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Monday, October 31, 2011

Dexter - Episode 6.05 "The Angel of Death" - Review

Dexter “The Angel of Death” Season 6 Episode 5 by DaemonsTV – Dexter returned this week with “The Angel of Death”, and it opened with Dex investigating the wings that were attached to the girl at the end of the last episode. Dexter tells us in his narration that the killer left absolutely no traces of fingerprints, saliva, blood, semen, nothing. I hope we get some kind of explanation as to how this Travis kid is able to be such an effective killer. I know he’s got Professor Gellar (Or at least his imagination’s version of him) breathing in his ear the whole time, but that couldn’t possibly keep him from being one of the cleanest killers that we’ve seen on the show.

Before we get to all of the great stuff in the show, I have a couple more complaints I need to mention before I move along. First of all, it just bothers me that Dexter is keeping the evidence of the calf skin wing to himself (And subsequent discovery of Travis Marshall through the museum website). It might seem inconsequential to some, but hasn’t Dexter learned his lesson about withholding evidence from the Trinity Killer case? If this secret-keeping behavior leads to something bad happening to Harrison, Deb, or somebody else close to Dexter, it would be tough to feel bad for him this time. This could all be easily avoided, Dex! Just share your discoveries with everybody else! Read more after the jump...



Secondly, I guess this is the episode where it’s all but confirmed to us that Professor Gellar isn’t real. First of all we see a mysterious splatter of blood on the side of his face while he’s praying, and then we see him in the middle of a crowded club when a picture of his face as the “Doomsday Killer” is plastered right there. This, combined with the rest of the evidence from the previous episodes, shows us that we have somewhat of a “Tyler Durden” situation here. I’m holding on to the faint hope that the Dexter writers are just leading us to believe this, and then at the last moment we find out that Gellar was real all along. However, my hopes aren’t too high for this to happen.

With these complaints out of the way, this was an overall solid episode that made a couple large moves to progress the story forward for several characters. In the Miami Metro offices, we see that the pilfering hottie Ryan Chambers has been replaced by the nerdy Louis, who Masuka asks to help remove the listing of the stolen ITK hand. This is the first major storyline to involve fan-favorite Vince Masuka, and it’s really shaping up nicely. Masuka has always had a weakness for hot women, and it looks like this might really be getting him into trouble.

Speaking of hot women, Quinn tried to make another notch in his bedpost by sleeping with a college professor who used to work with Gellar. Quinn is so much more enjoyable of a character as a dumb playboy who’s just trying to get with as many women as possible, as opposed to a crybaby who’s all bent out of shape over Deb or Trinity’s daughter. The less drama the better, I say.

Speaking of drama (I’m on fire with these transitions!), is anybody else sick and tired of Debra’s bullcrap? For somebody who’s been dodging therapy for weeks, she sure opened up about how stressful and difficult her life is. Hopefully her new beachside apartment makes her more happy, because I’ve just about had it up to her with her bellyaching.

We also got some predictable progression on the Mike and Deb relationship. We saw some harmless flirting and getting to know each other, but then we find out that Mike is married! If Deb had some coffee in her mouth, she might have done a spit take when she heard this news. We haven’t met Mike’s wife, or had any confirmation that he wasn’t just lying to the landlord, but this is definitely an interesting speed bump on the way to Deb inevitably sleeping with Mike. I mean, come on, we all know it’s going to happen.

All of these character beats were great, but they were really just leading us up to the final three minutes. Dexter ambushes Travis in his car and is told that Gellar is the one behind all the killings, so he lets Travis go as he believes he can lead him to Gellar. Then, on the following morning, we see a shadowy figure shoot Brother Sam when he walks into his auto shop. It would be a real shame to see Sam get killed off so early in the season, especially since he and Dexter’s relationship was just developing to such an interesting place. Dexter actually shared his origin story with Sam, which is something that very few characters have heard. On one hand I hope he’s not dead, but on the other it would be difficult to explain how he survived three gun shots at close range. I guess we’ll see what happens next week on Dexter!

