Considering the low expectations I had for Dexter this season, I’m willing to let a weak episode slide. In fact, it’s pretty commendable that it took until episode six for me to really feel disengaged with an episode. You could even blame it on the time chance, since that left me feeling snoozier than usual during my Sunday night TV shows.
“Do The Wrong Thing” didn’t do the right thing or the wrong thing, for me. It just didn’t do anything.
I’ve liked Dexter’s infatuation with Hannah so far this season, but that final scene felt like a major leap. Really, Dexter’s just going to cut her out of her cellophane and have at? All because she was rather indifferent to being his victim? I know he always had the hots for her, and I know he’s become rather unwound this season…but it feels like a stretch.
What I like about Hannah is that she is presumably the woman most alike to Dexter that we’ve encountered. Rita was sweet and innocent. Lyla was a psycho determined to lure Dexter away from Rita, through any means. Lumen was inspired by wrongdoing, and cured when she achieved revenge. Dexter has no cure, just a thirst for killing – and it seems that Hannah is in a similar place. It was nice work from the writers that this came up at the same time that Deb realizes the truth about Dexter and Lumen’s twisted relationship.
I think what needs to happen, at the halfway point in the season, is for some of these threads to come together. LaGuerta’s suspicions, Batista’s sudden desire to retire from catching bad guys and serve them drinks instead, Quinn’s reverting back to being a dirty cop. Right now, all those things are disconnected, and they need to not only tie into Dexter’s secret life, but tie together in some way as well. Especially Batista’s arc, which seems to have come out of nowhere.
I haven’t been as captivated by the Isaak storyline as other viewers, but even I have to admit that the sudden vacation from that story felt a bit jilting. It should be heating up, rather than getting put on the backburner.
One weak episode won’t turn me off of what’s otherwise been a strong season. Let’s see what the latter half brings.
