Video: Top 10 TV Shows You Like The Best, a Tumblr Meme

Tumblr Meme: 10 Days of Television - 10 TV Shows You Like The Best

On Tumblr, the meme that this video was birthed from is actually supposed to be 10 different graphics made, one for each TV show, but I am a lazy person... so I decided to spend weeks hunting down clips, piecing them together, finding quotes, and adding sound design instead.

Since this is a blog, here's a little behind the scenes of 10 TV Shows You Like The Best (in order of appearance):

• Better Off Ted: Quirky, off-the-wall, but generally heartfelt -- even if that heart was being turned into an experimental weapon -- "Better Off Ted" exemplified a kind of sitcom that elevated past its genre. It gets the honor of being a favorite thanks to killer dialogue, that the actors were able to deliver flawlessly every time. The characters were all just enough aware of their own oddities to keep the reactions greatly wry. Plus, Portia de Rossi. It was cancelled after two seasons, and I think it could've picked up steam with more.


• Buffy The Vampire Slayer: This Joss Whedon classic was a staple of my teenage years, filling many a VHS tapes when I'd rush home to capture it. Witty dialogue has no better place than at the end of Whedon's pen. But Buffy had equal parts action, sentiment, and conflict. The titular character was both a hero and a woman, who grew up too fast for her life but at a pace where viewers could feel connected to her through the years. Plus, Spike. It ended on a seven year run, coming to a slightly sped up but at least planned conclusion.


• Dollhouse: Another of Whedon's, "Dollhouse" was an examination in a humanity much more sinister than Buffy's. The truths of behavior and questions of morality it dug into were spectacular watching -- and there was some eye-candy to go along with it. Perhaps the best thing "Dollhouse" had to offer was its two unaired "Epitaph" episodes, showing what happened to the world after the events of the show, very apocalyptic-style. It was cancelled after two seasons.


• Community: "Community" is a special snowflake full of wit, wry, and pop-culture weirdness. Epically self-aware and endlessly bemused by its own mythology, it's a whip-fast show that manages to be out-there but then pull you back with the all too realistic neuroses of its characters. Extreme things might happen, but there's a sense of actual personality in the denizens of Greendale that puts it past other shows just looking for a punchline. (Anyone sensing the theme of 'witty dialogue' in these yet?) Community is on-going. For now. Maybe.


• Life: Representing the beloved genre of cop shows, "Life" takes the story of a former cop who's been wrongfully imprisoned for twelve years. On getting out, he returns right to the job, causing many people to question his motives -- and sanity. Damian Lewis carries this show with an amazing stride, assisted by a smooth story arc and quirky episode-to-episode crimes to solve. His odd behavior is a good sell, letting him be both sunny and then suddenly remind you that he's been in prison for over a decade. Also starring Sarah Shahi with a badge, so. It was cancelled after two seasons. (Pattern?)


• Lost: "Lost" was its own little world for most. But I didn't come upon it from the beginning, instead being enticed in by a glimpse of what could be. Of course, then the epic mythology, symbolism, and intense adventure captured me whole-heartedly. It has its flaws, and its question, but "Lost" is a show you can really talk about. And talk about, and theorize about, and argue for and against; it outlives even its six seasons. Highlights include: Michael Emerson, Michael Emerson, Michael Emerson, and Henry Ian Cusick. And some other people.


• Fringe: "Fringe" perfects a style of procedural mystery blended with overarcing story. It grips you into its science-fiction world and never lets go. Anna Torv, John Noble, Joshua Jackson, and the gang deliver masterful performances even when talking odd science gibberish. In this show is crafted a wonderful escape, while also humanizing it with the characters that have to discover these mysteries. Olivia Dunham is an FBI agent tasked with a phenomenon known as the "Pattern", odd unexplainable occurrences. She hires on Noble's Walter Bishop and son Peter, but it all proves a lot bigger than them -- or does it. "Fringe" is in its fourth season.


• Carnivale: Speaking of sprawling worlds, "Carnivale" takes place in the Dust Bowl Era, which it artistically recreates with great scenery and effects. But all is not the same in this world as ours, for powerful supernatural forces are at work. This show has an amazingly deep background and expansive character development, but is not for those who need a thrill each episode. It has a definite slow-burn, day-to-day pace that will bore some. But the ride is worth it. Also, hey, it's pre-"White Collar" Tim DeKay (and so many other cool people). It was cancelled after two seasons (wtf), and it's obvious that it wasn't supposed to.


