Dexter Review, Episode (10) Ricochet Rabbit (Season [6])

By Time Spiral
December 5th, 2011 **SPOILERS**

Read what happened previously on Dexter, Episode (9) Get Gellar.

How are they going to wrap up the Gellar story arc? I think to myself as the Dexter intro scene rolls along with its twangy, creepily crawling sounds. In Dexter's Episode (10) of Season six, titled Ricochet Rabbit, that curiosity was sated immediately. While some of the events of this episode were somewhat confusing, events happened that are sure to create a chaotic final two episodes. Enjoy the review!

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Travis wakens and discovers Dexter in the subterranean level of his lair. He's momentarily stunned as Dexter shouts to him, "You killed Gellar!" Travis buckles, denies the charge, immediately slams the trap-door shut, and seals the exit.

Dexter is stuck. His futile attempt to open the trap door fails. He quickly surveys his location. He's stuck, for now. Then he hears Travis talking to Gellar. Travis turns on a heel to leave the lair and Dexter calls out, desperate for an easy way out of this trap.

Dexter's phone indicates that he's received a message. It's Deb. Her team is closing in. Scrambling, Dexter decides to plant Gellar's fingerprints at the crime scene and then dispose of Gellar's body.

After the season's big reveal that Gellar was dead I was really curious how they were going to keep that aspect of the arc going, from Travis' perspective. What type of illness does he really have to justify this behavior? If it is in fact Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder) with sociopath sprinkles on top, the two different personalities are not clear to me. How he killed Gellar, stuffed him in a freezer, didn't know about it, and how that transitioned Gellar from being a living mentor figure to an aberration is beyond me.

During the confrontation between Travis and Gellar I found myself cocking my head a few times. I simply didn't get it. Gellar's behavior completely changed, which made sense, because Travis was rocked with the memory that he killed Gellar, but the whole scene just felt confusing. I don't mind complex, at all, but this did not feel complex, it felt confusing, and that's not good. Either way, it looks like that was Gellar's "Goodbye" for season (6). I'd be surprised if he didn't make but maybe one more, "What's up, Travis!" but over all, that arc is over.

Travis needs to make amends. He made a mistake. The False Prophet is to blame. Dexter reads this all on Travis' blog (he apparently has two logins?). While watching Deb stick it to LaGuerta the investigation's white boards in the conference room lead Dexter to the revelation that Holly Benson must be next. All the while, Travis is recruiting some religious wackos to help him. Even though Gellar could never actually help, because he is not alive, the loss of Gellar was the impetus that puhsed Travis to bring on some fresh blood.

Dexter remembers Holly. Travis let her go. It must be her! If Travis gets to her first, she could very well be the wormwood victim.

This part of the arc did bother me a little bit. I don't think that much time has gone by since Holly was a captive prisoner in DDK's lair. When they were exposing that Dexter and Travis would both be tracking her down I thought to myself, "No fu#@ing way she is anywhere near Miami. No way!" But of course, she was having a grand ol' time hanging out on a luxury yatch, at a marina, which is exactly where she was abducted to begin with.

But, not everyone values their life the same as I do, so maybe it was no big thing to her or her boyfriend who decided it was cool to leave the country on business. I guess they're not super serious (her being a mistress, you know?). What sucks about it all is that it was not easy for Dexter to find this girl, then find the boat, then track her down. Travis and his new acolytes found her instantly. We know what Travis has been doing, he's been with Dexter, staging elaborate killings, how exactly did he have time to keep tabs on this chick? I don't like punching holes in stories, usually, but I will if they are super glaring, like this one.

Debs sits down in her office, exhausted. The box from the dead call girl case is staring right at her. She rifles through the items and after a quick intuitive phone call to the local flower shop she learns that the other person in the room was the DC, Matthews. Whoa nelly! She thinks to herself in much more derogatory terms. Deb freaks and immediately calls Dexter, who is of course, off doing mysterious personal stuff. Deb's dinner plans with the DC just became much more complicated.

Sweater-Vest-Guy is in love with Dexter. Batista's sister is an attractive girl, and they're already doing the nasty, yet he is still pining over Dexter for his approval. Sweater-Vest-Guy catches Dexter when he has a free minute and presents his game, but there's a twist! You can actually be the serial killer. In a shocking moment of ambiguous meta-show transparency, Dexter crushes Lou- ... sorry - Sweater-Vest-Guy's confidence in his latest brain-child.

I cannot figure out why so much screen time is being given to Batista's sister and Sweater-Vest-Guy. There is tons of story material to work with in this season, why introduce these two characters and spend so much time with them? With only two episodes left I cannot imagine the sister or Sweater-Vest-Guy playing an significant role in the primary arc. Oh well ... The DC conspiracy could create an interesting twist for Deb's character. I'm excited to see how she plays that one.

