TV Review: DEXTER Season 2 Finale - The British Invasion 2.12

Picking up exactly where "Left Turn Ahead" left off, "The British Invasion" saw Psycho chick Lila steal Dexter’s GPS and rush out to the Everglades to be met by the captive Sgt Doakes who wilfully informed her that boyfriend Dexter is in fact The Bay Harbour Butcher. “The British Invasion” was a good episode and it was handled very well the way they closed it out. I think the season 2 protagonist is supposed to be Lila, yeah she is completely nuts but for me it was the battle between Sgt Doakes and Dexter which I enjoyed more, that was part of the story which had to come to an end here.

You have to say Doakes is going to be a massive miss in this brilliant TV show, when I first started watching the first season I didn’t really care all that much for him, but he is a big character and a larger than life kind of guy who not only provides stellar acting skills but also some great laughs with his one liners, most of which are thrown in Dexter’s direction, I loved the battle between the two of them this season and you really have to take your hat off to the writers here as killing off a favourite character is something that most shows just don’t do, luckily to provide us with laughs we will still have Vince Masuka, but yeah sorry Doakes, his funeral was in this episode and no one attended thanks to everyone thinking that he was The Bay Harbour Butcher, a situation that you think Dexter may feel guilty about.

Not likely, Dexter is now home free, he has no worries and can go about his life with Rita, Astor and Cody comfortably without the worry of someone revealing his true identity. Or at least that’s what he thinks until contacted by Lila who wants to meet with him at the local aquarium, he agrees and the pair conjure up a plan to run off together, at least that’s what Lila thinks. Dexter has another plan one which we learn about in the monologue “your going away with me alright – in a garbage bag”. Finally we are going to see Lila get her comeuppance, in a shrewd move Dexter arranges to meet Lila in her loft with his “luggage”, problem is Debra walks in first with the papers to be served on her for being an illegal immigrant, fortunately for Debra, Dexter realises it her just before he sticks in the M99, however she is soon followed by Lila who sees Dexter 's tools of the trade on the floor and realises she is about to become the Bay Harbour Butchers next victim.

This is where this episode got a little tenser for me as Lila knocks out Rita’s babysitter kidnapping Astor and Cody, Dexter knows nothing as he tries frantically to ring her, returning to the station he is met by Agent Lundy who informs him that someone has called the office with information regarding the Bay Harbour Butcher case and told him Dexter knows all about it, he realises this is another game and she’s stalling for time, he returns home to find the babysitter unconscious and the kids are gone. Dexter now has to rush to Lila's apartment where he finds the kids safe and well, however artist and serial arsonist Lila is in the mood for starting fires and locks Dexter and the kids in there.

Kids are fine, Rita is fine and Deb is fine, now its time for a Dexter road trip and for the first time ever that I can recall Dexter hits Europe, Paris to be more specific. This is where Lila has fled too, and arriving at her new apartment she is greeted by a postcard reading “Greetings from Miami”, turning it over there is no writing, just a picture of Doakes, right then Dexter jumps out and injects Lila with an epidural before carrying out his usual ritual, a satisfying end to that crazy lady.

This was a good episode but like I said above I do feel that the previous was better, but hey that’s just my opinion, maybe yours is different. I kind of feel a little like the ending scene was rushed through, seeing Lila get what she deserved was good but generally Dexter would prolong it, maybe it was because he had his plane to catch as he explained to her earlier, or maybe it was something done purposely by writers, who knows?