Waiting to Exhale (7 Oct. 2007)

Dexter, desperate to get his game back, seeks out Chino yet again; but the hulking gangster is waiting for him.

Director:

Marcos Siega

Writers:

James Manos Jr. (developer), Jeff Lindsay (novel),

Stars:

Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Michael C. Hall	...	Dexter Morgan
Julie Benz	...	Rita Bennett
Jennifer Carpenter	...	Off. Debra Morgan
Erik King	...	Sgt. James Doakes
C.S. Lee	...	Vince Masuka
Lauren Vélez	...	Det. Maria LaGuerta (as Lauren Velez)
David Zayas	...	Det. Angel Batista
Geoff Pierson	...	Capt. Tom Matthews
James Remar	...	Harry Morgan
Christian Camargo	...	Brian Moser
Judith Scott	...	Lt. Esme Pascal
Keith Carradine	...	Special Agent Frank Lundy
Christina Robinson	...	Astor Bennett
Preston Bailey	...	Cody Bennett
Matthew Willig	...	Little Chino (as Matthew J. Willig)

Storyline

Dexter's failure to dispose of Little Chino results in the tragic death of a witness against him. He's determined to get it right the next time, but Sgt. Doakes is still following him in his off hours. With the discovery of Dexter's burial ground, a special joint task force with the FBI is established. Doakes hopes to join but is rebuffed. Debra Morgan clearly has not recovered fully from her ordeal with the Ice Truck Killer but her use of excessive force results in a major drug bust. Rita is having trouble coming to grips with the death of her husband and she now realizes that Dexter set him up. In order to explain however, Dexter embellishes his story somewhat.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | vandal | task force | spray paint | freight elevator | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Colleton Company, The, Clyde Phillips Productions, John Goldwyn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

56 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The colorful doll Cody is seen playing with when Dexter just had a fight with Rita, is a matryoshka doll or babushka doll which is a Russian nesting doll, a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other.

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Goofs

Dexter pulls up to Rita's house in a silver Dodge Neon (with round headlights). Elsewhere in the episode and season, he drives a similarly-shaped, but much larger, silver Ford Taurus.

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Quotes

[nearly trips on a suitcase and accidentally spills some water on it]
Debra Morgan: [angry] What fucking asshole left this here?
Special Agent Frank Lundy: It's, uh, Special Agent Fucking Asshole.

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Connections

Referenced in Conan: Death Takes a Staycation (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Sofia Factor"
(uncredited)
Written by Cato
Performed by Cato
Under license from Extreme Production Music, Inc.

User Reviews

Letting go

Dexter finds himself brooding, self-doubting and trying to understand why he has lost his lethal touch and struggling with his kills, and on top of that the additional stress of having his underground burial site revealed, and in the process earning the nickname "Bay Harbour Butcher", which he strongly dislikes.

He also ends up feeling guilty about his recent inability to kill when his failure to murder Little Chino leads to an important witness being killed by Chino's henchmen, and the victim's little daughter suddenly finds herself without a mother.

Meanwhile, Debra still struggles with her traumatic experiences, and in this episode the issue is explored thoroughly, with the effects of her trauma clearly affecting her in a negative way both personally and at work. This storyline is very well-handled and I look forward to seeing more of how this theme is explored later on in the season. Jennifer Carpenter gets a few good scenes here and her acting talent is well-used.

Letting go is one of the major themes of this episode, as Dexter's relationship with Rita becomes strained when Dexter's lack of social skills leads to trouble when he fails to grasp the concept of mourning when Rita deals with the demise of Paul and his subsequent funeral. However, he's clearly having problems of his own as well, as he keeps seeing visions of his dead brother, and he gradually begins to understand more about the complexity of letting go of your past. I think the scriptwriters handle this well, and the scenes are both witty and thought-provoking.

I think the episode was good, it opened up a few interesting possibilities for the rest of the season, but I don't rate is as a classic as I think it builds for the future more than it is instantly rewarding.