Dexter: “Argentina” (Episode 7.08)
“Everyone wants an Argentina, a place where the slate is wiped clean. But the truth is: Argentina is just Argentina.”
Just as Hannah McKay allows the calendar photo of Argentina to entice her with thoughts of “what could have been,” Dexter looks to his childhood posing the very same question. When Dex was a young man, he was coached to kill by his father Harry Morgan. Dexter followed blindly as the criteria for killing was planted firmly into his mind—almost as if this was typical father-son behavior. These elaborate sets of rules were assigned to him, and at the age of 20, Dexter started killing to feed his desire to harm others. But what would have happened if Dexter decided for himself what he did with this desire?
What a standout episode of Dexter this week. Most characters are fumbling around trying to regain their balance—all except for Dexter, who’s in love and gently floating on cloud nine. He can’t control how he feels about Hannah McKay and it’s affecting just about every other part of his life. Dexter refuses to follow Harry’s Code and kill Hannah; when Debra finds out about their relationship, Deb spews out how she’s in love with her step-brother. The keyword here is spew. I imagine I am in the majority here in saying that I hoped this storyline crawled into a hole last season, never to return. A positive to re-exposing her feelings for Dex can hopefully help explain why he didn’t land in prison earlier this season.
Speaking of prison, our favorite Ukrainian mobster Isaak’s release from the slammer has helped put him back in the game: kill Dexter Morgan. This vendetta not only fogs Isaak’s judgment, it also forces the Koshka Brotherhood to put out a hit on him. As the cat (Isaak) and mouse (Dexter) game picks up steam throughout the episode, Dex follows Isaak into a bar—a gay bar. I was captivated by their conversation and how each clever line exposes Isaak’s motivations even more. The drink between these two enemies reveals a few things: 1. It confirms that Isaak and Viktor were lovers. 2. Isaak refuses to give up pursuing Dexter—that is, until he is dead, and 3. love, not killing, is now what fuels both of these men.
During the last few moments of the episode, we see LaGuerta standing beside Dexter’s Slice of Life boat. Her strenuous investigation of the Bay Harbor Butcher case has finally snagged a suspect—and it appears to be glaringly obvious that Dexter is her guy. This storyline has all of a sudden opened my eyes. I am eager to watch this finally develop.
Dexter’s relationship with Hannah is tearing apart his relationship with Debra. She is left feeling vulnerable and very much confused on what the next move needs to be. What we can count on is that Debra will realign herself and determine if she can live with Hannah and Dex being together. Whether she chooses to pursue Hannah or not, one thing is for sure: there’s only room for one of these ladies in Dexter’s life.