For a moment, I thought this episode might start to correct the character motivation issues that hav

By Kyle Ryan , Zack Handlen , Erik Adams , Todd VanDerWerff , David Sims , Les Chappell , Phil Dyess-Nugent , Ryan McGee , Eric Thurm , Dennis Perkins , Sonia Saraiya , Caroline Siede , Genevieve Valentine & Gwen Ihnat
By Josh Modell
By Joshua Alston
Considering how rapidly the final season of Dexter cratered, one could be forgiven for expecting the worst with each new episode. But for some reason, I’ve been able to approach each episode without holding a grudge against the episodes that preceded it. Actually, that might be a little generous. I’ve been able to approach each episode aware of the potential for Dexter to win the expectations game. Once the bar is so low, even Dexter could manage to stumble over it, so each week I think this could be the episode that’s not quite as horrific as I thought it would be.
I can’t say “Monkey In A Box” is that episode; in terms of storytelling u tube quality, it’s about on par with the narrative meandering, inscrutable characterization and flat-tire pacing that has characterized the season. But what made “Monkey” semi-tolerable is that it provided a few brief moments in which the season’s inert plotting wasn’t in the foreground. It contained shards of ideas that could fit into anyone’s concept of a penultimate episode of Dexter , and sort of flicked at the themes that drew viewers to this show in the first place. Dexter leaving Miami Metro, parting ways with Deb, outgrowing Ghost Harry, and suppressing his compulsion to kill are all elements the audience could imagine as part of Dexter ’s end game, and seeing those moments offered the faintest of glimpses into what those elements might have looked like in the right hands.
But those half-strengths were whole weaknesses u tube when those scenes came within the context of the story written by this team of writers, which has an almost impressive ability to climb over all of the good and mediocre ideas to find the absolute worst ways of executing every single thing on this show. “Monkey” was terribly boring u tube of course, which is to be expected from a table-setting episode in a season in which episodes that felt like that could conceivably lead to something interesting in the future were the best of the bunch. More than that though, the episode went out of its way to point a saturating spotlight at all of the storytelling choices that have made Dexter such an unlikeable, unworkable character, and why refusing to remove even a little of Dexter’s control has made the show so inert.
First, I laughed immediately when the episode started, as Dexter, in his always helpful voiceover, rationalized Vogel’s murder exactly the way I expected him to. The issue isn’t that he should have gotten out of the way of Vogel and Saxon, hauled ass to Argentina with H ‘n’ H and hoped everybody landed on their feet. The issue is that he was trying to occupy two worlds, the world of the dedicated family man and that of the vigilant u tube vigilante, and because he hesitated too long in confronting Saxon, Vogel is now dead, and he’s to blame. So naturally, the only way to correct this problem is to keep going after Saxon, because again, killing Saxon is absolutely mandatory for Dexter prior to leaving Miami.
For a moment, I thought this episode might start to correct the character motivation issues that have become so problematic ever since the Brain Surgeon’s identity was revealed. First, Dexter u tube found himself at yet another bloody crime scene involving someone with whom he had a connection. Just maybe, I thought, this will be one homicidal coincidence too far, and capturing Saxon might be the way for Dexter to clear himself from involvement with Vogel’s murder before leaving for Argentina. u tube No such luck; no one even says “I gotta say, Dexter, it’s awful weird how everybody you know, from your wife, to your neighbor, to the two Miami Metro officers who were suspicious of you, to the forensic psychologist you knew through your father, all wound up dead, often with you the first at the scene.” What show did I think I was watching? Of course u tube none of that happened.
But then, Saxon showed up at Miami Metro unannounced to clear his name on Cassie’s murder. Then he decided he wanted to check out Dexter’s place. Saxon was being creepy and stalkerish in a way that definitely didn’t portend well. One could make a convincing case that Saxon was menacing Dexter u tube in a way that suggested he wasn’t going to sit idle while Dexter and the family jetted off to Argentina. But then a funny thing happened. Saxon offered a truce, telling Dexter he wanted to punish Vogel for refusing yet again to choose u tube her son before u tube others, but now that he had taken care of it, he wanted both of them to walk away from the situation. And honestly? It didn’t sound like a terrible d