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Monday, December 5, 2011

Dexter - Episode 6.10 “Ricochet Rabbit” - Review

Dexter Episode 6.10 "Ricochet Rabbit" review by Kevin Fitzpatrick, tvovermind.com: Dexter season 6 returns to launch its tenth entry with this week’s roller coaster “Ricochet Rabbit,” as our favorite serial killer works to correct his mistake and hunt down Travis Marshall before the Doomsday Killer can stage his next deadly tableau, as Deb continues fighting her demons in therapy. "Ricochet Rabbit" finally gets back to the Dexter we know and love, even with a few bumps along the way.

Obviously, after the shocking reveal of last week’s “Get Gellar,” there’s a substantial burden lifted off of Dexter’s sixth season. No longer need those who put the pieces together early roll their eyes at how long the season dragged out the truth of Professor Gellar’s current state, and no longer must the writers concentrate on misdirecting viewers until the inevitable reveal. With that no longer hanging over, “Ricochet Rabbit” feels substantially more mobile and tense an episode of Dexter, though not without its imperfections. Click the link below to read more...



Now that Travis has confronted the truth about Gellar and (presumably) left the vision behind, we see a much different character, far more menacing and confident. A free Travis gives Colin Hanks a much broader range of emotions to play, though it feels somewhat jarring to have the character we’ve watched all season gain such instant resolve and cunning. One could argue that the more confident and amoral side to Travis went into his projection of Gellar, and with Gellar gone we’re now seeing the complete picture of Travis’ character. It also helps that we’re given some info on his background, the history of psychosis, medication, and possibly causing the accident that killed his parents. Either way, the narrative feels much more focused with its antagonists made whole.

There’s also a much stronger sense of scale to the threat, with Travis’ and his “disciples” (including My Boys’ Jordana Spiro) latest “Wormwood” plan threatening to take out a good number of victims at Miami Metro with a chemical attack. Though obviously not intended as such given our familiarity with the characters and their message, it’s interesting to see Dexter exploring a bit of terrorism in this latest threat, given the size of the attack. It may not amount to anything now that Dexter seems to have foiled the threat before it even really began, but making “the end of the world” a little more, shall we say grandiose, does well for racheting up the tension in these last episodes.

I found myself annoyed by a sentiment Dexter expressed early on in the episode, how his failure to realize the true nature of Travis and Gellar somehow meant that he shouldn’t have listened to the wisdom of Brother Sam. It seemed rather typically Dexter to create a possibility for change through such an interesting character, only to awkwardly sweep the lesson under the rug. The same rings true of Dexter’s increasing tendency to question his relationship with Harry, asking questions about his father’s parenting that I’ve wondered since season one. Thankfully, the closing moments of “Ricochet Rabbit” make a nice beat of tying up both these questions, as Dexter finally accepts both his father and Brother Sam’s wisdom, that some things are too big, and simply must be surrendered control to.

On the flip side of redemption, Quinn continues train-wrecking his way through the sixth season in what I’ve come to refer to as “the world’s least interesting plot thread,” but “Ricochet Rabbit” may have put some light on the horizon. Whereas Quinn’s angsty spiraling lacked direction and purpose after his breakup with Debra, having Batista suffer the consequences of his partner’s absence could make for a rather heartbreaking turn. Of course we’d rather keep Batista as a character than Quinn, but killing Batista would admittedly make a fine way to drastically increase the stakes. One might even say he’s been positioned toward the chopping block all season, forgoing the Lieutenant position to be a kind of mentor to Deb, and we all know what happens to mentors on TV.

Surprisingly little movement on either the Louis / Ice Truck Killer hand or LaGuerta / Matthews threads, if only that Deb manages to put the pieces together on Matthews with a quick phone call. At this point the audience invests far more in learning about Louis, and why a seemingly innocuous character so obsessed with Dexter would keep such a dark token, though the fallout of either may be saved for next season given how little time we’ve left in season 6. Let the wild speculation commence!

On another note, there seemed to be a recurring beat throughout “Ricochet Rabbit,” notably that tense or moody scenes would end up undercut by a quick gag, as if to say that things were taking themselves too seriously. Whether it was Harry’s joke about Travis talking to someone who wasn’t there, Deb’s “Holy Christ on a stick,” Dexter finding a drawer full of sex toys or the cute meta talk about a sister not realizing her brother’s dark nature, it seemed as though we could almost read the producer’s notes on the script, “NEEDZ MOAR LULZ.” I made a point of noting how the structuring and direction of “Get Gellar” seemed a little off, but the episodes share neither directors, nor writers. With all the showrunner shakeup Dexter’s been through, perhaps we shouldn’t show surprise at its occasionally uneven tone.

All in all, it’s good to have Dexter back in form, even if we only have three episodes to the season unburdened by all that pesky “Professor Gellar isn’t real” tomfoolery. If “Ricochet Rabbit” can deliver, we should be in for a decent close to the season.

Source: TVovermind.com

10 comments:

  1. uhhhh? I dont understand this review

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  2. Geez louise…don’t bore us, get to the chorus!! Couldn’t he have just said that it was by far the most exciting episode of the season. Travis is short on his loony pills and has officially gone off the deep end. As for his sudden abruptness to “crazy Travis”…he’s mentally ill and can turn on a dime. Multiple personalities + schizophrenia = should not be walking the streets without supervision or before you know it, you’re attacking your professor with a rusty sword and stuffing him into a freezer. There is nothing more exciting than a crazy serial killer on the loose. (TV only) Not to mention that Dexter definitely was having a psychotic episode…he always gets torn up killing someone without planning it. While “Doomsday Adam” was also a nut job, I’m sure Dex is a little pissed that it went down the way it did.

