Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 341

Dexter 8.7: Two Different Codes?

This is a season of Dexter like no other - not only because it's the final season of this one-of-a-kind series, but because it has moved so quickly, so profoundly, in the first seven episodes, as to seem like many more than one season in this season.   Probably it was done that way because this is indeed the final season, and the producers want to give us a taste of everything - the old and the new.

The old, of course, is Dex and Deb, still not completely resolved, and now Dex and Hannah, who in their own ways truly love each other.  I always thought she was the best for Dexter, even though Deb of course thinks otherwise.

The new is Zach, bounding off of Dex's table to become his accomplice, as Dexter tries to teach him Harry's code. This something Dexter has never attempted before, and something we have never seen before, either.  It's no easy job, to say the least, and not least because Dexter is no Harry, as Dexter realizes near the end of Dexter 8.7.   After all, Harry was a normal person teaching a psychopath to survive in society, whereas Dexter is psychopath trying to teach a psychopath, which is very different. Though - Dexter doesn't really seem like a psychopath to me, either, to tell the truth, and that's part of the power of the show.

So it's no surprise to Dexter when it seems that Zach, angry and tired of waiting for another kill, bludgeons Cassie, Dex's attractive neighbor, to death.  Dex has also already realized that since Zach already killed someone, Zach is not the same as Dex when Harry taught Dex the code.  It would be nine years from that teaching, Dexter tells us, that he took his first human life.

And just as Dex is pulling close to Hannah, after he disposed of her husband killed by Hannah in self-defense, he gets called to the scene of the crime in his apartment building.  But did Zach kill Cassie? That's certainly what we're supposed to think.  But having not actually seen the killing, I'm not 100% sure.

This is, after, Dexter, where chilling misdirection is often the name of the game.

See also Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent ... Dexter 8.2: The Gift ... Dexter 8.3: The Question and the Confession ... Dexter 8.4: The "Lab Rat" and Harry's Daughter ... Dexter 8.5: Just Like Family ... Dexter 8.6: The Protege

And see also Dexter Season 7.1-3: Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 7.4: The Lesson in Speltzer's Smoke ... Dexter 7.5: Terminator Isaac ... Dexter 7.6: "Breaking and Entering" ... Dexter 7.7: Shakespearean Serial Killer Story ... Dexter 7.8: Love and Its Demands ... Dexter 7.9: Two Memorable Scenes and the Ascension of Isaac ... Dexter 7.11: The "Accident" ... Dexter Season 7 Finale: The Surviving Triangle
And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love

And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ...Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers  ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain
And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter 

 

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Under the Dome 1.7: The Nucleus

A quietly powerful Under the Dome 1.7 this past Monday night, in which the most interesting science fictional discovery is the dome's nucleus by Joe and Norrie.  Not that we really learn anything about this egg within a smaller dome.   But the discovery of any machinery having to do with the workings of the dome is big news, if not for now then no doubt the not too distant future.

One of the elements that makes Under the Dome a little different from most other science fiction on television is the way it can tell powerful stories without too many pyrotechnics, though Under the Dome is good at that, too.  But in episode 1.7, we get the story of an emotionally traumatic birth - by Julia's neighbor, whose husband is locked outside the dome - and an even more traumatic death, of the woman who helps deliver the baby.

That would be Alice - Norrie's biological mother - who we already know is suffering from diabetes. But the energy she expends in guiding the birth is too much for her.   And so the birth is sadly balanced by a heart attack for Alice, and her apparent death.

I say "apparent," because, in science fiction, nothing including death is ever completely certain.  Even in straightforward police or detective or spy stories, death isn't certain, unless you see the victim blown to bits on the screen.   (In 24, for example, Tony Almeida comes back, after being pronounced dead and Jack grieving to the max about that.)  But in science fiction, even being shot in the head could lead not to death - if, say, the mind in the head is teleported to another body in time.

Nothing like that is happening (yet) in Under the Dome, but it's also clear that the regular rules just don't apply in this strange little universe of Chester's Mill.  So when Norrie pleads with the nucleus, you just can't say for sure what's going to happen.

Probably nothing more, alas, in the case of Alice.   But there's lots more in store for everyone else still Under the Dome, in this strange and original television series.

