Dexter and Harrison bond over shared interests during a very New Blood Christmas
Episode 9, "The Family Business," finds Dexter finally giving Harrison "the talk"
TV Reviews Harrison
Dexter Morgan has never taken naturally to parenting. As much as he talks about being grateful for this second chance to be a father to Harrison, when it comes to being a dad, Dexter’s aptitude has never quite caught up to his ambition. He barely knows where Harrison is half the time, and his interest in his son’s life only crests when Dexter gets another hint at their shared bloodlust. But there’s one parental edict Dexter has effortlessly incorporated into his new life: Do as I say, not as I do.
“The Family Business” finds Dexter giving into the temptation that has been slowly consuming him all season, the temptation to steer Harrison onto the same path that Harry once showed him. The problem is that nothing Dexter has done since ending his streak of abstinence resembles anything from Harry’s code. He’s tried to keep to the part about not getting caught, but he’s been extremely sloppy even in that regard. His sloppiness and lack of discipline have gotten him into all kinds of trouble, hence his delayed effort to get rid of Elric Kane’s body. Yet somehow, he thinks he’s in a position to teach Harrison how to carry on a proud tradition he barely adheres to himself.
Or maybe “proud tradition” isn’t quite accurate, considering the episode begins with Dexter still trying to ashamedly keep Harrison in the dark about the full extent of his former life. After rescuing Harrison from Kurt Caldwell and his rifle, Dexter sits Harrison down by the fire and recounts the tale of Wiggles the Clown, a previously unseen child murderer Dexter dispatched. Dexter walks him through the process one step at a time, but when it’s time to actually do the deed, Ghost Deb (whose function has gotten increasingly murky) convinces him to pull back. “You’re like Batman,” says Harrison, in the episode’s first but not last comparison to Bruce Wayne. “Pretty much,” says Dexter, leaving out the bit about how his vigilantism is far from bloodless.
But that act can’t last since, contrary to Dexter’s wishful thinking, Kurt Caldwell didn’t actually skip town following the dust-up at Kurt’s cabin. Instead, he shows up at Angela’s place with gifts in hand, since it’s Christmas after all. Kurt feigns good tidings for Dexter and they lob barely veiled insults at each other. Once Dexter and Harrison know Kurt still represents a live threat, they set about neutralizing him beginning with a survey of Kurt’s cabin using the drone Kurt gave to Harrison way back when. They discover a vent not apparently connected to anything, and when they go to investigate it, they find a hatch leading to all the work Kurt has been doing all season and for years before.
Inside the hatch is Kurt’s embalming and restoration workroom, and further back is a collection of Kurt’s victims that is part crypt and part wax museum. Dozens of bodies of young women are expertly preserved, each in her own standing display case, including the body of popular podcaster Molly Park. Once Harrison has seen his former mentor’s life’s work, he knows that a bloodless confrontation would be enough. “You killed Wiggles,” says Harrison, a line that apparently isn’t supposed to be hilarious. And at long last, against the pointless protests of Ghost Deb, Dexter confesses the whole truth to Harrison. He kills murderers so they’ll never be able to kill again.
The opportunity to demonstrate the family business comes quickly, just as soon as Kurt and the Morgan-Lindsays are finished trading places. Because while Dexter and Harrison have been coming after Kurt, Kurt’s been coming after them too. He shows up at Dexter’s cabin, sprays fuels all over it, and sets it ablaze, planning to shoot Dexter and Harrison when they rush out of the fire. Naturally, that doesn’t happen because this is a very stupid plan, and Kurt’s phone informs him via trip-wire security system that his inner sanctum has been breached. As Kurt is rushing to pack a bug-out bag and skip town, Dexter shows up with his syringe and prepares to show Harrison the next steps of the protocol.
