The Kids Leave Town

Dexter S5E02 Review - "Hello, Bandit"

Astor and Cody skip school to visit the house where Rita was murdered.
Image courtesy of Showtime.

This week's episode of Dexter managed to wrap up the loose ends of the previous seasons - most notably by removing Astor and Cody from the picture. That's right, Rita's kids are moving away with their grandparents! It was an interesting move by the writers, and probably the most sensible. After all, with a season of Dexter appearing to go off the edge with his killings, having Astor and Cody to look after as well would put too much strain on Dexter, and the story arc in particular.


Unfortunately, it can also be viewed as a cheap tactic by the writers to "shuffle" away the kids from the show and return Dexter to his true origins. I sincerely hope that they bring the kids back later on in the season to add some more depth and intensity to the last half of the season, and that this isn't simply another cast away of now irrelevant characters.
On another note, it's good to see Dexter on the prowl again after so long - although he almost got caught today by his first new target of the season - the evil roadkill man Boyd Fowler, who appears to have a fascination with blonde haired women. Dexter was merely researching and casing him this episode, so hopefully next week, we will manage to see him brought to justice by Dexter's blade.


Angel's barfight with a civilian was interesting and has managed to bring some life into the rather dull Season 4 Batista/LaGuerta storyline. Hopefully, this new strain on their marriage will make them call it quits and then life can return to normal in the Miami Homicide Department.


Lastly, we come to the Deb/Quinn storyline. Although rather humourous in some parts, it is inevitable that this relationship will only strain relations between Deb and her brother Dexter as Quinn pieces together the true identity of Kyle Butler. Although he hasn't officially figured it out yet, he does have a serious hunch, and it is only a matter of time before Quinn and Dexter come head to head. Will it be another Doakes/Dexter rematch? 


Only time will tell.


Anywho, these are my marks for the second episode of Dexter Season 5:

• Potency of the season's theme in the episode:      *****

• Editing/Scenes of Relevance:      *****

• Main character's effectiveness in role/connection with audience:      ****

• Secondary character's effectiveness in role/connection with audience:      ****

• Music/Visual Effects:      *****

• Potency of all storylines & relationships with characters:      ****

Overall marks:  27 / 30

Grade Percentage: 90% 

Two weeks down, ten weeks to go (and still no sign of Julia Stiles!) I have a strong suspicion that she will most likely appear in the next episode, as my sources say that she makes an appearance in 10 episodes of the season. I am definitely looking forward to next week and i hope that the episode will be just as riveting, if not better than this week's!