Dexter Review: “Are We There Yet?” (Season 8, Episode 8)

What a fitting question for the latest episode of Dexter. The final season has spent a lot of time meandering between plots, villains and general nonsense, and the re-introduction of Hannah (and her refusal to just leave) helped to solidify at least part of the finale. But now that Zack’s out of the equation, a major theory is wiped out. Is it worth speculating at this point since it’s been made perfectly clear that nothing and no one is off limits? Of course it is!

First off, a similar conflict to last season is brewing. Hannah is once again coming between Dexter and Deb, and now is possibly the worst time for a rift to divide the siblings. Deb has been a mess for most of the season, and even while she’s healing, there are cracks showing. Dexter’s obsession with Hannah is effecting more than just those two, and Deb is just the latest victim. Deb still doesn’t trust her brother, and when she catches him in a lie in the Keys, she rightfully stops trying. She leaves Hannah alive and out of prison, but she’s not going to be an asset to Dexter any time soon.

In fact, the investigation she’s started into Hannah with Elway isn’t going end well for anybody involved, and since Elway is a recent addition, chances are he’s not going to see the end of this. The marshals are going to get involved soon, and the pressure is only going to build until the finale.

Cassie’s death is still a mystery, even though Zack looks to be the culprit. When Dexter catches up to him, we learn that he had nothing to do with it, despite there being some of Zack’s blood on the corpse. Dex also finds a sharp object under Zack’s door handle, meaning somebody is working hard to frame him. The obvious question is who, but guessing at this point won’t yield any solid leads.

Quinn is the obvious choice, since his desperation to nail this kid is driving him away from everything he has. He even asks Dexter to let him know if he finds any of Zack’s DNA at the scene, which is a bit too specific to be totally discarded. Another theory is Cassie’s boyfriend, mostly because he’s a new face and Dexter fans know to never trust a new face. He even fails to recognize Zack when Quinn questions him with a picture of the kid. Did he just not remember his face? Or is he covering something up?

Poor Zack, the awkward young killer that never was. The show spent so much time trying to confuse us about who and what he really is that by the time we finally get a decent connection with him, he’s dead. At first, he was a creepy kid. Then, a creepy killer. Then, an excitable student. Now he’s a dead student. It seems a shame now that Dexter spent a few episodes focusing on him only to kill him to further the Brain Surgeon plot.

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