Dexter – “Are You…?” Review [Warning: Spoilers]

Many of us at mAltIntel are huge Dexter fans. Although none of us are in denial over the fact that the series has trended downward since the phenomenal fourth season, we are at the same time well aware that the show has the potential to deliver some of television’s best dramatic moments. With it being announced that the series only had two seasons left, I went into this season’s premiere expecting the commencement of a rather slow, season-long build up to what would be Dexter Morgan’s last hurrah next year (and with how bad last season was, possibly do some damage control along the way).

Boy, was I wrong. “Are You…?”, the season 6 premiere of Dexter, was definitely a game changer.

The entire episode was Dexter’s life – everything he’s tried so hard to maintain for six seasons – suddenly unraveling before our eyes. Even when our homicidal protagonist seems to have conjured a (somewhat) reasonable excuse for Deb catching him in the act of murder, things just get worse and worse for Dex. On one hand, you have LaGuerta finding his blood slide at the crime scene and insisting that Masuka focus his attention on the new evidence. Deb, meanwhile, starts putting the puzzle pieces together and linking her brother with the Ice Truck Killer from season 1.

Normally, a typical season of Dexter would allow this to just build and build, add a few twists along the way, and culminate with Dex’s secret getting revealed in the season’s finale. Well, one could only imagine my shock when “Are You…?” ends with Dexter returning home from a killing and finding Deb in his apartment with all of his blood slides and knives. It was the moment I never would’ve guessed would happen so soon: “Are you the serial killer?” “Yes.”

I do not remember ever anticipating the second episode of a season more than I do right now.

Whether you’re a die-hard Dexter fanatic or simply a more casual viewer of the show, it is very easy to recognize that this episode changed the status quo of the series. The final 30 seconds of this episode were not only as stunning as anything in season 6, but far more meaningful for characters that Dexter fans of all sorts have become emotionally invested in.

9 out of 10