Living by a Code

From the time he saw his mother brutally murdered as a toddler, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall, Six Feet Under) has carried along with him a Dark Passenger, a monster inside his very being with an insatiable appetite for blood. Dexter Morgan was born in blood. Growing up, his adoptive father Harry (James Remar) was aware of Dexter’s Dark Passenger and showed his son how he could satiate his desire without being caught.

For his entire life, Dexter has lived by Harry’s code, being the lone wolf has kept him safe.

That is what makes this fourth season of Showtime’s Dexter so magnificent. No longer is Dexter free to roam the night, hunting down the worst humanity has to offer, he’s now married to Rita (Julie Benz, Angel), has two step children, and a baby boy to take care of. The delicate balance between serial killer Dexter and the facade he has put up to shield his true self has shattered right before his eyes. His internal conflict, whether to follow his Dark Passenger or be the responsible family man, is what drives this to be the best season of Dexter yet.

In the very beginning of the season we see Dexter’s trouble balancing his two lives. After he’s made a kill, his lack of sleep from taking care of baby Harrison causes him to crash his car with human body parts still in the trunk. With his world crumbling around him, what is a family man serial killer to do?

Luckily, Frank Lundy, (Keith Carridine, Deadwood) the F.B.I. super agent from season two, is back in town on the hunt for a man he calls The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow, 3rd Rock From the Sun). Trinity has gone from town to town for decades killing three people each time. First a woman would turn up dead in a bathtub with her femoral artery slit, next a woman commit suicide by jumping to death, and finally a man would be bludgeoned to death. It was Trinity’s cycle it was his ritual, something Dexter could certainly relate to.

The dynamic between Dexter and Trinity is by far the best relationship on the show to date, besting his friendship/mentoring Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits, NYPD Blue) last season considerably. Where most people are disgusted by Trinity’s actions and are saddened at seeing an innocent life lost, Dexter’s first reaction to seeing these bodies laid out in plain sight is curiosity and even admiration. While he has been taught to remove all evidence of his crimes as not to get caught, he sees the beauty in the work of a contemporary being out there for the anyone to find, almost taunting the police to catch him. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this either. In season one, his first thought when seeing The Ice Truck Killer’s victim’s bloodless body parts, arranged in an empty pool waiting to be found, was not sympathy for victim, but rather, “No blood at all. Why didn’t I think of that. No blood, what a beautiful idea.”

Dexter truly is one of the most unusual characters ever, he fits the role of anti-hero perfectly. As viewers, we see his life, every aspect of it. When he kills someone, we see the motive behind it and generally agree, who will waste tears over the death of a murderer, rapist, or child molester? That line of thinking spurred The Dark Defender comic in season two when his bodies were found and he was classified The Bay Harbor Butcher. But just as people are glad to see the scum get what they deserve, his selfishness has done damage as well. Dexter has to get the kill. To him it’s irrelevant whether or not his prey is brought to justice, it’s that he brings him to justice on his table. When a little boy is kidnapped during the season, Dexter doesn’t think to call in the police, he tries to find the kidnapper on his own, a decision that hurts the boy’s chance for survival. It’s this complexity within the character that makes him so wonderful to watch. So many shows have protagonists who you blindly root for, who have only one side to them which makes things easy. Dexter however is the evil one, and despite his best efforts to control his Dark Passenger and use it for good, he inevitably falls short of that goal on too many occasions. Thankfully, this season does make use of Dexter’s greed as it allows us to see Dexter’s nemesis up close and personal for the first time in the series.

The first of many twists comes right after Dexter finds out the identity of Trinity. Dexter has always know the serial killer to be on his own, so when he follows Trinity home, Dexter is shocked at what he sees. In his home in the suburbs, Trinity has a wife and kids, just like Dexter has. This is where his selfishness comes into play. No longer is Dexter thinking about putting this man on his table, now he has to learn from him. How has Trinity been able to kill dozens all across the country and still maintain his family man image, his job as a teacher, even being Deacon at his church? After witnessing what he believed to be an impossibility, Dexter decides he has to get close to Arthur Mitchell, The Trinity Killer.

As Arthur Mitchell, John Lithgow is simply sublime and almost a shoe in for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy. At the very least a nomination. Lithgow is a terrific actor, accomplished in the world of sitcoms and broadway, and puts his talents to use as he seamlessly transitions from the lighthearted father and husband to the contempt filled serial killer. Like Dexter, Mitchell has put on a facade to fool the outside world and hide his true self. As Dexter gets closer, he starts to see the cracks in this facade and finally past it in the episode Hungry Man. The moment when Dexter sees Mitchell’s true self personally and then reveals his own Dark Passenger is one of the scariest and most adrenaline filled scenes in the series. To any fan of the show, the story of Dexter and the Trinity killer is of course preordained from when Trinity is first mentioned, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not that he ends up on Dexter’s table, but how he gets there, and the journey is breathtaking.

The world surrounding Dexter and his hunt, while not nearly as brilliant, serves its purpose exceedingly well. Upon his return to Miami, Lundy immediately catches the eye of his old flame, and Dexter’s sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter, Quarantine).The list of bests is pretty long this season, as this is probably Debra’s best season as well. More than ever, Debra stepped out of being just the foul-mouthed sister and had some very emotional scenes adding more depth to the character. She too becomes very engrossed in the Trinity case and shows off her prowess as a detective. Debra also continues her side quest to find out the identity of all the confidential informants her father slept with, which eventually leads back to Dexter’s biological mother.

The other story lines aren’t as entertaining, but they don’t take anything away from the series. Debra’s partner Quinn (Desmond Harrington, Ghost Ship) becomes involved with a nosy reporter Christine Hill (Courtney Ford, Cold Case). At the very least, she provides the gratuitous nudity every show should have. While their relationship isn’t the most interesting, Christine Hill does become increasingly important throughout the season. The relationship between Angel Batista (David Zayas, Oz) and Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Velez, Oz) actually turned out to be somewhat entertaining, but was still the weakest part of the season. Finally, while it seemed kind of silly, Rita’s increasing closeness with their neighbor Elliot (Rick Peters, Swingtown) did bring out some added emotion in Dexter and allowed Masuka (C.S. Lee, Chuck) to be as awkward as ever.

By the time last episode is over, you’re  gasping for air. The ride was unbelievable with sharp turns all over the place. What’s amazing looking back at the season is not just how many jaw dropping moments there were, and it’s not even how brilliant they are, but how everything was so perfectly set up. All the characters we’ve become invested in over the previous three seasons, gave us even more reason to keep caring. The new characters all had a purpose, and by the end gave us reason care for them. The story was masterfully crafted with few down moments in the season. When the finals credits came up, everyone watching was thinking the same thought, “when does season five start?”