Episode 1 - A Beautiful Day
8 July 2013

I thought this was a good start to the final season of Dexter.
The switch from Deb feeling she needed Dexter to him being lost without her seemed to make sense. He's never had to deal with the emotional consequences of his murders and to see his sister so disturbed by him throws off his equilibrium. It's as if without her to provide the semblance of an ordinary life he's begun to lose control. His rage at the traffic incident was uncomfortable and when adding Harrison to that mix (when he breaks LaGuerta's vase) suddenly made things real.
The way Dexter murdered Briggs actually felt a little shocking and certainly lacking in any kind of judgment or planning. Deb's reactions to him were what gave the whole thing real emotional meaning. As you'd expect she plays her brokenness really well and her disgust with her brother and herself were pretty sad.
Let's not forget though that the personal side of Dexter's life has always been interesting. It's the "professional" side if you will that usually falls into cliché and convenience. We got a hint of that with Dexter's ability to guess Deb's password and both Batista and Matthews back at their old jobs despite retiring.
The real key though will be Dr. Evelyn Vogel. Played with intrigue and power by Charlotte Rampling but very much in the Dexter tradition of a figure who knows who Dexter is or in some way can empathise with him until he has to kill them off. So what is she? A mother figure? Is he a professional fascination? Does she want to encourage his code so that he will kill the bad? It doesn't seem like she realises that Dexter abandons Harry's code as soon as he feels threatened. We shall see. We'll also wait to find out if El Sapo saw the murder at the motel.
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