(Photo: Showtime)
"I know almost everything about you, Dexter. Not just because I heard it from your father, but because I helped create you... I can't help but think of myself as your spiritual mother... I developed a framework for your survival. That's what mothers do."
-Dr. Vogel
-Dr. Vogel
It should come as no surprise that Dexter Morgan, who saw his mother brutally murdered in front of him as a small child, might have some mommy issues.
But what might have shocked us as viewers was seeing Dexter, the sociopathic serial killer, reduced to an emotional, trembling wreck, clinging to the woman who helped set him down that path, as we saw at the conclusion of "Every Silver Lining...", the second episode of Dexter's final season.
"Nature vs. Nurture" is something of an outdated argument, as we know that some inextricable link between the two makes us who we are as people. Still, "Every Silver Lining..." explored that age-old debate, and how Dexter's main characters, Dexter and Deb, have had their behavior influenced by the most traumatic experiences of their lives.
For Deb, the choice to kill Laguerta, and the guilt and second-guessing over making that decision, has sent her life into a tailspin.
When the man sent to kill Briggs (the guy Dexter killed in the motel room in the season premiere) and steal his jewelry showed up at Briggs' storage locker to collect what he was after, Deb snapped and murdered him.
Yes, he attacked her, and yes, he deserved to be punished, but the Deb that existed before the Season 7 finale never would have done that, right? And the Deb we knew for seven seasons never would have asked her brother to cover something up for her, as she did here, yes?
In the episode's first sequence, we learned that Dr. Vogel sought out Dexter's help in tracking down Miami's newest serial killer. "The Brain Surgeon", as Masuka dubbed the killer, must be a former patient of hers, Dr. Vogel surmised, and should the authorities find the killer before Dexter could, her career would be jeopardized.
To convince Dexter to help her, Vogel preyed on Dexter's psyche, proclaiming herself his spiritual mother and creator, even going so far as to tell him that he was perfect, and perhaps not the "creep motherf*cker" that he has come to see himself as.
So, Dexter set out to vet, stalk and kill the Brain Surgeon, barely managing to stay a step ahead of Miami Metro in the process, only to come up empty. Vogel conveniently found some evidence at her home that showed that the killer was still at large, but only after she had psychologically broken her spiritual son, her creation, to the point where he felt it his duty to help her.
But what might have shocked us as viewers was seeing Dexter, the sociopathic serial killer, reduced to an emotional, trembling wreck, clinging to the woman who helped set him down that path, as we saw at the conclusion of "Every Silver Lining...", the second episode of Dexter's final season.
"Nature vs. Nurture" is something of an outdated argument, as we know that some inextricable link between the two makes us who we are as people. Still, "Every Silver Lining..." explored that age-old debate, and how Dexter's main characters, Dexter and Deb, have had their behavior influenced by the most traumatic experiences of their lives.
For Deb, the choice to kill Laguerta, and the guilt and second-guessing over making that decision, has sent her life into a tailspin.
When the man sent to kill Briggs (the guy Dexter killed in the motel room in the season premiere) and steal his jewelry showed up at Briggs' storage locker to collect what he was after, Deb snapped and murdered him.
Yes, he attacked her, and yes, he deserved to be punished, but the Deb that existed before the Season 7 finale never would have done that, right? And the Deb we knew for seven seasons never would have asked her brother to cover something up for her, as she did here, yes?
In the episode's first sequence, we learned that Dr. Vogel sought out Dexter's help in tracking down Miami's newest serial killer. "The Brain Surgeon", as Masuka dubbed the killer, must be a former patient of hers, Dr. Vogel surmised, and should the authorities find the killer before Dexter could, her career would be jeopardized.
To convince Dexter to help her, Vogel preyed on Dexter's psyche, proclaiming herself his spiritual mother and creator, even going so far as to tell him that he was perfect, and perhaps not the "creep motherf*cker" that he has come to see himself as.
So, Dexter set out to vet, stalk and kill the Brain Surgeon, barely managing to stay a step ahead of Miami Metro in the process, only to come up empty. Vogel conveniently found some evidence at her home that showed that the killer was still at large, but only after she had psychologically broken her spiritual son, her creation, to the point where he felt it his duty to help her.
(Photo: Showtime)
“Our first impressions are generated by our experiences and our environment, which means that we can change our first impressions . . . by changing the experiences that comprise those impressions.”
-Malcolm Gladwell
-Malcolm Gladwell
We have the seen the humanization of Dexter over the course of the last seven-plus seasons. And while Vogel still thinks of him as the sociopath that she helped create, he may not be that person after all.
In the same way, as Deb now looks at herself as a killer who foolishly trusted her brother, and is acting in a manner that suggests that she has a deathwish as a result, Dexter keeps popping up to remind her of all the good that she has done and is capable of.
The conclusion that we can draw from "Every Silver Lining...", and from Dexter's eighth season to this point, is that bad people, like Dexter, are capable of good. Good people, like Deb, are capable of previously unthinkable evil. And, it would seem, some circumstances bring out the best or worst of what Nature and Nurture gave them.
I came into this final season ready to judge Dexter, to write him off as a creep and a murderer that deserves every bit of what's coming to him. The writers of the show, however, seem to be asking you and I to hold off on making a final judgement on one of the Golden Age of Cable Drama's great characters.
In the same way, as Deb now looks at herself as a killer who foolishly trusted her brother, and is acting in a manner that suggests that she has a deathwish as a result, Dexter keeps popping up to remind her of all the good that she has done and is capable of.
The conclusion that we can draw from "Every Silver Lining...", and from Dexter's eighth season to this point, is that bad people, like Dexter, are capable of good. Good people, like Deb, are capable of previously unthinkable evil. And, it would seem, some circumstances bring out the best or worst of what Nature and Nurture gave them.
I came into this final season ready to judge Dexter, to write him off as a creep and a murderer that deserves every bit of what's coming to him. The writers of the show, however, seem to be asking you and I to hold off on making a final judgement on one of the Golden Age of Cable Drama's great characters.
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