As is often the case with Dexter, the episode gets most interesting when it’s time for Dexter to put his prey on the table and give the last rites. These scenes are usually a duet between Dexter and the Big Bad, but Harrison’s presence is a game-changer. Harrison insists on watching the whole ugly ritual, even though Dexter gives him multiple opportunities to look away, and he doesn’t seem thrilled about how the proverbial sausage is made. For one thing, Kurt mentions that Dexter killed Matt, which is probably not something Harrison wanted to hear from Kurt if he was going to hear it at all. Dexter hastens to add that Matt fits the code, and Kurt is totally confused upon finding out that this was Dexter’s pretext for killing Matt all along.
That beat is especially important because while Harrison is trying to figure out if Dexter is actually following the code, he’s also trying to figure out if the code is even worth following. Dexter hacks up Kurt’s body, and as the pool of blood comes rushing toward him, Harrison has traumatic flashbacks to his “born in blood” moment. It’s a terrific sequence thanks in large part to the sound design full of the wet, frictional sounds of carnage clean-up. Harrison wouldn’t be the first to consciously avoid the family business, and his reaction to Dexter’s handiwork makes him appear on the precipice of rejecting Dexter’s example. After all this time spent thinking Dexter was trying to reject him, Harrison may actually be the one to reject Dexter.
Stray observations
- Angela spends the entirety of yet another episode running down her suspicions about Dexter and checking up on Molly, whose disappearance is understandably concerning. Angela will undoubtedly suspect Dexter is responsible for it, having heard her Bay Harbor Butcher episode, and in fairness to Angela, Dexter only spared Molly because Kurt interrupted him.
- Angela, I need you to make Dexter and Harrison stay at the lodge. Just tell Audrey she’s not allowed to live with her boyfriend and leave it at that.
- Speaking of Angela’s research, apparently Dexter has been administering his knockout juice via wide-bore cannula all this time. That’s the only explanation for these gnarly-ass injection holes he leaves behind.
- I can’t get over how absolutely stupid Kurt’s plan was. So, in this tiny, remote cabin, Dexter and Harrison weren’t going to hear him pull up in a fuel truck and direct a high-pressure stream of it onto the front porch? All that was going to happen while they were still inside?
- I’m also bugged by Kurt’s trip-wire alarm system. Seems like if you’re hiding dozens of bodies you need a more active security system because a camera can only tell you that someone has already found the dozens of bodies you’re hiding.
- Also, it should occur to Harrison that Kurt doesn’t fit the code either. If the idea is to take out people who have eluded the justice system, maybe devise a way to alert the cops to the Caldwell Evidence Museum and let the system work before you get all stabby.
- We now have confirmation that there were “hundreds” of serial killers all concentrated in the Miami area, including Wiggles, the killer clown from outer Dade.
70 Comments
“I can’t get over how absolutely stupid Kurt’s plan was. So, in this tiny, remote cabin, Dexter and Harrison weren’t going to hear him pull up in a fuel truck and direct a high-pressure stream of it onto the front porch? All that was going to happen while they were still inside?”You could make a drinking game out of everytime someone in this series arrived to a spot they were doing recon/sneaking up on a person in their loud ass vehicle and the only reason they didn’t get caught was because the person was unexpectedly not home. I counted 3 times in the past two episodes.
“Angela, I need you to make Dexter and Harrison stay at the lodge. Just tell Audrey she’s not allowed to live with her boyfriend and leave it at that.”Wasn’t she pissed at Harrison for being in bed with her daughter like two episodes ago? And wasn’t said daughter avoiding him? Also, lady, you’re 75% sure your boyfriend is a serial killer with a body count that would make Bundy blush, maybe skip the holiday festivities? You’re a cop, you’ve already got a go-to excuse that you’re busy with work.
Weren’t Dex and her practically broken up? I was surprised when they were together here, I have no recollection of them making up.
OK episode, I agree with the “B” rating, mostly because of the scenes with MCH and Jack Alcott. Now, Mr Krabs deserved a more developed character than the guy who snaps and “I’m gunna set you cabin on fire and shoot you when you try to escape!”, just like when he suddenly decided to shoot Harrison on the last episode. Did Showtime run out of funds to pay the writers after the fantastic table scene? It almost like they gave up on the character after that.