• Pushing Daisies: Another quirky little piece that stands in its own genre, really. From creator Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls), "Pushing Daisies" is about a guy who can raise the dead, but that's about as morbid as it gets. Rather, PD relies on bright colors, fanciful outfits, and alliteration. It exists in a world trapped between modern times and the past, with occasional new technology paired alongside 50s outfits or language. The dialogue is again something to pay attention to, as each turn of the phrase is cleverly worked together. It was cancelled-- can you guess? After two seasons.


• The 4400: 4400 people are abducted, and then returned on the same day, none having aged a moment since they left. That's the premise that "The 4400" purports. Each of these people return to very different problems, trying to return to life -- but they also have to deal with their newfound superhuman abilities. "The 4400" never tries to become too much, always grounded in the humanity of its characters, and the difficult decisions that must face a changing world where some are new and ostracized. The abilities -- while awesome -- are used more as a vehicle than a spectacle. Its finale remains my favorite episode of any to date. It was cancelled after four seasons; a strange blessing.

Picking ten television shows out of everything I watch was a difficult enough feat -- not to mention that new shows are starting every season, mid-season, and summer. But the 10 here will likely stand the test of time, and should all be tried at least for 1-4 episodes in.

If anyone's wondering how I picked "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2 as the song... it goes like this: I was driving, thinking about this meme, and the song came on the radio. I didn't know what it was, but I could imagine sweeping visuals to it. When I got back to work, I couldn't remember the lyrics for the life of me and spent a good fifteen minutes or more on the radio station's website, desperately clicking through pages of songs to try and see if any stuck out. Just as I was about to give up, the last page I clicked on yielded the U2 hit and I immediately knew. That felt enough like fate to use. (My remembering of the lyric was something like: 'go different way' or something about a river)

TV Recap: Dexter, S610 "Ricochet Rabbit"

Parallels continue to build, as Dexter is forced to confront the truth about Travis. The show's tenth episode, "Ricochet Rabbit" focuses on Dexter's attempts to regain the ground he lost by falling for the young man's act of repentance. In a way, Dexter continues to lash out at a vision of himself: man and father figure, versus man and father figure. The episode opens with the disillusioned killer's revelation about Gellar in the freezer, as Travis looks down on him from above.

"Travis, you killed Gellar." But Travis doesn't want to hear it, and he locks Dexter inside, stumbling out to the lawn. He falls down outside where Dexter can conveniently see him talk to the invisible Gellar. "Talking to someone who isn't there," mocks Dexter's father who isn't there. Gellar's spirit says that he called Travis delusional, that it was Travis' religious delusion all along. That he thought he'd survived the stabbing. Travis may be a parallel for Dexter in that he follows the guidance of an invisible father, but his code is all his own, and Gellar was only a vehicle for that. He seems to have been birthed from a justification of Travis' mind, attempting to make itself feel right with what's happening. Sound familiar? Harry's code is no big leap from there. For sociopaths, they're both rather indentured to these visions of reason (even deluded reason).

But in this, Travis has gone from innocence to full-on psycho. He seems to have forgotten that, a second ago, he felt bad for all that he'd gone through. The truth must have broken his head. Dexter recognizes this, as Harry questions "What happened to saving him?" Dexter identifies Travis as being like him, accusing Brother Sam of leading him astray. The situation has clearly affected Dexter, personally. He cuts off Gellar's frozen hand and leaves fingerprints on items around the church so that the police won't stop looking for him (just another way he undermines his own team), then morbidly keeps the hand for a 'rainy day'.

He posts on Gellar's blog as Gellar saying that he was 'wrong'. In an internet cafe somewhere, Travis isn't too pleased, calling Dexter's post out as a "false prophet" then moving on to the convenient videos of his fans. Travis is out there proving the danger of meeting people on the internet.

The cops make it into the church and don't have to do much -- or any -- digging to know that this is the Doomsday's place. But as she looks around, Debra begins freaking out. She leaves to get 'air'. Which is universal language for 'some space to freak out'.

Quinn's continuing to costar in 'Dude Where's My Car', with the car. He wakes up with a leg out the window, a shoe on the lawn, and no spare shirt.

Dexter arrives and Debra tells him how she's feeling -- Dexter actually shares, comparing this incident with his panic attack in the hotel room full of blood, and manages to make her ease up. Dexter and Masuka pair off to examine some jars of blood, leading Dexter to think: "Now that I've done my job, I can get on with my work." His separation of church and state is his constant mistake.

