Category Archives: Kay Gardella Memorial TV Review Blog

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Dexter Finale Snoozathon

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(Warning – spoilers ahead for anyone who isn’t keeping up with BOTH Dexter and Breaking Bad.)

While Breaking Bad continued to BRING IT in last night’s penultimate episode, leaving viewers counting the hours until the finale ,and anticipating fireworks that could take out the entire city of Albuquerque and its environs, Dexter ended not with a boom but with a meh.

Why did Dexter peter out while Bad burns?

There are a whole bunch of reasons why Breaking Bad is simply a better show, and certainly going out after five tight seasons is better artistically than ending after at least one too many, but mostly the problem with Dexter was a lack of self-awareness, an ignorance of its own nature.

It’s charm was in its ridiculousness. It wasn’t just the premise – a “good” serial killer. It was the execution. Breaking Bad had a pretty far-fetched premise as well – middle aged nerd becomes a drug kingpin and then retires, having amassed $80 million dollars in just a little over a year. Yet, Bad always weighted itself in the reality and complexity of its characters. While it could go for the occasional laugh, it was clear, certainly by the time we watched Walt watch Jane choke on her own vomit, that a tragedy was unfolding.

But what was Dexter? Go back to Season One and you’ll see something near satire. A cynical look at Miami, or Dahmerland, as Dexter so aptly put it. It was a comic book with Dexter having near super-strength and an unfailing ability to get the bad guys. The “on the table” dialogue with the soon to be dispatched bore no resemblance to real end of life conversations. And this was a good thing. It kept us emotionally detached from the horror. There was Dexter telling a pedophile priest/killer of altar boys, that “I’d never do what you do. I have standards,”or seeking relationship advice from a couple who killed Continue reading Dexter Finale Snoozathon →

Breaking Bad — Did Aaron Paul Give Us An “Explosive” Series Finale Spoiler?

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(Warning — Possible Breaking Bad finale spoiler ahead, with reference to recent episodes!)

Did Aaron Paul inadvertently give us the ultimate Breaking Bad finale spoiler? Watch the clip below and see the look in his eyes when he talks about the “explosive” finale.

Does this mean that Jesse takes out Todd, the meth lab, and Heisenberg’s secret recipe in an “explosive” finale wherein he uses whatever Mr. White taught him about chemistry to blow up the lab real good (referencing the RV pseudo-flashback scene that opened Ozymandias)? He wants Todd dead and all this to be over far more than he wants anything else. He was at peace and ready to die when Uncle Jack was holding the pistol to the back of his head after Walt had ratted him out. Back then he’d given up, and after hearing about Jane, truly had nothing left. After watching Andrea get killed, he now has something — the need for vengeance and martyrdom. He wants to take as many of the bastards down with him as he can — especially Todd.

With any luck maybe Lydia will show up to watch the cook. (Wouldn’t it be great if Todd sort of suspected that Jesse’s instruction couldn’t be right, but Jesse said something like “Ok don’t do it bitch, but you’re not gonna get up to 96%.” And Lydia said, “Do it!”? And then, boomsies?)

Of course, I am hoping, but wouldn’t bet a dollar, that Walter will show up right about the time the labs goes ptttuey, armed to the teeth to take out Uncle Jack. Walter brought the ricin for himself, figuring that after his final mission there’d be nothing else left for him to do, but then right after he’s mowed down Jack and his crew, the lab explodes, and maybe Walter will drag Jessie from the wreckage, mortally injuring himself in the process. Walter will die in Jessie’s arms asking for forgiveness, and asking him to take the money to Skylar’s lawyer to see if they can use it to barter for her freedom with the DEA, and begging him to let Marie know where Hank is buried.

Then again, I’m sure that can’t be it. Every time you think you know where they’re going, they go somewhere else. Besides, that’s way too upbeat.

(Hey, if you like dark, transgressive tales, why not check out this novel, inspired by a crime so grotesque it became the stuff of neighborhood legend?)

Breaking Bad, Not Breaking Character

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(Warning, if you haven’t seen Season 5, Episode 14, Ozymandias, read no further. It’s spoilers all the way down.)

In drama, as in fiction character is everything. Once you know who your characters are, what happens happens. That’s how tragedy works. The circumstances might change. That’s chemistry – the interaction of the different elements, elements in the form of other characters, and it always leads to an inevitable result.

We knew that Gomez and Hank were most likely dead men when we left them last week. We also knew that the writers and actors wouldn’t let us down, but would surprise us once again. After the beautiful flashback to pre-Heisenberg Walter, or maybe the beginning of Heisenberg’s emergence, we see Gomez’s body. It’s a tease in a way. We knew he was the redshirt, the one most likely to die. The writers are saying, “You were right. We can’t fool you.”

Then they show us a wounded Hank. Shot once more in the leg. We see the blood. He knows he’s a goner, even if we don’t yet. He’s going for Gomez’ gun because he wants to take a few of the nazis with him.

Is Walt’s giving up his money to barter for Hank generous? Is it a sign of his humanity? Maybe we want it to be. That’s a subjective read. What it was objectively was Walt trying again to control the Continue reading Breaking Bad, Not Breaking Character →

Dexter, Season 8 — Is a Happy Ending the Endgame?

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(Warning: While everything I say is speculative, the first two episodes of Season 8 may be discussed, so there are going to be spoilers for those who haven’t seen them yet.)

Some things that happened in Episode II – Every Silver Lining:

Dexter learns more of his origin story, specifically that Harry came to Dr. Vogel (with whom he may or may not have been sleeping — the dog) with his concerns about Dexter, and she came up with the framework of the code.