See also Under the Dome: Superior Summer Science Fiction ... Under the Dome 1.2: Adrenaline and Seepage ... Under the Dome 1.3: Way Under ...Under the Dome 1.4: Good Night for Junior, Until ... Under the Dome 1.5: vs the Bomb ... Under the Dome 1.6: Sentient Biosphere



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Falling Skies Season 3 Finale: Dust in Hand

The Falling Skies season 3 finale on Sunday had some good touches, some predictable developments, and one very good surprise indeed at the very very end.

The delayed crumbling of the Espheni tower after one hit by the Volm weapon was very nice, even if the victory over the Espheni was predictable.   Similarly, the Volm turning out to be not quite the saviors they seemed was thoroughly predictable, though the father and son Volm interaction was a nice touch.  And the survival of Anne and Lexi was thoroughly predictable - I didn't think they were dead in the first place (they looked like they were in some sort of suspended animation) - as was Lexi's advanced powers.

But - the nature of Lexi's powers was a great last touch.   I had thought she had some kind of Espheni or bad-alien DNA - the source being Tom (which he received when on the alien ship, was my first hypothesis) and then Lourdes (who had taken care of Anne during her pregnancy, and could have easily introduced some alien DNA).

Those hypotheses are still possible, but what now appears not be the case is that the DNA was from the Espheni or their bad allies.  Because in a great ending scene, Lexi - now six years old (she achieved this age in just two months) - not only draws out the worms from Lourdes' eyes, and takes them in her hands and turns them to dust.

Not only is this an impressive power, but it calls into question - again - just what Lexi is?  She's obviously part alien, but what kind of alien?   Possibly the DNA is indeed Espheni or similarly-hostile alien, and Lexi is using her powers for good, because after all she is at least half human.  That would be a nice, logical explanation.   But I'm thinking there's more here, and for that reason - in addition to enjoying how the series pivots so well, yet maintains its identity - I'm much looking forward to season 4.

See also Falling Skies 3.1-2: It's the Acting ... Falling Skies 3.3: The Smile ... Falling Skies 3.4: Hal vs. Ben ... Falling Skies 3.6: The Masons ...Falling Skies 3.7: The Mole and a Likely Answer ... Falling Skies 3.8: Back Cracked Home

And see also Falling Skies Returns  ... Falling Skies 2.6: Ben's Motives ... Falling Skies Second Season Finale

And see also Falling Skies 1.1-2 ... Falling Skies 1.3 meets Puppet Masters ... Falling Skies 1.4: Drizzle ... Falling Skies 1.5: Ben ... Falling Skies 1.6: Fifth Column ... Falling Skies 1.7: The Fate of Traitors ... Falling Skies 1.8: Weaver's Story ... Falling Skies Concludes First Season

 
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Dexter 8.6: The Protege

A great Sunday night on Dexter 8.6, capped off with an out-of-left-field delicious surprise ending.

The meat of the story concerns Zach Hamilton, a teenage sociopath splashing red all over Dexter's radar.  In one of the best lines of the night - and it was great night for memorable lines - Dex muses as he looks at Zach's photos on the wall that Zach "treats the blood like a swimsuit model".  Not only does Zach love blood, here's already killed one woman to get it - not just because his father was having an affair with her, but, more importantly, as Dexter realizes, because Zach loves the kill - and he's about to kill another.   Not only that, but he's Dr. Vogel's patient.   When Dexter signals that Zach will soon be on his table, Vogel suggests that Dex spare Zach and teach him Harry's code.

And, with Zach on the table near the end of the episode, that's just what Dex does - he spares Zach and takes him in.   This gives the series the new possibilities - a true Dexter in training, which gives another reason why it's too bad the series is ending - and demonstrates once again the power that Vogel has over Dexter.   Her suggestion about Zach is logical enough, but Dexter would not have taken it up had Vogel not had a deep influence over him.

There's still the question of who is the arch-villain this season?  Who is the Trinity?  It become a little more clear to me every week that the prime villain this season is Vogel.

And speaking villains, we come to our surprise at the end, set up by another great line, this one from Deb.   Complaining about their steaks, which Dex and Deb are consuming with beer at home, Deb says her "steak tastes like asshole".   And that's because, as we soon see, her and Dexter's steaks were laced with drugs.  Yes, Hannah is back!   What a season!