Regarding letting the system take care of of Kurt after finding the “Caldwell Evidence Museum,” to me it was obvious Dexter wanted to take care of Kurt himself in part because he didn’t want Caldwell to spill the beans on “Jimbo” killing Matt (though that didn’t work out that well either!).Also, I actually felt bad for Molly, even though I hated her character early on before she somewhat redeemed herself.
Regarding letting the system take care of of Kurt after finding the “Caldwell Evidence Museum,” to me it was obvious Dexter wanted to take care of Kurt himself in part because he didn’t want Caldwell to spill the beans on “Jimbo” killing Matt (though that didn’t work out that well either!).Bingo, that was 100% the reason. Can’t leave loose ends like that, though the letter pretty much screwed that (pun intended).
I have no idea how this will end, part of me thinks the sheriff would be OK with Dexter being the BHB (since he only killed serial killers), but another part of me thinks she’ll end up on the table(code or not). She’s got enough evidence to do something already, at least to hold him while they get more.
Is Matt’s body still under his fire pit? Seems like the arson of his home would cause that to be uncovered pretty easily (“Well the fire started from the pit…”, etc..).
I think it’s all going to end with Dexter and Harrison hitting the road, eluding the law once again. Will there be another season? I’ve enjoyed this one, but I think it’s time to end Dexter’s tale.
Yea, I’d love for them to end it on a high note with a solid one-off season like this. Money talks though, studio execs may green-light a spin off or continuation given the good reception.
Matt’s body went into the incinerator, that’s where Kurt found the screws from his leg.
True. Makes me wonder if Dexter will go back and check after doing the same with Kurt’s body lol.
it feels like a single pin like that with no context is useless as blackmail material, or am I missing something?
“I have no idea how this will end, part of me thinks the sheriff would be OK with Dexter being the BHB (since he only killed serial killers), but another part of me thinks she’ll end up on the table(code or not). She’s got enough evidence to do something already, at least to hold him while they get more.”I don’t think Dexter would do that—-remember, he was ready to turn himself in to save Doakes before Lila blew him up and solved the whole thing. If he does, though, it would give Harrison the nudge he needs to bump off his father.
Is Matt’s body still under his fire pit? Seems like the arson of his home would cause that to be uncovered pretty easily (“Well the fire started from the pit…”, etc..).That occurred to be as well, but then I remembered Dexter had incinerated his body, leaving the titanium screws behind for Kurt.
Yea, I’m an idiot. I knew that lol.
no Matt’s body was burned in Smoke Signals.
Regarding letting the system take care of of Kurt after finding the “Caldwell Evidence Museum,” to me it was obvious Dexter wanted to take care of Kurt himself in part because he didn’t want Caldwell to spill the beans on “Jimbo” killing Matt (though that didn’t work out that well either!).
I don’t disagree that Dexter wanted Kurt for himself, but it could be argued that Kurt did already slip out of the system when Angela brought him in for her Iris’ death.
“You’re like Batman,” says Harrison, in the episode’s first but not last comparison to Bruce Wayne. “Pretty much,” says Dexter, leaving out the bit about how his vigilantism is far from bloodless.Have you seen Batman?
I think that there are a lot of series where the ‘big bad’ is defeated in the penultimate episode, and then the last episode is repercussion time/setup for next season. But yeah, Mr. Krabs went down pretty quickly for the great villain he was being set up as.Obviously, the letter was a nod back to Trinity when Dexter thought he’d won then only to come back and find Rita. You’d think by now he’d realize that people can indeed hurt him from beyond the grave since it happened once, horrifically, already.There was a moment where I thought Harrison was going to do a “this is too messed up, i’m not like Dad” turn as Dexter was carving up what was left of Kurt, but sadly, the writers didn’t take that chance.I have a feeling that the finale next week is unfortunately going to be another “Dexter gets away with it” ending. I wish the showrunners would show some gumption and have Dexter get caught, arrested, or killed. But I’m not optimistic.One thing that did bother me was that Dexter and Harrison went over to the house with presents and planned Christmas, when last we saw, they were both pretty much on the outs with their significant others. That seemed really weird.
