‘Dexter: Ricochet Rabbit’ – Recap

Posted Monday, December 5th, 2011 06:00 pm GMT -4 by 0

Michael C. Hall as Dexter MorganPreviously on Dexter, we were shocked (or some of us were) to find that Travis Marshall has been acting alone, and that Geller has been dead and in a freezer the whole time. Deb continues to see a therapist for her issues, Quinn continues to act out after his breakup with Debra, Jamie and Louis are back together and Louis is the buyer of the Ice Truck Killer hand that he took off the market for Masuka. Dexter, who was determined to free Travis of  his dark passenger of Professor Geller, is now stuck with someone who believes the person they killed is still talking to them. How will he react? Will Travis make it to his table? There’s only 2 episodes left this season, if you can believe it, so we only have a short wait to find out!

This week starts where last week left off, with Dexter standing over Geller’s body in the freezer. He realizes that Travis has acted alone, that Geller isn’t real. He looks up to see Travis staring down at him. Dexter yells to him “Travis, you killed Geller!”, which causes him to slam the door shut, leaving Dexter trapped below. Dexter looks out the basement window to see Travis yelling at nothing, although when we turn the angle to what Travis sees, he does see Geller standing in front of him. In a small moment of humor, Harry appears behind Dexter and muses that Travis talks to “Someone who isn’t there.”

As we look in on what Travis sees, Professor Geller shows him exactly where Travis killed him. It was the same way that the murders occurred, with the sword through the chest. Travis was the one who had stolen the sword, and he framed Geller, causing him to be fired. Travis refuses to accept that he killed Geller, believing the sword could not pierce is flesh since they were the two witnesses to the end of the world. Dexter: Edward James Olmos as Professor Geller, Colin Hanks as Travis MarshallGeller told him he thought he was delusional then, and thinks he is now. “You killed me Travis. Then you stuck me in a freezer.” Travis responded with “That didn’t happen. It was him. The false prophet. He killed you. He’s trying to stop what God commanded us to do! I will carry on without you. I will finish what we started.” Then he swears to gather more disciples, and that he doesn’t need Geller anymore.

He walks away, leaving Dexter to think about what his next move will be. He talks to Harry, who chides him for his involvement with Travis in the first place. Brother Sam was right, that putting your faith in the wrong people can “really f*ck you up”, and that from now on Dexter is only putting faith in himself. Harry asks him what he’s going to do about Travis, and saving him. He responds with “The only way to kill the Dark Passenger is to kill the driver. After everything Travis has put me through, he is mine.” Dexter decides he needs to keep Geller “alive” long enough to keep the police off of Travis’ trail, so he cuts off Geller’s hand and places fingerprints around the church. Dexter then goes back to Travis’ hotel room and finds his laptop. He puts a blog post up as Geller, saying that the Devil misled him, and hopes that Travis will respond.

Deb and the homicide team track down the church using the IP address used for the blog. In the church, Deb has a panic attack and has to leave to get air, running into Dexter. Dexter calms her down and they proceed back into the church. There are jars of blood found, and both Travis and Geller’s fingerprints are everywhere. Dexter finds a pill bottle with Travis’ name on it, which Deb takes for evidence. The doctor who prescribed it is named Dr. Benjamin Carlson of Miami. Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan

During this time, Travis is searching for more disciples on his blog, coming across Doomsday_Adam, who has posted an intriguing video to him. He emails him, and leaves a note on the blog post that Dexter posted from Prodigal_son, saying “To the false prophet…You’re not fooling anyone…” He then goes and meets Doomsday_Adam, whose real name is Steve and introduces him to his wife Beth. Both Steve and Beth are willing to become part of Travis’ plan, and Travis decides to test their faith by killing Holly, the woman who was the first “Whore of Babylon” Travis had set free earlier.

By the time Dexter reads Travis’ response to the blog post, it has expanded to say that he is fixing his mistake. Dexter wonders what the mistake might be and realizes that it could be Holly. He goes to stake out her place but finds it empty, so he thinks she’s with her boyfriend Peter, whose address is on a magazine on her nightstand. He goes to Peter’s place to find his uptight teenage daughter throwing a party while Peter is away in Spain or Portugal for the month. She thinks that Holly could be on his yacht.

Before Dexter can make it there though, Travis, Steve and Beth already have, and have taken the boat off the coastline. While Dexter is trying to get away from the office to get to Holly on the yacht, Deb goes over the psych profile sent to her by Dr. Benjamin Carlson. It turns out that Travis had killed his parents by grabbing the wheel and smashing the car into the tree. He also has episodes that have violent tendencies, a master manipulator and delusions of grandeur. There were no signs of parental abuse, which classified him as “a monster from the start.”

Michael C. Hall as Dexter MorganBack on the yacht, Holly is tied up and Travis has come through to tell the others that they are going to kill Holly. Beth tries to back out, but Travis convinces her, saying this will purify Holly’s sins so that she may join them all in paradise. Beth agrees to it, although hesitantly, and Travis slices Holly’s throat while Steve uses the sword and stabs her.

