A couple of months ago I saw actor Scott Grimes mention he was cast on this show, and he wondered how many people actually liked it. He gave no clue as to what role he was playing, but at the time it was a good bet he was going to be one of Dexter’s victims. Well, actually, it was Lumen’s kill, but we knew he wasn’t likely long for the show.
Jordan Chase … I can’t seem to understand the actions of this guy. He’s apparently a well-known celebrity of sorts, one who’s carefully stayed away from the law through at least 13 abducted women. Yet now, with Dexter onto him — a man of the law, no less — Chase is making really stupid moves. He makes a call to Dexter and lets Lumen know he’s onto her, then pretty much threatens Dexter to his face. Then he pays a visit to Emily Birch, when for all he knows Dexter and Lumen are either waiting for him or have sent the police to her home. He also right-out told Emily to tell Lumen the full story, when there was a chance Lumen recorded the whole thing. It just seems reckless.
The mystery of who Emily Birch is is still rather unanswered. Is Jordan Chase really that good of a messer of minds, or is there something else going on? That scene between Chase and Birch was very strange, especially Chase talking to her without looking at her at the end. Not yet sure what to make of that.
All this season I’ve been saying that Quinn was at serious risk of seeing the sharp end of Dexter’s knives at some point this season, and now I’d say he’s pretty safe, while Liddy is as good as dead. At this point I’m not sure why Liddy wouldn’t just take what he’s found and report it to the authorities, past Quinn. Though I imagine the big motivator for Liddy is money, and he’d much rather try to get what he can out of the one person who’d offer it for what he has, and that’s Quinn. It’s just another testament to how much of a scumbag Liddy is, though Dexter sure ought to be thankful for that.
Deb Morgan continues to show some incredibly impressive deduction skills, easily piecing together facts that we, the viewer, already know. The thing is, I can’t help but feel like it’s all too convenient in her case, and she’s only coming across as a brilliant detective just because the writers have fed it to her. She’s not necessarily very observant, she just has a good gut about her that seems to be right a lot. It’s feeling overly convenient to me at times.
Speaking of Deb, the writers seem to keep pointing in the direction of her finding out about — and accepting — what Dexter does. I’m just not sure if that’s going to be at the end of this season or in the next, but I’d say it’s coming soon, if at all. I’m not convinced Lumen will be back after this season, despite her getting down with Dexter in this episode. I’m not ruling it out totally, though, because Dexter having a partner in crime has been a refreshing change this season.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 29, 2010 @ 22:13 EST5EDT
It’s interesting to hear you frame it this way, because my feeling watching this episode was that Dexter has been the reckless one. It was strange and off-putting to see him openly threaten to kill Jordan Chase, letting the man know exactly what his intentions were. Sure, Chase may have put it together himself anyway, but we’ve never seen Dexter do something like that to someone who could still potentially hurt him, not even Miguel Prado. It’s naive and dangerous for him to think his family will be safe with the grandparents and that nobody knows about the apartment, especially when he’s seen firsthand the kind of reach Jordan has in obtaining information about him. It was also dumb, I thought, to openly approach Emily Birch, even if they didn’t really have any other options for moving forward. Now they’ve fallen into whatever trap Jordan Chase is setting for them, though we haven’t seen what that means yet other than that he’s just gotten his last co-conspirator killed off. Lumen disobeyed him and went after Emily alone, showing herself to be unreliable. I like the character and what she does emotionally for Dexter a lot, but maybe there was something to Chase’s comment that she is a destructive influence. Dex sure seems to be playing fast and loose with Rule Number One this season, and that’s not even touching on the Liddy situation.
Speaking of which… Obviously something has to happen to keep Liddy from outing Dexter, but whatever he may be, Liddy hasn’t shown himself to be a killer. Are we going to see Quinn off him to protect Deb (and himself) – is Quinn that kind of guy? Will Dexter cross a line in killing to protect his new love? (Nicely done putting her in the kill outfit and with his reaction, by the way. I still hope she sticks around.) Is there some other option I don’t see yet? I’m eager to find out.
As for Deb, the writers are toying with us, I think. I don’t think she’ll end up finding out Dexter’s secret, at least not this season. I wouldn’t mind it all if she did, though. The fact that it was her dad that taught Dex should go a long way in her accepting his, erm, alternate lifestyle.
Dexter was upset that Lumen left the apartment at all, not specifically that she went to see Emily. His vehement “it’s not safe!” was merely another expression of his newfound protectiveness and attachment to her. In this instance, Lumen judged that she could best appeal to Emily as a fellow victim, and without a man accompanying her. I believe she would have been right even if the woman had not been under Jordan’s control.
As for Lumen, I now am afraid she can only meet a bad end. Either murdered by hands other than Dexter’s, or sentenced to capital punishment by confessing to all their crimes in order to protect him. She made both of the cardinal mistakes in American media: staining her own hands with Alex Tilden’s blood, and having sex when there’s a serial killer stalking them.
I think the only cliffhanger they could have is Deb confronting Dexter with the whole truth. Everything that will happen with Lumen and Jordan would be merely anticlimactic.
Loved Scott Grimes in Band of Brothers. Favorite character, hands down.