ABCs of Art

Dexter

It appears that Doakes is closing in on Dexter. And as predicted, Lila has become more trouble than she is worth. I hope that Dexter takes care of both of them in the next episode. Which is to say that I hope he kills them both.

In the book, which I still have not read, Doakes apparently suffers an exceptionally hideous fate. It will be interesting to see if the show follows the book. In the last few episodes, Doakes' behavior has been erratic enough to allow for the possibility of Dexter framing Doakes' for the Bay Harbor Butcher crimes. At the very least, the Department may suspect Doakes of planting the evidence that Doakes found in Dexter's apartment. Or better yet, Doakes will not turn the evidence over to the Department, but will instead confront Dexter directly, and Dexter will kill Doakes in the confrontation. So many possibilities.

Regardless, it is interesting to me that Dexter seems to genuinely care about Rita now. I was half expecting Lila to pull a Fatal Attraction type stunt in Rita's kitchen, but she didn't. At least not yet.

Dexter Premier

We just watched the Dexter premier. It seems that Dexter has a case of the yips. My guess is that Dexter's current problems are somehow related to the curse that the blind voodoo store owner uttered at Dexter just before Dexter tried to kill him. Bob thinks I am overanalyzing. Again.

Regardless, it is a tribute to the writing that I hate Sgt. Doakes, even though he is entirely right about Dexter.

Dexter

I am starting to lose patience with this show. From the previews, it appears that Lila sets the cabin on fire in the season finale with Lila, Doakes, and Dexter trapped inside. I hope that the writers haven't decided to conveniently kill Doakes and Lila in the fire that Lila starts. True, this would allow Dexter to dispose of both Doakes and Lila without breaking Harry's code. But this is the type of ending that I would expect from Melrose Place, not Dexter. (I liked Melrose Place, mind you, but there is a time and place for everything.)

Instead, I would rather see Dexter break Harry's code and kill Lila himself. Dexter has grown disenchanted with Harry. The police don't like Lila because she filed charges against Angel, and Deborah already thinks that she ran Lila out of town with the whole visa thing, so chances are that Dexter could kill Lila and no one would come looking for her. As for Doakes, it might be interesting if he were on the run next season, hiding from the FBI. I think there are still some unresolved issues with Doakes and his contacts in Hati.

Dexter

We watched Dexter last night. I am pleased that Dexter seems to be back on his game. Which means I am pleased that Dexter was able to kill again. What does this say about me?

Bob finished reading the Dexter books. He liked the first two, but the third was too supernatural for his taste. Specifically, he said "It’s only the third book and the author is so out of ideas that he has to bring up some prehistoric god with a cult of followers who are either trying to kill Dexter or get him to join. I was so disgusted I skipped to the end just to see what happened."

I should probably read the books myself and tell you what I think, but I really don't have time. Instead, here is a clip from last night's show.

Dexter Finale

I am briefly interrupting my sequence on holiday parodies to discuss the season finale of Dexter. I loved the finale! Lila killed Doakes in the fire, which I expected, but the ending was far more clever than I feared. Lila left Doakes the key to his cell, but locked the cabin from the outside with the axe, which indicates to me that she grasped the importance of having Doakes' body found outside the cage. Dexter then killed Lila, which was long overdue, but since Lila killed Doakes Dexter was able to kill her without breaking his code. I liked the scene in Paris, especially the detail of the Miami post card on Lila's end table. I also liked Dexter's conclusion, which was that things worked out so neatly for him that a higher power somewhere must approve of his "work". And finally, I appreciate that there were no unresolved matters, because I do so hate cliffhanger endings. Now back to my holiday parodies.

More Wacky Artists

I watched Dexter last night. Dexter's sponsor is a complete wack job. And of course she's an artist. The Ice Truck Killer was an artist too, if I remember correctly - he told Deborah that he had been to art school before he started making prosthetics.

It's not that I object to the portrayal of artists as eccentric. Art School Confidential is one of my favorite movies, even though it falls apart at the end, and I laughed out loud at Daryl Hannah's performance art piece in Legal Eagles. For Dexter, though, it's just lazy writing to make the eccentric NA sponsor an artist. Sure, it's easy to demonstrate how odd she is by showing us her found-object sculptures of cannibals. To me, though, it would be far more interesting to reveal her darkness through dialogue, and to choose a less obvious profession for her, like, say, an accountant.

Regardless, it is my prediction that Dexter will ultimately kill his sponsor. She seems to understand Dexter, which is dangerous for him. He will probably discover something dark about Lila and use that as justification.

LEGO Certified Professional

This man is a professional LEGO builder. How cool is that? Here is his portfolio. Maybe I could commission him to do a life-sized bust of Dexter.

Speaking of Dexter, we just watched tonight's episode. I love that Dexter's feigned drug addiction may save him from Doakes' suspicions. I also liked the detail of the wig stand during Dexter's kill.

Dexter Returns

Season 2 of Dexter begins this Sunday at 9PM. Dexter, for those of you unfamiliar, is a Showtime series about a serial killer (Dexter) who only kills other serial killers. We rented Season 1 from Netflix, and I am completely hooked. So hooked, in fact, that we plan to order the books which inspired the series.

Click here for the Season 2 preview.

Dexter Comes to CBS

So it's official - Dexter is coming to CBS! The first season will air on Sundays at 10 PM, starting February 17th. The episodes will apparently be "edited to meet broadcast television standards." I'm not sure how I feel about a sanitized Dexter, since the blood and inappropriate material are in my opinion essential to the show, but I will give it a try. (Hat tip: David.)

CBS Dexter

I just watched the first two episodes of Dexter that were aired on CBS. I thought the edited scripts held up surprisingly well. The only noticably awkward part was hearing Doakes refer to Dexter as "mother lover."

Tadpole: Week 14

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