Dexter - November 27, 2011 "Get Gellar"

Let me start off by saying what a great twist we saw in this week’s episode. As some people might have seen while others had no idea what was coming, we found out that Travis too has a dark passenger, maybe. Unlike Dexter, it comes in the form of an older, crazy professor. But let’s put these thoughts aside for the moment.

I want to go back to my last post. The title of the last episode was “Sin of Omission,” or in other words, the sin of doing nothing when you know there is something to be done. I brought up the idea of Dexter keeping information to himself and the possibility of someone getting hurt or killed because of his selfishness. Well, it didn’t take long to create another example of this.

In “Get Gellar” we saw maybe the most exciting post dead body reaction in this entire series. Gellar’s (or really Travis’s) victim this episode was Professor Casey. Dexter knew he was the next target. Hell, he even helped lead Travis to Casey. However, never, even for an instant, did he think of telling the police, his sister, Anderson or Bautista about DDK’s potential next victim. As a result, he ends up dying. And then, after the bowls of blood falls on everyone (great scene), we get the greatest quote of the season. “Gellar hasn’t seen wrath until he’s seen mine.” I got chills. But in the end, Dexter’s Sin of Omission was very evident.

Now let’s get to the twist. In the blogs I have been reading, numerous people suggested Gellar was not alive but perhaps a dark passenger. Which, when you think about it, makes sense. No one, other than Travis, had actually seen Gellar in the past three years. We never saw him perform any of the kills. When Gellar and Travis were out in public, no one talked to them. We saw Gellar hit Travis over the head with a shovel, but nothing after that. So in hindsight, it does make sense. I think this hints could come in handy with other programs and predicting the future.

But I will let other bloggers talk about this one, as all will undoubtedly fill their pages with this text (all of them claiming they saw it coming). But questions to think about are; is Gellar more of a dark passenger or is Travis a true schizophrenic? What will happen with LaGuerta and Matthews? How involved was Matthews in that case? Why does Louis have the Ice Truck Killer hand? Does anyone find it odd that he has the hand that ended up costing the person’s job that he now has? Is he really that rich from making video games? Only three episodes to answer them all.

Dexter - November 20, 2011 "Sin of Omission"

The theme, according to the writers of this episode, is sin of omission or sinning by doing nothing. The idea of it comes up in the diner when Dexter is trying to build trust with Travis so he can eventually lead him to Gellar. However, my mind raced away from Gellar and Travis at the moment.

When the episode first started, fans should immediately flock to the question of what are Dexter’s sins of omission. First thought to my mind was the dangers of not telling the police everything he knows. Dexter, throughout the entire series, has proven to be a better detective than most others on the show, including his sister, the new lieutenant. In order to grab his victims first, he holds back information. Do we ever think of the consequences of these actions? Has Dexter ever been too late to save a life? Two examples immediately come to mind, one being in this episode.

Dexter knew about Travis two or three episodes before “Sin of Omission.” Now, due to some of Dexter’s and Travis’s actions, Lisa Marshall, Gellar’s No. 2 sister, is dead (in great fashion I might add). What if Dexter said something earlier? Would they have caught Travis? Would they have caught Gellar and prevented Lisa’s death? Yes this would most likely prevent Gellar from becoming a slide in Dexter’s box, however, Lisa Marshall would be alive and well.

The next example, and probably the most famous sin of omission in the entire series, deals with Trinity. Dexter and Trinity had their battles, knowingly on both sides, for five or six episodes (Dexter knew about him way before he realized Dexter had a dark passenger). Dexter knew who Trinity was and what he was doing. In the end, Dexter got him to the table and killed the famous Trinity (John Lithgow – the best side character we have seen in this series). However, Trinity killed Rita, Dexter’s wife. One has to think what would have happened had Dexter told someone earlier. Would Rita still be alive and well? Who knows.

For the sake of keeping this short, the only other issue I would like to discuss deals with Deb. First of all, why was she so emotional in this episode? It’s like she was doing all she could to piss off Dexter, known for having little, if any emotion whatsoever. Other than that, I picked up on something when she was talking to the psychiatrist. She was going over the Lisa Marshall murder and mentioned how Lisa (as a sister), was protecting Travis and that she gets killed for it. Think about that for a second. Lisa, a sister, felt like she had to protect Travis, her brother, because of something he is involved in and ends up getting killed. Foreshadow anyone? Now I can’t see Deb getting killed anytime soon, but I thought that was a great scene that all Dexter fans should remember in future episodes.

