TV Review: Dexter 7.4, "Run"
“Run” did just about everything I’d want an episode of Dexter to do and it only deepens my resolve that the series has turned a corner and we can look forward to a return to the show’s golden years.
rating: 4.5
Clearly I like what Dexter has done with Run, but also what its done with the season as a whole thus far. Thats an important statement to make because the show is doing specific things which are working well. Toward the end of the episode I wrote in my notes that this season feels much more so like a novel than did the previous season. Unlike with the Doomsday Killer, whom was dropped into Dexters lap with the grace and creativity of a vending machine on Xanax, Isaak Sirco has been gradually winding his way through the narrative like a slowly but surely coiling python. Really the premise is so strong this season that all subsequent plots have benefitted from matching their pacing proportionally to how much they pale in relative significance. I dont mean to say that Isaak, Louis, Hannah, LaGuerta, or Quinns plots have been unimportant or anything necessarily, quite the opposite. Its just that Debs slowly coming around to Dexters way of thinking is such a perfectly monumental arc to primarily structure the season around that all the other stories have been living in its shadow, but thankfully theyve also somewhat ironically shined brightly because of that shadow. As I mentioned, the most obvious beneficiary among the various subplots this season is the arc of Isaak Sirco. His appearances this episode have each contributed to advancing the plot but also our understanding of the depths of his character and his increasingly tight scope on Dex. There were three big developments which he was behind in Run. As Miami Metro continues to conduct their surveillance over and daily shutting down of the Fox Hole, Isaaks crime syndicates front business, the organization is feeling the pressure of increasing drug shipments with no opportunity to move the product so to get the cops off their backs, Isaak decides to deliver a fall-guy, poor family man and mafia bar tender, Alex. The scene where Isaak and George visit Alex at his home and break the news that they need him to kill himself to take the heat for Detective Mike Anderson and Kajas murders is very effective in no small part due to the ease with which Ray Stevenson can play evil in that super suave way. Isaaks perceived consideration for Alex was chilling to watch due to his contrasting of chit-chatting with Alex about his family, remarking on all the wonderful ways five-years-old is the best age for ones children to be, with his assurance to Alex that the gunshot would be quick, that he wouldnt feel a thing, like turning off a light switch. I wonder very much if the show will follow up on whether Isaak actually takes steps to compensate Alexs family at all. Considering all the talk Isaak made of honor, loyalty, and commitment when discussing Viktor, one would think he might stick to his word. However, Isaaks passion for honor was most likely a thinly veiled bit of grieving for his apparent lover, Dexters first kill of the season, Viktor Baskov. Not only does Isaak have to worry about the Columbians encrouaching upon his lucrative heroin venture, but he clearly is seeking vengeance for his fallen comrade. This brings us to the best part about Isaak as the Big Bad, that hes already pinned the deed on Dexter and therefore has a concrete reason to go after him specifically. Plus I just like Isaak for correcting George that Dexters profession is that of blood spatter, not splatter, a nod to Dexter and forensics nerds everywhere. In a similar fashion, an obvious stand-out element of Run is Ray Speltzer whom I believe we all should just otherwise refer to hereafter as the Minotaur. Speltzers two-part arc doesnt resemble Isaaks structurally at all; however, Speltzer does hold a rare distinction among Dexters victims as being an antagonist who, like Isaak appears to be slowly doing, got the better of ol Dex. The cat-and-mouse dynamic between Dexter and Speltzer was more exciting, compelling, and fun to watch than the entirety of that with Jordan Chase and Doomsday combined. This began with Speltzers apprehension and subsequent confession, artfully drawn out by excellent psychological manipulation by both Angel and Debra. Just when we thought Deb might win some credibility for catching bad guys by the book, Speltzer gets off on a Miranda rights technicality and after some truly despicable gloating at the funeral of Speltzers victim, Deb is primed to see the merit of doing things according to Dexters Dark Passenger and his Code. During the genuinely suspenseful and intense sequence in which Dexter escapes from Speltzers maze (I loved the line, I dont run. I make people run.) I believed each move Dexter made. It would be easy for this scene to have been lazily choreographed but the logistics werent taken for granted and the result was a very creepy and rousing exchange between two serial killers, the most apprehensive of which since the likes of Trinity or the Ice Truck Killer. I also though the fight scene between them on the RV trailer reminded me of the epic battle between the Bride and Elle Driver in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Speltzer wasnt just a character to bounce off of our hero for kicks as action fodder. When Dexter finally did bring Speltzer to his final resting place, an interesting spin on his usual