Reviews:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Leap of Faith

Dexter 5.04 Review - 'Beauty and the Beast'

Guest Starring:
Joseph Julian Soria as Carlos Fuentes
Brando Eaton as Jonah Mitchell
Maria Doyle Kennedy as Sonya 
April Lee Hernandez as Officer Cira Manzon 
and
Julia Stiles as Lumen Pierce

This week's episode of Dexter started right where the previous one left off - Dexter standing in Boyd Fowler's basement, with a badly injured, scared and innocent woman. What was he going to do with her? He couldn't just let her go - after all, she had witnessed him kill Boyd. But on the flipside, he couldn't kill her either - he had no idea who this woman was. So, what does he do? He cleans her wounds and slowly begins to nurse her back to health, much to Harry's chagrin. Then, after she passes out from exhaustion, Dexter takes her to the abandoned tourist shack, and locks her up tight. What will he do with her? Well first things first. It's time for some traditional Dexter-esque research.

But i'll get back to that in a moment.

Dexter about to reveal the contents of Boyd's barrel to Lumen.
Image copyright of Showtime.

This week's episode of Dexter managed to focus pretty evenly on several major plot points. Aside from Dexter's mysterious captive, he also had to assist Miami Metro with their latest homicide (the decapitated man from 5.3), and lead them onto the trail of the cult killers. Additionally, he also had to make amends with Sonya, who resigned from her job after Dexter failed to come home the previous night. However, after being partially honest with Sonya about where he had been the previous night (using the crime scene as his excuse), she forgave him and agreed to come back to work.

Meanwhile, Debra and the Homicide department focused all their efforts into discovering the identity of the Santa Muerte cult killers. After Dexter pointed them onto the right track by explaining the killers most likely fled out the back, they discover some cigarette butts outside, with the DNA leading them to two possible suspects - the Fuentes brothers. Travelling to their home, Debra and co. infiltrate the house, and Debra is confronted with a crisis situation when one of the brothers holds a machete to an innocent man's throat. After hesitating, the Fuentes brother slits the man's throat and escapes out the window. Unfortunately, not much else occured on this front, but the progress made in the case was quite fast-paced and interesting. I can't wait to see what happens in this story arc next week.

Next on the agenda, Mr. Joseph Quinn. After a lack in storyline for him last week, his story arc took a dramatic turn this week, as he spent a majority of the episode stalking Jonah Mitchell, Trinity's son. Jonah and the rest of the Mitchell family are in hiding and are being looked after by the FBI, who are looking to enter them into the witness protection program. Near the end of the episode, when the FBI stop over at a conveinence store, Quinn takes the opportunity to confront Jonah and ask him whether the picture he had in his hand (of Dexter) was Kyle Butler. Unfortunately for Quinn, Jonah didn't get a chance to reply, as the FBI arrested him on the spot.

After LaGuerta discovers what Quinn has done, she suspends him for several days without pay, and tells him to go home and leave Dexter alone. Of course, he doesn't go home empty-handed, as Deb has the urge to get her freak on. It seems that Quinn will inevitably be forced to make a choice - will he pursue a relationship with Debra, or will he focus his energies on investigating Dexter? I suppose we will just have to wait and see.

Next up, my least favourite story arc of the lot - the cheesy LaGuerta/Batista storyline. Not much occured at all during this episode, aside from the Internal Affairs agent suggesting to LaGuerta that she can help get Batista off the hook in exchange for doing him a favour. What that favour is? No one knows for certain. But, the way he implied it, it sounded quite sexual. Will LaGuerta sleep with the agent to let Batista off the hook? To be honest, i wouldn't put it past her, given her previous examples (like Esme Pascal's boyfriend in S2). But, at the same time, i hope she doesn't. Batista is a good man and deserves better. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Lumen standing in Boyd's swamp.
Image copyright of Showtime.

Last, but not least, we finally come to the main storyline of the episode - Dexter's research into his mysterious captive. After managing to find out her name, he spends most of the episode attempting to gain her trust. Unfortunately, he does not seem to get anywhere at first but, after taking a so called 'leap of faith' with her, (which he does despite the fact that she runs away at one point and almost manages to escape), she finally starts to trust in him, once he reveals and shows what Boyd was going to do to her. However, it seems that Dexter's troubles have only just begun. After he tells her to go home, she says that she can't, because it's not over yet. Turns out that there was more than one person involved in her capture and torture.

Ladies and gents, prepare for the start of an epic adventure!

Overall, here are my marks for the fourth episode of the season:


  • Potency of the season's theme(s) identified in the episode:  ********
  • Editing & Scenes of Relevance:  *********
  • Lead characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********
  • Secondary characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  *******
  • Music & Visual Effects:  ********
  • Originality and appeal of the narrative:  ********
  • Integration and effectiveness of multiple story arcs and character relationships:  *******

Overall Marks:  55 / 70
Grade Percentage: 79%

All in all, this week's episode of Dexter was a pleasure to watch, and i look forward to seeing where Showtime take this season, and in turn, the next episode. Anything is possible!

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