Dexter, Season (6) Premiere Review: Those Kinds of Things

by Time Spiral
October, 4th 2011 - **SPOILERS**

Dexter, played superbly by Michael C. Hall, is holding a bloody knife. But he's stumbling. Is he hurt? Did he stab himself? He's in a dark parking lot, and apparently is alone. We quickly learn he's in trouble as he hangs up the phone from a 911 call - He's been stabbed.

Dexter is loaded into the ambulance and only a few short seconds go by before the Dexter fanbase is satisfied by our favorite serial killer's first strike in Season (6). The two EMT's are simultaneously pumped full of etorphine hydrochloride, or as Dexter refers to it, M99. They are not long for this world. Dexter is back!

If you're jumping into the Dexter Season (6) a little late (after December 2011) then you will n notice a directory of reviews immediately follow this paragraph. This review continues below.

UPDATE: 12/19/2011 - On the right hand side you will see a catalog of all the reviews for Dexter Season (6) including the finale episode, This is the Way the World Ends. I appreciate everyone's loyalty to my review series! See you in 2012 for an epic Game of Thrones Season (2) series of reviews.

Follow all my reviews easily by following me, TimeSpiraling, on Twitter! You'll get updates for all my Reviews like True Blood, the new Season (6) of Dexter, and Season (2) of Game of Thrones.

It may feel a little strange at first, but team-Dexter implemented a few major changes for Season (6) and they decided to get it all out of the way pretty quickly. It's not too uncommon to see this sort of thing happen in a season premiere, especially if the previous season was met with some dissent from the viewers.

We quickly learn that Batista and Lt. LaGuerta have decided to part ways. They spent some time explaining this because in Season (5) their storyline was given a lot of attention. LaGuerta is getting promoted to Captain because she's got some serious dirt on the Deputy Chief, and Batista is begrudgingly taking a 20% pay raise and a promotion to Lt. Batista. There may be an arc with Captain LaGuerta and the Deputy Chief, but we'll have to wait an see.

The Elephant in the room, named Quinn.

Dexter was basically exposed in Season (5) by Quinn and Liddy. It was made pretty clear that Quinn was on to Dexter. We all felt a little strange when Dexter off'd Liddy and got away with it in a pretty sketchy way. Quinn, both fueled and muted by his flourishing love for Deb, badly wanted to bring Dexter down. He's a detective and he had more than a hunch. In the Dexter Season (6) premiere, it appears we're supposed to believe Quinn has let it go because Dexter covered for him at the end of Season (5).

I can be okay with this, but I don't like it. It takes some of the danger away from Dexter's mistakes. Part of the allure is wondering if he's going to get caught. What's going to happen? How would the relationships in the show be strained by such a startling revelation? So, he was basically caught in the last season and now it seems that's a lost issue. But, we don't know ... Quinn and Dexter might still have some serious ground to cover.

The theme for Season (6) has been set and much of the foundation was poured already. Dexter is looking to get his little son into a preschool. He and Deb visit a catholic school, run by Nuns, on the word of their trusted friend Angel.

Dexter is confronted, straight up, with a question about his religious beliefs while staring down a large bronzed crucifix. While he is internally admiring the brutal killing displayed by the statue he is stumbling over his religious beliefs, denying just about every religion in the book when the Sister prods for his core belief values. He ends up saying, "I don't believe in anything."

It was made even more clear that religion is going to play a key role in Season (6) when the school arc was revisited again later in the episode, when we were introduced to Dexter's new nemesis, and when the whole season was essentially spoiled by some ridiculously huge season-long preview at the end of the episode.

Episode one of Dexter Season (6) certainly foreshadows a creepy and dark season to come, but also showcased some pretty classic comedy relief. Dexter decides to attend his highschool reunion, with no goal other than to pinpoint a new mark, but is faced with some rather hilarious scenarios. The hot girl wants him, everyone knows about his wife, everyone knows about his job - which is awfully intriguing, and he has to skirt several encounters that are only serving as distractions to his real goal.

It's quite funny, actually. Most of us have likely been to our ten, or twenty year reunion. It can definitely be awkward! However, I doubt we had M99 in our pocket, lol. The prospect and the experience of this reunion really gave a chance for Dexter's father, his dark passenger, to lighten the mood a little bit and give him some fatherly advice. Go enjoy yourself, Dexter!

The score is fantastic so far

From a technical perspective there is nothing outstanding about episode one's score, but wow if it perfect. The score helps make seemingly mundane scenes, like Dexter walking through his apartment, eerily creepy and tense. The score does not even rely on dark or droning sounds either, but contrasts what you're expecting with light pizzicato runs and friendly sounding phrases. It's genius, really.

No time is wasted setting the stage for Dexter's new nemesis. We don't know his name yet, or his companion, nor do we know very much about them, but we do know a few things. This new killer (Colin Hanks) and his companion (Edward James Olmos) collect snakes in a Florida bog. They prey on an unsuspecting fruit vendor, and they reveal their zest for symbolism and a morbid attention to detail.

It appears Colin's character has a companion, one he looks to for guidance. They both quote scripture several times, and it should be obvious to all of us that they are purposefully creating similarity between these two and the relationship Dexter has with his dark passenger. This idea is reinforced when Dexter is examining the new killers work and looks borderline giddy. Dexter is loving it now, but I have a feeling he's not going to be loving it so much here after a few episodes ... These new killers are going to bring a dark, and scary thing to the screen - religious psychopaths *shivers*.

They did a decent job of making it fairly uncertain, whether or not Dexter was going to be able to make his mark on the killer jock. After Dexter get's a nice release of pressure in the old science lab, he lifts the hottie's phone and lures the unsuspecting jock into a rather precarious situation.

For a while it felt like they might drag this arc out, and thank goodness they didn't. The pre-kill table-talk scene with the jock was brutal. They needed to flesh out Dexter's moral dilemma with religion a little more, I get that, but the jock's acting was so incredibly bad for that whole scene it really did not jive with acting chops like those on Hall. After some outrageously ridiculous lines of forced dialogue, Dexter bashes the guy's head in with a hammer and continues with his routine.

Closing thoughts on the Dexter Season (6) Premiere, and looking forward ...

• Are we going to have a classic doppelganger/shadow-self battle between Dexter and Colin's character?
• What's the deal with these new "season previews" at the end of season premieres? I HATE THEM. It's like a giant season-long spoiler. Are we, the audience, becoming that ridiculous? Look, execs, we don't need to know what happens!
• So, did anyone else know, for a fact, that when Quinn excused himself to the bathroom that he was going to propose? Too obvious ...
• The he gets out of it was an armored crazy person shooting up the restaurant? It seemed too "plot-devicey" to me.
• Is Quinn really going to let Dexter off this easily?
• Will Lumen make an appearance in this season?

Thanks for reading! Be peaceful on your way,

Time_Spiraling