Vogel shows Dexter the slice of brain she says was left on her doorstep by the brain-surgeon killer, and speculates that the killer is one of her patients. She asks Dexter’s help in bringing him down and doesn’t want the police involved because her “unorthodox” methods may come to light. Then it turns out that the killer of the last victim was coerced – forced at gunpoint to kill. We learn this based on a DVD left in Vogel’s house, presumably by the person who coerced him and later killed him.

Meantime in Deb-land – She goes to a storage locker and finds the jewels. El Sapo who has been following her, grabs them and beats her up, but he doesn’t kill her. He tells her he only kills people he’s paid to kill, and leaves her writhing in pain on the floor of the locker. Bad choice. Before he has a chance to drive away, Deb somehow ambushes him in his car, grabs back her gun (conveniently left by him on the passenger seat) and kills him, leaving evidence that Dex will have to clean up.

My assessment: My nose has that twitchy feeling every time I see Dr. Vogel.

Anybody else notice that everything she’s telling Dexter about the slice-of-brains that keep landing on her doorstep could be a lie? Anybody else notice that there was no sign of anyone else’s having been at her house when the DVD was “left” on her laptop?

Vogel may or may not be the brain surgeon. She may be manipulating someone else, but whatever is going on, she’s not in danger and no one is leaving her surprise packages. If she’s lying about that, she could be lying about anything.

I still believe (as I said last week) that Matthews knows about the code. She implied that only Harry and she did, but she’s unreliable. I’m not a 100% sure she knows that Matthews knows. He could have found out at Harry’s deathbed, but I stand by the idea that Matthews brought her in because of his concerns surrounding LaGuerta’s death, and whether the code was breaking down.

Vogel is an evil-genius, and certainly more sociopathic than Dexter ever was. She’s manipulating him in every way possible. By making it seem like she’s in danger, she’s appealing to his “sense of justice” and need to kill killers and protect the innocent. She’s teasing him with more hints about Harry and his past, and when all else fails, she reaching out to him in a way that’s quasi-maternal and little creepy.

Dexter did not become a sociopath or serial killer based on his being in the shipping container. He was a disturbed kid, probably suffering from PTSD, and acting out, especially when his adoptive mother became sick. While killing animals is certainly a sign of sociopathy, not all kids who kill animals become sociopaths and most sociopaths aren’t serial killers.

Vogel may or may not have known that her diagnosis was a crock. She seems genuinely surprised that Dex has real feelings for Harry, and Deb, but that may be because she thought her handiwork was so complete in “creating” him as a non-feeling monster.

(It’s even possible,that she may have manipulated the more damaged Brian Moser, who we know grew up in an institution. She may have viewed both boys as the perfect lab rats. Let’s wait and see if there are later reveals about a Brian connection.)

So if Vogel is a sociopath, interested in finding out if her pathology can be created and harnessed, and Dexter was her tabla rosa, what does she want now?

I’m not sure, but I think I have a guess about the writers’ endgame.

We want Dexter to get away with it. We like him. This does not make us monsters. After all Dexter only kills bad people (most of the time), and it’s just a silly television show, usually a dark comedy. Nevertheless, we would all feel better about Dexter getting away – or worse about his getting caught – if none of this was his fault.

What if Dexter was programmed to kill, and could be deprogrammed?

I don’t think Vogel is there to deprogram him. I don’t believe she’s going to say, “I did you a great wrong, so now let’s make it right.”

But I do think stuff will happen that will lead to his being “cured.” Deb’s being in danger will be a big part of the stuff. Yeah, we sort of went there with Brian back in season one, so I doubt it will play out the same way, but by the penultimate episode, Dex will realize Vogel meets the code, and she’ll wind up on his table, and she’ll be his final kill.

(Marion knows no one will ever pay for her opinions when she gives them away free on her blog, but you can show your appreciation by sampling one of her cheapie novellas or her novel here.)

Dexter Season 8 Premiere — Matthews Pulls the Strings

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The first episode of the final season of Dexter is upon us, so I say, let’s all state our theories now. A good twist is one that most people won’t see coming, but it doesn’t come out of the blue. When it arrives, the viewer will not scratch his head and go, “Huh?” but lean back and say, “Of course.”

While some fans are certain Dexter’s decline began with Julia Stiles, it was Rita’s death that caused a tone-change. In place of the dark humor and occasional satirical jabs, we were suddenly meant to take this seriously. Dexter’s “lifestyle” had consequences. Innocent people we’d grown to care about (even if they were incredibly obtuse) were in danger. Season Five, with its his and hers matching kill outfits, quasi-religious self-help-murder-cult, and over the top misogyny, was an honest attempt to get us back where we belonged.

Then came the catastrophic Season Six and the transitional Season 7. It was in Season Six that Dexter’s internal monologues became deadly dull. Gone were the little asides that gave us a peek into his darkly dreaming mind, placing us in the backseat on a drive with Dex and Harry. No more experiencing the glitz of Miami as “Dahmerland.” Now his inner voice seemed to be providing an ongoing narration of his every waking moment. Its purpose was to tell us exactly what he was thinking because we could no longer get that from the writing or the acting, and needed to be diverted from figuring out “the truth” about the professor. Dexter was dumbed down, and we were expected to be in the dark as well. The whole season turned out to be leading up to the one big moment when Deb sees Dexter in the church.

Season 7 only existed to get us to the shipping container confrontation between Dex, Deb and LaGuerta. Anything else that happened was forgotten.

Now here we are in the home stretch. Sunday night’s final season premiere, It’s a Beautiful Day. Thankfully, the writing was tighter than it’s been for a couple of years. While picking up where they left off was necessary after the Season 4 and Season 6 finales, it limited where the story could go. Starting Season 8 six months later, was a smart choice. Deb’s leaving Continue reading Dexter Season 8 Premiere — Matthews Pulls the Strings →