Travis explains that now they have to clean up the mess, which confuses Steve and Beth, but because their work isn’t done they cannot be caught by the police. Travis builds Wormwood, the next of the scenes. Dexter finally gets to the dock where the yacht is missing, and tricks the security guard into leaving his office. He finds out the boat has Sea Tracker on it, and tracks it down.

While he is doing that, Louis gives Angel information on Doomsday_Adam, and he goes to investigate. Quinn has left him alone again, and after leaving him several messages, goes to Steve’s house alone. He talks to Beth, who convinces him that it was just a prank, but as he’s leaving he notices that Professor Geller’s books are lining her bookshelves, but before he can question it Travis attacks him from behind with a crucifix, knocking him unconscious. Travis says that it is a sign from God, that Wormhood needs to take place at Miami Metro Homicide.

On the yacht, Dexter attacks the person cleaning the mess, stabbing him. He think’s its Travis but because he is in a hazmat suit he finds Steve dead in his arms. Angry, he goes outside to the front of the boat where Harry continues to chide him for his involvement. Becoming more and more fed up, Dexter screams at Harry to leave him alone, then leaves an anonymous tip for the police about the yacht and its whereabouts.

This episode is the first episode where we really see Dexter lash out with Harry for making the choice to turn him into a killer, instead of maybe getting him some therapy or learning other ways to cope with his Dark Passenger. I didn’t really include Deb’s story in this recap because I felt it actually drew away from this weeks episode, and didn’t have much to do with the main story which is what I really wanted to focus on. As I’ve said previously, Deb’s story this season lacks something, it just doesn’t have something compelling to keep me interested in it.

So what do you think of Travis’ new awareness of Geller’s death? How do you think these last two episodes will play out? Do you think Dexter is playing too close with the police and will get caught? Is anyone else just shocked that there are only two episodes left?

Did you missed last week’s episode and really want to know what I’m talking about? Check out my ‘Dexter: Get Geller’ recap

  • Kevin

    I got over the shock of how short Dexter’s seasons are a while ago. Now I just grudgingly accept it. It is frustrating to have to wait all year for the story to resume and then to have it end so quickly. On the other hand, it does keep the plot tight and prevents us from having to sit through silly filler episodes.

    David Nevins told Entertainment Weekly that the events leading to the conclusion of the series begin in episode eleven of this season. There are some things from episode ten that could carry over into the next episode that are possible starting points for the final storyline. There is the 911 call. Even though it is anonymous, you have to figure that it is a crucial piece of evidence that the homicide department will investigate. Dexter has called 911 before without being caught even though in the real world he would be. The police have had to be a little bit incompetent in order for Dexter to keep getting away, and the viewer has to suspend disbelief (which is why I never thought Gellar’s ability to walk around without being noticed was out of the ordinary for the show). But in this case, if the endgame begins in the next episode, this is a good possibility for a starting point. Another thing that will definitely tie in with the end game, even if it takes a few episodes, is Dexter’s decision to store Gellar’s hand in the morgue! That stood out like an amputated thumb. It is so out of character and it is obviously a so-called ‘Chekhov’s gun’. Both of these plot points might tie in to intern Louis who is being set up to play an important role in the future. He is the go-to tech guy, so he might be the one who traces the 911 call back to Dexter’s phone and then chooses to keep it a secret because he thinks Dexter and serial killers are cool. Also, he has a known tendency to steal hands related to serial killers from police storage, so he might be the person who finds out about Dexter’s deposit. Another possibility is that the yacht has a security camera, but that might advance the final storyline too quickly.

    • http://twitter.com/1nerdycupcake Jessica Naki

      I’m actually almost hoping that this season just carries on into the next, and Travis doesn’t end up on the table yet. I know that with there only being two seasons left, something big has to happen with Dexter. I think you’re right, Louis has a big part to play in the future, and I really am wondering if they are going to go after Dexter again. 

  • Jem

    The Show is too short and only 2 more episodes left? I’m hoping this story will continue on to the next season.

    I liked this week. I liked how Dexter got so aggravated at being used.
    I think Dexter got careless because of Brother Sam, even though I like him, he gave Dexter faith and Dex put it into the wrong person.
    I don’t want Travis dead, for some reason I don’t want him to end up on the table, but Dexter is in hot pursuit and unfortunately we might get to see it.

    I still like Deb, maybe a little, and you are right, she is being shown away from the main story. She finds out who was with the naked woman in the end, but exactly how will that be filled in the last 2 episodes?
    Also, how will the new intern’s story be filled in 2 episodes? These two stories are impossible to complete, maybe the show (I hope) continues on to the next season.

    ~ Jem

    • http://twitter.com/1nerdycupcake Jessica Naki

      I almost think of it as a good thing with shorter seasons. It means we don’t get “filler” episodes. But at the same time, now we have to what feels like an eternity for another season! There actually is 2 seasons left, you can read about it here: http://sciencefiction.com/2011/11/18/dexter-renewed-for-2-seasons/

      I really like how this season is showing Dexter’s more personal side. While I already feel like I’m connecting to a serial killer, I think this makes it even closer. 

      Part of me really hopes Travis doesn’t end up on the table. Like with Trinity, I don’t want to see him dead so quickly. His story is just so good!

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