This review contains spoilers.
7.4 Run
There were parts of Run I really liked, especially the very last scene with Dex and Debra sitting in the car watching Speltzer ascend. The dialogue there was great, even if it suggested a harmony in their relationship that's a complete fraud.
Where I was much less keen was in a number of odd directions the show insisted on taking, with Isaac's attempt to deal with the death of Victor by creating a scapegoat. What failed to be explained, unless I missed it, was how Victor's gun got into the possession of Isaac to then allow him to hand it to the barman, so he could shoot himself? I can only conclude he left it at the club when he went to take his flight, but wouldn't they have thrown it away, knowing it was evidence in a murder that was being investigated at that very location?
An interesting extra piece of information we received was that regarding the relationship between Isaac and Victor. It could be that they were father and son, but also that they were lovers, depending on how you read that scene. I'm inclined to think the latter, but it could be the former. If Isaac wasn't so emotionally involved, he'd probably be offering Dexter a job, from a purely business perspective.
If the gun made me wonder, the whole thing with Speltzer's house of fun made me really scratch my head. So he works as a grave digger, but finds multiple properties which he sets out as kill-zones, including one that has at least three, possibly four floors? And, nobody notices in the months it would take him to create. Really? The fact he had two such elaborate ones would suggest he was keen for a real spree, but it also didn't seem that plausible. I also thought it was somewhat out of Dexter's character to run once he had the metal bar, even if Speltzer was more muscular. But then the episode is called Run, so that's what he does.
The method by which Speltzer was ultimately disposed of was a new technique for Dexter, but I do wonder when those who worked in the crematorium would be curious why the system was still warm, and full of ashes, the next morning?
It does however provide an interesting diversion in the destruction of the slide collection, leaving only one glass slide not accounted for, held by LaGuerta. Fun for next week, the trailer reveals.
Again we got to meet Yvonne Strahovski as Hannah, who really has a thing for Dexter it appears, but other than that where this character is going this year seems less obvious. With the very odd dreams that Debra is having and her interest, is this a setup for some jealousy should Dexter start a relationship with Hannah? Maybe. In their conversation was more than an allusion to a whole slew of road movies all inspired by Bonnie and Clyde. I'm really not sure it would be a great idea to take Dexter on a road trip, recalling how the last one he took with his dead brother in Nebraska went.
I've seen other people rave about this episode, but it didn't quite work for me, possibly because it contained plenty of assumptions and some situations that seemed excessively contrived.
The strongest aspect, as it often is in Dexter, was the work of Michael C. Hall, who delivers some new subtle twists to a character that is very familiar to the viewer. The way he declared that he was 'in control' really spoke volumes about the gap between how he sees the world, and how it actually is. And, then the version of him that screams at the restrained Speltzer was really out of any control, to the point that I was convinced he was about to send him into the furnace alive.
Debra might be relieved, and that might make her 'human', but Dexter isn't the best person to make that assessment, and it doesn't really change the fact that he's freaking her out being a serial killer.
For whatever faults Run might have had, it made me want to see episode five very badly, but like everyone else I will have to wait.
Read Billy's review of the previous episode, Buck The Systyem, here.
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