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: 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.

TV Recap: Dexter, "Sin Of Omission" S6E8

Dexter's characteristic narrative picks up the episode expunging on the innocent nature of children -- trusting everything and everyone -- but maybe what he really should have been expounding on is the relationship between a brother and sister. That's certainly what Dexter's Season 6, Episode 8, "Sin Of Omission" seemed to be circling around, while Dexter circled the DDK killer.

Having newly returned from his unscheduled hiatus in Nebraska, Dexter attempts to apologize to his sister. He uses his newly minted -- and perished -- best friend's death, along with that of his wife, for his weepy doe-eyed defense, while Debra points out that his unauthorized but unpunished vacation will make it appear like he's being given preferential treatment. Plus, you know. The maniac out there offing people. But Dexter's careless use of Debra's blinders when it comes to her brother is more the touchy subject. And it's truly a tough situation for both of them. Their pointedness, and her sighing acceptance of his apology (how many of you could tell she knew she was going to forgive him?) continues their relationship as one of the better parts of the show.

But things aren't going to be getting easier. Because let's jump to Travis being affectionately adorable with his own sister -- a clear indicator that everything's going to end poorly. It's a tried and true process, especially since Professor Gellar has nothing better to do than stand around in people's backyards. He's clearly suffering some kind of separation anxiety, but Travis wants none to do with it. His age-old attempt to get his sister to take an impromptu vacation tanks on the usual note. Because that worked out so well for Dexter, too.

Meanwhile, our sad sister-lying anti-hero has found himself at a funeral where he gains a particular twitchy nose as Brother Sam's ashes are spread. It looks vaguely like he may be feeling emotions. And is drastically allergic to them. Also, his curiously proud thought that Sam's message may have helped him because he didn't kill Jonah seems to fall vaguely flat when considering that he did, in fact, kill Kyle, the actual person Sam asked him to forgive. But good try, Dex. But... no.

So Dexter decides to use his newfound powers of not killing certain people when it's emotionally convenient to approach Travis, laying out such blatant lies as "I'll take care of it" and that the police don't need to know. Gives you strange visions of a future where Dexter works for hire. Got a problem? Not anymore you won't!

At this juncture, "Sin Of Omission" offers us a side case to take a breather on. A call-girl has gotten herself dead, thanks in all part to the solid combination of drugs and slippery surfaces. Dexter proves that he's still actually really good at his job when he decides to show up, and new black detective proves that he's starting to fit in by showing displeasure at LaGuerta's surprise appearance. For lecturing Debra so hard on how a lieutenant doesn't go to the crime scenes, she's not really setting a great example. No one's surprised.

Back at homebase, some things happen with Dexter's new fanboy -- that guy from the righteously cancelled "Better With You" -- which are mostly throwaway, and even more likely to have bearing later when things explode in a dark and morbid fashion. This is "Dexter", after all, and lest we not forget that Fanboy is working on an alarmingly accurate 3D version of the station. More importantly for our episode theme, however, Batista's sister arrives with an agenda her overprotective brother can't quite accept. Their banter is somewhat predictable, but continues the thread of siblings and their -- occasionally convoluted -- attempts to shelter one another. But whereas Dexter or Travis' is born of the need to shield from darkness, Batista is shouldered with the common dating problem.

As Dexter indulged in a bit of illicit research, concerned over the police's ability to actually do their jobs, it has to be pondered how poorly Dexter's habits reflect on the station. His somewhat selfish aim to off the city's most infamous serial killers continuously leaves the police out in the cold, appearing crippingly unable to catch even the slightest one. He should possibly be concerned with how the public is going to run him and everyone else out of there with pitchforks if they don't catch somebody once in a while.

In some filler, LaGuerta confronts Debra with some more of her passive-aggressive bullshit, and Travis is forcefully reunited with his mentor, but the most poignant, again, is Debra's questioning of Travis' sister. In just a few words, the woman gets across exactly what situation Debra can look forward to -- is in now. It should've been slapping her across the face. When faced with early trauma, brother shuts himself off and won't speak up about his feelings? Debra thinks that the woman probably knows something -- not necessarily that Travis is a killer -- but is hiding it? Does this blind-spot for a brother's darkness resonate at all with her? Cause it should. Her later joke with the therapist about believing Dexter will one day kill her can be laughed off, but not by the viewing audience, who might feel a bit of a jar for that potential foreshadowing. "Sin Of Omission" makes it feel as though we are temptingly growing closer to that inevitable moment when Debra accepts -- because, in a way, don't you think she knows something's up? -- that her brother is not who she thinks he is. Oh, and he kills people.

And, of course, her therapist has a point -- but not one that will serve Dexter. Driving Debra home to give her brother some potential venting time only causes her to see him as he leaves for parts unknown, unable to explain to her where he's going. His continued "something's come up" and "gotta go somewhere" are no longer going to cut it, as Debra feels increasingly let down by a relationship she's coming to depend too heartily on. Her need to stand over Dexter and vent to him every single tiny frustration in her life gives her a crutch that she'll soon pick up and beat him over the head with for not reciprocating. It feels definitely like she's no longer going to let him get away with as much shit as before.

But this episode manages to mix the sweet with the bitter. Her emotional "It's not a burden for me to be there for you" rings heartfelt and thoughtful to the family condition. Too bad she forgot that she has an emotionless lump for a brother. Dexter hasn't though; he has no compunctions leaving her in the lurch to go hunt down Gellar. On the bright side, he manages to phrase it as going to "rescue Travis", so we manage not to hold it too much against him. This time. Or else we are merely reminded that we are rooting for a guy whose urges to kill are stronger than his human feelings.

Oh, and, Quinn is drunk (he should realize he's at his lowest point when even Masuka displays more restraint and better judgment), LaGuerta has some dirty laundry (no one's surprised), and Batista scares Better With You off of his sister.

But perhaps the most gut-wrenching part was also the most inevitable: the reveal of Travis' sister as the whore of Babylon, Gellar's latest victim. The episode strung it out as long as possible, pulling away at the curtain, only to have her trussed up in a mask. Debra's reaction was meant to be our own: a gasp of recognition and guilt. And here ends the line of Travis' attempts to protect his sister, the last powerful emotion he was able to cling to, and begins an even more dangerous one: vengeance. In trying to get back his disciple, Gellar has created a powerful enemy -- whose allegiance with Dexter marks the end of the episode.

One sister down. What does this say about Debra's chances?