One thing that did bother me was that Dexter and Harrison went over to the house with presents and planned Christmas, when last we saw, they were both pretty much on the outs with their significant others. That seemed really weird.They apparently had time to make amends while Kurt was murdering and embalming Molly. Enough time to buy shitty presents, even!
I guess the question is if they’re setting up a Harrison sequel series or not. Him killing Dexter by “the code” (probably because of the, ugh, podcaster uncovering whatever) then Dexter becomes the Harrison’s own nagging ghost seems like where this is heading to me. Or at least that’s what most shows would do, Dexter has been known to defy expectations but in the most lame and half-assed ways.
I think they’re setting this up to have another season so I expect that it’ll somehow reach status quo by next episode; in a super silly way I can’t think of. Like Angela will suddenly somehow think dexter is not the “BHB”
There was a moment where I thought Harrison was going to do a “this is too messed up, i’m not like Dad” turn as Dexter was carving up what was left of Kurt, but sadly, the writers didn’t take that chance.
I almost thought they were going to go that route, especially as Kurt’s spiel about the thrill of the hunt, the ritual, etc. seemed to have an obvious parallel with The Code and Dexter’s kill room… but nothing really came of it. I suppose there’s the angle that Kurt’s process is clearly more brutal while Dexter’s is more about taking out people like Kurt, but I’m not sure how this will play out. My only guess is that Dexter may go after Angela, who is innocent, and it becomes apparent to Harrison that Don’t Get Caught in the code has a questionable logical end point.
With the letter… I’m so confused as to how that screw could possibly be connected to Dexter. Like… if that’s the only evidence, that’s about the flimsiest evidence possible.
Agreed. Unless the screws have Dexter’s fingerprints on them.
are those screws the ones Dexter had? He was looking for another one but I don’t think he found it.
Oh, I don’t know. How many screws did this dude have in his leg?!
I assume the resolution to all this is going to be that people will think Kurt killed his own son and tried to frame Dexter for it.
Dexter moving around pretty well for a guy who just got shot in the leg!
Remember that he was still doing pretty well RIGHT AFTER being shot. The guy probably walked 10 miles. Not to mention the hillbilly seemed to be losing him at times! How is that even possible? Ask the writers!
Damn that’s right! I totally forgot that even happened. Yeeesh
So did the writers, so don’t worry.
We now have confirmation that there were “hundreds” of serial killers all concentrated in the Miami area, including Wiggles, the killer clown from outer Dade.’If it was anywhere else I’d call that number unlikely but I’ll believe any amount of serial killers live in Florida. “Hundreds” seems kind of low, honestly, I’d expect it to be somewhere in the millions. Also leave it to Dexter to air their Christmas episode on the exact night when most of us have had about all the Christmas we can possibly take for a season.
I think any large metro area has many, if not hundreds of serial killers. Any serial killer smart enough to vary his routine or victim profile is unlikely to be identified. We just catch the ones that are incapable of varying their routine. Cops have probably caught serial killers without even knowing it, because they fucked up one kill. But, serials who vary their routine, plan ahead, and are calm, cool and collected can kill indefinitely.
Technology is making it harder to stay out from under the radar, but there are probably hundreds of truck drivers with double, or triple digit body counts, just to name one profession that is easy to kill from. A former job of mine employed a serial killer before I worked there, and from all accounts he was a complete fucking moron, but he was smart enough to pick black sex workers as his target, since cops are always completely disinterested in the disappearance of black sex workers. He only got caught by accident, but even being a moron I think he still got into double digits.
Did you work with Gary Leon Ridgway???
No, it was this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maury_TravisHe was gone before I worked there, but people who worked with him still talked about him. The article mentions that he worked at a hotel, but he also worked at a Ferguson grocery store where he kidnapped several women from the parking lot under the guise of offering them a ride home.Sorry if I gave the impression he was a truck driver, I was just using truck drivers as an example of an easy job to kill from if you do a halfway decent job of covering your tracks.
