Darlings & Dexter

Dexter sure has himself in a pickle these days, doesn't he? He broke up with his (admittedly annoying) girlfriend and started sleeping with a supernova smokin' psycho who got him all tangled up about his serial killer impulses. While he was off laying the luscious limey, Lundy and his task force started closing the circle around the Bay Harbor Butcher.



Dexter's smart, alright. But in his efforts to be proactive and outwit the feeb, he's coming close to undoing himself, as the feeb was able to see through his manifesto and detect the fine hand of law enforcement personnel. And Dex's sister Deb has discovered that the Butcher is definitely a cop or cop affiliated. Worse, Lundy has started screwing Dex's butterface sister!

Egads! Deb's daddy issues are raging to the surface as she dumps a guy who was so hot and perfect that I think Rosie O'Donnell would've dated him. But I give episode writer Scott Buck credit for playing it for laughs. I was pretty skeeved out by Deb and Lundy having dinner at his place, but by the time he warned her that she wasn't too old to be smacked, Keith Carradine had won me over. And then, when he actually smacked her ass, I figured Deb oughta break a piece of that off.

Meanwhile Dexter was off getting his murder on and Doakes broke into his air conditioner and discovered Dexter's stash of blood samples. Considering the series is titled "Dexter" and not "Doakes," I have a gruesome feeling that Doakes better enjoy his pyrrhic victory while it lasts. I don't think it's an accident that Doakes mentioned that his father was a butcher. Um, foreshadow just a bit heavily, writing team?

It all makes me realize that I really do love soap operas. As long as the soap is about twisted serial killers. Or, as evidenced by Dirty Sexy Money, you don't need a serial killer if you're willing to embrace your soapy heritage and can dabble simultaneously in camp and cuteness, with just enough cloak-and-dagger cutthroat business tossed in.

Do I know what the fuck is going on with Blair Underwood on the show? Is he a good guy, is he a bad guy? How about Donald Sutherland's Tripp Darling? Murderer? Or concerned family friend? I don't know! I don't care! None of it bothers me. I just like watching Karen screw Eddie Cibrian and then marry someone else and then demand a divorce and then tell Nick that she loves him. And I like to coo and worry about little Gustav. And whatever monkey wrenches they throw in there to keep the Big Plot rolling is fine with me. But oh, how sad I'll be if the writers strike continues and I won't ever know which Darling isn't a Darling but is really Nick's half-sibling. Also, I'm gonna miss seeing Peter Krause grow out those mutton chops he's working on these days.

Now if only someone would cast Lauren Ambrose in a deliciously addictive show, it'd feel like a full resurrection for the Six Feet Under cast.