Louis is having some worries about showing Dexter his video-game, but Jamie convinces him to just go for it. Her argument is that Dexter's just a puppy-dog under that hard, emotionless facade thanks to having seen him sing children's songs to his son. Because a man will always treat a complete stranger with a weird fixation the same way he does his baby son. Yes.

At the station, LaGuerta decides to run the meeting and Debra decides to not stand for that. During this feminine ball-measuring contest, Dexter wonders if the girl he let go is Travis' next victim. But as he goes to find her, Louis tries to talk to him. However, the nerd proves easier to blow off than Debra.

Dexter's search for Holly leads him to a yacht called "The Title Of This Episode", which Travis has found first with his new congregation: Steve Dorsey the Super Fan (Doomsday Adam, played by a guy who didn't even get his credit on IMDB) and his adoring wife, Beth (Jordana Spiro). Holly seems to be doing well for herself, for a woman who was held captive and made to drink blood. Good until Travis introduces himself to her doorway. Team Religion proves its worth by cornering her at the other exits.

Angel and Quinn do some slapstick partner stuff.

"His sister seemed so convinced he was a good guy." Irony continues to doggedly pursue Debra and Dexter at the crime scenes, and Debra takes that unresolved tension back to her continually ominous therapist. They discuss how Dexter merely being there calmed Debra down, leading to the decision that he's her "safe place"; Debra reminisces very sweetly on when she would sneak into his room at night when they were kids. Maybe it's selfish, but her dependence going away would feel like a loss.

On the boat (a motherfucking boat), Travis has fully embraced his Gellar side, leading his Super Fan Steve to Holly. Beth's having some doubts but Travis waxes on that familiar speech about how killing her will absolve her of her sins -- it's a kind of love, what they're doing. It's hauntingly echoing of Gellar's own arguments to Travis. And it works. As Travis slits Holly's throat right in front of the audience, Steve relishes his own 'love' by giving her a good stab.

At his house, Dexter also has a fan. Louis shows him his game about being a serial killer. "You can be the Bay Harbor Butcher." Dexter shoots him the hell down, causing Louis to cancel his date and giving Dexter time to hunt down the yacht's location which -- surprise -- has a security camera. Dexter does the mature thing and sets off a car alarm so he can sneak into the security office and have a look-see.

Debra follows a lead left on her desk and discovers the secret of Chief Matthews' rendezvous. The first person she calls is Dexter, but he's off on 'personal business', which Debra manages not to freak out about. She seems to be straddling the fine line of leaning less on Dexter while also identifying that she likes leaning on Dexter.

Louis shows them freaky fan's video claiming that they've been chosen, and that he's already figured out who he is. They've definitely been leaning on this intern a lot. Angel can't get ahold of his partner, however, so he soldiers on as the lone Stooge this time, entering Super Fan's home by way of Steve's wife. Beth puts up a good front for Angel, claiming the videos were only an internet joke. But Angel's a detective, so he gets an intuition, causing Travis to have to smack him over the head with a cross. Travis decides that Angel's badge is a sign for where to release his poison.

Dexter tracks down the yacht and, despite seeing a man wearing a Hazmat suit, decides it's a good idea to walk in without any kind of protection at all. He wrestles down his victim, only to see that it is Super Fan and not Travis at all. Oh, and Wormwood is out. Sorry, Dexter; it's not the end of the season yet. Hearing something outside the boat, Dexter pulls up the anchor, upon which is skewered Holly's body. His father questions if he should call the police, meaning that Dexter is wondering if he should call the police -- progress. But in his anger, he kicks aside a sheet and finds the poison, and his anger causes him to lash out at his invisible, internal father. And then call the police. This is a big step for Dexter, who's always, as these recaps have pointed out, been too selfish to give Miami Metro a hand. But now he calls into 911, leaving an anonymous tip that would probably be more actually anonymous if he didn't have an incredibly distinctive voice.

What do you think: does Debra's increasing tolerance for a brother she's realizing is her rock and solid place make her the most effective new target now that Rita's gone? All those therapy sessions have to be adding up to something.

