I’m willing to bet money it’s Chase’s lil sister.
Does anyone else see Dexter maybe getting Astor and Cody back? Assuming he doesn’t finally screw up enough to go to jail, that is.
I hope not. Too much time spent in parent-duties will start to bore me. Unless, of course, they remain tangential to his life, in which case I have no problem with it. But since he already has Harrison, the only reason to add the other 2 kids would be to gum up the works.
LaGuerta has NO credibility left as far as I can tell, to the point where her own husband isn’t backing her. She’s not a nice character, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something happen to her. Right now, the only reason she’s standing is because no one has the energy to take her down. But the hubby might.
Loved the Dexter beat-down of the abusive boyfriend. That dialog was great.
One thing about this season more than any other is the detachment from logic I have to make to permit Dexter to be anywhere at anytime, with no real difficulties with his work schedule. Add to that an infant, and you have a time crunch that would be unmanageable. And yet, he’s able to find the perfect, most understanding nanny and permit her complete access to his son. Not believable to me, at least. But I don’t think too hard about it, or it would ruin the show for me.
Anyone else beside me have an irrational hatred for Lumen’s name?
I’m still working on the assumption that Lumen will be the opposite of Harry. Or rather Light is the opposite of Dark (Passenger).
She seems pretty enthusiastic about murdering people to be the opposite of Harry.
I know, it’s really been messing with my theory for the past few episodes. But I have to assume a name like Lumen is going to have something to do with the Dark Passenger.
I agree that this bothers me more than almost anything else on the show. I think the writers decided that Dexter needed obstacles and inconveniences to overcome. And then they realized he couldn’t be a parent, keep a day job, and be a nighttime serial killer. So they created a Magic Nanny.
Though it would be interesting if she’s ultimately the one that finds him out when she tries to call him at work and he’s not there.
Well, the nanny did already quit once because Dexter was out all night and he had to go get Harrison from the Nanny when he decided to stay in the old house with Astor and Lumen, so its not like they’re ignoring the issue . And they established back in the first season that Dexter’s day job leaves him with a lot of downtime. I’ve certainly had jobs where I’ve been hired to do about three hours worth of work between 9-5.
Plus we never see Dexter on days he isn’t serial killing people. Presumably most days he just goes to work and then goes home.
So I don’t think it needs that much suspension of disbelief.
The problems with the super-nanny are one of the many that can be solved if the Lumen character sticks around. Given the amount of things he’s been juggling, Dexter really does need an accomplice, someone who (1) will watch Harrison without wondering about Dexter’s late-night activity, (2) can run down some of the logistics in advance, giving Dexter more character-time with Astor and Cody (thereby making their return more believable), (3) provide a dialogue partner to discuss his inner thoughts (rather than relying on that stupid, annoying voice-over), and (4) gives Dexter a vulnerability that can be seriously threatened on American TV (Rita filled this role to some extent, but I will never, ever believe this show will go far enough to put Harrison or the other children in real mortal danger).
But here’s a key caveat: I don’t believe they can swing this if Lumen participates in the act of killing itself. Once she crosses that line, she no longer has any credibility as a moral counterweight to Dexter; she can set things up, do the research, even be present when it happens, but if she ever puts the needle in or swings the knife–even if she’s killing one of her rapists in anything other than clear self-defense–that will be a difficult act for the writers to undo. This, to me, ill be an interesting plotline to watch for in the final three weeks; the previews hint that she may get to participate, but as Dexter says “it will change you”. I don’t think she can make that change and survive the season.
For this idea to work (CJJ*), I’m thinking that Lumen and Dexter will have to officially be ‘dating.’ Even if they aren’t really dating, I think they may have to act like it. As long as their aren’t dating, everyone is going to assume they are, which means everyone will assume Dexter is lying about not dating her, which means people will get nosy and start asking questions. If they just tell everyone they’re dating, even if it bothers some people they’ll at least be able to avoid the probing questions that could end up revealing things that they don’t want revealed.
(Okay, now someone tell me why I’m wrong)
I hate it. If they wanted to give her a “light” name, why didn’t they pick Lucia, Dawn, Helen or Stella? Heck, they are in Miami, she could have been a Luz. They really went with the “beat us over the head” with it.
I agree with this. Though I think there’s a genuine affection, I think their actually relationship will remain platonic for a long time. Lumen’s multiple-rape experience makes a quick sexual relationship very problematic, so Joey P’s suggestion that they just lie about it is a good one. Plus, it amps up the “will they or won’t they?” dynamic Amecian TV viewers seem to love.
