Showtime Dexter "Do the Wrong Thing"#706 "What I Did for Love"

by Catherine Giordano

On Showtime’s “Dexter” everyone is quite often doing the wrong thing. The name of episode 5 of season 6 is “Do the Wrong Thing"--it's quite apt. However, I’m going to call this episode “What I Did for Love” because so often the characters are doing the wrong thing for love (or something like that.) Debra for instance, is covering up Dexter’s crimes because she loves her brother. 

Debra has new worries about Dexter. LaGuerta is looking into the “Barrel Girl” killings. Dexter, together with Lumen, the woman he rescued and the fell in love with when she became his accomplice, killed the gang responsible for rape torturing, and embalming young women in barrels, the “Barrel Girls.” Dexter assures her that there is no way that LaGuerta can learn of his involvement. He says Lumen will never talk. During the course of this conversation Debra learns for the first time that Lumen and Dexter were lovers. This occurred right after his wife’s death. Debra is shocked and appalled.    

Sirko, the Ukranian mob-boss, is bent on getting revenge for Viktor’s death because he loved Viktor. Sirko is being held without bail and he wants out of jail. To this end, he gets Quinn to do the wrong thing (or the right thing, depending on your viewpoint). Quinn loves, (or soething like that) Nadia, a stripper at the club. The mob has offered Quinn money, but he refused it—Nadia told him he should not get involved. Now they use Nadia for leverage over him. If Quinn does not co-operate and steal the blood evidence, they will send Nadia to a sex club in Dubai. Evidently, girls don’t survive long in Dubai. Plus, they will sweeten the deal with the bag of money that Quinn already turned down. Quinn steals the evidence for them because of his feelings for Nadia.  

Angel Batista is thinking about retiring. He wants to buy a little waterfront bar/restaurant. He complains to his sister Jaime that he has no life. He’s convinced this bar will make him happy. Jaime is against it—she thinks it is the wrong thing for him to do—he doesn’t know how to run a bar and he will lose all his money-- but Batista is falling in love with the idea.  

Debra has decided that she needs to get a life also. Sal Price, is a crime writer who wrote a book about the Tracy Randall murders and Randall’s teenaged accomplice, Hannah McKay. (Tracy Randal was a serial killer who killed himself a few episodes back.) The book is entitled “Love on the Run.” Now that new bodies have been discovered, he’s been at the precinct getting information for a sequel. He asked Debra to go out with him, but she turned him down. However, she later changes her mind, and she meets him for drinks. 

Sal tells Deb about his research concerning the role of Hannah Mckay in the murders. Deb tells Sal about her work on the case. Neither should be talking to the other about this, but they are talking as part of a flirtation. Debra even says, “I will totally make out with you if you tell me.” Sal tells Deb that he has had an independent expert review the evidence, and he is sure that Hannah killed one of the victims. Dexter had told her that the evidence was inconclusive.  

Dexter came to the same conclusions as the independent expert, but he covered it up because he wanted to be the one to bring Hannah "to justice.” Dexter did this because he is  in love with killing. Hannah has been granted immunity for he role in any of the killings done by Tracy Randall. She does not know that anyone suspects her for the other murders. 

Dexter has figured out that Hannah has killed at least two other people. She killed her husband—a man in his 40’s in perfect health, who had a sudden heart attack. She also killed the woman who owned the business that she now owns. (She grows and sell flowers and plants.) She worked for this woman, who was alone in the world, and insinuated herself into the woman’s affections. She was the sole beneficiary in the woman’s will when she died of a sudden heart attack.   

Dex has figured out that she used one of the plants she grows, arconite, to induce these heart attacks. Dexter knows this because he broke into Sal’s apartment and stole files from his computer. Sal had bribed the undertaker to allow him to take a sample of Hannah’s benefactor’s blood before she was cremated. It tested positive for arconite. 

Dexter and Hannah have had a wary flirtation going on. Dexter has apoliogized to Hannah, and said he knows he was wrong about her. His apology was a ploy to get close to her. Dexter tells her that he “wants to take her out.” Hannah assumes he’s asking her to go on a date. She tells him that she does not date—it is too complicated for her because of her experiences with Tracy Randall. Dexter says, “I’m not Tracy.” Hannah demurs that she wants to do the right thing. Dexter says, “Do the wrong thing.”   

Hannah has told Dexter about a fantasy she had about visiting this Christmas Village near Miami where they have real snow. Randall had promised to take her. For their date, Dexter takes her there. It is off-season, the place is closed and dark, but Dexter breaks in and flips one switch, and the place comes to life. One small question—all it takes to get the place operational is one switch? No one in a neighboring town notices the place lit up like-well--a Christmas tree? No one guards the place? This is the “Isn’t-this-just-a-little-too-easy?” moment of the week.  Nevermind. Rembember, suspension of disbelief is critical to enjoyment of the show. 

Hannah is delighted and enthralled. Dexter moves in to kiss her, but instead he injects her with the knock-out drug. She wakes on a table up wrapped in plastic. Dexter holds the knife over her and tells her that this is what he meant when he said he “wanted to take her out.”   

Hannah surprises him, she does not protest; she simply says “Do what you have to do”.

Dexter straddles her and raises the knife. She calmly closes her eyes. Instead of plunging the knife into her chest, Dexter slashes the plastic bindings. Dexter is still atop Hannah, but blood lust has turned into sexual lust, and they passionately indulge that lust. Dexter is in love (or something) again. This is the wrong thing to do, in so many different ways. 

You see what I mean. A lot of people doing the wrong thing, but doing it for love (or something like that).

 

Thispicture of "Hannah McKay" is from www.seat42f.com 

 

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