Forgot the source, but last I read on it I thought what was said is that there are fewer murders in general while there has been an increase in expected serial killers (both on a per capita basis). The technology to track a killer and knowledge on how to get away with it have improved, resulting in a lack of known personal connection and enough mental stability to execute such a plan without being over confident being the keys. However, 99.999% of people simply don’t want to kill other people, so there likely won’t be any exponential growth in serial killings anyways.
No more unlikely than a serial killer living in a city of 3500 people and killing 270 of them.
I’m not certain how obvious the parallel was when Dexter was giving his diatribe to Kurt about how he was just a murderer who enjoyed the feelings of power over his victims while carrying the guise of “saving” people. It seemed very deliberate wording especially when the writers decided to use “saving” as Mr. Krabs’ motivation, but it wouldn’t be the first time this show appeared to have self-awareness of its titular character’s grey morality despite actually having none at all
“and in fairness to Angela, Dexter only spared Molly because Kurt interrupted him”…uh, no?
I don’t know what the reviewer was smoking with this one. Dexter went after Molly to save her from Kurt.
YES! I think he wanted to say that Kurt only spared Molly because of Dexter’s? Looks like he misplaced the names!
yeah not really; he wasn’t really planning on killing her. Although he thought about letting Kurt do it.
My assumption has always been that this is a one-off series which will end with Dexter caught, convicted and strapped to the electric chair, possibly with a smile of relief on his face. That’s certainly how I read Michael C. Hall’s comments justifying the reboot — we screwed up the finale first time round, so here’s another go.
I’d be a bit disappointed if Dexter were to get away with it *again*. But hey – anything with Julia Jones gets my vote, so bring on Dexter: Slightly Less Fresh Blood.
Well looks like I was wrong about Olsen unless they plan a last minute twist to set up a new season. Honestly it seems like they forgot about him entirely. Definitely feels like something got cut from the plan for the season – winder if it was a causality of covid or some other issue.
What about Chekhov’s billionaire?
Kurt rocking up at the cabin with a big truck filled with gas was such an eye rolling moment the episode didn’t recover from it, for me at least. MCH, Clancy and the kid playing Harrison put in great performances but the writing on this show is just awful. Such a shame, they had a real chance to exorcise that dreadful eighth season but this is no better imo.
It took me way too long to figure out he was spraying the porch with gas as opposed to hosing it down water to freeze so some Home Alone hijinks could ensue. I’m not sure the actuality was much better to be honest.
Maybe Dexter was the kid from home alone all along who acquired a taste for blood and torture
I can’t stop picturing this now and I’m literally dead.
Unless they drop the ball on the finale next week, this is far and away better than Season 8 which had no quality episodes at all.Its not on a level with 1, 2, or 4, but i’d put it up against the decent remaining seasons (5, 7) any day.I think given the time that has passed we tend to forget how bad Season 8 was.
That was peak unimaginative, lazy Dexter bullshit, reminiscent of S8, especially with one episode to go, and with decent character build up until the table scene in the previous episode. I can only imagine Clancy Brown thinking “WTF is this?!” when he read the script.
Please don’t turn them into serial killer Batman and Robin. That would be another ridiculous evasion of Dexter answering for any of his choices.
The only major question I had is that when the hell did Kurt managed to snatch and kill Molly? I must have missed something because that was quite a twist I didn’t see coming. At least Angela have taken up her mantle with investigating Bay Harbor Butcher case and making connection with Dexter.Also, it should occur to Harrison that Kurt doesn’t fit the code either. If the idea is to take out people who have eluded the justice system, maybe devise a way to alert the cops to the Caldwell Evidence Museum and let the system work before you get all stabby.This was brought up in the very episode already. Dexter and Harrison agreed that Kurt have already gotten away with a murder earlier in the season and that the police would 1) may not agree with them that Kurt is the serial killer (though Angela might) and if they did, this would leads to 2) asking awkward questions about how they would know about Kurt being serial killer, which would force them to reveal about themselves.All in all, I really enjoyed this episode, even though it kind of arrived bit too little too late. At least these revelations to Harrison are earned and Dexter finally got his bonding moment with his son, though I am interested in seeing if Harrison would adopt his Code or reject it altogether or tweak it to fit his morals. With Angela onto Dexter, its only matter of time before he got caught and revealed to be Bay Harbor Butcher, at least that’s what the teaser suggests for next week.I am glad that for all intent and purpose (so far…), this New Blood season is far better than Season 5, 6 and 8 (which are pretty low bar, though). I hope they stick the landing for the finale (season or series?)
