Dexter Season 6 Episode 11 Recap: The Incest Taboo

Dexter Episode 6.11 "Talk to the Hand" recap by Richard Rys - nymag.com: The episode begins without the usual Dexter voice-over as we dive right into the hunt for Travis. Deb mentions the “anonymous tip” from 911, but doesn’t mention the caller was her brother, who made no attempt to disguise his voice. In another of the many odd or downright illogical moments in recent weeks, Dexter seems only mildly bothered by the fact that he’s largely responsible for Batista’s predicament, along with all the innocent people Travis already killed. After a psycho pep talk, Travis sends Beth to Miami Metro with a backpack of toxic gas and Batista’s I.D. card. Despite looking nervous — like someone who’s trying to smuggle a WMD into a police station — it only takes her two tries to awkwardly swipe the badge in plain view. Then again, this is the most inept homicide department in America. She probably could have carried the canisters in a picnic basket and while wearing an “I Am Wormwood” T-shirt and someone would have directed her to Deb’s office. At least Beth goes out in style, with some nice foaming at the mouth and the classic “bloody hand clawing at the window in vain hope of relief from death’s sweet embrace” move. Read more after the jump below...



In what was the most obvious moment of the night, Dexter is warned that the toxic gas has left him vulnerable to extreme dizziness after physical exertion — y’know, the kind that comes when you’re wrestling with a serial killer at a marina. But with the final tableau on the way — the Lake of Fire — he doesn’t have time for an ER visit. Travis nearly caps Batista, but instead eludes capture by home-invading an elderly couple and killing them in their kitchen (but showing tenderness to their cat — is Travis also a PETA member?). To pump himself up for his next art installation, he paints what could be an awesome Slayer album cover (Satan! Hellfire! Tormented souls!), but then totally ruins it by replacing the devil’s face with Dexter’s (bald and horned is not a good look for him).

As for those hands, Dexter uses his Prof souvenir to lure Travis out from hiding. It’s unclear whether Travis was more enraged by Dexter’s taunting or that the public might think Dexter’s low-budget tableau was actually DDK’s handiwork (666 in blood? So trite). Surprisingly, no harm came from stashing the thing at work. Then there’s Louis, who thanks Dexter for his harsh video-game review. “You just made me realize I’ve spent my whole life on the sidelines playing make-believe games,” says the intern. “Now I want to get out there and make my life count for something.” That apparently means drawing palm-reading lines on the Ice Truck Killer hand and shipping it to Dexter. Clearly he is screwing with the wrong blood-spatter analyst.

Elsewhere at Miami Metro, Deputy Chief Matthews gets screwed by LaGuerta — who is now officially a one-dimensional scheming asshole boss — and blames Deb, as if she needs more shit on her sandwich (did I mention that she’s hot for her brother?). Speaking of Lieutenant Morgan, if there’s been an MVP on the show this season, it’s Jennifer Carpenter. In the scene where Deb chews out Quinn and Batista, Carpenter masterfully tightrope walks between anger and emotional meltdown. There’s also the speechless pause after her shrink suggests she may have unsisterly feelings for Dexter that says more than any F-bomb she’s ever dropped. Maybe this attraction to Dexter is a temporary diversion, or even a stress-induced response to all the fucked-upitude in her life. But the therapist makes a convincing argument about her possible semi-incestuous feelings, which aren’t as sick as they seem at first. Sure, they grew up together, but they’re not (irony alert) blood-related. They’re also each other’s best friend, save for one teeny secret Dexter is somehow still keeping from her. Still, it seems impossible for Deb to avoid either death or institutionalization by the end of the series.

Thanks to Dexter’s ill-timed dizzy spell, Travis casts him as the star in his Lake of Fire display, which of course involves a lake and a bunch of fire. Dexter survives an explosion, but is left mighty confused about where he’s headed next. With no more tableaus to complete and an apocalypse to launch, Travis might need new interns. Louis’s game plan has only just begun. And there was something else, too … oh, right, and Deb might want to bang her brother.