Dexter season 6 episode 6 review: Just Let Go

This review contains spoilers.

6.6 Just Let Go

There is always something about episode six in a Dexter season that delivers a tingle down my spine, knowing that the chess pieces are mostly placed, and it’s time for the primal forces to be unleashed. And boy, do they get loose here.

Just Let Go has three really strong narrative threads running that it that work seamlessly together for some real Dexter magic. The Doomsday Killer story is one, and it isn’t exactly put on hold, but it’s certainly not at the forefront of what’s happening. That accolade goes to poor old Brother Sam, fatally injured at the end of episode five, and the deep impact that’s having on Dexter’s personality.

What’s wonderful about all this is how, for the first time, Dexter has an emotional reaction to the fate of those around him that aren’t family, and spends most of the time slowly percolating in an incandescent rage. How well Michael C Hall plays this is remarkable, because in most of his scenes, he has relatively little dialogue, and he manages to project the conflict within him remarkably well.

Complications are added when the dying Brother Sam asks him to forgive his shooter, something that’s an entirely new concept to Dexter. He nearly manages it, too, until stupid Nick decides to revel in his ability to get away with murder.

But even without Nick being so dumb, I could see this would be a difficult request for Dex to comply with, but what I hadn’t anticipated was that his attempt to do so would push him over an emotional cliff, with very odd results.

I know we all watch this show because it can throw the odd curve-ball, but the reappearance of the Ice Truck Killer as a dark version of Harry? No, not on this reviewer’s radar. The message here appears to be, before you can enter the light, you need to go somewhere exceptionally dark first, and take your Brother too.

If that was totally unexpected, the way Joey’s world imploded was less so, even if the actual way it transpired wasn’t completely obvious. It appears the writers decided that the guy who doesn’t care will be undone by doing just that. I began to wonder if his ultimate demise is for Debra to sleep with her shrink, entirely undermining his worth.

But the question that season six keeps on asking, without a hint of a definitive answer, is about the existence, or otherwise, of dear Professor Gellar. Again, we jumped through the hoops of him only interacting with Travis, telling him to pay the person in the market instead of doing it himself. The longer this goes on the more I wonder if we’ve been led up a garden path with this, and that he does exist after all.

However, in the scene where Travis met his sister at the school we were told how good an artist he was, so perhaps it’s him creating those paintings. If it’s all in his mind, then his refusal to follow Gellar’s instructions could represent a complete breakdown he’s experiencing between his dual personalities.

Looking at the balance of possibilities, I’ve concluded that Geller existing would be a much more dramatic moment than him not, unless the majority of the audience haven’t considered that he isn’t real. I can’t believe they’ll leave that reveal until episode 12, so we’ll know at some point soon, hopefully.

Now at the halfway point, season six has been a remarkably controlled exercise, but I’m getting hints that it’s about to unleash the forces of darkness before, delivering a suitably apocalyptic ending. The body count can only rise from here.

Read our review of episode five, The Angel Of Death, here.