Review: Dexter ‘Scar Tissue’

Last week’s episode of Dexter didn’t leave me with much anticipation for this week, but the series is almost over and I’ll be damned if I don’t finish it out.  This time around “Scar Tissue” picks up where the last one left off, with Dexter hunting the Brain Surgeon, Debra in the care of Dr. Vogel, Vogel being creepy and manipulative with both of them, and some miscellaneous stuff going on in the background concerning Quinn and Angel.

With Deb doubting her decision to choose killing LaGuerta over her brother, Vogel is trying to show her that she did what she had to and that she’s a good person regardless.  Vogel talks up Dexter, telling Deb that he’s okay and that adopting a code was the only way to keep him from either running wild with his killing or ending up in jail.  Deb, however, finds some interviews between Vogel and her father and discovers that Harry, in the end, wasn’t completely happy with what Dexter had become.  At the end of the episode, Deb is forced to make a decision of life and death.

Dexter, concerned with the progress his sister is making, is keeping tabs on her situation.  Vogel tries to convince him that his presence in Deb’s life may have to come to an end, if only for her sake.  Of course, Dex isn’t having it.

Our favorite serial killer is also hard at work looking for the Brain Surgeon, tracking a new guy named Yates.  Upon burglarizing the guy’s home, Dex finds plenty of evidence to suggest that Yates is a killer and, more specifically, the one they’re looking for.  But Yates spots Dex and abandons ship, leaving behind sure signs of his involvement in the Brain Surgeon killings.  Dex also happens to find that Yates has some of Vogel’s notes, specifically ones that show that she’s studying Dex.  In order to catch the man, Dex lures him to a hospital where his father is dying, but Yates gets away.

And in the background, Quinn defends Deb and gets in trouble with his new girlfriend, Angel gets mad at Quinn for not living up to his expectations, a strange new single girl shows up in Dex’s house to borrow some laundry detergent and Masuka finds out he has a daughter.

This one started out much the same as the last one, the acting feeling strained and every scene seeming as if it had been shot in one take.  The mediocrity of the episode felt less as if it were a problem of writing, however, and more like the director just wasn’t up to par.  As the episode progressed, it eventually got better, although nowhere near the level of goodness that the first couple of episodes were.

It seems as if they’re really trying to delve into Debra and make her figure out for herself that she is loyal to her brother.  As well, they’re trying to have Dexter discover that he’s more human than Vogel insists he is.  But the execution is long-winded in some parts, clumsy in others and then rushed along in the very places where deeper exploration would help.  Not to mention all the random stuff about the side characters that seems like the writers are just trying to wrap up their stories in some way, whatever that happens to be.

All-in-all, not an impressive entry for the season.  Still hoping that it gets better, but if they don’t start buckling down and trying to pull the most they can from what they have, it’s going to be one of the worst overall seasons out of the eight.

If you want to take a look at what the next episode will be bringing, check out this link for the trailer.

Photo Credits -           

Scar Tissue courtesy of geeknation.com