I have never written a review on IMDb before, but this episode brutally forced me to give up my review virginity. After having watched all 5 seasons in the span of a few weeks I had a good sense of who Dexter is. A methodical, almost perfect killer who never leaves any evidence behind and relishes in the ritual of preparing the 'kill room' almost as much as the actual killing. He never puts himself out there and the family and friends he has were almost forced onto him by life's mysterious events. The first episode in the series changes everything you know about Dexter.
The opening scene is with him running away from something, supposedly after being stabbed in the stomach. Of course he was not stabbed, which leaves the viewer wondering why go to all the theatrics of pretending to be if no one was around to see and he was lying face-down anyway when the EMTs come. The 2 EMTs are organ-stealing murderers and Dexter kills them not by strapping them to a table with plastic, but by using defibrillators. No 'kill room'. No relished ritual. Plenty of evidence left behind i.e. from the phony stab wound. Uncovering the organ-stealing organisation would have made for a better plot line than the one with the horrible CGI snakes. Lets take a minute to appreciate how horrible the CGI snakes were. So far the TV show has done splendidly with the props, prosthetic and make-up when it came to the gory murder scenes. The lack of CGI made it so much more realistic. Please, no more. Next is the new nanny, which has to be an even worse side plot-line than Laguerta and Batista's romance. Last season the role of the nanny went to the talented Doyle Kennedy, who portrayed Sonya. The viewers, including myself, might have thought that by hiring a higher-calibre actress, Sonya's role will develop into something more than phoning Dexter about Harrison in his moments of murder for added comedy effect. But no. It is very probable that Mrs Kennedy packed her bags when she realised the extent of her character. The new nanny, who also happens to be Batista's sister (which we don't find out for a long time and we are lead to believe that Batista and her are a couple, for whatever reason) is given a much bigger role. We see her talking to Batista in a restaurant and winning the award for the most redundant and boring scene in Dexter so far. I don't see how her character can bring anything to Dexter's 'other side' other than phoning him to ask to sing for Harrison, so I see no reason in her plot-line at all. I would much rather watch Laguerta's and Batista's break-up (which was glossed over, for no reason) and that's saying something. Something I thought I'd never see - Dexter getting a BJ from former prom queen!! Dexter is a detached, calculating killing machine why shies away from feelings and any involvement with people who are not involved in his 'cover' (Rita, Lumen, Deb and the kids being the exceptions) and he lets this happen? The whole high-school reunion plot line felt like it was written by a high school social reject who is making his fantasy become reality through screenplay. It was very cringe-worthy, especially the scene with Harry in the bathroom. Has the actor who plays Harry got something on the producers? That's the only reason I can think of as to why he is kept on, season after season. I'd rather hear Michael's sexy voice talking to himself. I'd love to know more about the blood ring. I'd like to see how he came to the idea, how he developed it. No backstory is given. The backstory on that ring could have replaced the nanny story. Rings don't put out, however. All in all, worst episode so far. Kind of like when there is an app that you really like and one day a company buys it and all the good things about the app now you have to pay a monthly subscription for, otherwise you are left with a skeleton app. This episode was the skeleton app. Wish I could buy the rest. Oh wait, I already am, Netflix. Maybe the rest of the season will make this right.
The opening scene is with him running away from something, supposedly after being stabbed in the stomach. Of course he was not stabbed, which leaves the viewer wondering why go to all the theatrics of pretending to be if no one was around to see and he was lying face-down anyway when the EMTs come. The 2 EMTs are organ-stealing murderers and Dexter kills them not by strapping them to a table with plastic, but by using defibrillators. No 'kill room'. No relished ritual. Plenty of evidence left behind i.e. from the phony stab wound. Uncovering the organ-stealing organisation would have made for a better plot line than the one with the horrible CGI snakes. Lets take a minute to appreciate how horrible the CGI snakes were. So far the TV show has done splendidly with the props, prosthetic and make-up when it came to the gory murder scenes. The lack of CGI made it so much more realistic. Please, no more. Next is the new nanny, which has to be an even worse side plot-line than Laguerta and Batista's romance. Last season the role of the nanny went to the talented Doyle Kennedy, who portrayed Sonya. The viewers, including myself, might have thought that by hiring a higher-calibre actress, Sonya's role will develop into something more than phoning Dexter about Harrison in his moments of murder for added comedy effect. But no. It is very probable that Mrs Kennedy packed her bags when she realised the extent of her character. The new nanny, who also happens to be Batista's sister (which we don't find out for a long time and we are lead to believe that Batista and her are a couple, for whatever reason) is given a much bigger role. We see her talking to Batista in a restaurant and winning the award for the most redundant and boring scene in Dexter so far. I don't see how her character can bring anything to Dexter's 'other side' other than phoning him to ask to sing for Harrison, so I see no reason in her plot-line at all. I would much rather watch Laguerta's and Batista's break-up (which was glossed over, for no reason) and that's saying something. Something I thought I'd never see - Dexter getting a BJ from former prom queen!! Dexter is a detached, calculating killing machine why shies away from feelings and any involvement with people who are not involved in his 'cover' (Rita, Lumen, Deb and the kids being the exceptions) and he lets this happen? The whole high-school reunion plot line felt like it was written by a high school social reject who is making his fantasy become reality through screenplay. It was very cringe-worthy, especially the scene with Harry in the bathroom. Has the actor who plays Harry got something on the producers? That's the only reason I can think of as to why he is kept on, season after season. I'd rather hear Michael's sexy voice talking to himself. I'd love to know more about the blood ring. I'd like to see how he came to the idea, how he developed it. No backstory is given. The backstory on that ring could have replaced the nanny story. Rings don't put out, however. All in all, worst episode so far. Kind of like when there is an app that you really like and one day a company buys it and all the good things about the app now you have to pay a monthly subscription for, otherwise you are left with a skeleton app. This episode was the skeleton app. Wish I could buy the rest. Oh wait, I already am, Netflix. Maybe the rest of the season will make this right.