Dexter Season 4 Episode 8 Preview: 'Road Kill'

In was inevitable. After indulging his Dark Passenger for so long, Dexter was bound to get one wrong. Last night’s episode of Dexter was yet another emotional marathon, leaving viewers exhausted at the end. But with so many threads at play, was anyone ready for tonight’s game-changing reveal: Dexter killed an outright innocent man.

In “Slack Tide,” Dexter took a brief pit stop from his Trinity quest to get himself involved in yet another sloppy kill. This time the target is Jonathan Farrow, an arrogant photographer who just happened to shoot (in the photography sense) several models that wound up missing/dead soon thereafter. But as the last minute of this slow, but important episode revealed, Farrow, who winds up dead on Dexter’s table, wasn’t the culprit. It was his assistant.

All the signs were there. Dexter has been getting sloppy. Gone are the days of meticulously planned kills. In their stead are sloppy, impetuous hack jobs. Of course, this all makes for great TV, but (and I’m channeling my inner Harry here) you’ve got to wonder how long can Dexter keep himself away from the electric chair. As shocking as the reveal was that Farrow was innocent, one has to wonder how much it will change Dexter’s disposition. You could argue that this isn’t the first time that Dexter was responsible for the death of an innocent man. Albeit self defense, he did kill Oscar Prado in the first episode of Season 3. And although he didn’t pull the trigger (er, I mean light the match), he did imprison Doakes which allowed Lila to blow him to smithereens. For Dexter, self-preservation rules above all else. If anything, this mishap will accelerate Dex’s plan to close in on Trinity - it’s time for him to get back to normalcy and float under the radar for a spell.
Meanwhile, Quinn is inadvertently quickly becoming this season’s Sergeant Doakes on his mission to dig up some dirt on Dexter. After finding out that Dexter has been keeping his apartment, he almost stumbles on Dexter running down Farrow. Several questions remain with Quinn at this point : 1) will he follow Dexter at the right time and figure out his secret and 2) will he hook up with Debra. Ironically, given the fact that Quinn’s internal investigation story-line in Season 3 was absolutely unnecessary, he is a big driving force of the plot this season (giving the reported the inside scoop on the Trinity story, which lead to the shooting of Lundy and Debra).

And what can we say about Trinity? He’s building a coffin, but for who? Is it to bury the ashes of his sister finally and end his killing cycle? Is it for himself? Is it for Kyle Baker (Dexter?). Or, is it for a yet to be targeted fourth kill in the cycle in which the body is buried, thus never found? Now THAT would be a reveal… that the Trinity Killer is in fact the Quadruple Killer.

With five episodes to go, we’re left wondering just what will happen in the next 5 Sundays. There’s a definite build up to a Trinity / Dexter showdown, but it’s also a strong possibility that Debra will get in the middle of that bout. And I also have a strange feeling that Deb and Quinn will get involved romantically. It’s also worth noting that Quinn is bound to get some real dirt on Dexter, which may lead to more fireworks (it’s not looking good for you Quinn).

Expect the madness to continue big time next week. In the post episode previews, Dexter is seen admitting killing a man to Trinity, who does the same. And in action movie fashion, Dexter saves Trinity as he falls from the roof of a Four Walls Build. Meanwhile, Deb enlists Quinn to help her with the unofficial investigation of Trinity.