See also Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent ... Dexter 8.2: The Gift ... Dexter 8.3: The Question and the Confession ... Dexter 8.4: The "Lab Rat" and Harry's Daughter ... Dexter 8.5: Just Like Family

And see also Dexter Season 7.1-3: Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 7.4: The Lesson in Speltzer's Smoke ... Dexter 7.5: Terminator Isaac ... Dexter 7.6: "Breaking and Entering" ... Dexter 7.7: Shakespearean Serial Killer Story ... Dexter 7.8: Love and Its Demands ... Dexter 7.9: Two Memorable Scenes and the Ascension of Isaac ... Dexter 7.11: The "Accident" ... Dexter Season 7 Finale: The Surviving Triangle
And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love

And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ...Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers  ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain
And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter 

 

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Cowardly Republican Party Threatens NBC and CNN

Did you see this?  The Republican National Committee has threatened NBC and CNN - the RNC will veto any Presidential debates held on NBC and CNN, if the two networks go ahead with their plans to air a mini-series and a movie about Hillary Clinton.  Reince Priebus, RNC Chair (to my science fictional eyes, the name sounds like he comes from some villainous planet in the Foundation series), says that he thinks airing the Clinton shows will give her an unfair advantage in the 2016 Presidential election.   Pressing the networks is villainous enough in itself - a heavy-handed attempt to regulate the free flow of information in our country.

The threat is also clueless.   Hillary Clinton is already world-famous whether she runs for President in 2016 or not.  As a former First Lady, former Senator from the great state of New York, close contender in the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary, and most recently Secretary of State, her life already has ample accomplishment and profile for the making of all kinds of movies and TV shows.   Priebus, desperate, is just doing what he can to limit the public's knowledge of an iconic figure who will continue to be iconic and better-known than any Republican candidate regardless of these dramatizations.

I try to be even-handed when I criticize politicians and parties about their interference with dissemination of information.   For example, Democrats like Chuck Schumer have been as dangerously wrong as his Republican counterparts in his caterwauling about Edward Snowden being a threat to national security.   But the Republicans still have the stage all to themselves when it comes to misunderstanding a media situation, and calling for de facto censorship.   Here's my advice to the GOP: try coming up with policies that Americans like, and stop trying to win elections by badgering the media.


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The Killing Season 3 Finale: We Need Another Season

Well, you just know that Linden cannot find any happiness - not in her job, not in her universe.  So when you see her smile like you've never seen her before at the start of  The Killing's Season 3 finale, you know that no good can come of it, and you think it likely that the source of her happiness, the source of her smile, will be the worst thing in her universe this season.   Because it turns out that she's just slept with the killer of the young prostitutes, also the killer of Tricia Seward, whose husband Ray hung for her killing last week, in one of the best anti-capital-punishment episodes ever seen on television or in the movies.

And who is this killer who has just slept with Linden?  Not Reddick, because although a lot of circumstantial evidence is starting to point at him, there's no way that Linden would ever sleep with him.  And, besides, his being the killer would not have been revealed so early in the two-hour Season 3 finale of this fine series.  No, that's not the way The Killing works.

This series continues twisting the knife, turning the screws, until there is no place else to twist or turn.   And so the killer in this season turns out to be Lt. Skinner.   Not the pastor, not Callie's mother's boyfriend, and certainly not Ray Seward.   It's Skinner, Linden's erstwhile lover and partner, who sleeps with Linden again and makes her happier than we've ever seen her at the beginning of this double episode.

And it all fits together.  He was able to nab Ray so well - with Linden's unknowing help - because he was the one who murdered Ray's wife Tricia.  He knew all the details.  He had come over to the Seward home to see what Adrian had seen from the treehouse near the water - the treehouse that we recently discovered Ray had built for his son.   Skinner's a world-class pyscho serial killer - meting out deaths not only to the young prostitutes in this case, and to Tricia Seward, but to many others, he tells Linden, buried who knows where.

And Linden's shooting him to death makes perfect moral sense - for her, for her guilt, for the world.  But not much sense for her continuation in the job she loves and lives for - her job as a detective.

It will be left to Holder, who tries in vain to stop Linden, to make things right - do some typical cop magic to make it look like Linden shot Skinner in self-defense.   Just how will Holder do this?

AMC better bring us a Season 4 of this superb series to show us, and more.