TV Recap: The Walking Dead 207, "Pretty Much Dead Already"

The conflict of The Walking Dead's midseason finale "Pretty Much Dead Already" comes from each leader -- or wannabe leader -- feeling the standstill of their situation come to a boiling point. Hershel's secret is out, putting pressure on Rick to challenge their host's belief structure, while Rick is continuously undermined by Shane's impatience towards their sitting still. It's probably the only thing that Shane shares with the viewing audience. Even Glenn's feeling the strain of his former complacency, and the scene opens on his inability to not act.

Camp's quiet, in the aftermath of secrets spilled, and everyone sits in contemplative quiet with the slow-burn of anxiety and Andrea's persistent whet stone. Til Glenn drops the bomb, partly, it seems, by Dale's influence. A quick hop-skip over to the barn ensues, where Shane decides to stick his face right up to it. Shane proposes leaving -- he's sick of looking for a girl who's got no chance -- which gets even Darryl to call him out being an asshole. Ah, the familiar sound of internal squabbles and punches being thrown. "I was going to tell you this morning, but Glenn wanted to be the one" explains Dale over why he knew already. Good thing nobody asked how long Glenn's known. Their yelling clearly upsets the zombies, who don't like to hear mommy and daddy fighting.

But as the action returns-- there is no action. Just Shane getting some scouting out around the barn, deciding that sticking his face into it once wasn't enough. He's pretty keen on opening it up. Glenn goes to talk to Maggie, but sort of gives himself a bad start by already starting out on the other side of a literal fence. He wants to talk; she breaks an egg over his head. It's going well.

In the other neck of the woods, Carl continues to ask the difficult questions. Which is probably more entertaining than the homework he's doing. Even the apocalypse can't stop math. But while he's disillusioned towards Shane, he's not lost hope in Sophia.

Sophia's mother catches Darryl heading out on another probably stolen horse while still injured. She expresses doubt for the first time, confessing that she's come to care for Darryl, and losing him while Sophia's already gone would wreck her. But emotion makes Darryl cranky, so he calls her a bitch and retreats to where he can pretend he has no heart.

In the RV, Dale expresses his doubts towards Shane to Andrea. She's caught in the allure of Shane's ability to turn off his emotions-- her own twisted and burdensome to her. "He's not a victim," she tells Dale, who remains unconvinced. For as much as she says she doesn't like his concern, when Dale says he's calling it quits, Andrea can't quite let it go. But she leaves anyway, to hang out with her bald hunnybunny. Dale hovers rather suspiciously over his bag o'guns as he tells Glenn to give him a moment.

Hershel's enjoying a lunch and light read when Rick arrives. Hershel tells him to leave, and Rick tries to reason with him, telling him that there's only two kinds of people out there in the world. You either get dead, or become "something a lot less than the person you once were." He gives Hershel a state of the world address, trying to convince the stubborn patriarch that the physical cocoon he's embalmed his family in here has blinded him to how harsh conditions truly are. When Hershel seems unwavering, Rick lays the last card on the table: by the way, my wife's pregnant, you insensitive bastard. Not in so many words. Hershel sends him out, but the damage is done on the nerve of eavesdropper Maggie. Storming outside, Rick manages not to get into it with Shane about sleeping with his wife, just everything else.

Maggie pleads the case with Hershel, but they're interrupted by "it". What is it? Hershel comes upon Rick planning a new course of action over Sophia, and asks for Rick's help with "it", denying Andrea's assistance. With the husband away, Shane confronts Lori, calling Rick out: "He ain't built for this world" and claiming that he's saved Lori's life more than Rick ever has. Which... is a weird grading system. Even though the world's gone to shit, Lori wants more than a bulldog; she wants a husband. Shane wants the baby to be his. Shane gets no leniency anywhere; Carl even tells him what's what, and that his attitude is full of crap. That's about as much as Shane wants to put up with, but when he storms into the RV, he discovers the guns are missing. So's Dale. Convenient.

Hershel brings Rick to a swamp where walkers often get stuck, testing him by asking him to help rescue the walkers out who are trapped there. The swamp is apparently a dangerous place. It's also the chosen hiding place of Dale -- except that Shane's already found him. Dale levels a gun on Shane but is unable to pull the trigger. When Shane takes the weapons, Dale defends his actions. "When the world goes to shit, I didn't let it take me down with it." Dale's moral stability continues to make him a candidate for early death.

