Dexter: Duplicity, Double Crosses and Double Wides

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Let's just say Dexter's life is in overdrive. The past two episodes, "Return to Sender" and "Circle of Friends", have shifted the emphasis from Dexter as Dark Avenger to Dexter as Serial Killer Covering His Tracks. The eyes peering from the broken trunk lock turned out to belong to a Cuban refugee child who, fortuitously enough for Dexter, spoke no English, and was still possessed with a dreamy sense of wonder.

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That shouldn't imply that Dexter was his usual cool and collected self in "Return to Sender." He spends most of the episode sweating bullets, as well he should, considering Valerie Castillo, the coyote wife he didn't have time to properly dispose of has resurfaced on the very killing table in the very trailer where she met her demise. While I said in the previous post bodies tend to not stay submerged forever, this was unexpected. Dexter quickly surmises that the Ice Truck Killer must have placed her back at the scene of the crime.

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For the first time, we see the usually unflappable Dexter begin to unravel, at least internally. "Nothing lasts forever," he muses. "Just ask a Ford Pinto." On the one hand, he's resigned to the fact that he, like all serial killers, will be caught. On the other, his predatory instincts convince him that he has a little more killing to do before that time comes. Complicating that is the fact that the Ice Truck Killer has seemingly double crossed him. What had been mutual, if twisted, admiration for each other's work has been transformed into a set-up to destroy Dexter.

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Deb isn't helping matters either, as she constructs a spot on profile of the dead woman's killer. Dexter knows it's a matter of time before he's found out, and his thoughts turn to Rita, and the effect it will have on her and the kids. Rita, meanwhile, gets a call from the ex, out of prison and wanting to reestablish ties with the family.

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Dexter doesn't know this, of course-- he's busy dumping the tools of his trade, and anything else that might expose him, into the deep blue. It's an oddly poignant moment, as we watch him fondly reviewing his slide collection. When he comes across Valerie's slide, he finds a smiley face has been etched into the blood. Dexter realizes that his "friend" has given him a hint as to how to extricate himself.

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Desperate times call for desperate measures, and even though it violates one of the tenets of Harry's Code, Dexter uses a bit of the blood to implicate the husband in her murder. Since he lies in pieces at the bottom of the ocean, he'll never be found. Dexter lives to kill again.

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But killing is not what Dexter is really about. The genius of the series lies in its ability to empathise with the emotions that drive Dexter. For someone who claims to feel nothing, he nonetheless involves himself in the lives of everybody who surrounds him. Sure, a case could be made that it's just part of a sociopathic nature, but it goes deeper with Dexter. As "Circle of Friends" illustrates, this is a character who desperately wants to connect, despite his inner dialogue to the contrary.

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Dexter has a lot on his plate this go-around. Deb and Angel have apparently tracked down the Ice Truck Killer, and it turns out he's a nondescript taxidermy hobbyist, who lives in an aluminum double wide mobile home. Dexter cannot believe this turn of fate, and neither can LaGuerta-- both expected something a bit more imposing from the notorious killer. Still, the suspect, Neil Perry, knows things only the Killer could know, including details on how he drained their blood. It's an airtight case, especially after a search of his double-wide uncovers photos of all the victims.

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As if that weren't enough, Jeremy, the teen murderer Dexter spared in Episode Three is back, and he hasn't heeded Dexter's admonishments. This time, he's killed a high school student because he wanted to "feel something different." Doakes and crew quickly arrest him, but before he's arraigned, he commits suicide. Taken out of context, this would be only filler, but the scenes between Dexter and Jeremy, dialogues centering on the isolation and emptiness they have in common, subtly advance the direction the direction the series appears to be heading.

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Meanwhile, Rita's ex, Paul, has returned, and is determined to reestablish his role as the "alpha male" in the kids' lives. Given that he is a wife abuser, this means his agenda is to reestablish his role as a wife beater, as well. Rita knows this full well, and mutters she wishes he would "just go away forever." Since Dexter has already bent Harry's Code, that could very easily happen before the season's end.

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Early on in this episode, there's a seemingly throwaway scene in which a party is thrown for Tucci to celebrate his newly acquired artificial limbs. I say "seemingly" because nothing is throwaway in Dexter. We're introduced to the doctor who fitted Tucci with the prostheses, and learn that his mother lost both legs in an auto accident. He wanted to put her back together, "but the pieces wouldn't fit." Deb finds him fascinating, as do we, but for different reasons.

