Dexter “Beauty and the Beast” 

Once again Dexter has a companion of sorts who knows about his “dark passenger,” only this time he makes it seem like the reason he did his bidding (killing Boyd) was in retaliation for the death of his late wife Rita. I guess at this point, if he ever gets caught in connection with Boyd he can use that as an excuse. Finally we get to see the action on Dexter that keeps us wanting more! It only took four episodes – let’s hope they keep it up for the rest of the season!“Beauty and the Beast” opens with Dexter tending to Julia Stiles’ wounds. At this point Dexter still doesn’t know her name is Lumen or any details about her past. This is significant because Dexter is used to working the other way around, already knowing the details of everyone involved in his kills so he can play his cards right. Harry appears at this time to remind him how dangerous it is to involve himself in something he didn’t plan. He questioned why his son was sitting there tending to the wounds of someone that wasn’t his responsibility. Harry tells Dex to go home and take care of his son but Dexter ignores him and stays. His father also brings up the murder in the public bathroom (way back in the series premiere) reminding him of his mistakes such as killing him without cleaning up afterwards which is very sloppy.

While Dex tries to care for Lumen he ends up getting her blood all over his shirt which is a major mistake in Dexter’s unofficial guide to paying attention to detail. So running count on Dexter fuck-ups thus far this season: 1.) His first kill goes down in a public bathroom without a careful clean-up. 2.) Boyd’s kill goes so terribly wrong he ends up in the hospital with Boyd. They both disappear from the hospital with no treatment and no explanation. 3.) He now has to deal with the fact that Lumen knows too much about him.

Dex is forced to sedate Lumen to settle her down. He gets a call from Deb begging him to come help them at the crime scene because Masuka wasn’t quite cutting it as the blood analyst at the scene. So even though he pulls an allnighter with Lumen; and leaves Harrison with Sonya the babysitter all night without calling to check in; he agrees to go to the crime scene only so he could get an ID on Lumen.

Dexter surveys the crime scene and gives the homicide department a lead based off some ash stuck in a spot of blood. He concludes it came from a Tiparillo cigar. It gives the cops enough of a lead to figure out where the killer lives. Dex can do it all and proves how valuable he is to the homicide division cases. I’m thinking that without him they would only solve two cases a year.

At the crime scene, Dex sneaks in a fingerprint of his hostage in order to ID her. In my opinion this is a stupid and desperate play on Dexter’s part because her fingerprints will be on record which somebody might notice has nothing to do with the Santa Muerte case. He ID’s her as Lumen Pierce from Minnesota. Dex steals antibiotics from Masukas’ cabinet which Masuka later accuses Quinn of taking. This leads to the best Masuka line of the episode: “You have been getting down and dirty with the hottest potty mouth in the South” referring to Deb. This adds to Quinn’s suspicions of Dexter because he knows Dexter was back there earlier in the day.

Dex tracks down a motel where Lumen had stayed and poses as her husband. Since Harrison’s also along for the ride he makes it seem like Harrison is Lumen’s son so he can get her belongings out of the room. Another poor move for Dexter. I know he needed a plan but this just puts him in a public place connected to a person and situation he shouldn’t let himself be connected to. The motel attendant even tells him she remembers Lumen which means if she messes up in a future episode he’ll for sure be linked to her. Not smart with the Trinity case still pending.

In her luggage, Dex finds a letter to Lumen from her mom. Apparently Lumen has family troubles and we find out later that Boyd wasn’t the only man to abuse her. In the previews for next week we see her seeking revenge. I hope this whole buddy killer thing is different from what they did in Season 3 with Miguel Prado because that was fun for about a second and then got dull again.

The best parts of the episode:

There was some nice action when we saw Dex bust out of a door all predator-like when Lumen tried to run away. It was kind of hot.

There was a car full of stoners Lumen tried to wave down on the side of the road. Unfortunately for her they were stoned and obviously didn’t help her.

Dexter tried to gain Lumen’s confidence by showing her the barrels of bodies and he states: “It’s a leap of faith for both of us.” He explains his wife was murdered by someone like Boyd and he doesn’t want to see anymore innocent people die. It was awesome because after his grand speech he handed her the knife he used to open the barrel as a signal of his trustworthiness only for her to stab him in the arm right away and then start to cry.

What’s to come with the Lumen / Dexter Saga: I’m interested to find out how the other guys who hurt her are connected to Boyd. We can probably bet on the fact that she’s going to mess up her plot for revenge and Dexter will have to come to her aide. Let’s just hope its not too lame.

Side Note: Lumen was an interesting choice to name Julia Stiles’ character. It would be nice to learn its significance. It is kind of funny though because even though we now know her name I still want to call her Julia Stiles.

Quinn:  Quinn tailed the FBI agent handling the Trinity case to find out where their safe house was. When he tried to confront Trinity’s son, Jonah, he was arrested by one of their body guards. Laguerta was super pissed and put him on unpaid suspension. Deb also asked him to stay at his place that night but because of all this he tries to tell her he’s no good for her. Poor Deb, another let down in the love department.

Deb: Deborah has a lot to deal with regarding her homicide case. Even though Dexter’s analysis led her to the killer’s place of residence she found herself in a stand-off with the killer who had a knife to an innocent boy’s throat. The killer ended up slitting the boy’s throat getting away. With the pressure of what happened at the crime scene, Deb isn’t going to be paying much attention to Dexter and his schedule so this should buy Dexter some time and leeway with dealing with Lumen. Side note: the killer now knows what Deb looks like and I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to track her down and take her out. The ruthless nature of this murder leads me to believe that Deb might be in more danger then she thinks on this case.

Batista and Laguerta: After the Internal Affairs agent threatened to press charges for the recent bar brawl that resulted in Batista assaulting another officer, Laguerta “ordered” her husband to apologize to Lopez. Even though that’s exactly what he did and Lopez told him personally he wasn’t pressing charges, this case is far from over. Laguerta had to meet with the IA agent to try to smooth things over only to find out it wasn’t up to Lopez to press charges but the department. The agent wasn’t interested in the fight but he was interested in what caused the fight: Lopez stating that Laguerta “gave the best blow jobs in Miami.” I guess now not only is Batista’s job in jeopardy but Laguerta’s too. A statement like that could not only damage her reputation but her career. They might even feel she’s unfit to head the homicide unit. The marriage between Batista and Laguerta has been anything but pleasant since they got hitched.

Sonya: Sonya the babysitter quits after Dex finally shows up to relieve her after his allnighter with Lumen. Sonya has a great line: “Never lie to someone who trusts you. Never trust someone who lies to you.” Later, just before Dexter goes back to carry out his plan for Lumen, Dexter heads to Sonya’s house to beg her to come back and take care of Harrison. He convinces her by telling her he was out all night helping a girl who was badly hurt and was then called to help out at a crime scene. It’s an almost too truthful confession to gain back her trust. Although he doesn’t give Sonya all the details and she doesn’t ask any prying questions, I feel Sonya is definitely going to know in the future that Dexter is helping Lumen out. Like I said after the last episode Sonya is Dexter’s Mary Poppins and I bet she’s going to end up covering for Dexter in some way shape or form.