    Batista or Quinn? God only knows…but I think one of them is gonzo!

    Now onto Louis, the perpetual wildcard. It’s a little odd that someone would be so heart broken by a guy he barely knows giving him some constructive criticism. This fuels the “Louis idolizes Dex” fire that’s been burning for a few episodes. Not to mention that he includes the Bay Harbor Butcher as one of the most notorious serial killers EVER in his video game along with the likes of Jack the Ripper. I think Louis definitely knows who Dexter is and is a big fan. He was expecting more of a “Wow, this game is amazing!” (Dexter inter-monologue: Now everyone can pretend to be as cool as me.) But instead Louis got the cold shoulder of disappointment from his idol. I gotta be honest, I really don’t know where this is headed…but it’s going to be exciting.

    All and all, great episode!

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  3. Deb is a goner. Her extra screen time in the pysc sessions, her line to Dexter: "... Always there when I really need you..." on the phone and the actress' real life divorce with MC Hall? There's you much needed shakeup for the remainder of the series.

    If she doesn't die in the chemical attack, it will be Louis, or Matthews' fault.

    Or I'm crazy.

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  4. Anon at 12:56

    You are crazy. Might as well kill Dexter and go for two seasons without MCH. Almost the same thing. Jen is now perhaps the best thing about the show. It wouldn't "shake up" the show. It would RUIN the last two seasons, and perhaps all the seasons before it.

    She has to be there until at least the "penultimate" episode of the series... because when/if she does die, her death will be the catalyst for Dexter going off the rails. He has said it time and time again, she is his anchor, without Deb he would be "lost".

    She's not like Julie Benz, she's not a character actor, she is a "star", she was the first person in the series we were introduced to, the first person Dexter talks about. Of the top 10 moments of the show, Deb has at least half of them.
    Who would get story lines when Dexter is off screen. Do we really give a crap about Batistsa's personal life, Quinn solving crimes? Oh I know, let's delve into Maria's personal life! *vomits on self in reaction*

    NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

    Can you imagine going through a season without Deb? No funky harsh language, no longing looks at Dexter, no fire in the show. What a total disaster that would be.

    There would be like a big empty hole, and worse, it would waste Rita's death. The last thing I can take is another season of Dexter moping around in mourning, and if you thought he was depressed about Rita, imagine no Deb? UGH!

    Instead of that I want to see an energized Dexter, one that is no longer alone because he has someone who "knows" and who is watching hsi back.

    I want to see Deb scrambling for two season to protect her brother, I want to see her deal with a serial killer brother. I want to further explore the relationship these two have, especially in light of her knowing.

    Throwing that all away after spending the majority of season 6 developing Deb into the place where she can find out, would be the most ludicrous, retarded thing in the history of television.

    It would mean the writers and producers of this show have nothing left to say, they hate the audience, and they are morons.

    I don't believe any of that.

    I believe the last two seasons of Dexter are going to be AWESOME!

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  5. Am i, and the anon from 12:56, the only ones that think that Deb will die at the end of this season? Someone from the main cast will, i'm sure of it.

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  6. I don't care who they kill, but Deb and Harrison are hands off.

    If either of them are touched it would totally ruin the show.

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  7. Completely off topic

    Since the discussion of DEB'S a GONER aroused i thought i might well as spill my GONER's.

    By this episode's conclusion and the prom shown at the end leading to the next.
    I guess Louis knows everything about Dexter. He idolizes him. that's why he was able to give all the info that the PD needed. And come to think it was him who gave the search engine to Dexter, he has the ice truck killers hand so probably he will or will not tell the truth about Dexter by the end of the season.
    I guess Dexter saves Deb again in the next episode leading to the talk that will probably reveal his identity(just a wild guess). How Dexter saves Deb?... it was clearly shown in the promo that one of Travis's disciple the wife(or gf) carries the wormwood to MIPD and asks for deb,also gets near her with arming the wormwood and after that Dexter is near a window which looks like The investigation room in the Department where a hand wearing a golden ring the same as the the wife's is shown bleeding(Guessing because of the wormwood). And thus Deb is gonna survive some how.

    But i think quin is going to die.

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  8. Anon at 2:56

    I think you are right. Quinn is toast.

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  9. Two more seasons?! Super!!!

    Dexter's been making calls for the atheist professor and of course the 911 call. Trackable, maybe even by Louis. Long overdue having an it-specialist on the force though overshadowing Massuka's weirdness (such a great character). Louis = Wicked nerd? Quinn's remarks and the threat to Louis concerning his sister point out a darker side to a very charming, fatherly Batista.
    Criticism to his own dad's parenting choices seems healthy development to a more whole adult. After all, if he's a good father to Harrison, he would be to himself as the one and only Harry's son :-). Psychological development for ya.
    Debra's character's as smart on the job, wouldn't she just find out about the dark passenger on her own (instead of being told by Dexter) as she gets more reflective distance to her brother by therapy? But in order not to turn Dex in she'd have to find out about the code, him killing her ex-fiancee and all the Robin Hoodsy stuff in order not to offend her morals too much. Maybe by not ratting on Matthews on his request she'll gain still some more power in Metro enabling her to keep her brother from being discovered.
    Quinn toast? I thought Jennifer said somewhere they'd finally get together this season?
    Is the news for 2 more seasons official, why only 2???

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  10. I hope Quinn dies and not Batista. So sick of his sh!t.

    I have a theory about the part Louis will play in the final episode.
    Towards the end of the finale, Makusa will need some info that Dex has been working on, but Dex will be out of the office. Since it's business related, he'll ask Louis if he could just get it off of Dex's computer. Hacking Dex's password is no problem for the ubergeek. Louis will come across some of Dex's "research" and secretly start piecing it together that Dex may be a serial killer.

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