‘Dexter’ season 7, episode 11 review: A Deb debate and the road to the finale
Debra Morgan said that she would do whatever it takes to ensure that Hannah McKay would not be able to harm her brother … so does this mean that she would go so far as to cause her own car accident?
Sunday night’s penultimate episode of “Dexter” season 7 was, almost without a doubt, the best work the show has put in front of us in years. Not since season 4 has there been a finale with so much on the line, and so many intricate stories in play. Plus, this hour did a great job disposing of the stories no one cares about (the gentleman’s club and Quinn) only to leave the goods (Dexter, Deb, Hannah, and LaGuerta) for the finale. While we could start this review off by talking about the Bay Harbor Butcher case, Hannah’s supposed “poisoning” of Deb with anti-anxiety medication seems to be the appropriate place to start.
We don’t see it often on “Dexter,” but we may have finally seen a case this week of someone actually being smarter than him. Is it possible that Hannah is the guilty party here? Sure, but as she said herself, she’s never made a mistake before and left someone alive. Why start now, and why poison someone when the consequences would take away the one person you love?
While her character has always been a little too flat, the pain in Yvonne Strahovski’s eyes this week as Deb arrested Hannah for Sal Price’s murder, a move orchestrated by Dexter himself, was a stunning sight. Deb has admitted to loving her adopted brother beyond just normal levels, so the motive is there out of jealousy alone (consciously or unconsciously) to want to take out the other woman in his life. Based on all of the evidence, this is the theory we’re going with … and hopefully we’ll find out an answer to it soon.
As for the Butcher storyline, it was a case of LaGuerta almost being as smart as Deb. Even though she is being motivated more by emotion that the presence of the facts, her determination to take down Dexter is actually guided in the right direction. Her plan to use the last man responsible for killing his mother as bait was also almost perfect, even down to the last detail. Dexter was so arrogant that no one could ever figure him out that he did not even hesitate when getting a tip on the parole hearing, and he also believed Matthews’ claims that the captain was finally going to leave him alone. “Almost,” as you know, only counts in horseshoes and well, the rest is obvious.
Sadly for Dexter, LaGuerta still got something rather substantial out of this in that he was not really able to leave the scene of the set-up without some testimony getting thrown in his direction … and his challenge now is a difficult one. If he kills Maria, it is going to be obvious that he is the culprit, given what Matthews and others know about her investigation. If he runs, it also doesn’t look good. The only real possible solution here is that he either finds a way to implicate LaGuerta in something, prove that she is a crazy person, or at least manages to get her stripped of the badge. We’re completely invested no matter what happens, and all we hope is that we have some answers faster than Doakes can say “surprise, motherf–ker.”
Do you think that Deb poisoned herself, or are you still of the belief that Hannah is guilty? If you want to read the latest “Dexter” finale spoilers, you can do so over here.
Photo: Showtime
ITK-2
December 11, 2012 @ 1:01 pm
Iron – Dude, MM is after everyone Dexter kills, so Hannah is no different. She just disappears or goes on the run, for all they know. Dexter knows how lethal Hannah is … And recall what happened to Rita when Dexter did not effectively tie up the Trinity loose ends himself? Either he leaves Hannah peacefully alone or he kills her, but no one in their right mind betrays Hannah. Totally out of character for the real Dexter to even contemplate.
Alicia
December 11, 2012 @ 9:25 am
Oh, Deb definitely poisoned herself, and it was definitely the smartest move ever. But I disagree that this was solely about jealousy. I’ve wanted Hannah gone almost as much as Deb. the only reason Deb has been able to justify not turning her brother in is because of Harry’s code. Sure it’s nice that Dex has someone who understands him in Hannah, but let’s not forget that this woman shoots Harry’s code to hell, and Deb knows it. This is a woman who kills not just to protect herself, but for personal gain and revenge (killing her husband because he wanted her to have an abortion? She could’ve just divorced him. Slowly killing her own mentor in the flower business so she could take over the business herself? This woman is evil incarnate.) Hannah is also an incredible actress, one whose performance is marked by a sincerity that is very easily mistaken for the real thing, and Deb knows that too. She heard the way Hannah so easily turned on the waterworks for Sal Price right before she killed him. She knows Hannah will be Dexter’s downfall. She knows that if Dexter did one thing to piss her off, Hannah would turn on him as easily as she turned on her first husband. And with the way Deb’s life is turning out, I’m sure the risk that she might’ve been killed in that car accident was an acceptable one for her. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Deb offs herself the same way Harry did before the series is over. In fact I’d be really surprised if she didn’t.
Iron Criterion
December 10, 2012 @ 9:53 pm
ITK-2, seeing as how MM are investigating Hannah, and everyone now knows they are in a relationship, how could he have gotten away with killing Hannah? He couldn’t. At best they’d think he had helped her escape.
Dexter believes Hannah won’t spill the beans. It’s not going to help her, so why would she? Hannah’s actually far more likely to kill or destroy Debra.
ITK-2
December 10, 2012 @ 2:40 pm
Who is that guy in Episode 11 and what has he done with the “real” (i.e., serial killer with a brain) Dexter? How could the real Dexter ever think that betraying Hannah to Deb that way could possibly turn out well? First, it’s easy to surmise that Deb put too many pills in her own water bottle, either on-purpose or by forgetting to change the water often enough, so Hannah is likely to be innocent of that crime in the first place. Second, how does the real Dexter imagine that (a profoundly betrayed) Hannah is not going to tell Miami Metro everything she knows about Dexter’s recent kills (and planned kills)? Third, let’s say Hannah gets out sooner or later – She will come after everyone Dexter cares about with a vengeance. The guy in Episode 11 made the dumbest mistake possible at the end, which is not even remotely believable for the real Dexter to make. The real Dexter would have killed Hannah, no hesitation, before ever turning her into Miami Metro. So I would ask the Show’s writers — Why should we continue to watch someone as stupid as this guy?