Where to being…I feel like so much happened in this single episode. Last week we left off with Brother Sam getting shot. I was shocked but sure he’d pull through. That goes to show how off my predictions can be. Sam is a character I’ve grown to really like and respect in the past six episodes and I’m sad to see him go. It seems like Dexter keeps losing the only people he can truly confide in. 
 
So I guess I’m jumping right in with Brother Sam then. Dexter obviously cared a lot for Sam. Even Harry, Dexter’s personal Jiminy Cricket, could see the effect Sam had on him. As Dexter and Harry talked in the kitchen, it became clear to Dexter that Sam was someone he felt brought out the light in him; someone who saw him as more than darkness in pretty packaging. This whole scene was actually very reminiscent of Dexter’s final scene with Lumen at the end of season five. Lumen confronts Dexter in the kitchen to let him know they can no longer be together because her darkness is gone. The scene ends with broken plates on the floor and Dexter crouched in the same corner by the stove realizing he’s lost the one person who really knows him and cares about him in spite of his darkness. Brother Sam was another version of that person for Dexter; someone who cared about him and could see his potential for goodness. In this scene with Harry, Dexter crouches in the same corner, this time with silverware scattered on the floor around him. I feel like two scenes this visually similar couldn’t have been a coincidence. What do you guys think? Am I reading too much in to the scene?
 

Now on to Travis; his story is becoming more interesting by the week but I really wish we had a bit more information to work with. Why does he feel the need to participate in these crimes with the professor? He clearly has his doubts, he even let the “whore of Babylon” go. I get that he’s confused and impressionable but I want to know why he started following the professor to begin with. 
 
This leads me to a little theory originally proposed by a friend of mine, and I think it’s a great one. Perhaps the professor is Travis’ dark passenger; a figment of his imagination. I know the professor was a real man, we saw his picture in the paper, but he’s been missing for three years and it seems Travis is the only one who’s “seen” him. We’ve also never seen anyone talk to professor Gellar. In the café scene a few weeks back, the waitress talked directly to Travis, never even acknowledging the professor. Not to mention there was no place setting at the table for him. If this theory is correct it could mean that Travis may have some kind of multiple personality disorder. Sometimes he’s Travis and sometimes he’s professor Gellar. Or he could just function the way Dexter does with Harry. This seems even more possible after the preview for next week where we see Brian acting as the devil on Dexter’s shoulder. Perhaps Professor Gellar is that person for Travis? What do you guys think?
 
Anyone else feeling especially bad for Deborah lately? She has had it rough. And while she finally started to take her life in to her own hands, moving into a new place and actually talking to a therapist, she can’t seem to catch a break. Her team is acting weird around her and treating her like a boss rather than a friend. She expressed to her therapist that she feels lost in a place that once felt like him. That’s not a fun place to be. She made it clear that she feels terrible about what happened between her and Quinn but she can’t seem to say that to him. After it comes out that Quinn slept with a material witness Deborah claims that she couldn’t care less who he sleeps with and she’s only mad that it compromises their case. Of course, we know that’s not true but Quinn was being an ass so she lashed out. Then, he has the audacity to show up at her housewarming party drunk and with a date. He makes an ass of himself again, gets punched and wants to know if she ever loved him. Now I wasn’t sure what she was going to say. I thought, of course she did. It really seemed like it to me at least. But she stayed silent which seemed to prove to Quinn that she never loved him, but I’m not buying it. I don’t know what she could have said in that moment if she did in fact love him. But I would have liked to hear her say something. 
 
Dexter isn’t having the easiest time either. His final conversation with Brother Sam had me hopeful that Dexter may find a more comfortable balance between light and dark. Sam’s dying wish was that Dexter could forgive Nick for shooting Sam. He asked Dexter to bring his message of forgiveness to Nick. He told Dexter that he can’t live with hate in his heart. 
 
“I see know about your darkness, but I also see your light.”
 
And for a minute I thought Dexter was going to let this one go. And he tried, he really did. I think Dexter had every intention of confronting Nick and then letting it go. He just wanted to know why Nick had done what he’d done. And as he described things, I actually started to feel sorry for him.
 
“He gave me hope and nothing changed.”
 
I thought, surely Dexter is feeling bad for this guy too. He was backed into a corner with no way out. But then Nick got cocky. And that was his mistake. I actually still naively thought that Dexter may hold Nick under the water for a minute and then let him go like Sam had asked. But then this wouldn’t be a show about a serial killer. 
 
The appearance of Brian as a Harry stand in feels as though it’s going to be good for a week or two of rebellious Dexter throwing caution to the wind and probably doing things that will come back to bite him later this season. But then what? Dexter can never truly embrace his light or the show no longer functions. Will we just go back to the semi-balanced Dexter we’ve had up until now?  I think that would be a step backward, don’t you? So needless to say I’m curious to see where the show takes Dexter over the remainder of the season. 
 
Here are a few random observations.
 
*Can Dexter just follow Travis like that? Doesn’t he recognize his face from the rearview mirror?
 
*Dexter finding the baseball bat he used to hit Leo was a little convenient. But I’ll let it go.
 
*Why is Maria even around anymore? They need to do something with her or write her off.
 
* “I’ll flamingo your ass” – it’s a Chicago thing. That made me laugh.
 
 

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