Dexter: Scar Tissue, Review

One of the best things that the new season of Dexter has going for it is the polarizing reactions by the two female leads over the titular character. In one corner, we have Debra Morgan, so disgusted by the actions of her homicidal brother that she can barely keep it all together. In the other, we have Evelyn Vogel, who harps on with starry eyes about how Dexter is perfect. I was looking forward to watching Dexter make sense of these two viewpoints and decide which voice was more compelling, but it seems those dissenting views were a little spoiled by “Scar Tissue.”

By pairing Vogel with Deb, the show has ruined the two islands that Dexter was stranded between. Vogel spends almost the entire episode trying to convince Debra of Dexter’s greatness, using the scene of LaGuertta’s murder to show Deb that even if she had the chance to relive the season eight finale, she would have still chosen to save Dexter. By proving this all to Debra, Vogel ruins some of the potential tension that seemed like it was brewing between the two, the jealousy that Vogel showed every time Dexter rushed off to comfort Deb. It’s a shame these two had to come together; they were headed somewhere better apart.

That’s not the only thing that bugged me about this week’s episode. Actually there were quite a few things. I felt like the jump in time, yet again, was an easy route taken by the writers. We’re supposed to believe Deb would move in with Vogel without actually seeing it? That just seems like someone didn’t want to have to do the writing to actually make that moment happen. I also wasn’t fond of the way Dexter so easily discovered AJ Yates and him being the Brain Surgeon. I get that we don’t have a lot of time left, but the whole thing happened just far too quickly. Hopefully there’s more to this story then what meets the eye.

I didn’t hate everything this week, though. I still am impressed by the way James Remar is being utilized as Harry Morgan. Maybe I’m just overly relieved that it means less time with Ghost Dad, but the taped video sequences actually are pretty compelling, and it was neat to see Deb realize her Dad’s demise. Yates’ and Dexter’s interaction in the nursing home was another highlight, with the two playing a high stakes game of chicken that Yates clearly won.

Obviously everyone is going to want to talk about the ending, with Deb attempting to kill both her and her brother by crashing Dexter’s car. It was indeed quite a shock, but definitely atypical of a Dexter cliffhanger. The episode could have ended without us seeing Dexter and Deb arise out of the water and I definitely would have been more excited for next week had it ended like that.

The one thing I will say is that this season has shown an impressive pace, moving along at a clip just like last season did in the beginning. Hopefully the ship only gains speed instead of running out of gas like we’ve seen too many times before.

 

Den of Geek Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

 

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!