Unlike the Brain Surgeon’s first victim, the second victim wasn’t shot; he was suffocated, and as he looks around the crime scene for a murder weapon, Dexter finds the plastic bag used to asphyxiate the recently deceased.
Knowing that Dr. Vogel believes it’s one of her former patients behind the murders and having already agreed to help her, Dexter plans to run the bag for prints himself, and track down the killer, as he’s done in so many seasons before. This time, however, Masuka has come across a print as well, and when Dexter goes to track down the suspect, a man named Sussman, he finds nothing, and has to flea his house as Batista and company roll into his driveway.
But he doesn’t leave empty-handed; Dexter discovers a hunting cabin Sussman frequents – practically lives in according to his elderly mother, whom Batista and Quinn interview over tea. When he hits the outskirts to investigate Sussman’s cabin, he finds him, dead, hanging on a hook like one of the many animals he’s hunted in the past.
Guess he’s not our suspect after all.
As Dex is returning home from his eventful evening in the outdoors, Dr. Vogel calls; someone has broken into her house, and she asks Dexter to come investigate. Once he’s cleared the house, they discover a new CD sitting atop her computer. Watching it together, the see Sussman was coerced into killing Victim #2.
Dexter is frustrated that he didn’t see Sussman wasn’t the actual killer; after all, “vetting, stalking, and killing” has always been the only thing he’s good at. Dr. Vogel walks over and offers a comforting hug to Dexter, who welcomes the embrace of the woman who helped his father shape him into the man he’s become as the credits and theme music begins.
Oh Yeah – Batista, Batista, and Quinn
Two episodes in and this subplot is already kind of irritating.
Angel busts Quinn about dating his sister, Jamie, questioning when he’s going to start taking his career more seriously. After all, if he wants Angel to approve of him boinking his lil’ sister, Quinn has to at least get his act together and take the sergeant’s exam.
When Jamie jumps in the car to head out on date night, she and Quinn get into a fight instantaneously when he mentions Deb’s name. Jamie is convinced he’s still infatuated with his former captain and one-time love interest. Before she storms out of the car, Quinn tells her that Angel knows, and that he’s been pressuring him to get his ducks in a row, so when she bolts from the car and heads back into the house, we get the customary “Stop meddling in my business, over-protective big brother” confrontation between Jamie and Angel.
Later in the episode, Quinn tells Angel he’s going to start studying for the sergeant’s exam as they sit enjoying a drink at Angel’s bar. Of course, two seconds later, he notices Deb sitting in her car considering Angel’s offer of a drink. As he stands and starts to walk towards her, she pulls away.
This is clearly going to be something that festers all season long.
My Two Cents
Debra’s downward spiral and Dexter’s questioning of himself as he opens up and starts trusting Dr. Vogel are both great stories, and two episodes in, I’m completely hooked. Next Sunday can’t get here fast enough; I need to know more, which is the mark of a well-crafted show.
Deb is clearly falling deeper and deeper into the abyss, and I almost feel like her story is more compelling than Dexter’s pursuit of this year’s killer. In fact, I think her story is more interesting than Dexter’s angle with Dr. Vogel. After eight seasons, Deb has become the character I’m most invested in – she’s the most complex member of the ensemble, a far cry from her first season days as a wannabe homicide cop.
That doesn’t mean I’m not curious about the tic-tac-toe relationship between Dexter, Dr. Vogel, and this season’s killer; I am, just Debra’s fall is unraveling at a quicker pace, and it’s taking on the lead role for me.
Like Dexter, I don’t completely trust Dr. Vogel. When you talk about using unconventional methods and have a connection to the mysterious psychopath that is leaving removed pieces of brain on her doorstep, you stand out as a “there’s clearly something more here” character. My wife thinks she might be “The Brain Surgeon,” but I don’t think so; that would be too easy.
We’ll find out more next week. Until then, it’s been a slice.
