TV Review: DEXTER - Sunshine and Frosty Swirl 7.2

Following on form the impressive season 7 premiere “Are You…?” Dexter was back this week delivering us some “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”, a weird name for a TV episode I thought but as always the reference was made apparent and could quite possibly have given us a little glimpse as to what we should be expecting from these final two seasons of the show. On saying that there is still an awful lot of stuff (character wise) to wade through before we start with any of that and as always I’m going to put forward my idea of how I think things may go from here.

It goes without saying really that the most impressive scenes in season 7 so far have been the “show downs” between Dexter and Debra, the beginning of this episode was brilliant picking up exactly where we had left off, "Dexter, are you a serial killer?" - "Yes" Running out the house and onto the street to thrownup Debra displays every emotion possible before eventually calming down and applying some rationale, after all accusing your brother of being The Bay Harbour Butcher in the middle of the street is probably not the best way to keep Dexter out of prison. Debra has now given Dexter an ultimatum, either live with her 24/7 while she councils him and attempts to cure his serial killing ways or she turns him, would she really though? I mean I mentioned last time round Debra is now an accomplice in Travis Marshall’s murder, I’m pretty sure she would end up in prison too. I think if Dexter where to leave then she probably wouldn’t go to the police, but it’s not a scenario Dexter has ran with yet, for now he is happy to inject Debra’s steak and sneak out the house while she is comatose.

Quite possibly the most intriguing part of this weeks episode was the little side story of the prisoner who decided to shed his “dark passenger”, come clean and tell police where he had buried the bodies. Not the case of course, the guy just wanted out for some “Sunshine and Frosty Swirl”, and then to throw himself in front of a truck. It was his conversation with Dexter that was the best bit though, when he explained how his partner Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski, joining the cast as Dexter’s love interest later in the show) could now only see him as a killer, how he lost everyone he loved because of what he’d done and now there was only one person left to kill, himself. Not the route that I would like to see Dexter take and in all honesty I don’t think he will, Dexter is a lot stronger than that and he lives by Harry’s code, I hope that was shoved in there to let us think that is what will happen.

I have been saying since the middle of season 6 that Masuka’s intern Louis really gives me the creeps, I have also been posing the question (as have many others) how much does he know? Turns out probably not all that much, mind you I still can’t stand the prick. However, I don’t think he does know the full truth about Dexter, like Doakes I think Louis knows there is something odd about him but can’t get a handle on it, Louis though, is just a computer geek who for some reason likes to antagonise Dexter, he clearly doesn’t know who he is messing with, but Louis does not fit in with “Harry’s Code” meaning that Dexter can’t just go kill him, well he could and in all honesty I wish he would, but that’s the thing about making promises that you probably don’t intend on keeping. For me the best scene in this episode was the one where Dexter broke into Louis’ flat, charged at him and pinned him to the wall, he even lifted him off the floor at one point, Dexter’s a bad ass!

I also like the introduction to crime boss Vincent Sirko (Ray Stevenson) this week, it looks like he is going to be a real challenge for Dexter as he joins the ranks of the few “Big Bad” conquests who are physically a challenge for Dexter to over power. And Mr Sirko wasted no time in showing us just how dangerous he can be when he rammed a screw driver into the eye socket of someone who he thought had talked to police, note to Dexter, don’t leave any of your tools lying around. This is still a bit of a side story really and will no doubt develop over the season or maybe even the final two seasons depending on how the story line goes, away from the mob boss Dexter also has LaGuerta to worry about, she is awfully close to figuring that Sgt Doakes was not the Bay Harbour Butcher and has contacted the FBI with a view to having the case reopened, that in turn could force Debra’s hand on what she does with Dexter as she is Lieutenant after all, Dexter on the run would be a real great story I feel, a two season man hunt, possibly?

Unimportant to the plot but great to see on weekly TV is Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and Batista (David Zayas), although they are investigating Mike’s murder and looking into the mob bosses at the club they are not really central to the plot yet, I say yet because once the cards start to fall things will lead them back to Dexter (I think). Thing is Quinn and Batista are worth watching along with Masuka for the comedy value alone and I’d miss them if they weren’t involved every week.

This was another solid episode of Dexter as expected and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the show will take us, Dexter on the run is definitely the most appealing to me. How about you? What are your thoughts on season 7 so far? Your comments are welcome as always.

Side Notes;

Does Dexter ever look after Harrison? The price of child minders these days! Jamie must be costing Dexter and absolute fortune in child care expenses.

I suppose like they used to say in Everybody Loves Raymond, its no really about the kids.