TV Review: DEXTER: Season 7, Episode 1: Are You…?

Dexter Season 7 Episode 1 Are You…? Review. Dexter: Season 7, Episode 1: Are You…? begins right where season 6 ended: delving straight into the cliffhanger presented in the final moments of that episode (written about here: TV Review: Dexter: Season 6, Episode 12: This Is the Way the World Ends).

I was really surprised at Lieutenant Debora Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) in that moment, going against her gut, especially after seeing what she just saw her brother, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), do.

Dexter’s intuitive improvisation is incredible in that moment and later in the episode. It seems he did learn something from Trinity during their time together.

The episode became more and more about Lieutenant Morgan as it went on, even when other storylines were introduced. She never let what Dexter did, what she saw go, kept coming back to it, kept trying to make sense out of something that made no sense.

Her flashbacks also added to that mixture as did Dexter’s when the two of them were children.

Captain Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) finding the slide at the crime scene is the begining of a storyline this season I can not wait to see materialize. Captain LaGuerta may have very few scrupulous when it comes to climbing the political ladder but she is a good cop and can sniff out when something is big. If the Bay Harbor Butcher is still alive that means that her old partner, Sgt. James Doakes, is innocent. The viewer knows he is but LaGuerta dosen’t, not yet.

It will be interesting to see how the Mafia will play out in the season as they are only brefly introduced in this episode. A small aside: if the strippers at that club were as high-end as the one that got interviewed by Detective Quinn (Desmond Harrington), that placed would have been packed and not sparsely populated like it was.

Detective Mike Anderson (Billy Brown) being shot was a complete surprise. I liked the fact that the show expanded to include a new male character on the police force last season. Its too bad he was never made three dimensional and that show runners have returned to the original Dexter roster.

The best momnet in the episode was the ending: Dexter finding his apartment “tossed” and Debora sitting there, waiting for him. All of his lies crumpled before him and he just gave up. He almost seemed relieved as she asked him questions and he answered truthfully. The “Are You…” question and its answer was the most profound.

Debora loves her brother but if she does not turn Dexter in she can kiss her career, integrity, and being a cop goodbye. When the police find out that she knew and didn’t turn him in, she will be as guilty as he is (accessory after that fact, acting in concert, etc.). If she pulls her gun on him and calls the station at the beginning of the next episode, that will be something but I doubt it.

Even better, the two of them get into a physical fight.

That will never happen…more’s the pity.

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