Darryl and Sophia's Mum have a heart to heart where Darryl proves less allergic to his own one. "What else I got to do," is how he puts it. Rick struggles with steering a walker out of the swamp. Glenn tries to talk to Maggie, finally defending his own action "I'm sick of secrets; secrets get you killed." He has it out, finally realizing that he's been treating the apocalypse like a video-game but that doesn't mean his view is less valid than Maggie's. Walkers are dangerous. But they also get you some action, apparently, since his newfound balls have Maggie forgiving him pretty quick. Only Glenn is getting any.

Oh yeah, there's a black guy in this. He walks up just in time for Shane to give a call to arms -- and some arms. He even tries to give Carl a gun, before everybody spots Rick herding the new walkers in with Hershel. This pretty much is about all Shane can take. So he flips his lid and shoots the walker Hershel's been herding. Then he decides all the walkers in the barn should join the party. As he breaks the locks and walkers begin to wander out, the rest of Rick's camp step up to the shooting gallery, each taking their stance of survival -- Glenn shooting a look to Maggie for permission to put a lead one in the face of her loved ones. Opening fire, they determinedly gun down every single one of them until there's only a pile of corpses as Hershel and his family stare on in mute shock, their precious world stability crumbled like so many downed walkers.

There's just one more moan to attend to. The tiny shuffling feet belong to none other than Sophia, who emerges from the barn with white hungry eyes to the horror of everyone looking on. And looking on is all they do. Previously trigger happy, the band stand there like hypocrites when it comes to as efficiently taking out one of their home. Sophia is left to hobble over the bodies of the others until Rick's face hardens. He purposefully moves past each other person to confront Sophia -- confront the task -- straight-on with a practical but empathetic stare. He shoots. Sophia falls. No one else would.

This is why Rick's the leader.

TV Recap: Dexter, 6x09 "Get Gellar"

Open on Dexter and Travis right where we left them -- chained to a church, and trying to unchain him from the church. Dexter notices a painting marked with '2LOT' which he later deduces to be the book of a famed atheist hated by Gellar, and likely the angry professor's next target. Since Travis is a wanted man, and basically useless, Dexter sets him up in a hotel. His sister is in with her psychiatrist. Again. After dropping the Brian and Lundy bombs, it's even suggested that they begin meeting more than once a week. There's something vaguely sinister about the way this therapist turns Debra's thinking, even if she needs it.

Arriving at the station, Debra uses her freshly found sentiments to call Dexter a chair and then tell everybody to get their shit together. Which is kind of how all these meetings are sounding. Oh, and Quinn's not there, which Masuka blames on the strip club they visited which, as he clearly remembers, had such highlights as the errant detective attempting to propose to the dancers.

Angel goes to bust Quinn's ball, being the great partner that he is. But as they start to get ready for work without even letting Quinn change his shirt -- you really want to be in the car with that, Angel? -- they notice that Quinn's gun is missing. Oops. Good thing he already had some kind of GPS history pulled up on his web browser that would pinpoint where he must've left it. They visit the house, only to have the hot teen who answers the door call for her far less Barbie-looking mother. So Quinn slept with a homely lady or something. Angel and Quinn are relegated to some kind of side-show Odd Couple storyline, where even Angel's car breaks down. Though it allows Quinn some valuable time to insult every aspect of Angel's life, leading to a fist-fight where Angel probably would've broken his nose if a lady hadn't threatened to call the police. Great partners.

The badge gang notice Gellar's updated blog, and all the fun fanatics who posted that they support him, including convenient video-posts where they show their faces very clearly to the authorities. Better With You (Louis) thinks he can get to the IP address. After some of his smooth-tapping fingers -- interrupted briefly by Masuka with some bizarre love advice, "In matters of the heart, always think with your dick" -- he gets them within viewing distance of a church. Debra orders uniform to fan out and canvas the area.

Later inside, Debra's visited by Jessica Moore's father, asking her to reopen the case, but he's unable to explain why he has some pretty specific details of the case. Thanks to a particularly motivated session with her therapist, Debra tells LaGuerta that she's 'breaking the cycle' of their arguments to opening the case, whether LaGuerta likes her not -- and if not, she can fire her. LaGuerta slips off to a covert meeting with the illicit man she holds blackmail over, none other than the Chief who gave Debra the job. Whoops. On a whole, this situation feels like a sadly deprived way to keep LaGuerta in business -- certainly not relevant, as she continues on the same path she's always held, one of arrogance and holding secrets over other people's heads. Sullying the one person who was above her feels like a possibly cheap way to advance her, as she was already promoted once on dirty information from the same plentiful source.