See also The Killing 3.1-2: Poe Poetic Po-po ... The Killing 3.3: Hitchcockian Scene and More ... The Killing 3.7: "Opiate of the Masses" ... Killing 3.8: The Kidnapping, and a Prediction ... The Killing 3.9: Suspect Elimination and Incompatible Components ... The Killing 3.10: Capital Punishment

See also The Killing Season Two Premiere ... The Killing 2.2: Holder ... The Killing 2.11: Circling Back ... The Killing Season 2 Finale

And see also The Killing on AMC and The Killing 1.3: Early Suspects ... The Killing 1.5: Memorable Moments ... The Killing 1.6: The Teacher ... The Killing 1.8: The Teacher, Again ...The Killing 1.9: The Teacher as Victim, Again ... The Killing 1.10: Running Out of Suspects ... The Killing 1.11: Rosie's Missing - from the Story ... The Killing 1.12: Is Orpheus the Killer? ... The Killing 1.13: Stretching Television

 

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Under the Dome 1.6: Sentient Biosphere

Biosphere 2 operated as a closed nearly self-sufficient bio-system in Arizona from 1991 to 1993.  (I knew one of its advisers, Carl Hodges).  It was designed as an experiment, to see if humans could survive a long trip through deep space, not in suspended animation but fully alive, awake, and kicking. In Arizona, fluctuations in CO2 and insect pests forced the project to end, and switch to an open research center, which is how it still operates today.

In Under the Dome 1.6, we find that the dome has biospheric properties.   But not only is it a closed system, it is closed system that protects its inhabitants.   Last week, the dome shielded the people of Chester Mills from a deadly bomb attack unleashed by our own military.  Tonight, the dome brought rain - the condensed, naturally purified vapor and clouds arising from the town's methane-polluted lake - which helps the town survive again.  The dome protects its own.

It's facets like this that make Under the Dome not only exciting but intelligent, well-conceived science fiction.

Meanwhile, the characters and their relationships continue to develop.  Angie, who seems to have a penchant for running from the frying pan into the fire, may have finally found an unlikely protector in Big Jim, her kidnapper's father.   Julia and Barbie finally kiss.   And Joe and MacKenzie are beginning to comprehend the extent of their electromagnetically kinetic powers.

Lots of questions still to be answered.   Lots of slightly essential characters left to fall victim.  Lots of good summer television viewing ahead in Under the Dome.

See also Under the Dome: Superior Summer Science Fiction ... Under the Dome 1.2: Adrenaline and Seepage ... Under the Dome 1.3: Way Under ...Under the Dome 1.4: Good Night for Junior, Until ... Under the Dome 1.5: vs the Bomb



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The Killing 3.10: Capital Punishment

One of the most powerful episodes in the entire three years of The Killing on AMC last night, a gut-wrenching roller-coaster of an hour in which Linden gets the AG to look into new evidence with an eye towards giving Seward a reprieve, then has reason to think that Seward did indeed kill his wife, then believes him that he didn't - as do I and I assume the viewing audience - only to see Seward hung in the end anyway.

Peter Sarsgaard's performance in The Killing 3.10 as Ray Seward was a tour-de-force and worthy of an Emmy in itself.   AMC wisely followed the episode with a showing of The Green Mile - wise because The Killing last night provided as eloquent a brief against capital punishment as you could find in television drama, the movies, and the real news.

We in the United States are one of the only countries in the world with capital punishment.  That and the ubiquity of guns makes a lot of the rest of the world think we're savage and crazy.  Hard to disagree with that.   DNA as evidence has freed many a person wrongly put on death row, but as last night's episode of The Killing brings home with a fearsome power, innocent people are still put to death.  If some Senators and Representatives in our government have their way, the same would happen to Edward Snowden for his patriotic whistle-blowing on NSA spying on Americans.

Meanwhile, the question still remains in The Killing of who killed Seward's wife.  We may never find out.   It looks like my theory that Becker did it is not gaining much traction, but I'll be watching the 2-hour season final with rapt attention next week.

In the meantime, here's a clip of Peter Sarsgaard from just a few days ago talking about the significance of fact-based movies in our culture, followed by a few words from me.





See also The Killing 3.1-2: Poe Poetic Po-po ... The Killing 3.3: Hitchcockian Scene and More ... The Killing 3.7: "Opiate of the Masses" ... Killing 3.8: The Kidnapping, and a Prediction ... The Killing 3.9: Suspect Elimination and Incompatible Components

See also The Killing Season Two Premiere ... The Killing 2.2: Holder ... The Killing 2.11: Circling Back ... The Killing Season 2 Finale

And see also The Killing on AMC and The Killing 1.3: Early Suspects ... The Killing 1.5: Memorable Moments ... The Killing 1.6: The Teacher ... The Killing 1.8: The Teacher, Again ...The Killing 1.9: The Teacher as Victim, Again ... The Killing 1.10: Running Out of Suspects ... The Killing 1.11: Rosie's Missing - from the Story ... The Killing 1.12: Is Orpheus the Killer? ... The Killing 1.13: Stretching Television

 

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Dexter 8.5: Just Like Family

Almost midway in its final season, Dexter almost seems to resolve itself.   Episode 8.5 ends with one big happy family.