8 comments:

  1. sorry to say this episode was a let down. the dexter travis scene was awesome but for me that was it.im sure it will pick up though. oh the dex travis scene i thought was the best scene in the entire series besides the hungry man scene when dex drags arthur into the kitchen will his belt

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  2. Heres the Angel Of Death painting I did for Season Six Episode 5 of Dexter on Showtime. I did six others and as the pictures are revealed on the show I'll post them on my blog and web site. Happy Halloween !

    http://davespaintingblog.blogspot.com

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  3. Boring episode overall, but I think is just the calm before the storm. Episode six is when something major happens according to the spoilers, so I'm staying optimistic that this season will get better.

    And about John saying, "Speaking of drama (I’m on fire with these transitions!), is anybody else sick and tired of Debra’s bullcrap? For somebody who’s been dodging therapy for weeks, she sure opened up about how stressful and difficult her life is"

    Therapy requires someone to actually sit down, process their thoughts and reflect on their past. Deb has never been the kind of person to just stay in one place mentally or physically, so it's plausible at this point of her life that she actually is out of options in venting her frustration. I just hate how the writers went about this. After all Deb's been through (the ITK kidnapping, witnessing Trinity's daughter shoot herself etc)I'd think she would have been through some mandatory therapy, but no. The writers just spontaneously bring it up after six seasons.

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  4. "We haven’t met Mike’s wife, or had any confirmation that he wasn’t just lying to the landlord, but this is definitely an interesting speed bump on the way to Deb inevitably sleeping with Mike. I mean, come on, we all know it’s going to happen."

    No, I wouldn't bet on it. The writers, producers, and JC herself said that Deb is not going to have a love interest. She has way too much on her plate right now as a Lt. and seeing a therapist. And with the purchase of the new house, the writers are pushing for Deb to be more independent. She's going to be living by herself for the first time since Season One.

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  5. i hated that deb rents that apartment its just plain lazy writing and so unbelievable

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  6. Wow, John... Great comments. I never put together Gellar not being real, however, since it has been mentioned several times that he just kind of "disappeared" from the University, would you say that Travis probably had some kind of breakdown while taking Gellars class and then killed him and is now a "part" of Travis like Harry is to Dex? I totally agree on all lines of Masuka (great to watch him) and tired of Deborah's moaning, groaning and insecurity. I still think that whatever faith Dex is starting to have will end when brother Sam dies because he will not be able to reconcile why Bro. Sam was killed if he was doing the work of God. (Man, I love this show!)
    Rich

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  7. Since Sam already had baddies shooting up his place, it seems clear one of gang did it. I think the writers are purposely making it obvious that Travis is just seeing Gellar in his head. Back in season one they knew it was obvious when Rudy showed up that he would be the killer. So they exposed him early on. So I don't think Gellar being imaginary is the big twist. The guy was real at some point, but what was he up to for 3 years? All this time and Travis is his one and only follower. My wacky theory could be this. He spent all that time gathering followers and maybe he brainwashed them somehow and there could be Doomsday killings happening around the world or the country. It's not like the Miami PD would know about them if this was just the start and when the 15 days are up, it goes global. It would be something far beyond Dexter. Something he couldn't stop. If Dexter managed to find Gellar, could he too get brainwashed? Then it really would be about Dexter's internal battle between light and dark. Idk, it's not clear where this season will go.

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  8. I agree, another great and "solid" episode. MY only -complaint-, How much longer will we see Batista getting pushed over by Quinn!? Its alil annoying, almost like they're in high school. Quinns the "cool guy" making Batista do everything at his command. There was the pressure to smoke the J (that was hilarious), Batista gives in. Now Quinn convinces him that its ok to sleep with Clarissa, which may screw up the investigation. I just hope Batista will grow some cajones soon cause this season really sucks for him: divorced, doesn't get the promotion, and midlife crisis. Yea, I think he needs some therapy too.

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