‘Dexter’ season 7, episode 10 preview: The Phantom Arsonist’s new victim

It is strange to see a new villain enter the fray so late in a season of “Dexter,” but are having the opportunity to see just that at the moment courtesy of the Phantom Arsonist: a character who shows up wearing a flame-resistant suit, watches their victims burn to death, and then leaves behind the name “Bobby” at all of their crime scenes.

So is this going to be an exciting case to watch unfold, or something that is rather ho-hum? Based on the latest sneak peek from Sunday night’s new season 7 episode, we are sadly predicting the latter more so than the former. At this very moment, it seems almost obvious that the fire investigator is the one behind the killings: he seems completely numb to six-year old children dying, and he also is someone who clearly has both the knowledge and the materials to do whatever he wants around a flame and not risk his own life in the process.

While there is no indication that this case will be resolved even before the end of the season, we’re betting that it will given that it is not the show’s DNA to leave some mysteries unsolved for a new season. The only other interesting aspect of watching this scene is still seeing Deb squirm at the mere mention that Dexter was spending some time with Hannah the night before, who seems more and more firmly rooted in the characters’ lives given that Deb has tried to make peace with the fact that she isn’t going anywhere. (Granted, we have a feeling this still has to be rather hard to swallow given that we are hardly looking at a character who kills in order to stop bad people.)

Do you think this Arsonist case is going to evolve into something, or are we really just looking at another Ray Speltzer, a guy that is just around for Dexter to kill? If you want to read the first synopsis from the season 7 finale, you can do so over here.

Photo: Showtime