Well, not that big.  But Dexter and Deb have come to terms - an impressive accomplishment considering Deb almost killed Dex and herself last week, before she decided to save him - as has Dexter with Dr. Vogel.   They are now the two most important adults in his life, and he wants them to be on the boat when he dumps A. J.'s bundled body in the water.

Getting there was a thrill a minute, as is every hour of Dexter this year.   You couldn't ask more from a final season than the ticking and tocking of Dexter coming to terms with his world in every scene.

But lest we be lulled, we should know that the greatest shocks in Dexter come after the apparent lulls and resolutions.   If Dex and Deb and Vogel are together now, it can only be because they'll face some danger far worse than the psycho A. J.

Vogel showed a physical toughness tonight, when she almost got the better of A.J. by slapping him as his mother might have done.   I'm still thinking that we've yet to see the violent depths of Vogel, though she's done a pretty good job of adhering to her role as the brilliant but sane shrink with a consuming interests in serial killers.

But the deck is now cleared for what might really be the final storyline of Dexter, with what we've seen so far this season just the incredibly good job of setting all of this in order for what's to come - the appetizer for the main pulsing course.  Bring it on.

See also Dexter Season 8 Premiere: Mercury in Retrograde, Dexter Incandescent ... Dexter 8.2: The Gift ... Dexter 8.3: The Question and the Confession ... Dexter 8.4: The "Lab Rat" and Harry's Daughter

And see also Dexter Season 7.1-3: Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 7.4: The Lesson in Speltzer's Smoke ... Dexter 7.5: Terminator Isaac ... Dexter 7.6: "Breaking and Entering" ... Dexter 7.7: Shakespearean Serial Killer Story ... Dexter 7.8: Love and Its Demands ... Dexter 7.9: Two Memorable Scenes and the Ascension of Isaac ... Dexter 7.11: The "Accident" ... Dexter Season 7 Finale: The Surviving Triangle
And see also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ... ... Dexter's Take on Videogames in 6.10 ...Dexter and Debra:  Dexter 6.11 ... Dexter Season 6 Finale: Through the Eyes of a Different Love

And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ...Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers  ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain
And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ...Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ...4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

And see also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ...Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter 

 

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Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Defiance: Alien DJ, Great Music, Star Wars Bar on Earth

I caught the first season of Defiance over the past few nights.  The new SyFy post-apocalyptic drama joins The Walking Dead, Falling Skies, and more in this now flourishing television genre.   But Defiance has a few special facets going for it:
The music is just fantastic, starting with the Johnny Cash - June Carter "We Got Married in a Fever" (aka "Jackson") in the first episode to Raya Yarbrough's outstanding cover of Cindi Lauper's "Time after Time" near the end - and even a fine cover by Yarbrough of The Five Stairsteps' "Ooh Child" somewhere in the middle.   Bear McCreary, of Battlestar Galactica fame, has done his customarily brilliant job with the music throughoutSpeaking of BSG, there's a lot of its flavor and feel in Defiance, which I take as a good thing.There's even a kid in a radio station in Defiance - making a pair with the DJ in Under the Dome - but in Defiance the kid is an alien.   Anything that harkens to Alan Freed, Murray the K, and Wolfman Jack is a plus in my book.But speaking of aliens, there's a tad too many of them - seven different alien species, that is, which came to Earth as part of the Votan collective.   I'd be happy with just the three major brands, Irathient, Castithan, and Imogen.   The additional species, including Earth mutants which add to the seven, give Defiance the ambience of a Star Wars bar scene, and an everything-but-the-kitchen sink effect, which has the unintentional consequence of giving Defiance a slight touch of parody.

The sex, though, is pretty good - between Castithan Datak Tarr and his wife, and Irathient Irisa and Tommy, her human lover.   Thanks to our childish, unconstitutional FCC, we see no real skin - and the Castithan custom of bathing privately in bathing suits is inconsistent with their otherwise hedonistic culture.   But expecting our television networks to stand up to the FCC is a hopeless case, even if the FCC has never tried to exercise power over cable television.
The plot works well, with a good mix of unexpected heroes and villains, and characters you can care about.  I'm looking forward to season 2.




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