Stay tuned for more Dexter talk and analysis with the TV Enthusiast. I hear next week’s episode is amazing. Can’t wait to see it.

Harry’s Law - 11/2/11

First thing to know about this show is it is not a popular one as of right now. Like many shows before it, Harry’s Law is another classic law and order program that most likely only lawyers watch. On the other hand, maybe some people watch it to see what it is like to be lawyer. Some may be interested in the relationships lawyers and their clients form. Some may be interested in the relationships defenders, prosecutors and judges have. Myself? I watch it because I get a feel of what it would be like to be a lawyer.

This particular episode made me write because of the emotional appeal. An old friend of Harry’s, Puck, came to Harry for help because he was accused of aiding and abetting in a kidnapping. A client of Puck’s took a child and Puck did what he thought was right and negotiated to get the little girl back to her family. However, in doing so, the kidnapper got away with $2 million.

For the sake of this article, we will ignore what is right and what is wrong. We will ignore that Puck had a societal and professional responsibility to report this kidnapping to the police. What I want to concentrate on is Harry’s defense to the jury.

Society is sold that court decisions should be made based on facts and evidence. After all, if the gloves fits. However, Harry did not win this case because the evidence was on her side. She did not win the case because Puck got the girl back safely. Harry won this case because she appealed to the jury’s heart. In her closing argument, Harry first asked the jury to put themselves in the shoes of the parents of the kidnapped girl. What would they have wanted Puck to do? Go to the police who only have a 60% success rate of getting children back? Or do what he could to get the girl back safely? Needless to say, we all know what the jury was thinking.

Next, as defenders tend to do, Harry asked the jury to put themselves in Puck’s shoes. Seven years before this case, Puck was faced with the exact same situation. He chose not to negotiate with the kidnappers. That abducted boy was eventually murdered. So what would any human being do in this case? Why would anyone make the same decision again that resulted in a murder? Harry engrained this decision in the jury’s heads. How would anyone disagree with Puck? Yes he didn’t go by the law, but he got the job done. Harry got the jury to put law aside and go with their heart. They knew Puck could not make the same decision again. By putting the in Puck’s shoes, Harry knew they couldn’t send this “hero” to jail. No evidence needed. Harry got Puck off because of emotion and heart. Just another way to look at law and enjoy Harry’s Law. 

House – Oct 17, 2011

In this episode of House, one might think the inner story was about 13 and whether or not she should come back to the show. Not really reading about her plans outside of “House”, I didn’t expect her to stay and judging by how the episode concluded, I’d say I was right.

The aspect of this episode that jumped out at me was Park. When first introduced, avid “House” watchers had to be thinking, “Why is this little dork, unattractive girl on the show?” Well other than being extremely bright, like we saw last season, she follows a set of rules that only one other person on earth goes by. Shockingly, that would be Gregory House.

This episode started off with a man, who other Fox viewers might recognize from “Prison Break”, donating one million dollars to a shelter that helps those in need. Right away, before we even see him collapse and turn into House’s patient, we know his generosity would come into question. However, I bet not all of us saw it coming from Park.

In the first diagnosis scene, Park, in an effort to keep the patient, tells Foreman that the only symptom is supreme altruism. Many people wouldn’t see this as a symptom, just like the attractive doctor, not 13, that House brought back (and for some reason, I cannot remember when she was in this show). Immediately after this scene, that question of why she is in this series hit me. The writers are forming another House. She may not be as smart, but she has many similar social tendencies as House. Some of those include; seeing good faith as a symptom as opposed to a gesture of goodwill, weary of why people do everyday tasks such as give, ignore social norms, stand up to superiors and is smart as a rock.

However, some similarities don’t mean they are one in the same. First and foremost, we saw Park couldn’t accept gifts. That couldn’t be further from the truth with House. And the obvious distinction is that House is the genius in the group. No matter how many young med students or first year doctors they put on his team, no one will surpass him.

So as I watch from here on out, I will keep an eye out for more tendencies between Park and House. More importantly, what do they mean to the show? Why did the writer choose to portray Park in this matter? If they are so similar, what estimations can we make for the rest of the series? By the end, we won’t only answer why she is in the show, but what she can bring that we haven’t seen before; not even from house.