The name Lumen doesn’t bother me at all. Could be worse… Mikaela, Maddyson, Nevaeh, Dakota… that sort of crap.
When you think about what Dexter’s job actually involves, I wonder if he’s really considered part of the staff at the Miami PD, or if it’s some sort of (for lack of a better term) retainer agreement. I mean, Dexter does more that just blood spatter analysis, but there’s him and Masuka. It’s not like he has to be at his desk 9-5 everyday, what does he do when there’s no open cases? So I buy he has some free time, but it gets a little ridiculous. Like, how much does this job pay? Dexter never seems short on cash, considering how expensive some of his little side jobs become.
And i agree that Lumen won’t likely be entering into a romantic relationship anytime soon. However, when Dexter met Rita, they had a very non-sexual relationship for quite some time, linked to her abusive rapist ex. A partnership of sorts between Lumen and Dexter would work for both of them.
Stiles and Hall do play well off each other. I wonder if there’s any chance of her character continuing into next season?
Well, according to the other guy she gives the best sex in the Miami PD, so she’s always got that to fall back on.
What particularly irks me about Practically Perfect is that she’s a licensed pediatric nurse. A woman with those skills would likely not be working as a nanny to begin with, but if she were it would probably be for a wealthy family. Even assuming Dexter has a good income and got some cash from his father’s life insurance and Rita’s it would put a strain on his finances; better to go with a non-nurse who happens to have great references or a live-in wacky housekeeper or whatever.
I thought it was a slow realization, not planned. There’s a brief moment close to the end of the phone call where Jordan pauses a bit, as if he’s just realized who he’s talking to. Then he realizes why Dexter searched his locker, did something with his vial, why he hasn’t scheduled his next session, why he’s been hanging around, and why two of his close friends involved with the rape ring have gone missing recently. He’s clearly an intelligent guy, but it doesn’t all click until he calls Dexter and finds himself talking to Lumen.
I’m guessing that’s true for a lot of the off camera kills (I don’t think we’ve seen every person he’s had on his table since he started doing this). But the one’s we do see tend to overlap with the ongoing investigation which makes the time a problem. He has been known to get called away from his personal activities to do something for work. He’s also planted, removed or altered evidence for the sole purpose of sending the detectives in the wrong direction or at least slowing them down.
We’ve gone over this before and IIRC we decided that Dexter makes plenty of money to support everything he’s doing. I don’t remember all the details, but as I recall everything worked out.
I imagine it’s the sort of job that likely comes with flex/comp time. Given that if they find a body at 3am, he has to go to work and office hours be damned, I think it’s reasonable to have that accrue as comp time from which he can draw for a 10am [del]cult indoctrination[/del] life coaching session.
Plus, the guy’s a sadist. He gets off on traumatizing his victims. It was probably just too tempting for him to let it go.
Just got around to watching this last night.
I thought that Chase’s bringing up Plato’s Symposium was interesting, because it changes his comments about the “shattered self” somewhat, because this is not about literal reintegration of parts of an individual, but a sexual metaphor.
Aristophanes goes on to say that man in this original form was powerful enough to evoke jealousy in the gods, and so Zeuss saw fit to divide human beings into separate halves. Sexual desire is explained as an instinct to heal this fracture, and indeed people may attempt to join with a long succession “other halves,” remaining unsatisfied until they meet their actual counterpart.
So the trip that Jordan is laying on Dexter has to do with finding someone that is a perfect compliment to him, and not just generic bromides about working through grief. Do you suppose he already knew that Dexter had hooked up with Lumen when they had this conversation?
So Dex has a chosen victim who’s still alive and who knows his name and occupation, and who knows Dex is hunting him, and who is himself a serial killer.
This is getting a little too re-runnish.
I don’t know that Elliot - sorry - Jordan - knows why Dexter is there or took the blood or that Dexter is “hunting” him - He knows 2 things - 1. ) Dexter works with the police - 2.) Lumen is alive and knows Dexter.
This gives him lots of reason to be fearful - especially with 2 of his friends now missing.
Well, and:
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One of the men in their circle called someone else in the circle to warn them that their last victim was still alive. And then he turned up dead.
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Dexter was at the hotel where his bodyguard went missing because, of course, Chase called him up to the stage.
So, yeah, once he connected that Dexter knows Lumen, it’s pretty clear that he’s being hunted.