Review: Dexter 7.11 "Do You See What I See?"

Dexter Season 7, Episode 11 "Do You See What I See?"

Dexter did not suck last week. I know that seems like faint praise, but for most of this season and the last few before it I have not been able to say that very often. Things are crashing down around Dexter – some outwardly, some internally. “The Dark Passenger” is gone; Dexter now controls his actions and holds himself responsible for what he does. It seems like a minor thing, but really, without the code, all rules are thrown out the table.

Deb disapproves of Dexter being with Hannah and still seems a little conflicted about her own feelings towards her foster brother. There is a real conflict here – Deb wants to see Hannah behind bars, while Dexter wants to protect his woman. Will one of them end up on the slab, this time with no escape? On the other hand, will Hannah view Deb as a threat to her safety and take care of Deb herself?

In addition, what about the LaGuerta/Matthews alliance to end Dextermania? LaGuerta now thinks Dexter may very well be the Bay Harbor Butcher – not her friend Doakes. Matthews agrees to talk to Dexter and that conversation will likely put a bull’s eye on the duo, especially with Dexter no longer seeming to need the code.

And here we go.

• * Dexter pictures his future and how he has never really considered it. Dexter views his future, happy with Hannah, with Harrison all grown up. Uh oh…happy Dexter? I doubt that happens.
• * Dexter is called because Hector Estrada has a parole hearing that has suddenly come up. Estrada was involved in the murder of Dexter's momma. He was the ringleader, as well as the last survivor. Will killing Estrada close Dexter’s murdering ways and give him his happy ending?
• * Matthews and Dexter meet on Matthews’ boat. Matthews wastes no time in asking Dexter straight up if he was the Bay Harbor Butcher, telling him LaGuerta thinks he is responsible. Dexter’s reaction is not really convincing, as he does not appear that upset at being called a serial killer. Dexter tries to implicate Doakes further, by making up the story of Doakes’ nonexistent boat. Can Dexter frame Doakes a second time? What would get LaGuerta to stop looking?
• * Deb interviews Arlene, who knew Hannah in a previous lifetime. Deb threatens Arlene, telling her that giving up information about Hannah will get her immunity. Arlene meets with Hannah and tells her what Deb offered. Arlene is afraid of going to jail and Hannah promises she will not let that happen. Please kill Deb off, Hannah. Jennifer Carpenter’s terrible acting needs to go.
• * Deb volunteers to help Dexter with the LaGuerta investigation. Matthews tells LaGuerta that he does not think Dexter is the killer, but LaGuerta is not having any of it. Dexter searches the internet, trying to find the right boat to frame Doakes in death.
• * Deb is staking out LaGuerta, who I guess we are supposed to believe would not recognize being under surveillance by her lieutenant. LaGuerta and Matthews investigate Doakes stuff and find deep seas fishing lures – as well as boat keys. Of course, the keys lead them right to the framing boat’s location. There they find bags, a knife with Doakes prints on it…enough to convince Matthews that that Dexter is 100% innocent and LaGuerta to emotionally admit that Doakes did it. I do not think much of Lauren Vélez as an actress, but she does a really good job in this role. And apparently Deb is a great sister.
• * Our beloved serial killer heads to prison and finds out Estrada lied to get bailed out. I guess he still needs a bit of the code to exist to be able to kill in peace.
• * Stuff happened with Quinn, but who cares. His storyline is a waste of time.
• * Hannah and Deb have a meeting of the minds where Hannah tells Deb that Dexter is happy and that Deb should back off if she cares about Dexter’s future. She tries to find common ground with Deb, for Dexter’s sake. They both admit that they love Dexter and Deb tells Hannah that she thinks they can work out their issues – but Deb tells Hannah that because she loves Dexter she will not stop until Hannah is behind bars.
• * Dexter visits with Matthews to find out if LaGuerta took the bait. He calls Deb and tells her that he is in the clear. A while later we find out Deb was in a car accident and is hospitalized, with a broken wrist and some bruises. Batista says that Deb had a ton of anxiety medicine in her system and fesses up that Deb is investigating Hannah. The Morgans discuss Hannah and we learn that Deb only took one pill. They go back and forth, as Deb tries to blame Hannah for poisoning her, no matter how illogical her reasoning appears. Deb begrudgingly admits Dexter might be right, while Dexter wonders if Deb is right about his boo.
• * The moment of truth – Dexter investigates Deb’s house looking for clues, one way or the other. He finds a hair – a single blonde hair – in the bathroom. He then heads to Deb’s destroyed car and investigates, finding Deb’s water bottle. Will the lab vindicate Deb? “Hannah didn’t poison Deborah – all I want is for that to be true.” Me too, Dexter, me too.
• * Batista goes to LaGuerta and tells her he is going to retire.
• * Hannah is at Dexter’s place and acts concerned about Deborah. Dexter contemplates if he can ever totally trust Hannah. They share some time together, sharing Christmas, and head back to Hannah’s place. They share a conversation where Hannah thinks Dexter is talking about heading to get Estrada but really, he knows what Hannah may have done. He asks Hannah directly if she did it and she says no. Dexter tells her that he will always wonder if Hannah is involved if anything happens to Deb.
• * Hannah tells Dexter that she has never made a mistake and that if she had tried to kill Deb, she would have succeeded. She is 100% sure and committed to the relationship, but Dexter cannot meet her there. Very good acting here, with good music accompanying the scene. I am glad they did not rush the storyline here – uncommon restraint for the series.
• * Dexter takes Estrada to a shipping container, where Estrada gets a shot fired off. Estrada is strapped to the table. We learn that LaGuerta is the one who got Estrada out and that LaGuerta is trailing the two. She tries to track Estrada down and finds Dexter’s kill room, all set up. Estrada takes off and jumps into the water. Dexter has to elude the police and escapes. But during his “kill” he told Estrada who he was – wonder if that comes back to bite him?
• * Dexter gets a call and finds out Deb’s water was spiked. Uh oh. Hannah is going to get whacked – I wonder if Deb set Hannah up with this? He gives Deb evidence implicating Hannah is the murder Sal Price.
• * The lovers share a goodbye. Dexter goes to Hannah and apologies, as Deb comes to arrest Hannah. “You should have killed me,” Hannah told Dexter as she was being dragged off.

This is a tough episode to rate. I like a lot of where they went with things. It just feels like everything is moving too fast. The storyline with the Ukranian mobsters is dead and seems pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things now. If this season would have started like it is ending, fans would consider it one of the best the series has ever done. I’ll give this a B+.

Next week’s episode shows LaGuerta arresting Dexter. Is stuff about to get insane?