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Despite all the evidence against Perry, I think it's safe to assume he's not the Ice Truck Killer. In a cliffhanger ending, Dexter finally confronts his alleged nemesis. Perry looks at him blankly, and says, "Who the fuck are you?"

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With only five more episodes left before the end of the twelve episode run, the tension is building. We know Dexter will preservere, since Showtime has announced the series will be back for a second season. In the meantime, things are getting--pardon the pun--dicey.

How to Revive a Dinosaur

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These are trying times for NBC. Only a couple of years ago, the network was the undisputed Goliath among the broadcast TV networks, with shows like Friends, ER, Frasier and the various Law and Order franchises dominating the prime time ratings. Of late, though, NBC has fallen to third place on the ratings totem pole, below CBS and ABC. And while new seies such as the phenomenal Heroes may signal a reversal of the network's fortunes, execs there are conceding "must see TV" ain't what it used to be.

Last month, NBC announced sweeping realignments that included major cutbacks in their news department, as well as a shift in their primetime strategy. The opening 8PM (EST) slot will be relegated to game shows along the lines of Deal or No Deal, and low cost reality series. It's a risky gambit at best. While lower cost programming may increase ad revenue in the short term, it could place the Peacock in a precarious position. By eliminating sitcoms and dramas from the opening slot, the network may find itself scrambling for a series potent enough to stand on its own without a strong lead-in.

NBC Universal remains undaunted, however. Their new business plan, dubbed NBCU 2.0, recognizes the limitations of broadcast TV in the new landscape of ad revenue, and refocuses the network's direction to the frontier of digital distribution. “Success in this business means quickly adjusting to and anticipating change. This initiative is designed to help us exploit technology and focus our resources, as we continue our transformation into a digital media company for the 21st century,” said Bob Wright, chairman and CEO of NBC U, in an official press release.

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A part of that transformation was the November 9 launch of DotComedy, a broadband channel drawing on NBC's "rich heritage of comedy," according to Jeff Gaspin, President, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content and Cross-Network Strategy. ( I have to wonder. . . can he actually remember that entire title?) While the content of the site is hardly groundbreaking, it may afford a glimpse into the future of network television. All the networks, including the basic cable outlets such as Comedy Central and the Cartoon Network, have utilized the Internet to promote their product for some time now, even offering full episodes of series via the Web. But with DotComedy, NBC Digital has upped the ante, offering original programming exclusive to the Internet.

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I've been casually poking about DotComedy for the past week, and it looks promising. Mind you, I said promising, not great. True, it does offer some original programming, ranging from the puerile ("Double Dragon") to the slapstick ("Easter Bunny Begins") to the outright funny "The Quest for Length") in its "Digital Shows" section. That's offset, though, by the "TV and Movies" page, which exists as a promo for SNL and upcoming Universal theatrical comedy releases. "Stand Up Straight" serves up, as one might expect, stand-up comedy clips, and "Totally Viral" is a smorgasboard of videos in the vein of YouTube. "Sitcom Flashback", I think, has the potential to lure repeat visits. Besides episodes of old standbys Leave It to Beaver and The Munsters, it goes deeper into the archives to offer episodes from cult classics like Dream On and Significant Others. There's also a "User Made" section, parked for now, vacant now, as it awaits submissions.

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Bearing in mind that DotComedy is taking its first faltering steps, it's not too shabby. NBC is promising more original content before year's end, as well as clips from David Letterman's years there, among other classic comedy from their extensive vaults. It's evolving, slowly but surely, as it updates daily. Its success or failure hinges on just how far the network execs are willing to take it. If they play it safe, DotComedy has little chance of succeeding. With bandwidth and time at a premium, Web users are unlikely to make the site a destination location. Done properly, however, it has the potential to pioneer the convergence of traditional and digital delivery of entertainment.

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That convergence, which has been talked about for years, but never realized, translates into an entirely new platform from which advertisers can hawk their wares. And it's something for which they've been clamoring for at least the past decade. The decline in profits that traditional broadcast and print media have fallen victim to can be directly attributed to their reliance on time-worn methods of doing business. By extension, it helps to explain why profits are down almost across the board for manufacturers and retailers nationwide.

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What NBC has done with DotComedy is open a new vista that could potentially have an unparallelled effect on media as we currently think of it. By putting their brand on a stand alone internet venture (albeit still a promotional tool for the parent company), they've taken the pioneering step of cross-referencing media. Whether DotComedy succeeds is almost irrelevant. A floodgate has been opened, and the convergence of media is set to sail.

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