method of bad guy disposal which was a direct result of Dexters conversation with Jamie about how when kids begin to socialize they tend to let go off their security blankets and harkened back to Michael C. Halls other seminal premium network drama, Six Feet Under, he said some things which helped steep the episode in even more greatness. First of all, the continued use of the phrase lizard brain is notable as it is an allusion to the lizard-like characterization Dexters Dark Passenger receives in the Dexter book series off of which the show is based. Im paying as much careful attention as I can to any similarities this season exhibits with the book series because the whole Deb knows prospect was established by the end of the first volume, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, as was LaGuertas death after she caught on to Dexters hobby so if drawing more cues from the book series ends up making for better episodes, Im in. Also, when after being captured Speltzer hissed that hed kill Dexter and he responded, Now that would be a twist, but it wont happen tonight, I couldnt help but consider this response a tad meta, perhaps suggesting some more foreshadowing as to Dexters inevitable end. Lastly I just really got a kick out of Dexter mocking Speltzer yelling, Fuck! Anytime Dex cuts loose and acts a bit more unhinged than usual around his victims is extremely entertaining. The Hannah subplot has been one I havent been able to make heads or tails of since she was introduced, assuming shed serve as a love interest of sorts (after all she is Dexters type pretty, blonde, and with a history of criminal delinquency). Though the two continue to have chemistry and sexual tension, Run found her acting as more of a surrogate partner in crime for Dexter. He asked her what it was like being on the run with her old partner, Wayne Randall, and she replied with a small anecdote about their plan to run away to a farm in Argentina then remarked how absurd it was to have such a dream as they had spent all their time trying to get off of farms in Alabama. This ties into the episodes title and suggests that if Dexter does take advantage of his contingency plan to run away as hinted at in the season premiere, it would likely not end well. As Hannah is apparently going to continue helping Miami Metro locate the bodies of Randalls victims, shell be sticking around for a while and it looks as though next episode will find Hannah revealing a bit more of her sinister side. It also looks as though Angels refusal to buy into Alexs frame job and LaGuertas work on who the true Bay Harbor Butcher is will begin complicating things for Isaaks quest to continue business professionally and personally and Dexter and Debras uneasy collaboration, respectively. But not to gloss over the main course of the meal that was Run, I absolutely love how Dexter and Debras relationship is evolving, the pacing in particular has been just perfect. But so has the acting, the dialogue, even the dream sequences. That blood bath dream worked on so many levels. I think in dream psychology water usually suggests things of a sexual nature and considering the Will you be mine? line from Dexter in Debs dream and the giant phallic symbol he was holding, this makes sense as not only is Deb overflowing with anxiety over her feelings for Dexter (much like the blood overflowing), but theyre tainted by her recent realization and reluctant acceptance of him therefore the water would actually be blood. This also parallels Dexters overflowing blood analogy from a couple episodes back (as well as Ritas blood bath in the season four finale). The next scene finds Deb grilling Dexter in that narrow alley outside of Miami Metro over Ritas death and his involvement with Trinity. Ive been hardly able to contain myself these past weeks over when Deb and Dexter would get into the details of Dexters sordid history as a killer and so far the show has smartly and strategically been gradually spreading this conversation out across the scenes where they would work the best. Deb eventually gets to the heart of the matter and moves on from Rita to the only other topic anyone who isnt Debra would surely be killed over broaching, the safety of Harrison. This is the exact type of conversation Ive been waiting for years to hear on Dexter; the type that embodies the crux of the series can Dexter continue to serve his Dark Passenger while also being the type of good person we all aspire to be? The writers and actors did a beautiful job of bringing to life the issue and the culmination of Dexters psychosis, that Everythings in control, was thrilling to hear. Finally, Dexter brings Deb to see the smoke fuming from the mausoleum where Dexter just incinerated Speltzers body and asks her how she feels about it. I thought Debs question, Did you do this for me? was odd but a brilliant way to remind audiences that shes still pretty affected by her realization of romantic feelings for her brother as was also suggested by the two characters exchange in the beginning of the episode about reconsidering how they feel about each other. Ultimately the episode closes on Debs admittance that Dexters murder of Speltzer makes her feel Glad. I loved that Run ended with Dexter telling Debra that makes her human. Run did just about everything Id want an episode of Dexter to do and it only deepens my resolve that the series has turned a corner and we can look forward to a return to the shows golden years.