“The only major question I had is that when the hell did Kurt managed to snatch and kill Molly?”One thing I hope they don’t end up doing is having Harrison discover that Dexter actually killed Molly for exposing him. That would be horrendous for 2 reasons: 1. It would be completely inconsistent with Dexter’s character, as he was going to give himself up to save Doakes in the OG series, and 2. It would mean that he should have killed Angela as well.THAT would be an ending that would actually top “Lumberjack Dexter” in the pantheon of awfulness.
1 or 2 episodes prior, you do see Kurt waiting for Molly (more like stalking her in his truck). It was pretty clear from the get go that he would try to kidnap and eventually kill her. I didn’t think she was dead though! But once they did enter the little museum, I knew she got to be there.
When Dexter was hacking up frozen Elric, I was disappointed that he didn’t say anything about the Ice Truck Killer, Brian Moser. He even mentioned the convenience of no blood, over a close-up of a severed limb that looked exactly like Biney’s work.Hey, I can’t help it. The Ice Truck Killer is my favorite Dexter Big Bad; even Trinity can only come in second. That scene in Dex’s biological father’s house when “Rudy” and Deb jumped up on the furniture and played air guitar to “Slow Ride” might be my favorite of the entire series. I would have greeted a flashback to him more warmly (see what I did there?) even than Angel’s appearance in the story.
Up until Harrison had his mini-panic attack induced by his flashback, I was 99% sure the season will end up with Dexter dead or in prison, and the final line of the series would be Harrison, stalking his first victim on his own, doing a voiceover of the line “Tonight’s the night…”
It might have been slightly cliched, but it definitely would have been better than letting Dexter get away with everything yet again.I think the only way they can end this right is either Harrison forced to kill Dexter, Dexter forced to kill Harrison (though they don’t have anywheres near enough time left to set THAT up), Harrison turns Dexter in for prison.I’m not up on the ratings, so I don’t know if they’ve gotten enough viewers to call for another season, but it is Showtime, they’ve wanted to reboot Dexter for a while, so I’d imagine the series is going to go on in some form.
The most logical thing for Dexter to do is immediately flee Iron Lake with Harrison and start a new life, again. But since it’s the most logical thing, the show will almost certainly not do it. Angela is obviously extremely suspicious of him, his house burned down… what is even left of his life? Maybe if they did more character work with their relationship, or established that Dexter likes his new life, Dexter staying might make a tiny bit of sense. Instead, it seems like he’s pretty definitively “fallen off the wagon” and cares about murdering more than anything (for example him killing the drug dealer, where he literally raced the cops to be the one to do it, even though it meant he couldn’t do his whole ritual). I’d imagine leaving Angela and a menial job at a hunting store would be a small price to pay, especially when your son seems ready to tag along.
Oh boy, I think Harrison’s going to get rid of poor Angela next episode. Dexter when faced with possibly killing his son can’t do it, so they hit the road.
Am I the only one to feel like Deb is completely useless? She was SO annoying during this ep. My god. Why is she even here in the first place?! In some eps, she is barely around!
I kept thinking Molly would somehow still be alive in her glass case and would jump out after Dex and Harrison killed Clancy Brown. Which wouldn’t make much sense, but hey it’s Dexter.
it could be like in Altered Carbon lol
The killing scene was really sinister and fucked up. Dexter is usually a goofy show but yeah this is definitely not the way you heal a traumatized kid. I hope next episode will reflect on that.
