that by doing it continuously at this point (and especially now that she’s his boss), it’s going more rather than less problems for him in the long run. Also I enjoy Dexter and Deb’s rapport and I don’t want to see them being at odds with each for a prolonged period of time.

Continuing with the Deb storylines of the week, it’s nice to see her continued dedication with the dead prostitute and I liked that she wasn’t initially dissuaded by Maria as well trying to close the case. The difference between Deb and Maria is that Deb actually cares whereas to Maria, that girl was just another statistic and she was also desperately trying to cover the death up.

I wonder who Maria is trying bail out though. I have a feeling it’s Matthews but wouldn’t Maria just use this to get him out of her hair, once and for all? It’d be very much in character for Maria but again, I could be wrong and it could be someone else that she’s covering for but honestly Matthews does seem the likeliest of candidates.

Also, speaking of murder – of course Lisa was going to wind up becoming the whore of Babylon. Gellar (or was it really Travis?) going after her was always going to happen and his determination to get Travis back on side resulted in a little kidnapping this week too.

I felt bad for Lisa. She loved her brother and because she had a brief conversation with Deb, she ended up becoming a Doomsday Killer victim. By that turn, I also felt bad for Deb again who blamed herself for Lisa’s death. Not your fault, Deb. By Travis’s furious reaction to his sister’s death, maybe Gellar is real after all. This show would want to finally put that little mystery to rest.

Dexter and Travis as a team, determined to take down Gellar could be a lot of fun to watch as well. Travis for all his horrible acts has finally seen the light when it comes to his mentor and Dexter is finally taking his own proactive steps in actually trying to take Gellar down as well. For me, this also means the season is finally moving forward in a big way as well.

Of course not everything about this episode made for great viewing. Quinn getting drunk in a strip with Masuka was a plot point, I could’ve done without and similarly, Angel interfering in Jamie’s relationship with Louis was another pointless storyline. I don’t know what Angel’s problem is – Louis seems like a nice enough fella and Jamie’s an adult. Maybe he should concentrate on his own love life rather than sabotaging his sister’s.

Also in “Sins Of Omission”

Lisa’s body had no numbers on it when it was discovered, which led Deb and company to believe that Gellar did it himself, rather than Travis.

Travis: “You said I was free.”
Gellar: “And you are. I can’t say I’m impressed with what you’ve done with your freedom.”

It was nice that we got to see Brother Sam’s funeral briefly in this episode and that some people have noticed Nick’s disappearance. That’s not so good for Dexter though.

Dexter (re Gellar): “I can help you, Travis. I can get him out of your life for good. The police will never know about you. You just have to help me find him.”

Dexter (to himself): “Children should trust that when we put them to bed at night they should live to see another day. Adults are not always so fortunate.”

We met Father Nicholas Galway in this episode and I noticed that he was played by William Morgan Sheppard. Surely that must mean another Sheppard should pop up in this show at some point?

Deb: “LaGuerta’s being weird?”
Dexter: “Weird how?”
Deb: “She’s being helpful.”

Travis: “What do you want?”
Gellar: “Penance to cleanse your soul. It’s not your fault, Travis. The devil comes in many forms.”

Maria talked about the com stats meeting being worse for both her and Deb. If one of them loses their job, I know who I’d rather it would be.

Dexter: “I’ve killed people.”
Father Galway: “Continue.”
Dexter: “A lot of people.”

Travis (to Dexter, re Gellar): “I’ll help you. I’ll help you kill him.”

Chronology: A bit from where “Nebraska” left off.

I enjoyed this one a lot. For me, “Sins Of Omission” continue to show that this season has improved greatly from it’s shaky start and while Gellar is still lacking as an antagonist, I am somewhat intrigued by the new alliance between Dexter and Travis in next week’s episode. If it doesn’t go sour for Dexter, it will be a change, won’t it?

Rating: 8 out of 10