The Angel of Death (30 Oct. 2011)

Dexter runs background checks on Travis and discovers that he was a former student of Gellar. Batista and Quinn go to the university where Gellar used to teach.

Director:

S.J. Clarkson

Writers:

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

Stars:

Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Michael C. Hall	...	Dexter Morgan
Jennifer Carpenter	...	Lt. Debra Morgan
Desmond Harrington	...	Det. Joseph 'Joey' Quinn
C.S. Lee	...	Vince Masuka
Lauren Vélez	...	Capt. Maria LaGuerta (credit only) (as Lauren Velez)
David Zayas	...	Sgt. Angel Batista
James Remar	...	Harry Morgan (credit only)
Colin Hanks	...	Travis Marshall
Mos Def	...	Brother Sam (as Yasiin Bey)
Edward James Olmos	...	Professor James Gellar
Aimee Garcia	...	Jamie Batista
Billy Brown	...	Det. Mike Anderson
Mariana Klaveno	...	Carissa Porter
Josh Cooke	...	Louis Greene
Rya Kihlstedt	...	Dr. Michelle Ross

Storyline

Dexter looks into Travis' background and learns that he has no criminal history, not even a traffic violation. Travis is also an expert in old documents and was once James Gellar's student. Batista and Quinn travel to Tallahassee to see what they can learn about Geller. Batista finds something interesting while Quinn gets to strike off an item on his bucket list. A murder suicide results in Deb getting a new place to live. Brother Sam spends an evening at Dexter's apartment but has a surprise waiting for him when he returns to his shop. Travis and Gellar kidnap their next victim.

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Plot Keywords:

murder suicide | reference to c.s. lewis | stuffed animal | newspaper headline | number 1260 | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Goldwyn Productions, Colleton Company, The, Devilina Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Travis Marshall's birthday is shown as November 24, 1977. This is the same birthday of Colin Hanks, the actor who portrays Travis.

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Goofs

When Dexter first sees "Apocalypse Bound" on Travis' bookshelf it is the 3rd book from the right end of the shelf. The action cuts to an overhead shot of Dexter removing it from the shelf and it has moved to the 5th from the left. When he replaces it on the shelf, the gap has moved to the original position, 3rd from right.

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Quotes

Lt. Debra Morgan: Maybe I need to go to therapy.
Dexter Morgan: No more than me.
Lt. Debra Morgan: Am I that fucked up?

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Connections

References The Bucket List (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Dexter Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written by Rolfe Kent
Performed by Rolfe Kent

User Reviews

Predictable and careless writing, anecdotic angel, sloppy editing, Baby Must Die but inspiring friendship, thoughtful duality, pivotal encounter, promising brunette fetishism

If only season 5 had been the last ! Dex and Lumen could have lived happily ever after and in my opinion it would have made sense even if optimism isn't what defines the show the most. My complain is about the relative predictability and lack of attention to details. After all these years how is it possible not to be picky ? Our favorite serial killer should know better than cutting a papersheet in a book Travis probably knows from beginning to end. Moreover bringing it to his lab in order to match it with the numbers was silly. Considering the episode title I was also expecting some references to comics but beside a split second shot featuring angel wings behind Dex its spirit was nothing like The Dark Defender from season 2. An other issue was how Brother Sam's shooting was rushed when it could have happened right after his bro session with Dex. In general the editing isn't continuous enough. One minute you wonder what Deb and the new detective are doing at the beach house and the next our favorite worshiper prays in a pool of blood. Last but not least most scenes featuring Harrison are enduring and reminiscent of what we had to digest during True Blood's season 4. The only enlightenment concerned the baby stumbling upon Deb's crime photos because it was an obvious reference to Dex's own childhood and of course their birth in blood.

But Dexter is far from jumping the shark because its controversial monster has still plenty to offer. First his friendship with Brother Sam quickly grew on us thanks to some crafty character development. Second their discussion reminded me of season 3 as Miguel was Dex's first true best friend. The dual theme of light and darkness is also thoughtful because it binds the story to his Dark Passenger and of course Lumen. An other great thing about this season is Travis because I'm now convinced they were right to cast Colin Hanks. For the moment his role isn't really special but it's easy to relate to his character as we all need to believe in something. It seems Gellar gives sense to his life and until he met Dex he was apparently convinced to work for the greater good. However I'm not satisfied with the fact that his sister has vanished into thin air. Still the introduction of Clarissa Porter (Mariana Klaveno) helped me forget about her because when Batista came for Quinn I really thought she was working for Gellar ! That part was really well staged and quite intense on my side. Will Klaveno be the Courtney Ford of season 666 ? I doubt she's as disturbed as Christine Hill was but she's definitely an interesting addition to the cast. However all these brunettes make things a little too predictable because it's obvious Deb will be involved. Also the fact that Quinn is still enslaved by his libido wasn't entertaining and like Batista we all already know that it will inevitably backfire. To sum things up these impressions of déjà vu and the cons listed prove that the show isn't as fascinating as it used to be. It's still good but when it comes to Dexter I expect to be challenged and shattered !

Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.