Kurt’s plan was dumb, but Kurt always came across as kind of dumb to be honest. He had a blunt and brazen approach and hid in plain sight most of the time. Dexter has been out of practice so he probably wouldn’t have been up to taking down a wilier antagonist. A stupid but physically intimidating villain with a lot of resources was challenge enough. I think Angela is going to let Dexter and Harrison go. Kurt’s lair will be exposed. She will be enraged by the discovery and that he eluded justice for so long and find a way to be okay with what Dexter did, and has been done in the past. As an indigenous person she is no stranger to injustice and understands better than most the ways the system can let society down. She might even find the video evidence of Dexter going down the ladder and disposes of it. I don’t think Harrison is going to reject Dexter, or worse, take him out. I thought their last scene by the incinerator made it clear he has no reservations about Dexter’s code, and going back to feeling alone would be too much to bear.
New to the comments, but have we established why there is an open-to-the-public incinerator in Iron Lake that scatters its ash downtown and yet draws no attention?
“the code” was never about justice for Dexter. It was about justification. Harry exploited Dexter’s homicidal tendencies for what he thought to be justice. But Dexter, in theory, is just a serial killer who needs his appetite quelled.
Moments like having Angel show up at that convention and Kurt driving up with a fuel tank remind me how thin the line between enjoyable stupid and incredibly mind-blowingly incompetent is that this show has always been on both sides of simultaneously. Seriously some of the LaGuerta storylines were so terribly written and acted they wouldn’t have made it on Passions, why shouldn’t I expect the same from the reboot?
If it doesn’t snow again before they find Kurt’s lair, how will Dexter explain the SxS tracks leading from his house and back again?
I guarantee no writer thought about that at all.The only reason they give consequences to anything that happens is when they write themselves into a corner and have to go back to a previous episode and retcon something.
I’m also bugged by Kurt’s trip-wire alarm system. Seems like if you’re hiding dozens of bodies you need a more active security system because a camera can only tell you that someone has already found the dozens of bodies you’re hiding.I feel this scans, since Kurt lives by himself out in the woods, and the town is small enough that everyone knows who he is, so nobody is ever likely to investigate his property, at least until he dies. Anyone hanging out there and getting curious about the vent would probably be told “Oh, it’s for the septic system. I hid the access hatch under that pile of sticks” or something similar. All of which makes me wonder a few things: 1.) how did Kurt manage to get several shipping containers (for that’s what it looks like, the interior of shipping containers) buried on his property with nobody knowing it? I know I just said that he lives out in the sticks but I imagine that even a trucker would have a hard time delivering all that, plus the digging equipment, to his remote cabin without someone noticing it, even at night. 2.) What was going to happen when he died? Was Matt going to get a letter with the will, telling him of the lair, and leaving instructions to fill it with cement or something? Is it booby trapped? 3.) it obviously has power, which either came from the grid or from his own generator. Again, once he’s gone does all that shut down? I imagine that eventually those shipping containers would collapse.4.) I have no idea how to stop the bullet points. But I am kind of enjoying them, it lends a real business memo feel to the proceedings.
So, in this tiny, remote cabin, Dexter and Harrison weren’t going to hear him pull up in a fuel truck and direct a high-pressure stream of it onto the front porch?Yes! I know I get caught up on silly logistics but this bothered me too. And the reason that Kurt thought they were home was Dexter’s truck was still there, right? And the reason for that is that Dexter instead drove that ATV thing we (and Kurt) didn’t know he had – which felt more to me like a writers’ room decision than logic. Remember that all of the bags of Kurt’s body parts would then have been transported in the little ATV thing to the town’s furnance, along with Harrison and Dexter. Would they all fit in one trip? All those bags would also have to have been carried up that ladder leading out of Kurt’s underground lair. (The same ladder/narrow space where Kurt apparently carried down multiple bodies, “trophy boxes” big enough to display his kills, and all that equipment.)And, yes, Dexter did all of this ladder climbing while lugging full trash bags with a fresh gunshot wound in his leg!