Is there anything more entertaining than watching Dexter’s mannerisms before a kill? Sometimes they’re filled with an abundance of rage, while other times he mocks the victim in a humorous kind of way. The episode “Run” supplied us with dangerously exhilarating moments between the abhorrent Ray Speltzer and the always-elusive Dexter Morgan. Before we get too invested into the mind (Dexter) vs. body (Speltzer) showdown, let’s go over a few items I feel are important.
The beautiful Hannah McKay has reappeared in an effort to close the Wayne Randall case. Hannah’s lawyer convinced her that helping Miami Metro find the bodies from the lovers’ killing spree would greatly benefit her. At times, Hannah poses like she’s deeply wounded from her past actions with Randall, but her facial expressions and curiosity in Dexter tell a different story—it’s almost as if retracing the steps of the murders is sentimental to her. I question her innocence, do you? I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the future episodes circle wildly around her and Dexter—perhaps in a romantic sense.
Debra is still conflicted. While she’s attempting to accept Dexter for who he is, she is constantly straddling both anger and understanding towards his Dark Passenger. She questions the death of Rita, Dexter’s right to have custody of his son Harrison, and whether or not things could ever be the same between her and her brother. I tend to agree with Debra when she mentions that, “like a magnet,” bad things will always find Dexter. Even when he’s been able to escape a critical situation, remnants of those scenarios often come back to haunt him in some other capacity (Rita’s death, Travis Marshall’s blood slide and Doakes’ death to name a few). As much as Dexter wants to believe he has control of everything, he doesn’t—it doesn’t work that way.
Isaak, the mob boss of the Koshka Brotherhood, is intelligent and physically superior to Dex. What started as a painful distraction to the main plot is sure to turn into a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. More relevant to this episode is that Isaak has finally revealed the motive behind avenging the death of Viktor Baskov. He and Viktor were lovers. Or so it seems. As far as the threat that’s relevant to this episode, we move back to Ray Speltzer.
For Ray’s victims, he drops them into a maze to induce panic and provoke them to run. The thrill for Ray is chasing down his victims while dressed up like a bull—or Minotaur-themed creature (good catch, readers). While Ray is probably more accustomed to preying on women, Dexter offers a different kind of victim—one that thinks like a killer. Dex is able to escape the maze and retreat home to develop a counterattack.
Ray’s lack of intelligence lands him on Dex’s table later that evening. Dexter mocks Ray’s aggressive ways in what may have been the best scenes of this season—funny and creepy. Not only does Dexter burn the body of the “bull,” but he also says goodbye to his toys—the blood slides. Just like young Harrison saying goodbye to his old toys, Dex has to shed some of his too. The blood slides are far too dangerous to have, and he knows he’ll need to evolve as a killer if he has a chance to restore the balance to his life.
“Goodbye, friends.”
Things to keep an eye on:
-Is Quinn in too deep?
-What should we expect from Hannah McKay?