SPOILERS!!
The second season picks up with last season’s finale. Debby is traumatized by Rudy’s revelation as the ice-truck killer. Doakes is following Dexter at night, he suspects he had something to do with the ice-truck killer.
Meantime Dexter doesn’t have too many opportunities to kill, but when he does he can’t seem to do it. That was an interesting twist. But that’s the least of his problems, because the bodies of his victims all these years have been found and he’s become the priority of the police department and the FBI. That’s the main plot of the season.
I must admit I thought he would be found out, and he would be on the run. But that would eliminate all the foundations the writers created so far. Instead he struggles to find a solution to his problems, but right at the end, the solution is given to him.
His personal life with Rita also keeps giving him problems, he’s had to admit to Rita that he has a drug problem, in order to hide his real “problem”. However that brings to the introduction of his sponsor Lila, a woman who I actually liked for him, she seemed to help him deal with his real problems, even though she didn’t really know him yet. I was actually relieved when he left Rita for Lila, it really seemed the best solution for all. However, we slowly learn that Lila is also a troubled soul and very dangerous for people around her. At that point I went back rooting for Rita, just like Dexter.
But another big twist this season was about his past. I thought we already knew everything there was to know about it, but there were even more secrets. First his father was having an affair with Dexter’s real mother. Than we discover that Harry killed himself after being horrified by Dexter. That was a huge revelation. It made Dexter doubt Harry’s code.
Doakes is a big part of the season, he knows something is wrong with Dexter, and he even finds Dexter’s blood slides. I always thought that was the one dumb thing Dexter did, to keep them in his own apartment, not even locked up. I like the way they tied up the season long plot, using Lila to kill Doakes and frame him as the Bay Harbor Killer. It’s not what Dexter planned (for a second there I thought he was really going to turn himself in), but it worked even better.
I also thought that Lila would disappear and come back next season, or in future seasons, instead they tied up that story line as well.
FBI agent Lundy and Debra also had a story, but I didn’t really like how they ended it.
I liked this season, though for obvious reasons it was slightly less personal for Dexter, though the stakes were just as high. There’s also the death of an innocent, Doakes, and I’m gonna miss him.
Rating: 4 Stars