Dexter- My Bad (premiere) review

According to the rating for “My Bad,” just about everyone watched this episode. After Rita’s death, Dexter is feeling responsible. He even said, “It was me” when the cops appeared after Dexter’s 911 call. Yeah, way to go Dexter. He is usually smarter than this. Now, we know a psychopath can’t feel guilt, but it seems Dexter is getting as close as he can to feeling it. Dexter, predictably, has trouble coping with looking like he is grieving enough, dealing with the children, making the funeral arrangements, writing a eulogy, cooperating with the FBI investigating Rita’s death, and acting normal.

One of the most awkward parts of this episode was when Dexter told the kids, fresh back from Disney World with a present for Dexter (a hat with ears that said “DEXTER” on it), that their mother was dead. We felt a sort of sick anticipation to see this scene, but it just depressed us. He was very bad at it and matter-of-fact. Astor ran out, and Dexter followed her, trying to comfort her. He actually reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. Astor blamed Dexter for the death and said that she wished he had died instead. It is actually probably good for Dexter to feel guilt and pain, so we weren’t that mad at Astor, but she’d better get a lot nicer, quick. Being really cute can only get you so far.

Dexter decided that all the kids would be better off without him, and attempted to run away. This was actually kind of a responsible idea, but we hated it, and we hoped he would return as soon as possible. His grief and his Dead Dad caught up with him though, causing him to finally cry (Dexter has the weirdest wounded animal cry ever filmed for television) and then return just in time for the funeral. We are certain this made the FBI even more suspicious of Dexter, and he is not the only one. Quinn suspected Dexter, especially when he found out about Dexter’s altercation with his neighbor over Rita. LaGuerta let the FBI have the case, and things got tense when Quinn kept suggestion Dexter as the possible murder to her.

Dexter killed someone in a rage in this episode, right before he went back to his kids. Don't feel bad; he was a jerk. Also, we got to see Rita in a flashback to her first date with Dexter, where he left early to kill someone.

Quinn wasn’t all annoying though. He comforted Deb, so she turned to him for sex to get her through the grieving process. About time. We were surprised these two didn’t hook up right away. But Deb pushed him away immediately after, making us wonder how long it will take to repeat the tryst. Deb was an amazing sister this episode, and we like her more after seeing it. She really didn’t even curse all that much in this episode, although one of us thinks cursing is part of her charm. We wonder if this season is finally the time for Deb to be clued into Dexter’s secret. If Harry supported it, might she not as well?

We always wonder how accurate this show is, in terms of psychology. This episode, especially, made us wonder if it pushed the boundaries of what sociopaths are actually able to feel. But we are no experts. Decent premiere.

Episode Grade- B