Sweater-Vest-Guy, in his typical deus ex machina style, leads Batista directly to Doomsday Adam's location. Batista finds Adam's wife, acting strange, and decides to press the issue. Foolishly, he's caught up in the wife's game and doesn't properly clear the rooms of the residence. On his way out, he spots something fishy, but cannot react before Travis whacks him over the head with a crucifix. Batista is in big trouble, and it's Quinn's fault (at least partially)!

Dexter finds Ricochet Rabbit. Why is Travis wearing a hazmat suit? he thinks to himself. But Dexter, driven by the lust of the kill, doesn't care about the potentially hazardous materials, and storms on to the boat, his M99 loaded and ready. Dexter strikes. He misses! Travis turns and attacks with a large kitchen knife but Dexter, a skilled melee fighter, quickly redirects the blade's momentum into Travis' chest.

Travis falls to the ground, gurgling his last words. Needing to see his victim's face, Dexter lifts the mask only to find that it is not Travis ... It's that guys he saw on the blog. No! Another mistake.

Dexter and Harry mirror the Travis and Gellar scene

Dexter loses his cool and heads out to the bow of the boat, in broad daylight, a dead body in his wake. He notices something peculiar about the anchor, being an experienced mariner, and kicks the footswitch revealing Holly's lifeless body. She was not poisoned, Harry observes coolly.

Harry, speaking true logic to Dexter, finally pushes his living son over the edge. Dexter turns on Harry, furious, and calls him out. They get in a huge fight and Dexter relieves some aggravation by kicking a trash bag. The components to wormwood are revealed and Dexter realizes that maybe he cannot keep this to himself.

I was stunned when Dexter called 911. But at the same time, I was excited. It seems clear that Dexter has something up his sleeve with this phone call, but I don't know what it is. Finally, I feel like I might be one step behind him, whereas much of the rest of the season has been slightly more predictable.

I found the mirroring of the Gellar/Travis confrontation to the scene with Harry and Dexter on the boat to be a nice bit of symbolism/technique. Just as Dexter delivered the final blow to Travis' relationship with Gellar, he found himself delivering what could be the final blow to his relationship with Harry. It's been obvious that this is the "mirror match" season where Dexter has to defeat himself, but the writers have decided to make it extremely clear that this is what is happening.

There are only two episodes left and I really feel like sh%@ is kinda hitting the fan from every direction. They exposed some of Travis' mental conditions in a scene in the police station, but nothing too concrete for us to go on, but apparently, he's a genius - even more so then I thought he'd have to be to pull off all this crime. I say this partly because that biological weapon wired to detonate a poisonous compound, that he crafted, in an aerosol, is way over-the-top complex for what we know about this guy.

Will Dexter revert to his old ways to take down Travis? I don't know. He's been so off for this entire DDK debacle that I don't think he will be able to. I think he will have to become even more wreckless and ruthless in order to take this guy out.

Batista is in serious trouble. Is Quinn going to save him? Is (holds in laugh) Sweater-Vest-Guy actually going to play a role in this save? Either way, it looks like trouble is coming in to Miami Metro Police station in the next episode.

I think, on some level, we were all played the fool by Travis. He is clearly more skilled, cunning, and ahead of the game than I gave him credit for. I'm still not sure exactly how they're addressing the multiple personalities aspect, and some of the finer psychological details, but I'm darned curious to see where they go from here! See you next week.

Be peaceful on your way,

Time_Spiraling

• So Dexter took Gellar, cleaned the icebox, and dumped the body? All while keeping the cleaved hand in the morgue for a rainy day? Wow.
• I bet the computer's "auto fill" feature for usernames and passwords is a real BITCH for people with multiple personality disorder. Why does this computer keeping automatically logging me in as Gellar? WTF?!
• Travis doesn't seem that well-to-do, yet he knows how to pilot that mammoth yatch? I don't know, guys, that seems like an oversight. Not that it's overly complex, but you basically need a captain's worth of skills to really pilot on of those ships. That thing was easily 75-100' long (5-10 million+, easy).
• Does Deb play her hand at dinner with the DC, or does she do a little digging during the entree course? Does Matthews try to strong arm her?
• Is anyone else finding this whole Sweater-Vest-Guy "meta-show" video game thing ultra-bizarre?
• You watch the "next week, on Dexter," segment, right? I really hope that woman carrying the bomb on her freaking back doesn't just waltz into the police station unfettered. Yeah ... They're searching that bag, sista. Come on.