Meanwhile, Dexter continues to follow his own leads, including a rather overly suitable comment that he's pulling against his own team -- you're a little late to that realization, Dexter. Your entire existence has been to try and cheat the police out of their arrests so that you can have the pleasure of a kill and feel better about yourself, while leaving them in the professional lurch. Gellar's no different, but he acts as though he were. This, in some way, to endear us to his quest to help the unfortunate Travis. So, he visits upon the good Professor Casey, famed atheist, and tries to warn him he's in danger. No dice.

Deciding to be proactive, Dexter brings Travis to the school and they stakeout until Travis sees Gellar entering the building. Dexter tells Travis to hold the stairs while he takes the elevator to cut Gellar off, only to have it grind to a halt less conveniently in-between floors. Being a ninja, Dexter is only slightly put-off. But as he gets to the upper doors, Travis pries them open and they search the office only to find that Gellar has already gotten to Casey. And another one bites the dust.

Despairing that this is his fault, Travis seems to have lost most of his steam, which Dexter reignites by telling him to reach out to Gellar on his blog, pretending to be repentant so they can lure Gellar in. Too late, though, to save Casey, when Dexter is called to the scene where the professor's body lies on the very stage he taught upon. One hand is missing, and so is everything inside. As Dexter raises his eyes to the heavens, Masuka raises the stumpy arm -- triggering the buckets above which overturn, raining blood and manly professor guts down upon the detectives. Drenched in an innocent man's blood, Dexter makes a rare messy figure, drenched in the liquid of his profession, but sneering -- seeing, as you will, red. He promises wrath on Gellar, and we believe him.

Meanwhile-meanwhile, things are heating up for Louis, the tall nerdy intern, when he resolves to bring hot Jamie home to show her his collection -- and then his bedroom. And the audience gets to see his prized Ice Truck Killer hand. And the impression of Aimee Garcia's naked legs.

Debra goes straight to the one person she thinks she can talk to -- her therapist -- to talk about what just happened. Does this woman have no other patients? They discuss Debra's trend of bad decisions when it comes to relationships, notably not bringing up the latest and greatest, Quinn, whose brutal fist-match with Angel has been left with less resolution. These therapist visits are clearly leaving quite an impression on the young lieutenant, who greets Dexter's next attempt to ask her how she's doing with a snarky comment and a nice view of her back. Even though the therapist was talking about Debra's romantic relationships being unhealthy and changeable, she seems to continue to inspire sister and brother to connect less and less, a depressing venture when it was the one relationship always able to bring around Dexter's lament for real human emotions. Now, he swears in the name of Harrison.

It's this Harrison that he claims to be working for, when his Obi-Wan-Kenobi vision of his father questions him at the church later. "I want to be better", Dexter claims. Not a better person, which he believes to be beyond his grasp, but a better father. Dexter, my friend, we're not sure those two things are mutually exclusive.

This confrontation is thanks to Travis waking up from a fretful sleep to find that Gellar has written "BRING THE FALSE PROPHET TO THE CHURCH" on the bathroom wall in blood, and lent him a hand. Travis calls Dexter, telling him that the message came from the blog. Once at the church, Dexter tells Travis to go in first. He does, confronting Gellar whose menacing comments about second chances and repentance do not bode well for the tearful Travis. Stepping into Gellar's out-stretched grasp seems to spell no more than his doom -- one that would wreak a grave unhappiness in Dexter, as he relies on Travis to prove that second chances away from Dark Passengers is possible. But when he stalks into the church, neither man is anywhere in sight. He eventually spots Travis on the ground, still breathing, but out of it. A search for Gellar shows him a secret door in the floor under the altar table, and Dexter descends.

He finds a basement, filled with trinkets. And a giant freezer. And in the freezer is Gellar's long dead and respectfully preserved body. Above, Travis' eyes open. Dexter comes to the heavy conclusion that Gellar is dead, has always been dead, and it's Travis who's been killing all along: he's made a "grave mistake". Dexter runs to the passage entrance to see his nemesis there -- for, truly now, Travis and Dexter are equals, haunted both by Dark Passengers and father figures who appear to them as if real. Only Travis' two figures are the same, leading him astray in a darker code than Dexter's attempt towards the light. As the episode closes, Dexter will find himself with a hard purpose: stop Travis, who he put so much stock in saving.