It was like Flashback Friday on last night's episode of Dexter. "Every Silver Lining" opened with an old video of a handsomely dressed Harry talking to a hidden-from-view Dr. Vogel. Harry recounts the first time he snuck Dexter onto a crime scene. Dexter was only ten years old when he asked to see a real homicide scene, and when Harry took him -- hoping it would scare him -- he just stood there, un-phased by all the blood, "like he was admiring a painting."
Perhaps the most interesting thing we learn from the vintage video is that Dexter has always been fascinated by blood. Harry discovered Dexter's very first trophy: blood spatter on a piece of glass he stole from the crime scene. Sound familiar?
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As the camera pans out, we see Dexter himself watching the video with Vogel. This moment between the two - and a spiritually present Harry - sets the theme for the episode: creation/origin. Vogel even bluntly tells Dexter how she "helped create" him. And in turn, as we shall see, Dexter has "created" the monster living within Debra.
Since Vogel is partially responsible for molding Dexter into a killer with a conscience, she feels entitled to ask for a favor: Find and kill The Brain Surgeon, a.k.a. the psychopath who's been cutting open his victims' skulls and sending pieces of their brains to Vogel. By asking to catch this brain-loving killer, Vogel is setting up the season's ultimate mission; and even though Dex doesn't take requests, we know he's going to catch the psycho -- or maybe this particular psycho catches him first?
Although Dexter doesn't want to trust Vogel, he nonetheless gets much closer to her throughout the episode. After he agrees to help find the Brain Surgeon for her sake, things between them escalate quickly, on a very creepy scale. First she tells him, "You're not evil, Dexter. You're actually making the world a better place." Aw, how sweet of her. Then she says how psychopaths are a "gift" to mankind, and an "indispensible demographic" -- level two creep. And best/creepiest of all, she embraces Dexter and says, "You're exactly what you need to be, Dexter... you're perfect."
Notice how she says "what" and not "who;" more proof that she views Dexter as a pawn and not a person.
In the second video of one of Harry and Vogel's sessions, Harry explains how Dexter is getting creative with his kills. Apparently, Dexter began showing his victims pictures of their victims around the time of his third ever kill. Clearly, these videos serve as a sort of insight into the making of the Dexter we have come to know throughout these seven seasons. There will most likely continue to be winks and nods to the first season as Dexter's farewell season continues. Much like season one introduced Dexter and tried to explain why he was the way he was, season eight will delve into the cracks we didn't realize existed.
When Miami Metro discovers the second body from our serial killer, Dexter narrates: "Miami makes more corpses than sunburns," but anyone who lives in Miami can call Dex's bluff: Lies, Dexter! Filthy lies! The fair-skinned folk who have nurtured red burns can attest to this (myself included).
With the discovery of the second body comes the classic nickname for our killer: "Does this guy think he's a fucking brain surgeon?" Insert Masuka's awkward but oh, so perfect laugh here.
Scene cut, and let's talk about Debra for a quick second. Her new boss, Jacob Elway, totally has the hots for her. The sexual tension is practically steaming up your TV set. Deb, meanwhile, is playing hard to get. Wanna know what she gets for playing tough? She gets her ass handed to her by El Sapo -- and not in a hot way.
When she's following her hunch and checking a storage unit for Briggs' stolen goods, she forgets something very important: to close the door behind her. Shoulda closed the door, Deb.
And does she learn her lesson? Nope. Because later, when Dexter goes to check up on her, she's taking a nap on the couch with her patio doors wide open. C'mon, Deb! Do we have to kick your ass a second time?
El Sapo, at least, doesn't get a chance to, because she shoots him down. Interestingly enough, she doesn't quite remember doing so, until Quinn shows her some pictures of the crime scene. Later, she tells Dexter how she's a "little fucking fuzzy on it." Unlike Dexter, who meticulously plans his kills, Deb lets her anger literally cloud her vision.
"You know what else, Sapo was not the first person I fucking shot, Dexter, and he may not be the fucking last," Deb says as she walks away down the alleyway behind the police station.
Going along with the creation theme, we begin to see a side of Deb that wasn't always visible before. If you believe all the psycho-babble about psychopaths Vogel is spewing, then Deb must have always had a Dark Passenger inside her too, but it is only now that it's surfacing. Dexter finally admits that he's "destroyed Deb," but could he really have just awakened her inner monster?
Sneaky tip: Vogel has a book on her shelf, clearly visible behind her desk, with a red spine and white letters that read Crave to Kill. A quick search yields that there is no such book in reality, so it must be a prop for the show. This is most likely a book written by Dr. Vogel - since we know she's a "published author" - so keep an eye out; it could become more prominent in later episodes.
--Carolina del Busto
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